General Chat

Wet morning here, but it's stopped raining now. It's not cold that's one good thing. Like you Mel, we keep bags in the car and very rarely get them from the supermarket. I think charging for them is a good idea, it might make people a bit more thoughtful about discarding them so haphazardly!
Not doing anything interesting today. OH is carrying on with tidying up his workshop, who knows what will turn up that has been 'lost' for years!!!! I can't bear it when OH swears blind that he put something in a certain place and then, surprise surprise it's not there!! Bearing in mind that he almost certainly put it down somewhere, it's hardly surprising! He knows better than to blame me though, he does that at his peril!!
I haven't had any trouble getting onto Genes, but I know people on other threads have complained. Incidentally, Gill, if you want a good forum for family research, I'd try RootsChat, I've found it brilliant, and most of my research has come via this forum. Although I hate to say it, it's much better than Genes, and it's completely free, which must be a bonus!!!!

Morning all

Raining here today, so just doing the shopping and maybe call at my mum's later if she's in. No work in the garden today which is good as my shoulders are sore.

The painting I did yesterday looks good, or SMASHING as Sandra puts it LOL......That seems to be her new word and she uses it all the time, bless her. The one thing I did notice is that it now shows the rest of the fences up and the back gate and garage so OH is buying some more paint today then I can do everything else once the weather improves.

Thanks for reminding us that we have to pay for the plastic carrier bags now Mel, luckily I have quite a few in the bungalow so will be taking them with me when I go shopping later.

I've just had the Agent on the phone, they are trying to get in touch with the lady who came for the viewing the other day, but haven't heard back from her yet, they said they will keep trying. Apparently the lady did see other properties, so the Agent thinks she might still be in discussion with her sister as to what she wants to do next. Hopefully they'll hear from her soon then we'll get our feedback. Not sure, with the Agent not hearing from the lady, if that's good or bad, so I'll just have to wait and see what happens.

I've got the Agents son and a lady called Louise, who are the ones instructed to sell our bungalow, coming round tomorrow to take a look at our place for themselves. They said they do this so they can sell our property better. I think that's a good idea. None of the other Agents we've had have done that, but like OH said "How can they sell something they've never seen". So it does make sense why they would want to see it for themselves.

Going to get a cuppa now then nip to the shops, it's just stopped raining, so hopefully it'll stay that way until we get home.
BBL

Good morning everyone who has welcomed me to this thread.

It was Harry's hop picking memories who prompted me to post.

As the hop vines were always pulled across the bins so it was easy to pick from no matter how tall you were. My mum never worked outside the home apart from this yearly job which she really enjoyed as everyone was very chatty.

Things I remember which may have been mentioned before. ABC minors our cinema had an organ which used to come up from the floor with coloured lights and we would sing along to the music, Also when sweets were on ration we used to get liquorice tasting sticks from the green grocers, which did look like tree sticks and we would chew on them.

Hope I haven't gone on too long , wishing the rain would stop so I can take my Boxer, Amy for her daily walk in Swinley forest which is just over the road from us;

Excuse me if there are any errors as one of my 3 cats keeps trying to sit on the keyboard

Anne

Sorry Liz I missed your post, thanks for the advice on RootsChat I'll take a look later.

I remember untangling balls of wool for my mum Mel and once it was untangled she used to put her hands up while I wrapped it around her hands, not sure why she ask me to wind it around her hands as she then put it into a ball, but I'm sure she had her reasons LOL.

OH's waiting to take me to the shops so I'd better finish my cuppa and get off
See you all later <3

Morning all Evening Kim,

Wet and horrible here also today. The heating came on this morning so it must have turned cooler.

Tony has just bought the picture back, reframed in the new GOLD one. It makes it look so much better. Now I will have to get my hammer and hooks out and hang it where MADAM wants it. I think kit needs fo be able to catch the sunlight to show it off better.

