General Chat

It sounds like you've had some lovely present Mel. We bought some solar lights for our back garden years ago, but most of them broke when we had lots of heavy rain. We're now thinking of putting the odd electric one here and there under some big plants, once we've put the plants in of course and then hopefully add a few more lights around the arch. It should look as pretty as yours once it's done.
What type of liqueurs did you get?. The sign off your SIL Heather is a great play on words and is so true isn't it? Pleased to hear you got your card okay I'll let Sandra know as she was asking me earlier.

So Ros is doing some gardening, is that advisable in the frost, what is it she's doing Frank? My OH supports the Gunners, so he'll be pleased if they win, you'll have to let me know if they win or not later. I think you're right, drinking in the middle of the day.....slippery slope LOL

Happy birthday to your niece Anne, hope she has a lovely day, yes I can imagine the postman thinking she was very popular on Valentines day. Glad to hear Amy is back to normal now and enjoying her walks again.

I'm just about to start the bit of sanding now, then I'll have a bath. I've put the lamb in to cook slowly and it's starting to smell lovely. Poor OH doesn't feel very well today, he's got the same bug as me, but I did tell him he'll probably feel a bit better tomorrow like I do today after my bad day yesterday. He's just taking it easy today and resting, luckily he's not back in work until Tuesday so hopefully he'll feel okay by then.

Hi Jane, I never thought of that, although I didn't clean the kitchen properly, just a few cups that were left there last night and quick wipe around. I'll clean it properly after I've done the sanding. It's only a very small amount by the back door and should only take a few minutes, I've put a dust sheet down and took everything out of the kitchen like the bread bin etc... so it'll only be the worktops and maybe the floor to do.
What a lovely thing for your niece to do for her Grandma. Just remember Jane, think of your mum with a smile.

Yes Liz hand picked flowers how nice, my OH came in with one daffodil he picked out of someone's garden the other day........the cheeky thing, but then he did buy me a proper bunch of flowers for Valentines. Sandra said the daffodil looks silly in with the other flowers, but I like it, even if it does stick out a bit :-) :-)

Well, I'd better get on. I wonder how Frank is getting on Cocking up the laptop LOL I'm sure you'll do a smashing job Frank :-S :-S ;-) ;-)

As long as you're happy Jane. A gas fire seemed a practical alternative.
Where do you get your dry wood from, sorry for being nosey :-\

Afternoon all,

<3 <3 <3 <3 <3 Happy Birthday Mel <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

Hope your enjoying your day ,you have had some nice things ,i bet the garden will look lovely with all the new lights from OH.

Nice and sunny here but so cold out today ,a nice day for walking out if you wrap up well.

Oh heck Frank i hope you can fix it for Val ,i don't like messing with other peoples things in case i make things worse !! :-S now no swearing Frank i you carn't do it LOL
Ros is going to be cold out there in the garden ,she'll be ready for a nice hot cuppa when she comes in .

Ann how did OH find FIL last night ,hope he's improving and will soon be able to get back to the home .

Fiona you did well in the sales getting the two jackets for the price of one ,it's nice to get a bargain .

Oh Gill your poor tongue :-0 so painful when you do that ,some times i wake up and i've been biting the side of my cheek thats painful too.

We're having roast beef tonight too ,i've just turned the oven down nice and low so the joint can have a nice slow cook .

Phew Jane i bet that foxes poo stank ,i remember my sister saying her dog had rubbed in ducks poo when they went to wells ,they had to put up with the smell all the way home in the car !! and they could smell it in the car for weeks after !!

Time for a cuppa .

Still here. When I went round they were having Lunch. Now I don't feel like going. I might go tomorrow now, will ring and tell her.

The Gunners won with the last kick of the game Gill, so Oh will be pleased.

Ros is still outside, she has put insome late bulbs, and almost filled the green bin with rubbish of a load of dead stuff.

Lewis has rung to say his uncle has a Honda Jaz. Thet has just had a new gear box and new tyres. He was going to sell it for £1800.00 but as Lewis is looking for a car he can have it for £800.00. I am sending him a cheque for £450.00. with the offer if he needs more he will have to let me know. He has almost £500 already saved. His dad has said he will pay his insurance. So provided her passes his test in April, he will be able to drive to colledge in Bedford and save £40.00 per week on bus fares.

