General Chat

Lost childhood!

What an awful news report all over the media of the death of 2-year old Liam Fee at the hands of his mum & her female partner.

It's pretty dismal here Mandy, but as yet no rain, so Cas is outside with her ring!! Having been in her car crate for two hours she's not too keen to settle down for another sleep! It feels quite strange being home,! Those weeds have been busy while we've been away! Eradicating them will.be a nice job for both of us!!! At least I don't think we'll have to water as its bound to rain!!
We may watch Midsummer night's dream on catchup Jane as our hosts wanted to watch Wallender. I do love it, but not sure about a modern version!
Time for a cuppa! OH has just put the kettle on!

Afternoon All

Liz it sounds like you have had a really lovely break away :-D.How nice to come home to a cut lawn and a happy Merlin. Bit of a Grey day you say...you should be here it has been dreadful!!!.It looks like the rain might just have stopped (oh no it hasn't,it's just started again.Thomas managed to nip out for about 10 minutes .He must have been desperate for a wee.Came back like a drowned rat and is back on his bed.

Frank,I hope Ros's chest infection soon clears up with the antibiotics and that it won't spoil the holiday.It is time for her to just look after herself now after weeks of running around after everyone else.You will be glad to see the back of this weather won't you.

Dermot I was always one of the youngest in my years at school with having a July birthday.I hated it and yes it was so important to and on the quarter,half or three quarters LOL.I am 4 and 3 quarter years older than my sister.Now I used to be pleased to say that. It really hit me 2 years ago when I hit 60.I know it is daft but it actually made me feel quite depressed for a while. But I can't do anything about it other than just accept I am getting old and creaky :-S It is great when someone looks surprised when I tell them my age and then say I don't look it....They may mean of course that I look older :-S :-S

Anyone watch the one show last night? There was a bit about Wembury Beach (my childhood beach).It was good to see it and the bonus was seeing the Church up on the cliff .The one we married in 35yrs ago yesterday so it was like a little anniversary present :-D :-D

Mandy ,maybe the rain will ease off enough for to take Max out for a bit before bed time.He will be going stir crazy stuck indoors and no doubt doing your head in !!He will be looking to get into all sorts of mischief.

I think Hannah must have landed now.She is going to get a shock after all the sun and heat .Hope she has a warm jacket with her.

Dermot I just caught the tale end of what that evil couple had done to the little boy.I will see the news later and see the whole sad story. :-(..Some people(if they can be called that) just don't deserve to have children.I hope they both get life and I mean life.But it won't be :-S.I makes you wonder how on earth people can inflict such cruelty and cause the death of their own children.Lost for words really.

What a PIG of a day. It threw it down this morning, and has continued all day. The Temp. here earlier was 10 degrees and the outlook isn't much better. Spain 27 degrees outlook similar !! So I won't be complaining.

At 11.00 this morning I had THREE rashers, Tomato's ,Fried new Potato's, Mushroom and two eggs. two slices B & B and a mug of tea. So the girls are having a Takeaway, while I will have nothing.

It looks like a bomb has gone off in the lounge. Cloths everywhere, cases, bags, Ironing Board, you name it it here.

While the girls were out I sorted the fridge. Everything that is edible are in bags to go to Tony. All other food stuff has gone in the bin. I will put that out tomorrow.

Ros had a call from Carolyn. The Farage bus is at the pub, with BBC news camera's threpress and loads of hanger ons. Will find out more when I go for my last English pint for two weeks.

Tomorrow we will call at the Harvester by the M 1 before setting of to Luton, we have to be there by 3.30 pm.

You behave Frank at the Pub..Don't want to see you on TV causing havoc LOL
Yes I can just imagine what the place is like with 2 women sorting clothes ,ironing and packing .You probably are best kept out of the way ;-)
So what time to actually leave home tomorrow?

Hannah has just messaged to say she has landed..I was getting worried.I have a feeling the weather might have been a problem.But at least I can relax now.

The rain has finally stopped, with the wind the patio slabs are dry already but the sky still looks full of rain , i bet the weeds will come on now and the grass will shoot up too.

All go at yours then Frank ,i see you have the right idea ....go to the pub !! :-D
So you must fly early evening then do you if you have to be at Luton by 3.30.


Oh Jane poor Hannah will be feeling the cold after all the lovely hot sunshine, did the
wedding go off ok ?
You can relax now you know she's landed ok ,lets hope it was a good flight home after the journey she had getting there.

Mandy its still raining here but not so bad now.If it stops I will be putting Thomas out :-D.Bless him he keeps going to the patio door and looking out.I open the door and then he just looks at me as though I need my head seeing to(as if he would go out in this LOL )
OMG I have just been listening to the news and the dreadful injuries that little boy had.They say 2 other children were also suffering neglect,probably abuse too.Why when so many people voiced concerns over this dear little boy was no action taken.Yet one more slipped through the net :-( :-(.

