General Chat

Happy Birthday Fiona, I hope it's a good one!

<3 <3 <3 <3 <3HAPPY BIRTHDAY FIONA <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

HOPE ITS A GREAT DAY FOR YOU.

Morning all and evening Kim,

It is pelting it down here today and really grey and miserable and cold.

Last night I was sitting watching An Inspector Calls when the leccy went out. At first I thought it was thunder and lightening but no. I could'nt for the life of me turn the switch back on in the cupboard. After about 12 tries and a very sore thumb I woke oh as I was worried about the fish in the pool again. He came out very bleary eyed and tried the switch and he could'nt do it either. He then had to try all the other switches to see which one it was that was doding the dirty on us. In the end it was something to do with the electrics we have to the pool at the moment so they had to stay all night without their pump going but it was pouring with rain so I exspect that helped a bit.

No Gill you don't really want to live in a tourists area. Its bad enough trying to park in Bideford in the tourist season let alone the places near the sea although Bideford is near the sea its really on the river if you know what I mean. You can get a boat to Lundy Island from Bideford Quay. We've been there twice now the first time it was to ring the bells in the church there to raise money to buy a cow for poor countries and the second time was just a visit with a couple of friends also ringers but no ringing that day.

Afternoon all

We've had a few rain showers so far today but nothing to bad.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY FIONA, HOPE YOU HAVE A LOVELY DAY <3 <3 <3

Everyone is being so helpful, thank you. I've been trying to find somewhere suitable for the 3 of us to move to, but the prices of property down south compared to where I live now are so high, that I've not been able to find anything yet. We might have to move to a neighbouring county as a cheaper option for now. Although the weather doesn't sound to good down there Mel, you seem to have more rain than we do LOL.

Sorry to hear the pump is tripping your leccy out Mel, hope your OH can fix it. It's going to be a horrible job in the rain though.

Good luck with your glasses Frank. With a bit of luck you'll be sorted later today and will be able to see properly again.
We will be trying to keep away from places that are to touristy. We prefer the country rather than the coast anyway. I remember when we lived in Colwyn Bay, when the silly season, as we called it, came round it was terrible to park and don't get me started on the queues in the food shops, it took us ages to buy the weekly shop. Don't fancy going through all that again.

We're on the home stretch of the ceiling now, thank goodness, and have to sand it all to make it as smooth as we can, then I'm hoping to fill in all the cracks and dips so OH can hopefully start painting on Wednesday. OH is at his mates at the moment so I'm trying to sand it by hand. I think I'll ask OH to do it with his electric sander as my arms are aching. I think I'm going to need two or three baths later to clean off all the dust I'm covered in LOL

I've decided if he's going to do that then I will have to move the furniture out of the hall or it will be covered in dust, even with the door shut. So that's the next job on the list for today, then I'll go back to sanding by hand again until OH gets home later ;-)

Hope Jane and Chris are enjoying their hols <3
BBL

I've just emptied the cupboard in the hall and moved the hi-fi we had in there, the cupboard can stay. I'll just clean it once the sanding's finished.

Going to get a cuppa now, then get back to some more sanding ;-)

Afternoon all,

<3 <3 <3 Happy Birthday Fiona <3 <3 <3
Hope you are enjoying your special day and have had lots of cards and presents .

Funny sort of day here sunshine one minute and then it's pouring with rain even though it's still nice and bright !!

Mel, what a to do with the leccy ,hope OH can get the pump going for the fish ,it must be a job when it goes out and your left in the dark ,do you keep a torch handy in case ?

Hope you can get your glasses sorted today Frank, have the nose clips broken completely on your old ones ? you can have new ones fitted on the glasses .

Not long to wait now then Pat ,you'll have a very busy week ahead packing all your things up ready for the move .
Don't forget to give us your new address .

So your still plodding on with the ceiling getting all the glue off then Gill, i hope you have a mask to wear you don't want to be breathing in all that dust especially the dust from the glue !!don't breath that in !!