Mel, I use to sit with the scans (sp) of wool over my arms, while mum rolled it into a ball for knitting Also Dad use to make rugs on a canvas backing, His wool was bound round a piece of wood with a slot down the edge. When the wool was cut it was the right length for him to put the hook through the canvas to make the knot. The hours he spent doing that. He made a stair carpet, hall carpet, slip mats for all the doors. He also made bedside rugs for all the bedroom.

We had a very nice meal at J & C we sat down about 6.30 pm and came home in time for Downton Abbey. I was in bed by 10.30 pm and still awake when Ros came in at 12,45 am. I was up making tea before 7.00

All your jobs done now Gill. Now just sit back and wait for a buyer. Have you looked on line to see what type of area you are likely to rent in Devon.While you look around to buy.???

Ros has so many of those BIG bags in her car, she could supple the neighbourhood !!! They are all sorts including COLD BAGS for her frozen foods. So it is very rare she asks for a plastic bag.

It's John's birthday next week, so Ros is buying him a pair of white hydrangea she saw in the paper yesterday. Carolyn's ordering them as she wants some other things as well. She will have them all delivered here, so he won't know anything about them.

I have had THREE large cups of tea and my BACON sarnie. cooked in my new stone pan that Ros bought at the weekend No oil needed, and an egg just slides out of the pan. When I asked the price, she said I'm not telling you. That means it was expensive !!!

Off to get dressed and hang my picture. See you later.

Hi Everyone, Hello Kim.

WOW it's chilly this morning and it's raining. Brrrr :-

Oh in the garden clearing up pots and clipping back the blackcurrant bushes, and taking it all to the skip, I don't need to go out today , so have cleaned cooker and work surfaces, I was going to wash the Kitchen floor but really can't be bothered , don't want to get tired, so will leave it to do tomorrow when HO is at work.

Getting on well with my Family Tree Chart, it's a good way to see what else I need to research which information I still need , I have people's names of Generations going back , but finding dates etc in very time consuming,

I used to have 3 cats Anne, they are funny creatures aren't they? Always getting into everything, or hunting like Jane's cat Thomas does. Hope the weather improves for you, so you can take Amy for her walk.

Glad to hear you're getting on well with your chart Fiona. Did the chart link I put on here help with working out how your hubby and children fit in? Yes finding dates can be quite time consuming and the further back you go the harder it becomes. I'm sure you'll get there in the end though.

Nice to hear you had a good night out last night Frank, I guess you're feeling a bit better today? I'd like to see a photo of the picture now it's in it's gold frame. I bet it looks much better and will now fit in with all your other pictures?

OH has to see if he can get a transfer to Devon before we decide which part we will buy in. Sadly his new boss's sister has just passed away so he's waiting to ask her about it as she's off work at the moment. If we don't move to Devon at the moment, as everything seems to be a lot more expensive down there than here, then we'll stay around here for a short time and save, then we can move down south at a later date. At least if we sell this place the charge on the deeds won't be a problem anymore.

It's still not raining here after the downpour we had this morning and the sun is trying to come out so OH is outside power washing the drive and down the side of the bungalow where I painted yesterday, ready for the Agents son arriving tomorrow. I didn't realise how mucky the drive was until I saw it on the brochure, so once it's clean and the weather is sunny again I'm going to ask the Agent to come back and take another photo of the front of the bungalow.

OH cleaned the patio at the back and that look lovely so hopefully once he's finished the front and side of the bungalow it will all look good and all our jobs will finally be finished before the winter sets in.

I did notice yesterday that the big side gate needs replacing as it's starting to rot now. It's wooden and we had it made about 7 years ago just after we moved in, so it's lasted longer than I thought it would. We're just waiting to see if this lady's sister wants to buy this place before we have the gate replaced as it's not cheap with it being 7ft x 7ft and we don't want to waste money if we're not going to be here.

Going to watch Downton Abbey now I recorded last night while OH is outside and Sandra is watching her programs in the other room.

See you later

Yes Gill thanks for your help xx <3 <3

Nice to see you again Anne. Where abouts do you live please?

