Storm Darragh

I had a nasty shock this morning when I opened my emails and saw one from a family tree research website that said my subscription would be renewed at a cost of £229.00! I am certain I set the subscription to non-renew automatically, and I was given no notice of the money being taken from my credit card. I was furious, and it comes hard on the heels of Keith topping up his mobile phone with a company, and no credit being added. Some of these scams hide in plain sight! Do not use ontopup.com!

The family tree website is based in the US so trying to get through to them proved impossible. It was also equally difficult to get through to my credit card company. I just wanted to speak to a human! I did find out, though, that the payment has to clear before the credit company will do anything and I have to wait up to fifteen days. £229.00 is not something I've budgeted for at the moment, especially as I haven't done any work on my family tree for ages! Grrrr!

To take my mind off the annoying problem, I amused myself by cleaning the oven, using the kit I'd bought from Amazon. I  poured a viscous liquid into a big plastic bag, added the grills and sealed it up, shaking it so the metal was coated. I then poured the remaining gel into the two ovens and coated every surface. I was then advised to wait at least four hours before rinsing off with soapy water. Our bottom oven was particularly bad so I was looking forward to the results of my endeavours!

Outside, the weather was horrible with strong winds and constant rain. Certainly not a day to be out and about and we heard on the news that two men had been killed by falling trees. We all stayed firmly indoors and I ticked off some more chores on my list, including ordering a new food bin so no pesky animals can get inside!

As an afternoon treat, I shared two more whiskies with Sophie and Keith, from the 6th and 7th of December:

December 6th: Talisker 10-year-old Single Malt Scotch Whisky at 45.8%. Keith and I visited the Talisker Distillery years ago and they used to add a blended whisky to make it more palatable, as it can be very peaty. I loved this, though, and didn't find it as antiseptic as the Caol Ila. I thought peaty, smoky and smooth, with hints of toast. 5/5

December 7th: The Antiquary 21-year-old Blended Scotch Whisky matured in Port casks at 40%. We loved the beautiful tawny colour of this whisky, probably due to the Port casks. It reminded us of Christmas cake and dried fruits, with a sherry-ish taste. It was smooth and delicious. No wonder we loved it, it was £100 a bottle! 5/5

In the evening, after I'd wiped off the oven-cleaning solution and was overjoyed with the results, Sophie and I caught the end of The Holiday and had cheesy nibbles with a glass of red wine. I then played cards with Keith while Sophie cooked paella for dinner in the sparkling clean oven! It was a delicious meal with enough left over for our dinner on Monday night!