When we first moved here from The States six months ago I could not figure out where to take our used batteries (from our torch or battery-operated toothbrushes) for recycling.  It took me a long time to figure it out and I had to keep my eyes open but I finally discovered where to take them:  Tesco’s or The Co-Operative Stores both have used battery recycling containers where you can just drop them off.  At Tesco’s Transit Way location in Plymouth it is located near the tills on your way out of the store and at The Co-Operative Store at Crownhill Plymouth they have a cardboard box to collect them it at the till.

Best of all, there is now a used clothes-hanger recycling container in the entry area area of the Plymouth Transit Way location of Tesco’s.  Brilliant!  I am a great believer in recycling as much of our waste as possible and respecting the green and pleasant land that I now call my home.  I just don’t know why it was so hard to discover where these recycling collection points were located.

Liz

Yank in the Village

The window cleaner came by yesterday, as they do every month, to clean our apartment windows of our two-bedroom apartment here in Plymouth.  They charge us £6.00 to wash the outside of our eight windows which I think is a very reasonable price.

We live on the second floor (which translates as the third floor for any Americans reading this) and the window cleaners bring a long pole with a brush on the end with a water hose that feeds the water to the brush so they never have to climb on a ladder.  In a few minutes they are done and our windows are clean.  We used to own a three-bedroom house in North Carolina and could only afford to get our windows washed once a year even though most of the windows were on the ground floor.  The cost for having a company come out to wash our windows was about $100 for fifteen windows.  Consequently we looked out through dirty windows most of the year as budgeting for more frequent window washing wasn’t really in the cards.  This was unfortunate because the weather in North Carolina is so humid for the majority of the year that there is usually a thin film of moisture on the outside of the windows that makes the brown clay dust in the air stick to  the glass. Ugggghhhh!

It is a wonderful thing to have a reasonably priced window cleaning service here so that we can have our home look clean and tidy all the time.  It’s one of the little joys in my life since moving here!

Liz

A Yank in the Village

The way I see it is this – Dangerous Dogs in Plymouth are often castrated to keep them calm to be honest if I was castrated I’d be far from calm.

My solution would be to leave their balls alone and, instead, take their teeth out instead. Bite problem resolved and a happy dog

Green Army

I am so impressed with the great television programmes that are available here in England for one relatively low price just by paying the annual TV Licensing Fee.  We recently moved here to Plymouth after many years of living in The States and this is one of the things that has impressed me the most.

I know that many people complain about the £142.50 cost of the TV License but that is a fraction of what people in the States pay to Cable TV or Satellite TV providers.  In The States you can’t get any television stations without being subscribed to cable or satellite monthly services and the minimum “package” of TV channels you purchase will cost you on average $30.00 per month (before fees and taxes are added to the invoice) for an annual total of more than $360.00  For this price you might get one channel that is commercial-free, which is called National Public Television and they depend heavily on begging the general public for personal donations throughout the year in order to keep the stations afloat financially.  When we lived in America we didn’t feel that there were enough interesting programmes for us on the Basic TV package so we opted to pay extra for more channels so that we could watch a few of the programmes from the United Kingdom that are broadcast on the channel BBC America.  Choosing a broader package ended up costing us about $85.00 a month for a total of almost $1000.00 a year and we still only had two commercial-free channels and one channel that had the UK produced shows!  In addition, BBC America is forced to have commercials in every programme so that they can make a profit.

I have watched great comedy, drama, history, documentaries, and news shows since moving to England and have even been amused at the (mostly) entertaining commercials that we get on telly here – all for one reasonable fee of £142.50.  Come on, where else could I watch an entire hour each evening for five nights on a herd of sheep in South Wales giving birth to lambs?  Or an extended feature-length high quality mystery spread out over the five nights of one week? Or learn about the entire history of Britain over seven weeks with a world-class presenter like David Dimbleby and have the latter two programmes be commercial-free?

Liz

A Yank in The Village

13 – 14 March, 2010

The Plymouth Pavilions Arena is transformed into a ‘Wildernes Zone’ for an action-packed two days.  Opened by TV presenter and bushcraft expert Ray Mears and sponsored by the University of Plymouth Faculty of Science and Technology, ‘Explore the Outdoors’ encompasses all levels of outdoor pursuits for all the family including bush tucker trials, tropical canopy research, water sports, travel and exploration.

Opens at 10:00 am Sat and 11:00 am Sun. Tickets £5. Kids with adults free. Plymouth Pavilions, www.plymouthpavilions.com

People who do not eat meat and fish products and refuse to wear leather have been singled out for inclusion under the new legislation by Labour’s super-quango – the Equalities and Human Rights Commission

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1256264/Harriet-Harmans-equality-law-cover-vegans-teetotallers-atheists.html#ixzz0haYrGXsM

=>  This is one thing I agree with – I’m a Vegan, Tee Total,  Atheist so why can’t I have the same rights as other nut jobs?  I’m nuts – fair enough but so are most meat chomping, bible bashing piss artists….

Davy

DJ Plymouth

15 – 20 March, 2010

Glamorous Kate O’Mara takes to the stage in Bill Kenwright’s presentation of one of Oscar Wilde’s most celebrated stories.  Her co-stars are Lee Mead, following his success in hit BBC show Any Dream Will Do as Lord Arthur Savile, Gary Wilmot, David Ross, Derren Nesbitt and Louisa Clein.

7:30pm (Thurs and Sat matinees at 2:30pm). Theatre Royal, Plymouth, www.theatreroyal.com

9 – 13 March, 2010

The Barnstaple Amateur Operatic Society perform the Rogers and Hammerstein romantic musical story of cowboy Curly and farm girl Laurey belting out classics like, Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin’, Oklahoma and The Surry with the Fringe on Top.

7pm (Saturday matinee 2pm). Seats from £8. Queen’s Theatre, Barnstaple. 01271 324242

Sunday 14 March, 2010

Seed swapping, organic food, craft, entertainment in Embercombe, near Exeter, 11:00 am – 4:00 pm, free, 01647 252983 www.embercombe.co.uk