Amy sounds lovely have you had her a long time? and what are the cats names please? Welike to know all these things as we are a bit of a nosy lots!! :-D It just gives us a better picture of you.

Off to let the bantams out now and corn the big girls.

Just lost a posting AGAIN.

Hi Anne, are you the "ANNE OF CLEVES" ?? if so I have spoken with you on other threads. !!

It's DARK out now, We have had rain (drizzle certainly won't be going e) all day long. The table lamps have been on all day, and the heating is on now. I certainly won't be going out tonight. There is no football on that I want to watch.

The new picture is in it's new position now. I will take a photo in daylight, when I hope the sunlight will make it look better.

I think there were 5 postings between 10.54 and 11.15 this morning. That's why I missed Anne !!

Ros has been quilting all day, the sewing machine hasn't stopped.

I have got lamb cutlets and all various veg in a Mediteranian (sp) herb. dressing. They are all roasting away and should be ready anytime soon.

I had better get off and check things.

¨‘°ºOO.o°¨‘°ºOO.o° I'm forever blowing bubbles........¨‘°ºOO.o°¨‘°ºOO.o°

Evening All

Well after a very long day yesterday with Janice ,Larry and Fitz I never did managed to get back here.We had a lovely day and sat out until just before 5 when it got a bit nippy.
Fitz told us he is going to be a Grandad in April :-D.He had to keep it under his hat until the first 3 months were over.So he was very good to keep his promise.

All the food I did went down treat plus several bottles of wine.Chris and i feel a bit on the weary side today but that may well have something to do with a bit of over indulgence lol

So I see Anne is an animal lover :-D..3 cats and a dog must keep you busy Anne !!!
I have Thomas a Black and Whilte long haired cat who turned up in our garden back at the end of May.He is a dear but such a hunter.We dread wondering what he will bring home.I tried to find where he might have come from but with no success so he is now microchipped and vaccinated .Luckily he had been neutered at some time.

I had a Black Jack this morning and Chris had a Fruit Salad :-D :-D..I don't know why but just these 2 sweets came free in a parcel he had delivered..Now it makes me want to go and find some more .The Black Jack was delicious :-D :-D
I loved those wooden sticks that tasted of liquorice too.You could chew one for days.

Ooh Ann six weeks isn't long to get the house sold now is it.I know we deferred Mums payments until her bungalow was sold .I don't remember know how long the home waited but I don't seem to remember a time limit.I do hope that once you get your In-Laws house up for sale ,that it will be a quick sale.

Frank I bet the painting will look smashing now in it's new gold frame and hanging in your lounge :-D

What a horrible miserable day it has been.Really dark and dreary wit hthat fine rain.I am just so thankful that yesterday the sun shone all day.

Mandy it sounded like OH had a lovely Birthday yesterday..Belated wishes to him from me.

I think it is today 3 yrs ago that little Williams's Mummy died :-( Poor little boy will never remember her.My Sister was just saying yesterday that she and Larry have been his main carers now since he was just 3 months old.But now he is going to Nursery a couple of days a week the pressure is off a bit.His Dad picks him up after he finishes work each day .I don't know what he would have done really if Janice and Larry hadn't been there.

Chris went for one of his walks this morning and came home with a load of Conkers for me to put around the rooms (to try and keep the spiders away !! ).I do it each year but am never really sure who well it works...It's worth trying though :-D..My goodness I have seen some right big whoppers lately :-S

Ha Ha !! Thomas has just arrived looking like a drowned rat !!!!..He has sticky burr things in his big fluffy tail so he has been on the range.I am not going to let him out again tonight.So will have to get his litter tray out now.He is very good and doesn't use it very often at night..When, he has it is just for a wee and nothing else.(so far)

James is late in.He will need dinner and then a really early night as tomorrow he will be up at some unearthly hour for his work trip to Germany tomorrow.He says he will only be there for about 5 hours before flying back again !!!!!!!!.It makes me feel tired just thinking of it.

