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I bought my Birkenstocks from Germany when Q discontinued them. I loved the BA, was it Nicki? It was quite reasonable to import them at that time but now Birkis are nearly £100 a pair for the different ones which is a bit much for sandals. The ones I've got are still going so at least you get your money's worth.

CC
 
The Mojave Magic man passed away a few years ago. I read the QVC US forums.

Birkenstocks are big again but very expensive now.

I always loved the look of Murano glass jewellery but never bought as I thought it might smash when wearing.

Ecotan no longer exists, well some on Amazon but not the clear self tan anymore.
I have Murano glass jewellery still going strong.
 
All the EU imports have gone up in jumps since Brexit, Covid and now the Ukraine war. Oh, and every time a 'sleb' is seen wearing them and all the fashionistas jump on them they'll go up another tenner.

Being fashionable bumps the price of everything up. The woman opposite has had Dachshunds for years. Her next door neighbour - a food bank regular - recently bought two pups off her for £5000. Cost of living crisis? Not for her! Never worked, two kids, a third on the way, no father to be seen unless it's Christmas or the birthdays of the two that are his. He brings ridiculously expensive presents like drones and electric mini cars (used twice on the road where they weave in/out of parked cars) that are age-inappropriate and need supervision.

He turned up this week with electric scooters - the oldest has just turned six. No helmets, thrown out onto the street while he gets drunk, rips off the birthday banner and stomps on the balloons, smashes a window, hits her then drives off. He's long gone before the plod arrives. Some of us are tempted to call the plod as soon as he arrives as he does something like this every time.

Judgey? Yes. But EU products aren't the only price increases. Thanks to this waste of space man (using the term loosely), our insurance has jumped in our postcode due to all the police recorded incidents at that address. As soon as the birthday banners go up their neighbours either side (one is a policewoman! She won't get involved as it's not her area) move their cars as one of them had theirs clipped by drunk father.

Back to Birkenstocks... I wish they'd bring back some of the designs I was buying direct from Germany 20 years ago. Strappy and attractive even on the 'man-repeller' footbed. I had one pair that had very slim leather straps with tiny gold buckles and a gold thread wrapping the straps in places. Very Grecian and dainty. The only vaguely similar ones they have now are the Mayari. It's just as well I can only wear ugly Fitflops these days!
Two of the houses across from us have been sold. One is waiting for paperwork etc.to be sorted but the people who have bought the other haven't moved in but turn up now and then to do something. They turned up at about 3.15 this afternoon and started removing all the shrubs at the front and side of the property. The chain saw was still going at a quarter to eight.
Both properties are fairly big one has 4 bedrooms and the other had 5 bedrooms and an office a snug a dining room ,lounge and about three bathrooms. Both buyers have turned up with builders so heaven knows how big they are going to end up.
We've had cars all over the road and luckily we weren't going out as I doubt we would have got the car back on the drive.
When we moved in it was a lovely quiet estate but houses are being sold and new buyers are doubling the sizes and building right up to all the boundaries.
It's a waste of time complaining to the council as they brag that the planning committee and them are all friends, I just can't wait to move.
It's awful when people ruin your street.
 
Patsy I feel your pain. I lived in Edinburgh for years in various properties and found one I really could call home. But things change and new people move in, all the regulars move away and it's not the same. Some of the new neighbours are a bit inconsiderate to say the least and they only just got there! I sold up a few years ago and moved to the sticks. I miss the city but I'd never go back.

CC
 
I bought my Birkenstocks from Germany when Q discontinued them. I loved the BA, was it Nicki? It was quite reasonable to import them at that time but now Birkis are nearly £100 a pair for the different ones which is a bit much for sandals. The ones I've got are still going so at least you get your money's worth.

CC
I think I’ve posted this before, but a few years ago I ordered some Birkenstocks from either SecretSales or Brand Alley. They never showed up, so after a few weeks I was refunded.
Over a year later a parcel turned up and it was the Birki’s. They’d been despatched from Germany and judging from the various postal stamps/labels on the package had done a tour of Europe on the way to me.
 
I once sent a package to the USA and it didn't arrive so I refunded the lady and was disappointed for her and me that it had disappeared. About six months later she contacted me to say it had arrived with dozens of postal stamps, customs stamps on it. Seems it had gone halfway around the world, ended up in Australia and then been redirected to the US. She loved the item and me being the generous soul I am, let her keep it. She still buys things from me to this very day.

CC
 
I bought a pair of Birkenstocks from QVC years ago. I tromped about in them in the house for a few days and then packed them up and returned them. They were the most uncomfortable footwear I have ever worn.
 
You really need to break them in.
When I say a few days, it was well over a week and I wore them in the house and garden every day. I didn’t go out in them because they were so uncomfortable. They are the only pieces of footwear of any brand that I’ve ever had to return. I don’t have any foot issues, thankfully, and shoes and boots that I’ve bought elsewhere feel comfortable almost immediately. I don’t think I’ve got large feet (size 6) but my feet looked like boats in them.

