General Chat

Morning everyone,

Very frosty here again cloudy but bright so I'm hoping we'll see the sun at some point .

Oh I see now Mel ,I was thinking it was the shed that OH painted the sunflowers on I thought that was your potting shed , that's a big shed then is that where you do your wreaths.
I would definitely report it as if there's been other thefts and they catch the person they might have all the things they've stolen and the police can return the belongings to the right owners and you might get your box back .
Could you set up your wildlife camera up there and see if it catches anyone poking about .

Lazy day for us ,just having a cuppa and then who knows we'll just see what the day brings

Good morning all, bright again but 0 degrees, Not sure if there was a frost earlier. Yes, you are right Vera, I woke at 0330 and couldn't get back to sleep so got up and wandered around for an hour. did eventually get back to sleep but not as soundly as I would have liked. Have to stay awake today as I have Grandson, wife and baby coming. they will be here a few hours and have a sback lunch (pasties as they enjoyed them last time, shop not home made) Izzy is a veggie but not hard to feed so have salad and coleslaw to go with the pasties. Grandson eats most things as long as he is fed!!

I too understand Mel, that is a huge shed I was thinking a little potting shed. Yes bestter to keep it locked with so many homeless people around.

Mel, Have you told the police about your intruder?
Granted they might not perhaps be able to do anything, but your report might be a piece of evidence if there are other strange happenings locally.

A lovely bright morning with such lovely full-on sunshine. I haven't been out though, so it could be quite chilly like it was yesterday. The wind was bitter even though the sun was shining.

Now I understand Mel. I hadn’t realised the shed was an industrial size
building. When you said potting shed I was thinking of a small garden shed. I hope the padlock will keep any intruders out.

I guess you didn’t sleep too well AnnG as you were on Kathleen’s thread so early. I hope you are feeling OK

It’s bright and sunny but still very cold. We are going to have coffee with a friend who has recently had a replacement knee.op and can’t get around much yet. Otherwise we have no plans for the day.

I think I need to explain that my potting shed is up on the top wall and can't be seen from the house. Its 95 foot long and its where I was going to live when I came down here to live with mum. On the back of the potting shed is a 53 foot greenhouse which we used ot keep up when we were doing the veg garden. In the end of the potting shed OH had set up plugs for the well and we had lights in the front of the shed as we used to process the veg in there and weigh it etc when we sold things on a barrow out the front by the village hall on the carpark. As I think I told you someone had been in there and had had a good sort through all the things up there and my blanket box is missing. There was also an extension lead pluged into a socket up there which I don't think was ours. Today I went up there and walked right the way up the hallway coridor to the end plug which used to do the pump down the well. It was switched on and we had'nt used that for years and it has only been switched on since things went missing out of the shed. Whoever went in there and pinched things must have thought it was to the lights and whne they found it was'nt just walked away but left the pump switched on. Its the only thing that was on and when I looked at the meter today (which is outside the sheds) I noticed it was going round as there was the little black mark on the wheel that goes round. Thats why I went and had a look at the pump switch and it was turned on. Turned it off and the wheel on the meter stopped going round so I don't know how long it had been on as |I don't read the meter and send the reading in as I don't use any leccy up there so always send the same reading in.

Anyway BIL came today and put a padlock on the door of the potting shed and turned the leccy off inside. I had noticed the leccy was turned on at the fuse box and I had turned it off years ago after oh died.

BIL stayed here til after 5pm today as his wife was not at work. He changed the batteries over on the mower and got tied up with his tongue talking to Phil and Em I think cos he was up there for ages. He also put a padlock on my garage door so now I have to unlock it to feed the chickens. Thats where he keeps the old mower.

Hope you all sleep well tonight.

Evening All,

Just a short post from me as I wrote one earlier and switched the laptop off without realising I hadn't sent it!

I hope the car passed the MOT Gill and that your OH gets on ok with the scan tomorrow. That's good there will be no carparking to pay for as well.