I hope Shirl can work out how to get back on to the right page here..She has been missed..COME ON SHIRL :-D :-D

I hope that Ruby hasn't been affected by the dreadful flooding in South Carolina.I think it was Charlston but I don't know how far she lives from there...It looked really bad :-S :-S

So no more plastic bags.I did remember this morning and took plenty of bags with me.
I should do what Ros does and keep a load in the boot of my car.

Need to check on the oven now

Where's Jane today???????

Here Mel you just missed me LOL :-D :-D :-D

Evening all,

It's been a dreary old day ,fine first thing but the rain soon started with a fine drizzle and now it's really coming down ,did you see all the rain they had in France ? 7 inches in three hours !!

Nice to see Anne is with us ,three cats and a dog must keep you busy ,how nice to have the forest just over the road to walk the dog .

Gosh Ann, you'll have to move to get the house sorted in six weeks !! you know you can get those skips that the end opens up makes it so much easier to fill as you can just walk the stuff in rather than having to get heavy stuff over the side and they hold more as they can be bigger than a normal skip.

Frank i bet the picture looks nice with the new frame ,is Ros pleased with it ?

Mel :-S :-S why are you blowing bubbles :-S

Oh i meant to say on our news tonight there was a couple who had lost over £10,000 worth of koi carp over the last four months , 50 of their prized fish killed and eaten - including one "pet" Big Bertha they had for 32 years ........what got them ..... an Otter .

I meant to mention my Scrumping Days.Me and my friend Anne did plenty.We did paper rounds with those big bags.So each place we delivered papers to that had an orchard apples would disappear into these large bags :-D.
I also remember taking a jumper off ,tying the ends of the sleeves and filling the arms up with the apples.We would then go down the woods and sit on an old tree trunk that had fallen across the brook and scoff the apples ,throwing the left over evidence in the water.....A few gripey tummy aches come to mind now :-S :-S

I see you were so busy blowing bubbles that you missed Jane's post Mel :-D :-D

OH is still cleaning around the front path even though it's now dark, he must be working from the outside light, not sure if he's going to carry on down the side of the bungalow as we have a very bright light there. I'm just leaving him to it. If he does manage to get it all finished then it won't be wet when I need to do some more painting on Thursday.

I did mention to OH that maybe he could change his day off from Wednesday to Thursday so he could finish the cleaning then when the weather is nice, but the way he's going it should all be done tonight. Not sure how he's going to finish down by the garage though as the security light will go off. I'll just have to wait and see what he does.

I did ask him earlier if he could do just inside the side gate by about a foot so I could do the second coat of paint on the gate on Thursday, thinking he would be finishing off the cleaning that day, then the water wouldn't be near me. The rest of the painting I need to do is in the front where he's already finished and the back that's already been done too.

We still haven't eaten yet, so I'll have to ask him what he wants to do about that, if he wants to stop and eat or wait till later. If he waits till later I'll just make something for Sandra and I.

OH has just said he's going to carry on and do as much as he can by artificial light. I've put Sandra's main light and the bathroom light on which should give him more light to work by. At least it'll look good when the Agents son comes round tomorrow and we can book in another photo of the front to be taken Thursday afternoon after I've painted the other side of the gate and the front fence.

This year has been such a busy one for us, hasn't it? Hopefully we'll have a less hectic winter, where we can sit and relax a bit. You never know OH and I might actually get to spend some time together with Sandra when he gets a day off work instead of being busy all the time......that'd be nice :-) :-)

Good Evening everyone

In answer to Frank's question I just post under the name Anne, I have belonged to Genes for a long time mainly to start on my family tree when I retired and found it very addictive with a few surprises along the way not always good ones but very interesting.

We have always had a girl boxer in the family when we were younger we always had two to keep each other company. We chose the breed mainly because Peter[my late husband's] uncle's dog had a litter and both sets of parents had one of the puppies we couldn't have one at the time being newly married and living in a flat it wouldn't have been fair.They are very good with children, we had 3 sons with the eldest having Aspergers so of course I was at home then.