Off shopping soon just need a few bits but i always come home with extras !! :-D

Afternoon All,

:-) <3HAPPY BIRTHDAY FIONA <3 :-) I hope you are enjoying your 60th......and joining us 'over 60 folk ' on here!! You'll be ticking different boxes on the age groups on forms now!

It was fine here earlier but we keep getting drizzly rain now. OH has just gone off to the cemetry to see where his mum's ashes will be scattered and then to the funeral place. Because of the rain, he put his navy blue gaberdine 'FLASHER' mac on as we both call it. Without thinking what I was saying, (as usual!) I said to him that 'they hang out in places like that don't they'. Well, he spluttered 'pardon', then burst out laughing like I haven't seen him do for ages. LOL. :-D He was still chuckling as he walked up the drive. :-) When he's finished doing that, he's meeting an estate agent at his parents' house to get a probate valuation.

Thank you Pat. and I'm sure it will as everything seems to have been sorted now. It sounds like it's all systems go at your new place now and that things are moving on quickly at last. At least the rain won't hold them up now. I bet you will be surprised how much you can get in the van after you've taken stuff in the trips with your car. It must have been hard saying goodbye to your friends, but with the internet I expect you'll still be in touch.

I thought I might find it quite hard moving after 23 years from a far bigger place I lived in on my own as I had to part with so many things and was used to quite a big garden and had made it all just how I wanted. But I remember waking up here the first morning and thinking of all the good things like less bills, less maintenance, less HW and more time to keep a smaller garden nice and be sitting in it more than looking after it. I must say I still think the same and have no regrets. I bet Liz finds her new place easier to look after too.

I hope you get some glasses sorted Frank, they aren't something you can do without are they.

The dust will get everywhere Gill and settle for a few days so you'll be needing a damp duster to mop it up. I bet you'll both be glad to finish that ceiling!! I have been to Cockington many, many years ago and that is a really pretty cottage.

Well, I can hear rumbles of thunder here now so will get going as I'm off to look at a factory shop just up the motorway. The sandals I thought were black when I looked at them in the wardrobe and might wear on wednesday turned out to be a very dark blue when I saw them in the light, so I might find something suitable in black there. I have plenty of shoes if not so there's no pressure!!

Yes Mandy I was wearing a mask and I had safety glasses on but had to take the glasses off because each time I breathed it went up the mask and inside the glasses and steamed them up so I couldn't see what I was doing :-D :-D :-D :-D

OH is home now and is using his electric sander, he is also wearing a mask. He said it should only take him a couple of hours to do, so when he's finished I will go back in there and clean away all the dust, then I can get the filler on the cracks we found under the tiles. Some small parts of the ceiling have gone into holes so I'll have to fill them too. It only takes 24 hours to dry so my OH will be able to paint the room on Wednesday. I do need to wallpaper one wall before that though, but at least he can paint the ceiling as we have picture frames around the room so it won't effect the wall I need to wallpaper. He can then paint the walls once the paper has dried. OH is back in work a week tomorrow so hopefully it'll all be finished with the furniture back in, before he's back in work.

Enjoy your shopping Mandy, I'm the same, I go out for one or two things and come back with one or two BAGS :-D

Just having a drink then I'm going to watch a couple of programmes with Sandra, there's no point in me running a bath just yet until I have cleaned the room of dust.
BBL

It must of been so nice to hear Gordon laugh again Ann. He sounds a bit more relaxed now. Good job you noticed your shoes were blue, hope you find a nice black pair for Wednesday.

OH has just stopped for a drink so I've taken a little peek at the room and it's looking good, he's done twice as much as me which took me all morning to do and has taken OH less than an hour, so it won't be long before it's all finished and ready for me to fill in the holes.

You're right Ann, I will have to use a damp cloth to get rid of all the dust, which will probably take a few days, repeating the process. Just when you think it's all gone, it's back again, but at least the room is almost finished. OH and I have had enough of it all now and will be glad when it's all done. It'll be nice to get all the furniture, ornaments and pictures back where they belong. Our place has been upside down for almost 6 months with all the decorating and sorting we've done, but it's looking good now and will be even better once this final room is done.