Bright sunny afternoon here, but extreamely cold. I think it's time Ros came in. !!!

You're not nosy David :-D.We get our logs from Boughton Estate.They arrive on a van with a tip up back and they are deposited in a big heap just near the side of the house.So then Chris can put them into a pull along trolley thing and then stack them in the woodshed thing we have .The Wood burner is so much cleaner than the open coal fire we had before.

I reckon your one Daff looks lovely in amongst the other flowers Gill :-DThoughtfully picked (even if from someones garden LOL).I'm sure thay haven't missed it.
Yes I always remember Mum with a smile :-D.She was a funny woman ,not in a Ha Ha sense.But she always had a few airs and graces which made us all laugh.Our nick name for her was Mrs Bouquet :-D although she was not quite as full on like Hyacinth (thank goodness)That would have been very embarrassing :-S

Thanks Frank for letting me know about the Gunners, OH is well chuffed. Good luck with trying to get Ros in from the garden ;-) ;-)
I'll keep my fingers crossed that Lewis passes his test, he's getting a good deal with his new car. That was nice of his dad to offer to pay the insurance, and of you for giving him such a lot of money he's a lucky lad isn't he? Will you adopt me LOL.
So you didn't get a chance to sort out Val's computer then, do you know what the problem is, has she said? Hope you can fix it for her.

Yes Mandy my tongue is a bit sore to say the least, it's right in the front just underneath, so the worse place it could be. I'll gargle in some salt water later, my mum said salt is good for healing. The lamb is smelling lovely, OH and Sandra keep asking when it's going to be ready but I'm cooking it slowly like you so it'll take a little while longer. I'm looking forward to it, it's my favourite and we don't have lamb very often, so a nice treat for us all.

Well, I've finished the sanding and cleaning of the kitchen, so I'm going to have a bath now as I'm a bit itchy, there wasn't much dust but I think most of it went down my top ;-) ;-) :-D :-D

See you all later

Gill you should'nt put daffs in with any other flowers than themselves. They kill off other flowers because of their sap. You should put it in a vase on its own.

Been a long time since we had an open fire Jane. I had Parkray central heating once which I remember with affection.
Could heat the living room and upstairs radiators and a tank full of hot water on a scuttle full of coke. Not allowed now.
Fancy closing all the pits and doing in the NUM. This country is full of coal. The pits are full of millions of pounds worth of mining equipment and many are flooded.

Keep meaning to say the suns been out here since I posted my first post this morning.


Ann I used to think that about getting lots of cards on Valentines Day when I was young. I always say I am a true love child!!!!!!!!!! and I was born o a Monday. <3 <3 <3 ha ha ha...

Jane I can remember picking wild violets along with primroses for mothering Sunday many moons ago and they were very well.received , as I'm sure yours were. My mother was always against me buying flowers as she always said that florists put their prices up at this time and were effectively cashing in on children's pocket money which was wrong. I think she was probably right!! I don't think it applies these days, children always seem to have so much and someone else is probably paying anyway!
It's been pretty cold here but beautifully sunny and hardly any wind which is nice.
Talking of logs, we had some more timber in the round delivered two days ago, and it has almost all been logged and stacked in the barn. We've enough now for two more winters!!
No War and Peace tonight :-( and nearly the end of Dickensian :-( :-( I've started reading War and Peace again!! Should take me all.summer!!!!!

Amy is tired after her walk and is fast asleep on her bed. We are lucky as she doesn't roll or eat anything unsavoury. She is let off the lead once we are past the most popular spots as she is inclined to adopt people.She loves everything and everybody and had a run around with a few other dogs today. Our part of Swinley forest goes right through to Sandhurst Military College, sometimes you can hear the guns on the firing range Two of our boxers used to eat sheeps' poo and roll in foxes poo, Kim once had a good roll in foxes in the middle of Exmoor and knowing she wasn't going to be popular went and stood in the middle of a family having a picnic :-0 :-0.

When I was tiny we used to pick primroses in the country, not allowed now of course When we lived at Watersland during the war it had a bluebell wood belonging to it, I still have very fond memories of living there.

Sun is just setting and it's snowing like mad !! big flakes :-D

Gosh Anne I bet they were well pleased with her in that state. My Russles used to do that in foxes poo. They always had the hose put on them and a good bath before coming into the house.

