General Chat

Good morning all

It's very cold again and the sky was bright red up to about 5 mins agao, when we were little it was red sky in the morning shepherd's warning so I wonder what the weather will be like today.

Gill you have done well finishing the curtains for your Mum's friend and now having more jobs to do, it must be nice to have some money for something you enjoy doing.

Mandy, Abbie & Becky had those shoes with the flashing lights when they were small, I can remember all the running around in them until the novelty wore off.

Jane, it would be a good choice to buy a Parker Knoll suite, we have had them in the past and they are well made.My Dad use to sell them in his shop so we always got them at cost price, when dad died Mum got a condolence card from. the firm saying he was one of "nature's true gentleman" which was how he was. We were lucky when we married as all our furniture, carpets and curtains were bought from Dad's business all at cost price I remember someone saying our flat looked like a G Plan show room.

When I read about the car incidents I remember when we were on our way back here from visiting family in Kent, Peter has stopped at temporary traffic lights that were on red and a car smashed into the back of us, our three boys were very young and all in their night clothes fast asleep , I got out of the car after checking they were unharmed and shouted at the driver that he could have killed all three of them, I ended up feeling quite sorry for him, his car was brand new he had only got it the day before and was a company car,.it was a complete write off, the accident occurred right outside the garage it had been purchased from so we helped him push in onto the forecourt, he only lived round the corner and was an insurance agent so at least that was taken care of. We got home o.k and a couple of days later got a visit from the police who checked Peter's insurance and his driving licence which were all ok. The worse part was it would have cost more to repair it than the car was worth, it was a Hillman Minx and we were very sad to let it go,

Jane, I hope your blood test is nothing to worry about it could be about your blood sugars being higher than usual.

Morning everybody. I just thought I would pop in quickly to say hello

Haven't we had a lot of rain. Our garden is full of mud and big puddles on what is left of the lawn from the builders the water isn't soaking away very well the dogs are bringing in so much mud we have towels by the door to try and wipe their feet. We have wooden floors but Millie will come in and wipe her feet straight on the rug if we don't catch her.

The micro wave has been changed ok the new tumble dryer taken away and refunded. Clare my daughter ordered a different make and we are pleased with that. Works well. Washing in machine now. Do I hang it on the line walking though all the mud or use the dryer. Lol.
First time I have had a dryer isn't it good for towels. We will just have to see how much electric it uses.
I now volunteer three times a week in the shop. So I am meeting a lot of different people.

I went to the hospital yesterday to get the insoles that I had made for my shoes. But they couldn't get them to fit in them. I did buy 2 pairs of new shoes so I am going back next week with the other pair
I have been having trouble with my left knee. So the doctor is arranging physio. I was out walking the other day came off the beach sat on the wall and as I put my foot down my knee locked. The knee cap doesn't line up properly sometimes

At the moment I am full of a cold I hope you are all avoiding the colds

We have ordered a sideboard and coffee table. Waiting to see when they will be delivered. It will be nice to have some new bits here now we have worked out where to put them
Sold our old pine coffee table the other day on gum tr*e we were going to paint it but changed our mind
Have now booked a holiday for June. We are going across the water to the iow. Even tho we can see it from our beach. The cottages are pricey there. The ferry crossing with the car is costing us nearly a 120 pounds lol. But it is something I want to do. Have been there before. But a long time ago. Must sort washing out now. Bye

Morning all

Sunny here at the moment, but it rained so much in the night we have puddles on the patio again and the wind was so strong it knocked a plant pot over, so OH put it in the greenhouse to protect it.

I agree with you Pat, we've had so much rain it's got to the point where it's taking ages to drain away. We shouldn't complain though with those poor people who have been flooded out on numerous occasions, what's a puddle or two compared to that?

So you've got your dryer and micro wave now Pat. I agree the towels are much softer in the dryer than pegged outside. I use my dryer for the towel all the time. Just keep an eye on the filters as they clog up quickly with all the fluff.

It sounds like you're enjoying yourself volunteering, it's a good way of meeting people and making new friends.

Yes the saying is "Red sky in the morning shepherds warning" Anne. Hope the weather doesn't turn to bad for you.
The accident you were talking about must of been scary. Do you know why the man crashed into the back of you. Was there a fault on his hire car or was he just not concentrating properly? At least no one was seriously hurt, so that was a good thing.

I've only had two sewing orders so far Anne, which has paid for almost half the sewing machine. I'm hoping to get more so the machine will have paid for itself then. Mum said she might be able to get me more orders off her friends. Soft furnishing and the like. I want to learn to make and alter clothes as I think I might get even more orders if I can do that. I'm going to make a sewing machine cover today as the one that came with the machine isn't very good, it's thin and looks like it won't last very long. I'm going to use the material left over from mum's cushion covers I made her the other day, she kindly let me keep it.