We were hoping to go sofa shopping but I think that might have to wait for another day when OH has some more time off. Hopefully he'll get a free day in a week or two so we can go then.

Going to check on the dinner now, I've decided to make a lamb casserole with the left over lamb from yesterday, there was quite a bit so it might be enough for a couple of days. Not bad 7 meals out of one half leg of lamb. OH doesn't like casserole so he'll have to have something else :-) but Sandra and I love it

I've just posted for over half hour and knocked the mouse on the floor and lost the lot again.

It's been so windy and heavy rain here today. At one time it blew the pond liner up and into the pond so oh and I had to go and get it out again as the water was going over the top of it and draining away!! Too wet for him to do anything on the pond today so he has bleached the new big round filter and flushed it through a few times.

I hav'nt done much today just went up to get the recyling bin in which was upside down over the other side of the road as usual, soaking wet and it had to go on top of the chicken food sacks in the boot. As I had opened the door out blew a couple of sheets of plenty roll so I wiped the bottom of the box with those and put it onthe bag in the poly sack. Oh got it out of the bot when I arrived back and emptied the two sacks in their bins. I then corned the big girls and on the way back to get the bantams corn I had just come out of his workshop when it fell out the sky. I hadto stand in our porch for about 5 mins till it pasted.

I have now made a big apple and blackberry crumble which is now in the oven. The steak, carrot and onion has been bubbling away for a couple of hours so a nice easy din dins tonight. I shall bung some new pots inwith the meat and some dough boys and that will be a meal in one sausepan and not much washing up.

Hope you get y our black shoes Ann or sandles. Just as well you had a look at the others in a better light than find they were blue on the day. Nice to hear G is laughing again. He must be feeling more relaxed now everything is taking shape house wise.

Well I had better go and do a bit of ironing for today to keep the pile down.

I can now smell the crumble cooking and it does smell good.

Have any of you been watching the program on Channel 4 called the Time Crashers?It has been quite entertaining with celebs living in different times of years gone by.

The leccy that caused the trouble was an extention lead oh was using to the pool. He just changed it for another one and it was ok then.

Oh dear Ann i had to laugh at the Flasher Mac :-D :-D it's nice that you can get OH laughing again .
Have you managed to get some black footwear this afternoon ?

Got the shopping and as usual came home with more than i had on my list ,hubby came with me as we had to call at the merchants too and order three new interior doors for here .there was a good offer on and we have been looking for new doors for a while now ,nice Oak doors that come with handles and hinges all included in the deal so that's a job for hubby when he gets a rainy day .
So with the shopping and the doors it was an expensive afternoons spending .

Gill, hubby says if you huff on the safety glasses before you put them on they shouldn't steam up !!

Glad OH got the problems with leccy sorted out Mel, ohhhhhh Crumble ,save some for me :-D
Got the family coming for tea on Thursday so i might do a nice Crumble with custard for pud .
No i haven't seen the Time Crashers i meant to have a look at it but i forgot all about it ,will have to get it on catch up.

Looks more like rain now there's lots of black clouds about ,hubby has just lit the wood burner as it's really chilly now.

Have another go Frank , i bet there was a few choice words muttered :-0 :-D :-D

The rooms all sanded now. OH looked like a snowman, he was absolutely covered in dust. I run him a bath so he's nice and clean now. I will do the filling on the ceiling tomorrow then it should be dry enough for OH to paint on Wednesday.

I was going to make an apple crumble earlier but was so covered in dust that I had to have a bath then ran out of time after drying and straightening my hair. So I'm hoping to make it tomorrow instead.

I watch the Time Crashers Mel, isn't it good. The first one had me in stitches with laughter, the way the two men warmed up their masters bed and the comments they made about it was so funny. Wasn't so keen on what the cooks had to do with all those animals though. Wasn't the one with the jelly funny, again I couldn't stop laughing. I haven't seen the one from last night yet as Sandra's big brother was on at the same time, so I recorded it and will watch it tomorrow if I get the time.
Lucky your OH worked out it was just the extension lead and he's change it now

Oh not again Frank, try again and this time be careful not to knock the mouse.