Hannah is normally cold Mandy so she will be really feeling it now.Yes I think the wedding went off fine.I thnk the reception was a typical Greek do as Hannah sent me a pic of all the plates that were smashed at the end of the meal :-D.I will hear all about it later.She is probably just getting out of Gatwick now and on a train back home.Bet she is pooped.

Evening All,

Very interesting and true Dermot! Of course the further old age creeps on you get to hear age becoming important again. My MIL used to say things of her husband like 'He's nearly 90 you know', so the next birthday gets quoted rather than your current age! Yes, that poor little boy hardly got started with his life did he.

Jane, it is the current building next to our neighbour and also they are being woken by a motorbike every morning by someone in the new houses that were built in the field. Then of course the warehouses that are now to be built from us down to the park and ride and at the back of us behind the 2 fields at the bottom of our gardens. When they've done all that there won't be any fields between us and the city any more. The traffic down the main road to the motorway and retail park is already gridlocked morning and night. Then of course there is the development of 4250 houses at the other side of the village being started.

We watched A Midsummer Night's Dream but I didn't like it at all! I remember being 'Bottom' when we read it in class at school, then I was Richard 111 when we did that for 'O' level. You were lucky to get that close up view of the Kites!

Oh dear, that was worrying for you and Ros Frank, but she did the right thing getting checked out. Hopefully with the antibiotics she will enjoy her holiday now. She certainly deserves a rest with all she's been doing for everyone. How lucky you spotted you hadn't printed her boarding pass in time!

What a great surprise to get home and find your grass all mowed Liz and the greenhouse and Merlin cared for too! There's not that many young men his age prepared to get stuck in and help a neighbour like that.

I bet Max is a tinker when he has to stay in Mandy.......just looking for trouble to get into! lol. :-) Have you had the results from the vet about the possible parasites yet?

It's poured with rain here this afternoon and been quite cold and windy. We had the heating on for a quick burst earlier.

Poor Thomas he's not going to go out in the wet !!
I use to get cheesed off with poor old Toby he would go to the door see the rain and back away ,five minutes later he would do it again and you had to get up for him incase he was desperate to go .


No Ann nothing from the vet yet ,i might ring tomorrow to see if they have heard anything .
He is much better now ,i still think it was the old Pigeon muck he was having a go at ,we have taken the bird feeder away and the pigeons have stopped coming in the garden.

Hubby lit the fire and Max laid in front and went to sleep :-)

I don't think we shall bother with Midsummer! If you didn't care for it then I don't think we would either. We read Romeo and Juliet for O'level for one of our 'books', and put it on as a play for parents and the rest of the school. I was Juliets nurse! We all knew this particular play inside out, and I still remember quite a lot of it! For A'level we read Twelth Night among other things, and no stage show!
It's raining hard here, so no watering tonight hooray!

(Remember this headline?)

Sharon Shoesmith: Vilification of social workers is the profession’s Achilles’ heel.

Former Haringey director who was sacked over the death of Baby P says the culture of blame has left social workers traumatised.

Liam Fee (RIP).

Ann, you and us are in the same situation with all the building works ahead.I really don't know if we will stay or go in the end.How about you? You did mention something the other week about whether you would stay where you are.All the fields will be gone as far as we can see out the front eventually.One of the reasons we moved to this house was the outlook.The new houses over the back(if they get the go ahead ) probably won't affect us so much ,but it is just the concern if next door is demolished and a road it built.
Just chucked Thomas out as it has stopped raining (for now).He needs to stretch his little legs and burn off a bit of energy.

I didn't like Midsummer Nights Murder.Maybe you will enjoy it Liz.It wasn't my cup of tea :-S

No, we won't be watching it Jane and Ann. I love Shakespeare, but not in modern dress, so it'll be given a miss in this house.
Goodness, TV is abysmal this evening, apart from Yorkshire Vet, it is just junk! Luckily we've got a few recordings, so we shall watch one of those.

The outlook was part of the reason we moved here too Jane. A close of bungalows with fields at the back of us, one bungalow to one side then a garden and fields beyond to the side. With each bungalow priced according to what views it had, our neighbours who are selling paid 20% more than us as they had the additional views to the side. We expected to stay here till we were too old to live independently and our neighbour who is going said she expected to leave here in a box not carrying one! It's such a shame after spending years and money getting it and the garden just as we want, but there are no guarantees in life. What bothers me is that it could all happen again even if we found somewhere else similar as I wouldn't want to live somewhere in the middle of nowhere. New build bungalows are as scarce as hens' teeth around here and are mostly 2 bedroom ones which are too small for us. It's noticeable too that existing bungalows are being converted to houses. Most new property around here is being built with kitchen, diner and lounge all in one big room which is not something I'm keen on either when I see what grease finds it's way on top of the kitchen wall units!! Imagine that and cooking smells in your lounge and the sound of the fridge whirring and washing machine at full spin. :-S

I expect it could be quite noisy with traffic pulling out of a road next to you if there are a lot of houses Jane and headlights lighting up your bedrooms at night as they turn into the road wouldn't be good as people return home.