I guess that what suits a lot of people just didn’t do anything for me at all.
 
I bought my Birkenstocks from Germany when Q discontinued them. I loved the BA, was it Nicki? It was quite reasonable to import them at that time but now Birkis are nearly £100 a pair for the different ones which is a bit much for sandals. The ones I've got are still going so at least you get your money's worth.

CC

When I say a few days, it was well over a week and I wore them in the house and garden every day. I didn’t go out in them because they were so uncomfortable. They are the only pieces of footwear of any brand that I’ve ever had to return. I don’t have any foot issues, thankfully, and shoes and boots that I’ve bought elsewhere feel comfortable almost immediately. I don’t think I’ve got large feet (size 6) but my feet looked like boats in them.

I guess that what suits a lot of people just didn’t do anything for me at all.
I still have them I think it takes awhile to get used to them.
 
Patsy I feel your pain. I lived in Edinburgh for years in various properties and found one I really could call home. But things change and new people move in, all the regulars move away and it's not the same. Some of the new neighbours are a bit inconsiderate to say the least and they only just got there! I sold up a few years ago and moved to the sticks. I miss the city but I'd never go back.

CC

I lived in the sticks for years - then the council built an estate next door.

It was one of those new sort (at the time) estates where it was a mix of flats and link houses connected by narrow alleys. What could go wrong?! It had a mix of nice families put there while they waited for more appropriate housing and drug abusers who couldn't be homed anywhere else. Then it became a dumping ground for single mums. They seemed to attract every scumbag for a 100-mile radius and the area has become a bit of a slum.

Half the properties have been boarded up and their previous residents shunted into 'emergency' council properties rented from private landlords at a very high cost. There is technically nothing wrong with the housing on this estate. It's just the people. I had friends living there and they're well-built, well-insulated (for their age) bright and airy homes, even the smallest flats. It's just the people living there. No 'decent' people want to live there any more.

So, in their wisdom (and greased by a few back-handers, no doubt) our council have decided to just let it all rot and allow a new-build housing estate to go up instead. They say we need good quality housing for young families. Starting price of these new-builds for young families? £400k. Hardly affordable when the average house price in the area is less than half that. None of us locals are surprised that they're having a hell of a job selling them.

The old estate did have a playground that kids (and drug dealers) are still using. This new-build site promised one but unless it's going to be built on a five-foot roundabout it seems to have forgotten. Never mind, maybe it'll be included in the second phase. Though that's hit a snag with the landowner being unwilling to sell. The council is going to make a compulsory purchase order in which they will pay peanuts then sell to the national builder for... peanuts!

Wait... what? Yes, you heard right. The council has the opportunity to sell for a large amount of money to this developer. After all, they have deep pockets. They bought the first parcel from the council for £150k with permission for 110 plots. As the land is currently used for farming they're offering the landowner £80 and selling to the developer for... £90K. For 141 houses.

Our council is barking mad. One of the neighbours works for them and is disgusted by the waste of money and resources. Their DEI training bill is £200k. I wonder if QVC pays that much for theirs?

So, in my customary long-winded way, I'd just like to say to Patsy and CC that I feel your pain. It was the middle of nowhere when I moved here. Now, thanks to our council's insistence that we 'need' more housing (how about sorting out the perfectly good - and cheap - housing you already have and getting the police to come down hard on the anti-social behaviour and drugs problem?), I may as well have moved to a big town. With no local amenities, not even a supermarket within 12 miles, no spaces at the NHS dentist and a doctor's surgery that is overwhelmed by all the new housing estates that have popped up in the last 5 years (five so far, many unsold but still enough to swamp our already strained local services. And TERRIBLE new neighbours.

Oh, and the anti-social behaviour and drugs problem has spread in our area, too. We're right on the edge of our county so we no longer have a manned police station despite having the worst ASBO and drugs figures in the county. The council offices are 40 miles away in a quaint little town that's had the same population figures since the late 60s as they don't allow the building of estates in the area. They have two small supermarkets and a large leisure centre as well as 5 GP surgeries, 2 NHS dentists, a lovely library and a small hospital. For 1000 people more! But, hey! We should be thankful as we have our own anti-smoking officer working from the GP surgery. She used to work from our little library but that closed a decade ago.

I despair. Right Move here I come. But next time I'll be moving to an area just outside a town with the council offices in. Not on their doorstep indeed.
 
I lived in the sticks for years - then the council built an estate next door.

It was one of those new sort (at the time) estates where it was a mix of flats and link houses connected by narrow alleys. What could go wrong?! It had a mix of nice families put there while they waited for more appropriate housing and drug abusers who couldn't be homed anywhere else. Then it became a dumping ground for single mums. They seemed to attract every scumbag for a 100-mile radius and the area has become a bit of a slum.