It's been bright but cold here too and I have had a rest today while OH went to a match with his friend. He took him 3 bottles of red wine OH won't be drinking now that were gifts. We never ever drank red anyway. He was really chuffed, but OH did warn him we had no idea what they were like.

Sleep tight everyone!

Evening all,

It's been bright and sunny but very cold there was a frost again last night but it had gone by the time we got up .

Gosh Gill that was a long sleep ,you must have had loo trips and took in some drink or you would be very dehydrated., I hope you have a better night tonight .

Mel I can't understand what the metre is for on the shed and can't see how anyone could use electric without you knowing ,if they were using anything plugged in surely would would have heard it , is there a light in the shed ,hope you get it sorted out .

I haven't done a lot today apart from doing a nice roast ,if we have a roast today I can then have a lazy Sunday.

To be honest I hardly woke up just a couple of times for the loo. I must admit when I finally woke up properly I was starving and thirsty. I'm not very good with meds which is why I don't take sleeping tablets very often as they knock me out for so long. I do feel better for it though.

Well my hair is al coloured now ready for the funeral on Friday, my neighbour cut it for me too, so it's looking and feeling much better now.

I had to laugh AnnG when you were telling us about the wren taking the stuff off the Robin's nest. It must of been so funny for her to watch. I remember watching a programme on penguins and they were doing the same thing. Some wildlife are so funny aren't they.

Going to make something to eat now before the Gladiators comes on, we like that programme.

You must have needed that sleep Gill but, goodness, that’s a long while to be in the land of nod. I assume you woke occasionally for the loo or a drink of water. I hope you are feeling better now and can get back into some sort of sleep routine.

Mel, like AnnG, I am confused about your electricity and the meter on the shed. Do you mean that someone has actually been using your electricity? If so, what for and how are they getting at it? If you think the meter should be showing a different amount, could it be that the meter itself is faulty?

it’s been a bright, sunny day today but so cold. I haven’t wanted to be outside. In fact, I haven’t really done much at all. I slept very little last night and today I couldn’t seem to rouse any enthusiasm for doing anything. Oh well, tomorrow’s another day.

I’ve peeled some potatoes and chopped some parsley. I’ve got some cod so we’ll have it with parsley sauce, mash and a green veg, probably peas and green beans. Enjoy the evening and sleep well tonight everyone.

goodness gill that was a long time to sleep, I bet you were dying for the loo when you woke up and hungry as well.

Mel what could they be using the electric for from the meter in the potting shed> It is not something that you can carry away. Or have I misunderstood. Is that where it records the electric that you send to the N Grid? The only thing I could think was if people could plug in a charger to an electric car. But maybe I am confused (nothing unusual there).

I walked down to Irene's with a carrier bag full with stuff surplus to requirements from the kitchen drawers. came back, dried a load of washing and then wrote a resume of out meeting on Thursday and a letter to my second cousin.. did a bit of updating things on the internet and now going down to dust the lounge and have lunch. My new CD player came yesterday so I have been playing a few CDs on that to check it out.

Gosh Gill you slept for 48 hours!!! is that usual if you take a sleeping pill?

BIL is here and he said there's about £20 worth of leccy on the meter up the potting shed now. I took a picture of the meter and have written it down in the dairy. He's gone up to change the battery on the new mower now so I expect once he's done that he will have a look at the door. I think he may take the fuses out of the box up there so no leccy can be used and we will see how it goes from there.

Hi all

Well so much for having a good night's sleep the other night I couldn't sleep at all I ended up awake for almost 48 hours and couldn't sleep so I took a sleeping tablet and slept for two days which is why I've not been on here. I'm back in the land of the living again now :-D

I've coloured my hair so that's on doing it's job. I've gone so grey over the past year, probably down to stress. I say grey it's coming through bright white so I've decided to go blond. I always said when I went grey I'd go lighter. I used to be blond when I was younger and coloured it dark now I'm back to blond. OH said he's getting used to it :-)

OH has taken the car for it's MOT I hope it passes as he's got his MRI tomorrow.
Just had a phone call off the hospital asking if he's still going and giving directions to where it is on the hospital grounds. I asked about parking charges and there isn't any on a weekend, so he'll be pleased to hear that when he gets home.