Two of our cats are 5 years old, a Ginger boy and Torty girl, brother and sister, Toby & Shadow, the third came to us by accident, I was in the kitchen and our ginger or so I thought was looking at me halfway through the cat flap I said to him come in Toby then turned round and our Toby was asleep in the dog's bed, At the time they were almost identical to look at,,he went away but not long afterwards when we came back from a weeks holiday Timmy as we have named him came strolling down the stairs, my neighbour had been feeding the other two so he must have taken advantage. He hadn't been chipped and was still a young Tom. The downside of this story at the time was when he was truly in our hearts he came home having 2 breaks in his front leg. We took him to our vets who quoted a really high price to fix him, my son and I both exchanged horrified looks and because we have had all our pets registered with them he offered to do the operation, have him chipped and seen to all for a thousand pounds the other alternative was to have him put to sleep, I couldn't have done that, this was over a year ago now .We now have him insured. I saw that Jane's cat was a hunter my 3 all bring in "presents" but all whole when I get up in the morning I look for dead bodies in the kitchen, mostly mice or shrews, they leave the many squirrels alone.

It's still raining hard but the weather is supposed to improve in this area tomorrow.

Anne

Evening All,

Thanks for that tip about the skips Mandy, I didn't know. I'll check those out as we aren't spring chickens so anything to make the job easier will help!! I've been looking on line this afternoon and got the measurements of some to see what will fit on the front of the house, which luckily has no fence and is all paved. I never realised what you CAN'T put in skips nowadays though!! I'm really out of touch as I thought you could throw most things in, but no liquids of any kind, no paints, solvents, resins. No light bulbs, (there are dozens there!) no batteries or flourescent light tubes, no oil. We spent a couple of hours upstairs opening some of the dozens of boxes and tins the length of the wall 2-3 feet deep and above up to the ceiling on shelves. More new baking tins, crockery, at least 8 pairs of scissors in addition to the dozen or more we found up to now downstairs. Dozens each of screwdrivers and spanners, you name it he's got it and most look new and hardly used and are top quality brands. We've discovered he never parted with his old things when he bought new either and we already knew he kept some things in case there were parts he could use, probably a habit of wartime thrift! It's really extreme though when you come across literally dozens of cables he's saved from old appliances, the knobs off everything that ever had a knob!! Three sprayguns for paint!! Even a big box of offcuts of wood. We are bringing the tools that aren't broken or worn out home and will probably sell those we don't want ourselves. We haven't done half in there yet but filled 6 black bags for the tip.There's bound to be a load more in the shed too. One thing we must try and make room in the shed for tomorrow is a big tin box of of very old reels of movie film for FIL's 1940s movie projector. As OH says, it's another fire risk as they can self combust when they are old!! :-0

There's no way the house will be ready and sold in 6 weeks. I'm reckoning on it possibly taking up to 6 months for any sale to go through and I think we will stand the eye watering care home payments ourselves until it is sold rather than pay the fees involved in the deferred payment scheme. It should sell easily at the low valuation, as it is a small house needing updating and will be within the reach of many first time buyers. It is all a big financial burden at the moment though.

This afternoon I took the computer screen back that the IT man let me borrow. He wouldn't take any money which was very good of him as he'd spent time and trouble finding what was wrong with the old one. It's nice when someone does something like that. :-)

Thanks for explaining about the hop picking Anne. Yes, tell us about your cats and dog. We are a nosey lot as has been said and like to hear about pets!

I haven't had any trouble with GR lately, so I hope saying so won't tempt fate.

Yes Frank, let us see the picture now it is framed in gold! Ros doesn't suffer from 'idle hands' does she, she's always making nice things. :-)

I have kept shopping bags in the boot for years........it's remembering to take them in the supermarket with me I have had trouble with. :-S

Off to watch Patagonia I recorded now and then to bed.