General Chat

Hello Amanda - the sound of children playing is nice except for the odd "he pushed me" and "I was playing with that":-)) How's the tooth? Did you manage to make an appointment with the dentist.

I sometimes forget that you are all at the end of your day while mine is just starting.

I like Lord Sugar but I wouldn't want to get on his bad side. He is quite withering when he's angry with any of the contestants on Apprentice. I do prefer him to Donald Trump on the American version. The show I do like to watch is Dragon's Den - a big favourite in our house.

S x

Hello Tec .....my friend from Scotland is actually not Scottish ( he moved up there a few years ago ) , and yes , he has been delighted with finding out as much as we have between us , I still can't believe that it all fell into place with such ease .

The tooth / abscess seems to be getting better thank you . I did phone the dentist this morning but the receptionist said there was no point in my having an emergency appointment as they would only give me antibiotics and I have them already , she made an appointment for me to see my own dentist on the 26th ( by which time the tablets should have all been consumed ) . At least it isn't hurting anywhere as much as it was last night .

Linda , how did the meeting go ?

lol Sandie, but your wrong, my son cooked a pizza earlier so I had eaten before I came on here tonight.
As you said I would have a problem going to a speak welsh lesson, have so little time to do the thing's that need to be done, I have promised myself that when winter is over I hope to start going swimming with my daughter once a week to try and tone my tummy muscles.

Diane

Diolch yn fawr Tec - I'm thinking of practising how to speak Welsh next. It looks easy.....not:-))

Amanda - you must be feeling great that you have brought about a meeting between your visitor and his half-siblings. Well done.

I love the different dialects and sayings in the UK. The words can change greatly from one town or village to another. When we visit family in Stockton it's amazing how differently they speak to my family in Leeds which is 1 1/2 hours drive away.

S x

Diane ....I like the sound of your furniture moving methods ( just the same way I do that sot of thing .....lol ) .

Sue ....there has to be some pushing and shoving in the play ground , it's human nature unfortunately : (

I am really pleased with myself that I could be of such assistance to my friend , it was all a bit nerve wracking and I was a bit worried in case he was rejected , so knowing that they are eager to meet him is a great relief.

I'm off to the local garden centre this morning. I am a member of their gardening club and I received a brochure in the mail to tell me they have a new range of garden gifts for Christmas. As I receive 10% off I thought I'd get in quick and find a couple of things for Christmas.

S x

I think the regional accents in the UK are interesting as well Sue, I like and understand most accents, have trouble with certain Scottish ones, especially Glaswegian - some people have trouble understanding the "Geordie" accent (why is it called Geordie) but I have no problem with that. I love the west country sound, Somerset, Devon Cornwall, and the Norfolk, Suffolk accents.

Tec.

Amanda - my late next door neighbour was traced by the Salvation Army after his sister found him through family research. He was a Barnado's child and one of two in the family sent to Australia. They were unable to trace the other brother but Merv was able to meet his two sisters and his brother in the UK and also his elderly foster mother before he passed away 2 years ago.

Tec I find I can understand most of the accents I come across in the UK but we have so many English people here in our area that it's not "foreign" to me. I have heard the Welsh language spoken and I think it's a very romantic language. I hope it's never lost.

S x

Lucky you Sue ...what's the betting you just happen to return home with a new Orchid then ?

Has Persey been about lately ?. I haven't noticed her post and hope all is well in her world. .

I'm amazed how scouse I sound when I hear a message I have left on the answering machine, I hate it when you hear some of the scouser's talking on the TV as some sound so common.
I love to hear the Irish and Scottish people talk.