I've not caught up with the posts yet so will read them once I've gone through my messages. Hope everyone is ok. I'll pop in again later.

Morning girls on this bright sunny morning here in deepest Devon. Its 6 degrees and pc is telling me its partly sunny so I expect it will cloud over later on.

BIL should come today as he did'nt turn up yesterday but we'll see.

I'm please there were quite a few who attended the funeral yesterday Vera it shows how much people thought of the person to give them a good send off.

I have got the insurance policy in my file so I know I have paid it and got it. It had gone up £86 this year but when I did it over the phone she gave me £29 off. Can't remember why now it goes in one ear and out the other lately.

Hope the rest of you slept well as I see Anng did. You need enough ZZZZZZ to get you through another day as we get older. Foot still a bit sore underneath and on the side I broke the bone and my toe next to the big one is still bruised and red but not black anymore.

Good morning all, a dry bright morning so far and 2 degrees at 8am. Nothing planned for today although I will probably walk down to Irenes with bric a brac (stuff from the kitchen drawers) for the monthly charity market she and her husband organise.
I also have some admin to do, a letter to write. (Might get that done before I walk down as it can be posted.) That will make three 'snail mail' letters to postAlso have two email letters to write.
slept reasonably well but woke at 6 and couldn't get back to sleep then.

Vera pleased that the funeral went ok and that was good that your group went. so sad as we get older to think there will not be many to mourn us as we outlive friends.

I wish I could get to Waitrose to buy fish on Fridays, nice to have plenty in the freezer. that was a bit of a concern though when you found the electric was off. Pleased it soon came back on.

Mel, do your insurance comany send out a letter when you pay as well as when you don't? Maybe wait a few days then check they got your payment.

I'm not with Nationwide either. It would be nice to get some money back. At the moment I think our pockets have got holes in them, the money is pouring out so fast.

I hope your follow up appointment and OH's ECG went well Annx. It does sound as though the neighbours are going to have more building work. I should think the last thing you want right now is delivery lorries and construction vans up and down your road.

Mel, have you checked that the insurance company have covered you now they have got your payment? You'd think they could have given you a day or two's grace with the payment but I suppose they have to stick by their rules. I hope they have reinstated your cover now.

I had to smile at your friend's story of the wren raiding the robin's nest AnnG. They may be little birds but they are really feisty. When they were nesting at our old house our cat used to like to lay under one of the chairs on the patio and the wren used to fly down and perch on some trellis and chitter loudly at the cat till the poor cat couldn't stand it anymore and slunk away.

The funeral yesterday went as well as could be expected. Our little group had 7 people there and another local group had 3 people and I was so pleased the 10 of us went because there were only 18 in total. It was only by chance that one of our group saw the notice in a local paper.

