General Chat

Yes Jane, my BP is usually on the high side. I have a family history of it, my Granny, mother and maternal uncle all died in their 60's from complications due to high BP, so I am very mindful of it !! I've been on medication since I was 50!! Mine's generally 155/83, but can shoot up particularly, at the surgery, as you say 'white coat syndrome! I once had to wear a monitor for 24 hours to gauge it and it went off on the hour every hour!! The night was awful! but thankfully I can do it at home now and report back if necessary!!
Hope you enjoy your day tomorrow. I haven't been to St Paul's for years, so I do very slightly envy you!! I bet the criminal museum will be interesting too.

Evening All,

Well it's got colder and colder here and a breeze with a nasty bite! OH went out before 8.00am to a meeting this morning so that was a shock to his system!! lol. He used to get up anytime between 4.00am to 6.30am when he worked, but he's not used to it these days. I got up soon after him and did a few errands, filled my car up and bought a navy and white top from Sainsbury's that I think will be ok. This afternoon I hoovered and dusted the bedrooms, en suite,hall and bathroom.......so much dust and a lot of trotting outside to shake it out of the duster!! Just the rest of the bungalow to do in the morning. I want to get it done before we go to the cinema in the afternoon.

Gill, that sounds like a good idea about the garage and summerhouse. I'm sure it would be quicker and cheaper to do that and it would be very strong as well. When my first OH made a summerhouse at my previous address he roofed it with brown coloured aluminium sheeting and put some clear plastic panels in the roof to let in more light, so there are all kinds of possibilities with that. The same summerhouse and roof are still standing at my old house over 30 years later. Yes, we built some raised boxes (waist high) and half filled those with the hardcore too before topping up with soil. We even found a load of granite rockery stones that had been dumped as well and those have been mixed with others I have and used to edge my flower beds. lol. Waste not want not and it cleared up the countryside!!

How is your knuckle today Mel? I bet it would cost a lot to roof a building that size too.

How nice to see some snowflakes Mandy, even if it didn't last. There seem to be more of these hit and run accidents nowadays. What an awful thing to do though, just leave someone injured in the road. I would be tortured with guilt the rest of my life. Sometimes it's because the car is stolen or no tax or insurance.

Well, the video they made when I was filmed for the research study went 'live' yesterday and it is on a public site so you can see it if you want to have a giggle!!!! lol My first thoughts when I first saw it were diet, makeover and elocution lessons!!!

When you click on the link scroll down and if you can't see me look for the headings across the middle of the page above the By Band Sleeve heading and make sure you click on 'LIFESTYLE'. The first video is of me and Jan, me on the left as you look at the screen. I can tell I was nervous at the start!! Below are videos of the lovely Dr Joe and Steve who looked after and kept us entertained on the study.

https://www.crn.nihr.ac.uk/can-help/patients-carers-public/the-big-challenge/

It's very cold here too and very windy. My blood pressure has always been high like Liz it's heredity. on my Dad's side. My doctors says I have white coat hypertension so I have to take my own at regular intervals plus I take medication for it. The diabetes is on my mother's side.

When I worked at the Arts Centre they had a very large grant from British heritage to do inside renovations and one of the rooms had to be completely sealed off because of asbestos. I can remember having to write cheques out for many thousands of pounds at the time to be signed by my boss the financial director and a board member, it made interesting accounting. We had a different bank account for all this.

I hope you have an enjoyable day tomorrow Jane, you must look forward to seeing Hannah and hear all about her holiday. I hope Thomas isn't tempted to sharpen his claws, if your new suite is material covered. Speaking from past experience

We had sausage and chips for our evening meal tonight with baked beans so nice and easy.

Alan Rickman has died now same age as David Bowie.

Safe journey tomorrow Jane to meet Hannah. Have a lovely time together and enjoy that museum as I know you will. You will also have lots of photos to look at I should think.

Just look at our Ann appearing on the pc. I like your colour of lipstick. Whats it called please?

Hello everyone,

I've been keeping up with all the chat. We all do our part in keeping the doctors employed don't we? :-D I've been twice this week myself. Cardiologist said "Extra heartbeat - stay on the same meds. See you in 6 months." GP gave me results of cholesterol test and said they were excellent, so I asked if I could now come off one of the cholesterol meds but the answer was No - see you in 6 months.

I think Annx looks lovely in the video. You did a great job Annx, and you come over as being a very warm and friendly lady. Do you really not let anyone bring you a cuppa?

I will try to get back tomorrow - pooter is giving me a hard time. I keep having to retype words.