Half the properties have been boarded up and their previous residents shunted into 'emergency' council properties rented from private landlords at a very high cost. There is technically nothing wrong with the housing on this estate. It's just the people. I had friends living there and they're well-built, well-insulated (for their age) bright and airy homes, even the smallest flats. It's just the people living there. No 'decent' people want to live there any more.

So, in their wisdom (and greased by a few back-handers, no doubt) our council have decided to just let it all rot and allow a new-build housing estate to go up instead. They say we need good quality housing for young families. Starting price of these new-builds for young families? £400k. Hardly affordable when the average house price in the area is less than half that. None of us locals are surprised that they're having a hell of a job selling them.

The old estate did have a playground that kids (and drug dealers) are still using. This new-build site promised one but unless it's going to be built on a five-foot roundabout it seems to have forgotten. Never mind, maybe it'll be included in the second phase. Though that's hit a snag with the landowner being unwilling to sell. The council is going to make a compulsory purchase order in which they will pay peanuts then sell to the national builder for... peanuts!

Wait... what? Yes, you heard right. The council has the opportunity to sell for a large amount of money to this developer. After all, they have deep pockets. They bought the first parcel from the council for £150k with permission for 110 plots. As the land is currently used for farming they're offering the landowner £80 and selling to the developer for... £90K. For 141 houses.

Our council is barking mad. One of the neighbours works for them and is disgusted by the waste of money and resources. Their DEI training bill is £200k. I wonder if QVC pays that much for theirs?

So, in my customary long-winded way, I'd just like to say to Patsy and CC that I feel your pain. It was the middle of nowhere when I moved here. Now, thanks to our council's insistence that we 'need' more housing (how about sorting out the perfectly good - and cheap - housing you already have and getting the police to come down hard on the anti-social behaviour and drugs problem?), I may as well have moved to a big town. With no local amenities, not even a supermarket within 12 miles, no spaces at the NHS dentist and a doctor's surgery that is overwhelmed by all the new housing estates that have popped up in the last 5 years (five so far, many unsold but still enough to swamp our already strained local services. And TERRIBLE new neighbours.

Oh, and the anti-social behaviour and drugs problem has spread in our area, too. We're right on the edge of our county so we no longer have a manned police station despite having the worst ASBO and drugs figures in the county. The council offices are 40 miles away in a quaint little town that's had the same population figures since the late 60s as they don't allow the building of estates in the area. They have two small supermarkets and a large leisure centre as well as 5 GP surgeries, 2 NHS dentists, a lovely library and a small hospital. For 1000 people more! But, hey! We should be thankful as we have our own anti-smoking officer working from the GP surgery. She used to work from our little library but that closed a decade ago.

I despair. Right Move here I come. But next time I'll be moving to an area just outside a town with the council offices in. Not on their doorstep indeed.
Oh that is so sad makes my problem pale in comparison, I really feel for you❤️❤️
My hubby grew up on a council estate and it was really nice. Lovely people , gp next door but one to them,dentist not too far away,shops and a pub just across the road. Then a few years ago the council decided to refurbish one of the rough estates and decided to start relocating them onto their estate and it went downhill after that.
Social housing is non existent in a lot of areas nowadays and on our estate rents start at £1000plus pm. We are near the hospital and that has a lot to do with it and lovely 3/4 bed homes are being extended two to three times their original size and are up to every boundary. No matter how many objections are made everything is allowed.😡
 
Hopefully there won't be any extensions to the village I live in as it's smallness is its charm. I do realise, however, that everyone needs a decent home and the homes have to be built somewhere. Where I lived in Edinburgh was a regeneration area and the council emptied out one of the tower blocks which housed the worst anti social behaviour/drug addict people - think tellys being chucked off the roof, fires everywhere, needles etc - sold all the flats to a developer for £1 each which were refurbished and then sold off to private owners. They became quite desirable and the views over the city were amazing. As Alter Ego says, it's the people that bring places down, not the properties.

May we all be able to live in peace and quiet and have decent people around us. Surely it's not too much to ask.

CC
 
The Mojave Magic man passed away a few years ago. I read the QVC US forums.

Birkenstocks are big again but very expensive now.

I always loved the look of Murano glass jewellery but never bought as I thought it might smash when wearing.

Ecotan no longer exists, well some on Amazon but not the clear self tan anymore.
I recently had a knee replacement and my leg and foot swelled up (normal). The only shoes I could wear was a pair of Birkenstocks with adjustable straps across. I was so pleased with them. I realised when sorting through my cupboard that I actually still have quite a few pairs. They are so comfortable. Pleased to say the swelling has gone down
 
I recently had a knee replacement and my leg and foot swelled up (normal). The only shoes I could wear was a pair of Birkenstocks with adjustable straps across. I was so pleased with them. I realised when sorting through my cupboard that I actually still have quite a few pairs. They are so comfortable. Pleased to say the swelling has gone down
Hope you're feeling better and all goes well, Puffin.
 

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