General Chat

I only have one person on my tree who died in WW1 most of mine were coal miners so stayed here, or they were the wrong age

It's heartbreaking, Tec. All those families left without their loved one. My grandmother didn't remember her father as she was only two when he died. She looked on her stepfather as her father.

My father's cousin was only 19 and an only child. My father's uncle received a letter from him saying he was in hospital but all was well. The day after receiving the letter a telegram was delivered say he had died of an infection in his hand.

May they all rest in peace.

I am watching the service as well. I put the light out at 10pm, but then Eve's dad walked in and put it on again. He didn't even know that it is the anniversary of the start of the war. He does now and the light is out again

If you had asked we would have cut your hair Tec. We do hair as well as Wisteria you know :-D

I hope you enjoy your time with your daughter, it will be nice to get out a bit

Time spent with my daughter is very precious to me :-)

My Gt Grandfather's brother died on the Somme.

The Duchess's Gt Uncle emigrated to Brisbane from his small Welsh village in 1912.
At the outbreak of WW1 he joined the Australian Army, and sailed from Albany for Gallipoli - he survived that, and turned up in Port Said in hospital with piles.
He got back to Wales and visited his mother.
Later sent to Northern England and sent to France with the British Army.
He died in France in 1918 not long before the war ended.
RIP Edward Williams.

How lovely for you to spend some time with you daughter. I'm sure the feeling is mutual and she enjoys being with you.

My great grandfather and my father's cousin were killed on the Somme. They were only two of so many lives lost. May they all rest in peace.

Good Morning Sue,

Doing up old houses can be fun, as well as frustrating, in that one job leads to many others, but if you take your time and have a sense of humour, it all comes right eventually.

I have been watching the services commemorating the start of WW1 exactly 100 years today.
Dreadful waste of lives on all sides...........
The War To End All Wars they said.

Oh dear - I hope little Esme will settle as it cools off.

Been another nice day here, warm but with a breeze.

I am off to the artificial limb centre tomorrow with Archie. It is a month since they let us loose on the world. So this is a monthly review to monitor progress. I think I have made some progress.
My daughter is picking me up and bringing me home. She is staying for a couple of days. Hopefully she will take me for a much needed haircut at last, and then we will visit the Duchess on Wednesday.
I am looking forward to spending some time with my daughter. Maybe we will go out for dinner tomorrow evening.

Hello :-D

Poor Esme.....and poor you if she isn't happier tomorrow :-(

It's good if you can see potential in a house. OH's cousin's son and DIL have bought a beautiful old house. Looks very grand from the outside but inside there is so much work to do. They have just put a new kitchen in and a downstairs shower room. Luckily OH's cousin is a retired builder so he has much experience to advise and help them.

Phew it is humid down here. Esme won't settle and is crying all the time, so the Calpol has just been wheeled out, looks like a bad night in store. I hope she is OK tomorrow.

Linda - The house that your son has bought sounds exactly like this house was when we bought it. Except that this one was a homage to the 1950s.


Property in this area has always been expensive because of its coastal location. The options at the time were little old stone cottages, very pretty, but not for us, or huge houses way beyond our means. Then we saw this stately old lady, who though had seen better times, we fell in love with, warts and all.

A very elderly lady had lived here forever, and nothing had been changed since the 50s.
The house wanted the roof repaired as it was leaking water. It needed a complete re-wire, damp course, lead pipes removed, and re-plumbing.
There was no heating, except two coal fires.
Hot water was from a lethal Rayburn installed in 1926.
As lovely as the original sash windows were, they desperately needed replacing.

The kitchen and bathroom were a monument to a bygone age. There was a nice old rolled top bath, with lion claw feet, that was actually in good condition. Apart from being huge, it was too high for the Duchess to get in and out of.
I dismantled the lathe and plaster wall in the separate toilet and made the toilet and bathroom into one big room.

The porch that is built onto the kitchen was like a shed. You stepped down steep steps onto a concrete yard. I completely re-vamped that with a timber floor, double glazed front, and a new roof. Now used as a sort of utility room housing washing machine, tumble dryer, and chest freezer - and lots of plants :-D.

I did much of the work myself, including installing the heating system on three floors. It took several years to get the house to its present state, and seriously dented my bank balance - there is still work that could be done - but not by me.

No regrets, except that I wish we had been younger when we started.

Your son is young, and I'm sure excited about the project ahead. Eventually, he and his partner will end up with a beautiful home, and it will all have been worth it.
Good luck to them. He is a lucky lad to have his dad to help him.
:-)

Sounds like fun, Linda......seriously :-D

I get the train later this afternoon Sylvia. I do get a week off from baby sitting duties next week because they are going away for a weeks holiday with the other grandparents.

I don't get to stay at home though because we are going camping in my sons new house. He is just about to buy his first house, the legal formalities finish this Thursday. It needs totally gutting as it is currently a homage to the sixties. The patterned carpets and wallpaper are a sight to behold. They don't need to be out of their current rented house until Sept 12th so we are going to strip the carpets out, strip the walls etc. before they move in. It is an hour and a half from where they currently live so we are just camping on air beds.

I think they will be living upstairs after they move in because they are having the downstairs rooms knocked into one large one. There is no heating, the electrics need renewing and apart from a sink there is no kitchen. Oh we are also going to remove a stud wall in the kitchen.

They got it for a very low price and despite the money needed to be spent on it, they won't have spent anywhere like the amount that other houses in the street are selling for. OH is expecting to be spending quite a lot of time down there.

Just as a matter of interest .................... the building behind my grandmother, with the balconies and Italianate look was the Royal Northern Sea Bathing Infirmary and Convalescent Home, built on Foreshore Road ca 1860, although it was originally founded about 1812.


This building is still there, Grade II listed, although no longer used as a hospital



Scarborough was bombarded by German ships in 1914, and the RNSBI was hit and damaged. Fortunately, no-one was hurt, which was lucky as there were injured Belgian and English servicemen being cared for.

sorry ................... coffee called :-)



This hot weather is now in its 5th week, with just a break on July 23 and 24 when it dropped down to around 19C

Apart from those 2 days, the temperature has been averaging a high of 28/29C in the shade in my back garden since the end of June


and there's just been a piddling little bit of rain.



Tec .............. like you, I much prefer cold weather, I can dress for that or tiurn up the heating!

I really do not do well in hot weather.


We also use mugs ............... even for tea :-)


Sue ... glad to hear Mickey came home. Do you think someone borrowed him, and then returned him when they had finished whatever they were doing?





I thought I would change my avatar, for another summery photo :-D



Linda .......... do you return down south tomorrow?? If so, safe trip xx

Goodnight - sleep well <3 <3

I thought you weren't going to let on about that party Sue :-D

I had a wonderful time - what I remember of it :-D

I'm off to bed now,

Have a good night Linda, are you off to London tomorrow?

Enjoy your day Sue - keep an eye on Mickey :-D

Goodnight,
Tec :-)

I wondered why it wasn't very clean when I got it out :-|

Goodnight <3

I love old teasets but they don't seem to be used anymore - more's the pity.

We did find your best china when we had a party at your house when you were away :-D

I will say goodnight now, I didn't sleep very well last night, so hopefully I can catch up tonight

You are right about that Linda - I have seen some beautiful tea sets sold at auction for just a few pounds.

The same thing bought in a London store would be very expensive