My new quarters should be finished next week, and ready for the final inspection.

Morning all and evening all else,

Well it sounds like Ruby is nearly in her new place now. Ruby you know we will want to see some pics please?

We have sunshine at the moment but last night we had snow and then whenthat finished and melted away we had hail showers all through the late evening up until I went to bed.

Just as cold this morning even though the suns out.

I just ordered some oil as I hav'nt had any since last year it beinn g so warm we have only had the heating on since Christmas.

Must do some washing this morning and then clean the bedroom and change the bed cos it did'nt get done the other day.

Morning All,

Quite a sharp frost here so having got us some poached eggs I might nip out with my camera. I have a few errands needing doing as well.

That's very nice of you Ruby. I must confess I was petrified to start with. I notice I started blinking and chewing my lip when the other lady mentioned doing the housework!! lol. No I don't get every cuppa for myself, but I do now in the evening when I'm on the computer as I know I sit for ages then. My results showed a particularly impressive 40% drop in blood sugar levels when I stood for 5 minutes every half hour in the study which means extra calories burned as well which is what I want. :-) That's great your new quarters are nearly finished now.......I bet you will be glad to move in and get your things where you want them. Good news about your cholesterol too.

Mel, I think the lipstick I had on that day was Maybelline Super Stay 24 Colour and the shade was 196 Raspberry Framboise Infine but I could only really read the Raspberry bit! I find it stays on quite well compared to others. I need to get more cleaning done here, but I think we are going to go to MIL's house later to look at the boiler again. We haven't needed much heat on yet either but it has been on this morning.

That's good Chris is happy with your choice Jane. It's hard enough to find what you like yourself sometimes and doesn't help if him indoors doesn't like your choice after all the effort finding it. Your trip today sounds very interesting and I look forward to hearing about it.

Thanks for the info on the lipstick Ann. It does look a nice colour, not too bright and not toodark.

Posties here so I am going to have a look.

Mandy its arrived and I am just going to open it. :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D

OOooooooo thank you Mandy and just the right size and colour for the coat oh bought me last year. My really warm one. I have them on and I can type in them too.

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:-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D

As you can see I am very pleased with them.

Thanks once again. <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

Afternoon all

Lovely and sunny here ,hubbys had his xray ,we were there early which meant hubby went in well before his appointment time and we were on our way home before eleven which was the time he should have gone in.

Glad you liked them Mel :-D i think they are better than fingerless gloves as the free your fingers up better.

Lewis's birthday today so we are off for the usual birthday tea later.

:-D :-D <3 <3HAPPY FIRST BIRTHDAY TO LEWIS <3 <3 :-D :-D I bet he is loving his shoes with the lights! That was great getting done so quickly with the xray Mandy. OH goes to all his appointments early, even at the dentist and often gets seen before his appointment is due. I expect they try to get ahead if they can.

Are they the mittens that just come to where your knuckles start Mel. It sounds like Mandy got the colour just right for you to match your coat. :-D

We've been over to the house and checked that the boiler does fire up so that is good. It should come on morning and night if it gets near freezing. It's on the snowflake setting like Jane mentioned. It is depressing going there, OH said he doesn't even associate the place with his parents living there now, even though they were there 65 years. The estate agent's sign has ripped and blown away! We decided to pop in the nearby Morrisons for a bite to eat to save bothering when we got home. OH had liver and bacon and I had salmon with hollandaise sauce, peas and carrots. Then we fancied a pud and they are only £1 each if you have had a main meal. OH had his favourite bread and butter pudding and I had the apple crumble. I shouldn't need anything else today

Better go and clean the hob and worktops in the kitchen now.......OH is doing his tax return.

I was very impressed with your TV debut Ann!! Seriously, you did speak well as did the lady with you. I've now been spurred on to take Cas for a 'brisk' walk at least once a day, instead of a meander (she races, I meander!!) round our paddock!! The old waistline could do with it!
No snow here, but it is cold. This morning we has Cas weighed, then Sainsbury's for shopping and petrol which was a p below a £ a litre! OH was well chuffed!!
This afternoon I watched Empire of the Tsars, on catchup. OH went to sleep and missed it much to his annoyance!!! He'll have to watch it on his laptop!!
Porridge and scrambled egg for our supper tonight. Nice and easy!!!