Berona when you arrive, in answer to your comment about being on FB half an hour after saying good night here, I think I may have said I had other thing's to do when I was leaving, I sometime's leave GR and do go on FB to catch up with grand daughter's post or other people's :))

Diane

Too late Diane - you can't talk your way out of it with Berona:-))

My dear uncle who turned 90 this year has the broadest West Yorkshire accent. It almost sounds like he's putting in on:-))

Amanda - I'm going to try not to look at the plants or pots. I think I'll be in trouble if I bring home another plant:-))

S x

Sorry OH wanted the laptop

I went to a council meeting last night and they announced that they are closing the present TIC.
In the centre of the market place there is a modern toilet block which they are going to close down because they also have toilets near the coach park. They are going to spend £46K to convert the toilet block into a retail unit. They are going to give it to the TIC for an initial period of three years. In the first year they will give us £6400 to offset the rate and utility bills, they will also charge no rent. After that we will be expected to be self-sufficient. At first they mentioned a peppercorn rent, but then that changed to a negotiated rent.

Looking at all the costs involved, we would probably have to triple the amount of goods we sell. Plus at the moment, they employ a full time manager who works all year round and also pay other staff during the high season, who run the place along side all the volunteers. This is not a little kiosk we are talking about, but a full sized shop. It will need so much organisation, but there are only four of us who are willing to try and see what can be achieved. There would have to be some sort of not for profit or charitable organisation set up, which would involve a huge amount of work which non of us are qualified to do

I have no idea what the outcome is going to be, they keep mentioning the four other tourist offices in the council area which were demoted to tourist information points a few years ago. They are much smaller set ups, in tiny shed like buildings which more or less just give out leaflets, they are not full scale retail outlets. It is all very difficult

Sue .....I'm glad that your neighbour was able to meet some of his family before he passed away . My friend was also a Barnardos boy , we have discovered that his birth Mother married twice after he was born , she passed away in the late 70s ( aged only 50 ish ) , unfortunatly he will never know who his Father was and I believe his birth was unknown to any family that followed . He has at least been given by his one of his half brothers a few photos of his Mum ( he really looks like her too ) .

I think it is great that you have helped your friend in that way Amanda

Diane I think the Liverpool accent is great - we don't hear it very often here, but I'm always pleased when I do - I used to have some friends from Liverpool, great bunch, and very funny sense of humour. We mostly hear the West Midlands and Birmingham accents here. Liverpudlians seem to favour the North coast, Llandudno, Colwyn Bay, Rhyl areas.

Sue I', sure you will find lots of things in the garden centre - I know I would.

Tec.

Tec, i am a Geordie, I was born very close to Blaydon, as in the Blaydon races song. I moved away when i was about nine, so I don't have a Geordie accent.
Like Diane, I am always amazed by my voice on the answer phone, I suppose I do have a northern accent, but it is not all that strong

Lol Sue, bad thing us all adding each other on there, can't get away with anything can I.
Will you be treating yourself to anything other than a plant?

Amanda as we get older we would be silly to attempt to shift furniture with it's content's still in them, I came unstuck some yrs ago when I tried to move the couch the way I did when I was younger 20'/30, I jolted my back (Ouch) and swore I'd slide it next time instead of the lift method.

Diane

Welsh is part of the school curriculum in junior schools now.
Far different from the 'Welsh Not ' eh Tec !

When I was in Junior school we had a Welsh teacher come in once a week I think it was experimental as not all schools in the area did it.
I earned 6 old pence to learn how to say
Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch... the name of a village on Anglsey where my bil now lives !

Hi Amanda~~
Hope your meeting went well, glad your tooth is not giving so much pain and that you have an apt with your dentist, you must get it sorted.

Hello Linda , it really does sound like quite a dilemma and an awful lot of work . Do you think it could possibly work as a reasonably large retail outlet ? Is there a lot of competition in your area for " holiday gift " type things ? I know when I am on holiday I often head for the tourist information shops for presents to take home .

Linda that is very disappointing re the TIC, and the new arrangement sounds very complicated to me. At least something will be functioning in your area, whichever way it's done, unlike here where they've closed down the lot, and suddenly overnight.

Tec.