First I'm going to watch Stargazing Live I recorded last night, as it's back on again this evening and for the rest of the week. Tim Peake is hoping to do a space walk on Friday....looking forward to watching that.
I'm also going to iron the curtains I altered yesterday, ready to give to mum tomorrow for her friend.

What is everyone else up to today?

Morning all,

Nice to hear from you Pat and you seem to be getting yourself settled in nicely now. Bet the dog just love the beach rain or shine.

Its sunny here at the moment but it is cold with it and the birds have eaten all the food in the feeders so thats another job for this morning. I may finish off the bathroom after changing the bed but I want some time to do my pom poms today if I can find some! There is nev er enough hours in the day lately and they are getting longer all the time. :-)

Not long now and we will have our Frankie Boy back with us again. I do miss his posts so.

One of my knuckles has cracked open so I must get the vaseline out must mean its turning colder........ :-(

Just spotted your second post Pat, sorry to hear your knee is playing you up and that you have a cold. Physio is good, so hopefully your knee will be sorted soon. Keep warm then your cold will go too. Hope you're feeling better soon <3 and you get your insole sorted too.

£120 pounds isn't to bad if you think about how much is would of cost you to hire a car plus the price of the ferry to get over to the IOW. This way you'll have your own car to get around in.

it's nice to buy a few new things to make a house a home, it sounds like you're settling in great now.

Off to watch my programmes. I still need to watch Mr Selfridge too, before it comes back on again, so lots of programmes to catch up with today.

See you all later

Morning Mel, looks like I missed your post to. Hope your knuckle gets better soon, it must be quite painful. The Vaseline should help.
I'd love to see some pics of your pom pom work when you've finished.

Gill I keep saying I can't send pics as I don't know how to download them onto this new pc. Even oh has a job.

Gill, I've pmd you!

That's a shame Mel, I thought your OH had managed to fix the problem, is there anyone else who can fix it for you? All your hard work too, it would of been nice to see it. How's your knuckle now, hope the Vaseline eased it a bit for you <3

I'm just starting to make my sewing machine cover now :-D

I've just replied to your PM Liz

Finished the bathroom!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! All nice and clean and shineing now ready for oh to have a shower and muck it all up again......................... :-( :-D :-D

Afternoon all.

Been a nice dry day but by golly it's cold out there now , the windscreen on the car looks quite misty as if it's now beginning to freeze .

Gill that's good you have more little sewing jobs to do , a few more and the machine will have paid for it's self , is there any little shops where you could put a little card advertising for little sewing jobs ,i'am sure there's lots of people who would be glad of a service like that .

You sound as if your really getting settled in now Pat ,i bet the dogs love the beach even in the cold weather ,not so good the garden being so muddy though with two dogs who need to go out in it .
Have you been getting any bargains in the charity shop ?
Hope you soon hear some thing about the physio appointment to help your knee must be awful when it locks up like that .

Hubby had a phone call about his xray for his hip ,it's this Friday at 11 o'clock so that was nice and quick.

Oh so you've done the bathroom then Mel , i don't know why but hubby seems to splash water every where when he showers and shaves .

Sausage and mash for us tonight nice and easy .

Afternoon All
Well I don't know where today has gone .It seems to have flown by.Mind you Fitz came up for lunch so that was about 4 hours !!.
Crikey it has turned really cold now and seems like it might be colder tomorrow.

Pat we have not had any big amounts of rain here and certainly no big puddles in the garden like you have had.That will be nice to have a holiday over on the I O W.It does seem a hefty price for the ferry considering how close it is to you
Would your knee benefit from Keyhole Surgery? My James had this same trouble with his knee 'locking' and the pain was indescribable.Twice he had to have an ambulance.
Once when he was at school on the second floor and he had hooked his leg around the school chair leg when it 'locked'.The second time he was here at home .Two lots of Keyhole to remove most of the cartilage and touch wood he has been fine since.Just lacking about 80% of the cartilage around that knee.

Mel make sure OH cleans the shower after him :-D...I just had to give our shower cubicle a good cleaning today .Chris never thinks to do it :-S :-S :-S

Just had a call about my new car.I will pick it up on tuesday.

Tomorrow I will drag Chris along to have a look at the suite I saw yesterday .


Just had a call from Hannah.Back home safe and sound and had a wonderful holiday in Thailand :-D..She is desperate for sleep and has stayed awake all day so that she can drop into bed shortly hopefully to wake up fresh in the morning for work !

Mandy that was quick and I hope they can find something that will be to Colin's advantage re the pain he is getting.

Steak and kidney stew for us tonight with nice dough boys and it will be very welcome in the bitterly cold weather. My hands were frozen when I came back from corning the chickens. First I picked up a metal scoop and then the cold rain fell out the sky so I stayed in the garage but then the scoop was so cold in my hand I had to hunt around for a plstic one which was'nt much better.