Dogs although lovely can be pretty gross sometimes can't they :-S

SNOW Mandy? Nothing like that here ,Just a clear sky .

Frank ,do you know what the problem is with next doors Laptop?Good Luck when you go :-D :-D

LOL Anne I am still grinning at the thought of your old Kim covered in Fox Poo inviting herself into someones picnic :-D :-D :-D.Bet they were well chuffed !!!!

Mandy thats not fair I had asked for it to snow today and it did at 4 am when oh was awake and he did'nt wake me!

Daffodil has been put on the naughty step Mel LOL.

I took it out of the vase with the other flowers as soon as I read your post and put it in another vase on it's own. I also emptied the water out of the original vase and washed the end of the flowers OH bought me before putting them back into the clean vase with fresh water, so hopefully they won't die.
I didn't know that about daffodils, so that's something new I've learned today.
Have you had a nice birthday, did you do anything special? Are all the lights in your garden yet? They'll look lovely when they're all lit up at night.

I had to laugh at the way you described your mum Jane, I bet it was a laugh a minute living with her. Sandra and I love Hyacinth Bucket or Bouquet as she likes to be called. I'm sure the whole street can hear us both laughing at her programme and her poor hen pecked husband. Do you remember the one when he forgot their wedding anniversary and got a burglar alarm put in last minute, then couldn't remember the code to stop it going off, she wasn't impressed I can tell you :-D :-D :-D It was so funny.

Amy sounds a lovely girl and so friendly Anne. Is your picture of the woods she has her walks in? It's very pretty.

Sandra is jealous of your snow Mandy, she'd like you to send her some. It's been sunny here all day today and it's still light, the days are definitely getting longer now. It won't be long before the spring is here and I can get out in the garden. I'm hoping to make it better this year as it's gone a bit tatty, so I'll be planning what I'm going to do soon.

So you're going to start reading War and Peace, that's going to keep you busy for a while Liz. I watched it on TV and also Dickensian, what will we do when they have all finished LOL.

Well the lamb is done along with the potatoes and veg so I'd better go and dish up. We're eating early as we're all really hungry. I think it's the smell of the meat, none of us can wait. Going to have a nice glass of wine with it. Sandra doesn't like wine so she's having a vodka and coke and OH will have a beer.

Enjoy your Lamb dinner Gill did Sandra help you cook it?

No snow here but it has turned much Colder.

That photo is part of Amy's walk there are a lot of different ways to go all ending up back at The Look Out,

Becky has decided she wants to stay over for a few days as her sister is away so Paul is going to pick up some of her clothes on the way to ice hockey.

Afternoon All,

It was lovely and sunny earlier but it's dull and chilly now.

<3 <3 <3 <3HAPPY BIRTHDAY MEL <3 <3 <3 <3 You had some nice pressies and your garden will look like a grotto with all the new lights!! :-) I wonder why you didn't get my birthday card as it was posted in good time and definitely with a first class stamp on it. :-S

FIL is not very good. They have now moved him to the ward he was on last week when he was admitted before. OH said his chest was very bad so he's on oxygen again and was sitting in a chair but was barely responsive. His food today wasn't touched and he didn't want any, but OH said he had been drinking water as he had to top his beaker up to give him more. Even now he was wanting to get up and doesn't realise he can't so OH kept the trolley in front of him. He said you can see why he keeps falling. OH is hoping to find more out tomorrow after the doctor has done his rounds........if he is told of course!!

David OH and I both have Power of Attorney for FIL so we have authority to look after his money for him and can sort out these payments for him. It's just annoying that it is necessary because of the incompetence of others not doing the jobs properly that they are paid to do. We keep asking ourselves what happens to the poor souls who have no-one to do it for them? We have also started to get junk mail with our address for MIL that HASN'T been redirected, so how has that happened? Someone must have sold on her name with the redirected address!!! :-S Whatever next!

Anne I used to live a couple of fields away from the Cannock Chase forest as a child and loved walking in there so envy you your forest walks. Amy must love the smells of the animals that live there too. Abbie is a fussy one with her food isn't she. My nephew would only eat peas though.

Liz I bet your tiny daffs with snowdrops look really pretty! OH is rereading War and Peace too! He's just finished a Dan Jones book on the Magna Carta.

Ann I'm sure Mel got your card as I didn't send one as I didn't know it was her birthday until too late.