Well done Annx you spoke well no nerves, yes, well done :)

I think you did really well in your interview Ann ,nice clear speaking and i didn't think you sounded nervous at all you came across really well i thought ,well done <3

It make me think i should get up more when i sit in the evenings ,i'am on the go during the day but i do sit longer in the evening ,i keep saying to hubby not to sit to long so we will make an effort now .
So that's Liz going to do a brisk walk and us getting up from our chairs more in the evening which is down to watching your video :-)

Hope Jane has had a good day .

Ruby it would be nice to see your new place when it's all finished ,i bet you carn't wait to move in and get all your things in place .

Yes Lewis liked his shoes he was soon trotting about and making the lights flash :-D ,the birthday tea was nice he had a chocolate Caterpillar Cake ,he soon tucked into that and his hands had chocolate all over them which then went into his hair !! :-D
As DIL said thank goodness for baby wipes ,it was a wet flannel for cleaning up when son was small !!

Thank you everyone. :-) I still can't believe I actually did it, especially without knowing it was to be filmed! Liz, if you watch Joe's interview just below mine, you will see that the most important thing is to just stand up more. The study found that standing was as good as walking for lowering blood sugar levels and that it's the sitting too long that isn't good. Even better, the effect carries on into the following day. Of course, as you suggest, more activity still is best for the waistline and I'm sure Cas will approve 100%. :-)

That's the same with me Mandy, I potter about all day with a few short breaks for cuppas, then sit here at the computer for hours in the evening which isn't so good. I've started bringing an egg timer in here and setting it for half an hour now! Joe, who is in the video below mine, even has a standing desk at work. Mind you he is very slim which helps if you stand for a long time. Little Lewis liked his shoes and enjoyed his caterpillar cake then. lol. If you have any birthday pics of him it would be nice to see him......he must have grown quite a bit since we last saw him.

I went for a walk around the Old Hall grounds earlier. Big mistake and I nearly went A over T like Frank!! The path was a mud bog in places and the grass either side like a quagmire with all the rain. Silly me had shoes on and was slithering all over the place. Where the sun hadn't reached the path there were frozen puddles that were like skating rinks. Lots of dogs were were covered in mud and came bounding up, but luckily none jumped up me!! My legs were like jelly with the effort by the time I got to pause whilst hanging onto a fence to watch the ducks on the pond behind the ice house. A yellow Lab on an extended lead bounded past me down the steps with a man in tow, also slithering. He grabbed the fence too and just managed to stop Ruby jumping in the pond, she was so keen and looked disappointed to be told 'no' but imagine how bitterly cold that would have been.

The appointment came through quickly Mandy, hope all goes well for your OH

I thought you looked so professional Ann on the video, you didn't look nervous at all. It was nice to put a face to the name :-) <3

What colour sofa did you go for Jane?
I meant to say the other day, we have got a cat that comes into the garden that looks just like your Thomas and hunts in the same way too. He went for Rosie the other day, so I banged like mad on the window which stopped him long enough for Rosie to get away. I've name him Thomas Junior LOL :-D :-D. He's a cheeky thing though, he sits under our trees at the bottom of the garden and watches me through the window. To be honest he's a lovely looking cat, but he is always chasing birds and squirrels, every chance he gets, he even climbs up our apple tree trying to get the birds, silly really as the birds just fly off. He doesn't give up though ;-)

OH, Sandra and I are going to start emptying the garage over the next three days so I might not be on here. I'll try and pop in if I can, but just in case I can't I thought I'd let you all know why.

Isn't Frank back tomorrow, hope he's got some warm clothes for the journey home, it's a lot colder than he's been used to.

Signing out now
Night Night

The appointment came through quickly Mandy, hope all goes well for your OH

I thought you looked so professional Ann on the video, you didn't look nervous at all. It was nice to put a face to the name :-) <3

What colour sofa did you go for Jane?
I meant to say the other day, we have got a cat that comes into the garden that looks just like your Thomas and hunts in the same way too. He went for Rosie the other day, so I banged like mad on the window which stopped him long enough for Rosie to get away. I've name him Thomas Junior LOL :-D :-D. He's a cheeky thing though, he sits under our trees at the bottom of the garden and watches me through the window. To be honest he's a lovely looking cat, but he is always chasing birds and squirrels, every chance he gets, he even climbs up our apple tree trying to get the birds, silly really as the birds just fly off. He doesn't give up though ;-)

OH, Sandra and I are going to start emptying the garage over the next three days so I might not be on here. I'll try and pop in if I can, but just in case I can't I thought I'd let you all know why.

Isn't Frank back tomorrow, hope he's got some warm clothes for the journey home, it's a lot colder than he's been used to.

Signing out now
Night Night