The Cottage Smallholder

Danny, I too had noticed the stamp thing. Not good customer relations and I'm sure the cost of re-used stamps was negligable. Actually, what you do is just stick a label over the original address and write your new address on it and post it- no need to steam them off ( yeah, all right, I confess, probably my fault they introduced the new stamps)

Mind you, we sometimes used to get people sending letters to us in Holland with not enough postage. The UK post would then stick a snooty sticker on the letter complaining that the postage was wrong. Why they thought it worth telling the person receiving the letter  the postage was wrong I really do not know. They never put stickers on letters that had absurdly too much postage on them.

I want to send them envelopes with snooty stickers on saying 'do you think you could deliver this in under ten days please". Why does the Post Office think it good to boss its customers about and treat us like fraudsters?

I suppose as they treat their staff like that, it is business as usual to them in the Post Office Universe where everyone runs everywhere and never chats to customers they inhabit.

Presumably they only garden in underwear in the summer in Latvia Joanna- though the image of elderly Beryl Cook style ladies wheeling barrowloads of compost about in winter weight thermals and wellingtons has made my day.

Just like to say I'm typing this in my pyjamas and yes, it is the AFTERNOON.

Haven't been to Tesco - yet.

We used to get spotted woodpeckers in the garden in Holland,we lived near some big parks with old trees and loads of woodpeckers. They would bring theier babies to the garden to show them where the feeders where , they got quite cheeky and would come down to the feeders even when I was sitting in the (very small) garden only feet away. One mroning I came down to the kitchen to find one of them sitting on the worktop, it had come in through the open window. I walked right up to it and stood looking at it for quite a few minutes, then it strolled along the worktop, sat on the widowsill for a bit,hopped back onto the feeders. Best bird experience ever, never thought I'd get that close to a Woodpecker.