It's amazing too Liz what bits you remember from doing the plays at school. Over the years sometimes when we have walked past an old wall I have said to OH 'wall show me thy chink' and he's given me an old fashioned look when I've said it was in A Midsummer Night's Dream, as I'm sure he thought I was pulling his leg. (well I do sometimes.) His mouth dropped open when he heard Bottom say it last night! :-)

Well it's stopped raining, but I expect the slugs and snails will be on the move now! They have already demolished half of our runner beans, not a leaf left on them.

Still raining :-S :-S..Thomas goes out the back door and then a minute later is looking in the patio door to come back in.I give up now .He can stay in.He knows where the litter tray is.

Yes I remember Sharon Shoesmith and the Baby P case Dermot.Then their was Victoria Colombiey (? spelling) and sadly too many more cases like this :-(...Unfortunately there will always be cases like this that slip through the net.What is the answer ???..Less case loads for Social workers might be a start.Maybe then so many might not leave the profession due to dreadful stress and exhaustion .I can't really see that happening though :-S
On that note I am switching off now,watch the end of Springwatch and then go to bed to have a good read :-D
Night Night.

Frank ,if I miss you.Have a wonderful holiday.Enjoy the weather and the peace .(Make sure you stock up on the beer when you are too far from that bar) :-D :-D.Rest your knee and put your feet up .Bon Voyage xx

Good evening all

Pleased to hear you had a good time away Liz and how nice to have your grass cut for you and Merlin being well looked after. It sounds as though Cas might be pleased to be home

Frank I hope you & Ros have a really lovely holiday and the antibiotics are helping with Ros's discomfort.

Dermot when I read about that little boy, Liam and the way he had been treated it reduced me to tears, How could a mother do that to her own child?

They say you are as old as you feel and I certainly don't feel 77 but with my eldest son being 53 this year it can't be denied and we would have been married 56 years in September. I must admit I was pleased when the doctor said I didn't look my age and I passed the memory test with flying colours. I am lucky that at the moment I don't suffer with any aches and pains which must help

It's been a really rainy day here but I did take Amy out at 8am before it started she is another one that doesn't like the rain and the 2 cats have only just ventured out now the rain has stopped.

I don't think Paul and the girls are enjoying very good weather in Norfolk.

Ann & Jane I feel for you both when you are now having to consider moving because of the building going on around you. Sadly it seems to be happening a lot these days and it's amazing how quickly these new houses are built,

Watching National Geographic at the moment its about Elizabeth the 1st's relationship with Robert Dudley and if his wife was murdered. The Tudor age is one of my favourites

Retirement has many attributes - I'm doing my best to try them all. But as in various walks of life, there are a few downsides too.

For example so far this year, reluctantly & with a sad heavy heart, I have had to turn down three double glazing super-duper never to be repeated offers from salespersons who knocked unexpectedly & aggressively on my door before I had finished my leisurely breakfast - soft boiled egg & soldiers. I really must fix that damn door bell before the door falls asunder from all this knocking.

They said they happened to be in my area & so they thought an early morning visit would enhance my retirement experience. The sight of me, unshaven & not yet totally compos mentis, didn't particularly dissuade the salesperson's verbal dexterity.

Verbal diarrhoea, more like. It is a great achievement to be able to spout out dozens of words from memory, most of them in the English language that I can usually understand.

Some people claim that eye contact improves communication. However, we are moving inexorably closer to a world without human contact & this becomes a reality when being at home all day, every day. We can carry on most of our day-to-day business without ever laying eyes on another face, not even a neighbour sometimes.

It's all down to the internet of course, the device that has turned our lives upside-down, and the tool that has opened up frontiers that could never have been imagined by me or you - but especially me. How else could I publish this mangled gibberish to you expectant readers!

But does that mean we have to shake off lifelong habits as though they were something unpleasant stuck to our shoes?

The bank wants me to do my transactions online. Even if there's still a bank branch open near enough for me to patronise, there will be ATMs & automatic lodgement facilities that will still deprive me of human contact even when I'm close enough to reach out & touch it. Bank staff do not like such familiar contact - so, I resist mainly because of the toughened glass panel that exists between us.