Been making more pom poms this afternoon after getting the dinner on. Think it will be a soft green dress and mauve hair on this one.

The sewing cover is for me Mandy, then I've got a pile of clothes that need altering. I'm going to read the book OH got me for Christmas on how to make and alter clothes then tackle them. I've been taking a look at them and I've got quite a lot to get through........should keep me busy for a while :-D :-D There is a shop nearby, but like I said I'm going to be busy for a while, so I won't be putting a card in their window just yet.

I'm hoping the weather doesn't get to cold here at the weekend as OH and I have decided to empty the garage as we want to take it down. We thought if we were going to get a summerhouse that we might need some hard core to put under the flag stone base, so will use some of the concrete from the garage floor to save us some money. After all it's going to be broken up and thrown away anyway, so we might as well put some of it to good use.

I'll be so glad when the garage has gone as it's so ugly and has an asbestos roof, plus it's the only thing you can see from the kitchen window and it takes up such a lot of room. It's very long over 20 foot, but is only about 7 foot wide, so not big enough to put a car in to, so it's just being used to store junk, most of which we don't need. So I thought I'd buy a small shed to put behind the greenhouse to store the garden tools and lawn mower and the rest of the stuff can go up in the loft or down the tip.

I really want to get rid of the garage before the spring gets here, so I can plant that area up and make it look nice for the summer. I'm hoping it won't cost us to much to get rid of the garage with it being winter, as I should imagine builders will be in need of the work, so we should get a good deal......well, hopefully, anyway. Once the garage is out of the way, it will free up the space we need, should we decide to have an extension build as well as I'm only going to plant up the bottom end of the area and leave the top end near the bungalow free.

The appointment for your OH's X-ray came through quickly Mandy, lets hope something can be done so he's no longer in as much pain, or better still, no pain at all.
Good luck to him for Friday.

So you've done your bathroom now Mel? If your OH is anything like mine it won't stay clean for very long. To be fair my OH does try to clean the bath but always seems to miss bits, so I have to re-do it.
How he manages to make such mess in the first place is beyond me :-S :-S..........MEN ;-) ;-)

Jane I don't think there is much room in the shower for oh to clean it up or thats his excuse anyway. Men just don't think about these things do they? Same when he cleans his teeth. Toothpaste slashes all over the taps and up the wall and its never wiped off.

Evening All,

Yes MEN, they drive you mad at times don't they!! Is it their mothers spoiling them and not making them do these things as they grow up? I use the sink in the en suite and OH uses the bathroom sink, but it's just as you say, mess everywhere and toothpaste dobs about and fingermarks all around the knobs on the mirrored cabinet. Five minutes after you clean it, it looks as if you haven't!! lol.

The appointment for hubby has come through very quickly Mandy. I hope they can do something that will mean he isn't in pain like he is now.

Anne, your old G Plan furniture as well as Ercol furniture is making a comeback and in much demand now as the retro look has become fashionable!! There are adverts asking for it in our local paper. :-) How brilliant to get your furniture at cost price when you set up home! Our longjohn coffee table and bedroom furniture were home made and the rest was bought mostly in sales.

Fingers crossed he likes the suite Jane. What colour is it and what will you do with your old one? I bet Hannah found it chilly when she got back.

Sounds like you have your appliances sorted Pat. It must be hard to keep floors clean this weather when you have 8 little paws trotting over them. It sounds like you are settling in well now with your extra shifts at the charity shop and getting to know people. The last time I went to IOW was in 2003. I remember because I'd had a hysterectomy a couple of months before and I thought the IOW would have roads that were smoother for me, less roadworks and potholes etc. How wrong I was!! They were so bumpy for me I was hanging on to my poor tum when we went out. I remember managing a slow walk along the top of the cliffs on the south side and then having to lie flat on a bench for quarter of an hour before I could face the walk back. While I lay there I didn't see a little dog that rushed up and gave me a wet kiss!! lol I would like to go back some time.

Gill, where do you get your energy? I want some. :-) It's good your machine is starting to pay for itself already..........has Sandra made any requests for things you could make for her yet? When we redid the back garden a few years ago and filled the pond in, we used to pick up any bits of rock or bricks that we saw that were dumped in laybys as we drove by if there was no-one around! I was always concerned that someone might think we were the dumpers!!!

Can you use a picture card in your camera Mel? I find that so easy to download my pics. It would be nice to see the pom pom persons. :-)

Annx, you could maybe save yourself money if you advertise it free to whoever dismantles it and removes it. Someone might be glad of it?

David you mean Gill not Annx.

Gill you will have to be careful with the asbestos roof as you have to have specilised people in to take it away unless it is the sealed type and even then you must'nt break it up.