We went out to Waitrose at about 10 am as I wanted to stock up on some fish for the freezer. I got a load of fish, some milk, veg, salad stuff and scones and we were back before 11. Opened the fridge to start putting stuff away and no light came on - there was a power cut. So I put all the food in the coldest room in the house which gets very little sun and had no heating on. I couldn't use the internet of course but I could still google on my phone so I managed to find out that a high voltage underground cable had a fault and 401 homes were affected. It said they expected to restore power about 2.30 but some might be a bit earlier and some a bit later. We were lucky as ours came back on about 12.15, much earlier than we expected so I was able to shove everything in the fridge and when the freezer got back to its correct temperature I was able to freeze my fish.

~~~~~~~~~ A quick wave to Gill and Gwyn and I'm off to prepare our dinner.

Ah, I don't belong to Nation wide so I didn't get one of those. However, I belong to a money back type health scheme and yesterday had £65 in my bank account from them which I thought was very odd as I had not made a claim. today I had a letter in the post saying they owed me the money because I had overpaid contributions. Now seeing that the scheme was set up when I was at work, the money is taken straight from my Civil Service pension each month and simply Health tell the pension people what I need to pay monthly for the next year. So how come 'I' overpaid. do they mean 'they' have taken too much from me. whatever happened to admitting the blame when wrong?

A couple of small jobs done today. I sorted out two of the smaller kitchen drawers which were full of all sort of bits that I might need at some time. Both drawers have a lot less in them now.

And I received a new CD player as mine stopped playing CDs a few days ago. Goodness knows why, no way coud I get it to go again. Anyway new player arrived and I have set that up now. I think the shock of playing CDs again after 4 years without being used was too much for it and it just seized up.

I had one of those £50 gift letters the other day too Mel. I had one last year as well. There might be another 'fairer share' payment later in the year. It's nice to get something back. :-) Hopefully the Wrens might leave home in time for the Swallows arrival then.

I have sorted another drawer and found a lot of the tops in there fit me now. There are a few for the charity shop and a couple I will wear round the house for doing HW etc. A bit more progress!

Something is going on at the end of the close where the house and 2 bungalows were built. A huge lorry with a trailer has reversed down to collect a digger, so it looks like either the asian house or bungalow at the bottom and out of sight are doing more building work. They have only recently finished adding a large extension on the back of the asian house and before that the attached garage was converted to a room on the bungalow and they built a seperate garage. New people have moved in now though so may be changing things.

I just brought in yesterdays post which I forgot to bring in when I did the chickens last night. I have had a letter saying I am not covered by my house insurance as I did'nt pay it by the 14th feb. but I did pay it a day later. Another letter was from Nationwide building society telling me I am going to get £50 put into my account by the 30th April.Its a one off payment so if you have a nationwide account you will get it too. I don't mind letters like that and thank yopu very much. :-D :-D :-D

My Mr. Wren is building a nest on top of the Swallows nest in the filter shed its the same place as last year so I am hoping Mrs. Wren lays her eggs and they go before the Swallows arrive like they did last year.

I have had a good hoover of the kitchen and diner and sucked up lots of cobwebs too.

Now I am going to clean the kitchen windows as far as I can reach without using the steps and wash the front door down as I noticed its very dirty when I went to the door for the shopping man on Tuesday. mI will empty the hoover first and then do the hall and bedroom.

Morning Folks,

Lovely sunshine here and I can feel it's heat through the windows on the front. I slept well and fell asleep watching The Dog House where they match rescue dogs with new owners. I didn't wake till nearly 7.00am and feel more with it this morning.

I have a follow up appointment at the surgery this afternoon to see how I am now and OH has an ECG there an hour later as part of his cardio follow up. He didn't do the cardio rehab yesterday due to his pain and he won't be able to go next week because of his scan, so they have paused it now till he gets the results with the rhuematologist. In the meantime he's going to gradually up his walks instead. It seems to have taken the pressure off him a bit as he seems more cheerful this morning.

It's good the chickens are laying well now Mel. It makes me wish I lived nearer and could buy some from you as I know how nice yours are. How nice these Robins are getting tamer too. Maybe they are related to the one that would come on your hand and will do as well eventually. If that's what your OH said about Pike, I definately won't be tempted to try it in future. Yuk!

Mandy no thanks to you for reminding me I need to strip the bed too! lol. I'll get it done before we go out as I know I won't want to face it when we get home. :-D I need to at least do a bit more sorting in the bedroom too as doing a little at a time seems to be the best way and I don't get bored.

That was a funny story the lady at your meeting told AnnG. It must have been entertaining to watch the crafty Wren nicking the Robin's efforts with the nesting material. I hope you get a few things from your job's list done too. At least it's satisfying ticking them off.