Old fashioned bank robbers, on early release for good behaviour, are now increasingly turning to technology to get their grubby fingers on our hard earned cash. Easier & much safer than walking into a bank wearing a mask & pointing a gun. That's progress of sorts!

The big grocery outlets & supermarkets are refurbishing their stores to increase the self-service tills at the expense of those manned by paid staff – that's of course if you don't do your shopping online in the first place. I don't because delivery can be at most inconvenient times.

I used to go to record shops to browse through the LP’s – so now you can guess my age! Today, youngsters buy 'albums' that don't actually exist, except as a download stored on a cloud & requiring nothing more than the physical presence of a computer.

One of my life's great joys is to wallow in the escapism of books piled high & wide in a bookstore or library – but now I can click on my Kindle (if I ever buy such an instrument) & download a paperless version of a new novel. I may be prompted to purchase an online book because I've just read a review of it on a digital version of my favourite newspaper. No chance!

All of this is wonderful in terms of the freedom it gives me to shop for the best price, to order something I don't desperately need in the blink of an eye & to avoid parking charges – not to mention the constant wind & rain – to carry out transactions at the click of a mouse. But is that the only measure?

It's terrific to avoid the long queue of mainly pensioners like you & me but rarely me at the Post Office on a wet Friday morning, waiting behind someone who has ten transactions to make & stamps to buy while I'm double parked outside on a street with its own enthusiastic traffic warden.

But when I reach to the top of the queue & encounter the friendly face – the teller, as opposed to the pinstriped suits brigade who bankrupted the country & who never meet with the public outside of the golf club – then I enjoy a bit of banter with another human being.

I'm kept busy managing my advancing years. Like my favourite Victor Meldrew, I'm just an analogue person in a digital age. I need updating to a newer model & to become more digitally minded. Her-in-doors occasionally says something similar about me - or at least I think that's what she mutters under her breath as she sits in her rocking chair by the open fireplace with a tin of Brew to hand & smoking an old clay pipe, which was left to her in her grandmother's Will. And she's recently given up shaving her legs - a belated New Year resolution, she claims.

PS. This missive has been dermatologically tested & is mild enough for the whole family to read. The secret of a good article is to have an excellent beginning & a stunning ending - making sure the two are as close together as possible. I've failed miserably on both counts.

Regrettably, I am unable to provide taped or Braille versions for those with poor sight or who have hearing difficulties. And I have no intention of employing the fake sign language interpreter Thamsanga Jantjie who was last seen years ago on TV at Nelson Mandela's Memorial Service gesticulating gibberish to the world-wide audience.

Anne, I find the Tudors fascinating too! In fact I find history per sa fascinating! Amy Robsart was murdered (almost certainly) at Cumnor Hall, near where I lived as a child. The fair the servants were mysteriously sent to was Abingdon fair which which we went to every October. I've always been of the opinion that Robert Cecil (Lord Burghly) was behind this tragedy. Maybe, maybe not, but Dudley was enormously disliked at court, and the thought of the Queen even contemplating marrying him was a complete anathema, and had to be put a stop to at all costs! I must keep a look out for these progs, as we both enjoy them enormously. Do you have an opinion on who murdered (?!) the Princes in the Tower? Ann and I reluctantly favour Richard 111, but Ive just finished reading a life of Elizabeth of York, and I'm beginning to think Lady Margaret Beaufort knew more than she ever let on! but who knows? All intriguing stuff!!
What a horrible day, teeming with rain, and so murky we need the light on! OH has taken Cas for a nice long walk, so she's happy for a while! Just the day for some Tudor research!!!

Morning all and evening Kim,

Grey day here this morning and its pinch and a punch day and Dermots post made me laugh once again. You clever old so and so you put it so completely as it is......

I was so tired after shopping yesterday and I did'nt get home till quite late as I went up the High St first to see if I could find some more of the metal shelving I have for my plants. Could'nt find on lot of any width on the net, oh looked for a long while and they were all too shallow.

Have lots of ironing to keep me quiet today and a lot of washing to do too. Where does it all come from when there are only two of us hear to make things dirty?

The pheasent came again yesterday with her chicks and she now has eight. They do use the hole in the wall oh made. One is called Limpy Lil as it is always the last to arrive and yes you've guessed it it has a limp, why we do not know.

Remember I said we moved the bantam houses. I did'nt let them out the first night to get them used to the new position but let them out last night. Do you think I could get the blimmin cockrel in . I chased it around the back garden about 10 times at first with a couple of hens and then they went in so Cockle was looking for them and by this time it was getting quite dark. WEll I can tell you that they are staying put tonight as I am not doing that again. :-|

Hope Frank has a lovely holiday and that Ros is feeling better now and can have a well earned rest after running around after everyone else in the neighbourhood and have some "Me Time" for herself.