What is "Huff" Mandy? You said your OH said to huff on the safety glasses to stop them steaming up. Sorry I've never heard of this expression before :-S

It's pouring with rain here now, good job OH cut the grass yesterday ;-)

Oh i thought everyone knew huff perhaps it's just this way we say it :-D
Huff means to breath on the glasses huff them up until they are steamed up . :-)

Oh I see Mandy, it makes sense now LOL Say thanks to him for me please. Off to watch the second corrie now <3

Yes Mandy, I huff on my glasses and then give them a good rub to clean them!!I it works a treat!
Gill, did you get my email. I'm not sure that it went through properly, so if not, I'll send it again!

Sorry Liz my emails are completely separate from anything else on my laptop and I hadn't checked them today. I now have and I'm made up with it. Thank you so much for all your help.

It's absolutely pouring down here, I'm looking at the window and it's like being in a car wash :-D :-D :-D OH had gone to the pub and got caught in it on his way home, so now he's soaked. He's only been in a few minutes so I'll show him your email when he's had a cuppa.

Thanks again <3

All this talk of crumbles is making my mouth water!! lol.

I didn't get any sandals.......most seemed to have been put in a big cardboard box to put away for winter....so shoes it is!

We had a lot of thunder and downpours this afternoon. I got soaked just crossing the road to the shop. It sounds like you had more wind than us Mel, but it's good your OH got the pump working again and that you spotted what happened with the liner!

I missed Time Crashers so will have to watch it on the iplayer. I can't remember if I've already said but we really enjoyed An Inspector calls.

Your new doors sound nice Mandy. I saw some oak ones I liked in a telly prog the other day. They were like planks side by side in a wooden frame and very smooth. Mine are stripped pine that came out a light oak colour, but have a few cracks in them that aren't that noticable with the wood grain thank goodness. I must try huffing on my glasses before I open the oven door!

Gosh you talking about huffing on your glasses before opening the oven door. I HAVE TO LOOK away when I open my top oven dorr as I can't see a thing with all th esteam that comes out. A friend of mine told me to shake my head from side to side to clear your glasses but with what comes out of mine thats no good.

Just about to watch Time Crashers if I can get the blsted box to stay on. I am on the right channel so fingers crossed it will work.

I'm still being good.

Hello All,

I've been keeping up with the postings although I forget things in no time!

Thanks to all who sent pictures - Jane's daughter and her friends were beautiful bridesmaids. William and Carmel smooching in broad daylight; and the gorgeous garden that Anne and G visited. Also, thanks to Gill for the picture of that saucy squirrel.

I hope you do get to move down to Devon Gill. You had mentioned it before so I know it's where you both would like to be. It might be advisable to rent somewhere first to be certain of the area and the job. I hope you don't have any asbestos tile in your house. I'm sure you would know if you had. So your daughter is well and truly independent now. She has made her own life and now she has a boyfriend, that is where she wants to be. It's actually a good thing that she can take care of herself and probably doesn't even realize how hurtful she is being. Give her time - she'll come back to being her old self again.

Anne, I am glad that your M-I-L is finally our of pain, but sorry that it had to be. We only have one mum and dad and it's so sad to lose them.

Is it usual for a funeral to be such a long time after a person dies? It's usually three or four days in this country. I will be thinking of you both on Wednesday.

Much has happened here during this very hot and dry summer.
(the weather is finally cooling a little, but still no rain). We are in a SEVERE drought.

My daughter has had a hip replacement and is doing very well, but not allowed to drive yet. One of her daughters (my grand-daughter) had an accident and lost two of her toes. The stitches should come out this week, but it will take some time to heal.

I am doing a "Pat" - downsizing. Have been considering it for a long time, and it is finally going to happen. I called 3 builders to see if they were interested in doing the job, and have had all the figures back from one of them at this time. I will tell you more later.

I hope your birthday was good Fiona and hope you enjoyed meeting your new Australian friends.