General Chat

Yes, I hope you have a good holiday Frank, it'll be nice to get away from this horrid weather. Lots of washing here too, but no ironing! I just won't do it any more except the odd shirt or top and then If OH wants.anything of his ironed, he can do it himself! He won't though, as he he wouldn't notice whether anything was ironed or not including clothes!!
Daughters just phoned and they're coming over later - hooray, she can give me a hand to fold that washing after it's tumble dried!!

Liz is Cas all healed up now?

Washings in and now I am going to do a bit of ironing.

Morning all,

What another wet day we have here and so dark too ,when it does brighten up it seems to rain even harder.

Yes Happy Holiday Frank have a good rest both of you.

Not a lot happening here , with this weather you don't feel likd doing anything .

Dentist for both of us later ,just a check up but i need her to look at my tooth where that little piece broke off a few weeks ago .

Yes she's fine Mel, her wound has healed really well, the stitches have disolved and she's forgotten about her unfortunate experience. I'm just about to take her for a run then the family should be arriving!

Pleased to hear she is over it ll now Liz. Give her and Merlin a big kiss for me.XX

Still just grey here but it is dry so I suppose we can be glad of that. The washing is on the line but I did'nt get any ironing done as I got lost in the garden and cut some of the edges and pulled out a load of nettles from my Rhododendrons and took some of the hundreds of dead heads off them. Cut round the feeding arc for the hogs at Prickly Bottom and brought the bowls up to be washed and then did lunch and watched Doctors and the antiques program and then came and wrote this to you lot who are still here and not on their holidays.

We hav'nt heard from our William and I hope they are both as well as can be expected. Sending lots of love to William and Carmel.

Also sending love and wishes to Fiona and hope she is getting better slowly and surely. <3

AND where's our David????????????????????????

Afternoon All
Well this rain is still coming down :-S.Bet Frank is glad to get away now :-D..But it does seem as though things are going to improve and hot up again :-D.

I have been working through a big ironing pile and have come down for a cuppa.Then it is back to finish it off.Chris is at the pictures in Northampton .Another film that didn't tickle my fancy.

Yes Mel there a few of our pals missing at the moment .Fiona hasn't been doing FB so she must still not be using the computer.
Oh dear so just 8 chicks now.I hope the number doesn't go down too much and that Limpy Lil won't be the next one .

Glad Cas is all tickety boo again Liz. :-D..I expect is is good to see her back to her normal self again.
How is the little Tinker today Mandy? Still stuck in the house because of the rain?You will have to get him a little doggie rain jacket with sleeves for his legs :-D..I have seen a few dogs wearing them.

Must get this cuppa now and crack on .

Did you mean me? or another? <3

Well the rain has finally stopped but the sky still looks full of it .
We have been to the dentists and both got clean bill of health ,she said she would leave my tooth that has the piece broken off as its only a tiny piece ,there's no decay in the tooth so i have to see how it goes .

It was funny when i got home as when i looked at my receipt that they print off my bill was for one hundred and ninty seven Thousand !!!! LOL it should have been nineteen pound some thing , the receipt from the card machine was right it was just the receipt they print you off.

Anne, I've pmd you.

Yes I did mean you David. Are you both ok? You have been very quiet lately I thought you had gone and left us again.

Been out in the garden. It is so muggy here today with grey sky but it is dry. Hav'nt looked at the ironing but it will still be there tomorrow. With more to add to the pile...

Surely Mel you don't have to do that much!! Most of it folds up apart from shirts, tops and trousers! Well it does it this house!! I just won't stand for hours doing that anymore, years ago when our two were at home and we were at work it was different, but.there is no way I'd do that anymore.. OH doesn't like it he knows what he'll get told!!
Family just gone! Goodness can that little boy talk, but he is such a love, you can't help but smile and indulge him!!! Granddaughter helped fold the washing, so it's now in the airing cupboard apart from a couple of tops which I'll have to iron, booo :-\

Good no work needing doing on your tooth Mandy :-D..That was a cracking bill LOL

David of course Mel meant you .There is only one David :-D

Well I think the rain might have finally stopped.I just chucked Thomas out but he walked straight back in and back into bed :-S.I'll try again in a minute.

Hannah ,her friend Polly and Hannah's boyfriend went to an early morning RAve this morning.Starts at 6.30 ! :-0.It's called Morning Gloryville and is just a good fun alcohol free music and dance thing.To get people up and going in the morning.I have just looked it up and it seems it is a worldwide thing and great fun.Far too energetic for someone like me .It made me tired just looking at video clips.Hannah sent me a pic of her and Gareth all glittered up. I said I thought they were completely mad .But then if I was 30 yrs or more younger I might just enjoy something like that :-D
The young these days eh!!!!.Good on them I say :-D

Chris said the film he went to see was nothing to write home about and didn't think it was really worth going to see.(glad I didn't go :-D )

I have forgotten 2 peoples birthdays this week.My friend in Plymouth whose birthday it is today and our friend Kim in Oz whose birthday it is tomorrow.Both are up on the calendar too so how I missed them heaven knows.

I expect Frank is now relaxing in Spain with lovely warm weather.Certainly not like it is here.I hope he had a good flight.How long has he gone for? Is it one or two weeks?
I am glad we aren't in France this week ,what with all the strikes.We were so lucky to have missed them all.Saying that there was one day when there was a french Rail strike,but it didn't affect us.
I have just booked 2 nights in a Hotel in Symonds Yat near Ross on Wye .We will stay there on the way to Pembrokeshire in September.Just to break up the journey and to see a lovely area.
I really need to get Thomas out !!!

Lol well Mel have been referring to a relation of another thread user, I don't know.
We are very well thank you. E has never been so well since she had both knees done.
As for myself...this L leg impediment is a downer, but all in all I'm a patient patient.
Sometimes it aches, sometimes it hurts and some times OUCH !!!
It often disrupts my sleep, example it wakes me about 2am. I play Solitaire for about an hour then go back to sleep again, wake up about 6 then fall asleep midday.
You know I will never be able to prove it but I some times think the biopsy and six weeks on a drip spoke volumes about the enormity of the damage I did to my knee and tibia. Found a place sells ex Motability cars, had a chat over the telephone with the assessor. My problem hasn't ended my motoring career. They put extensions on the back of the runners the drivers seat moves on to give the necessary room and put blocks on the gas and brake pedals. Money is as ever a problem. I'm getting a new bathroom going to set me back £5500 and just spent another lump of money having the outside of my bungalow painted. I've only got so much.
Listen to me, I'm sounding negative, that's not me...........

You might find this helpful David. It was certainly news to me that you could buy certain things VAT free if you are limited by disability. If you read it all through it tells you how to claim and might be relevant to your bathroom alterations?

http://www.taxguideforstudents.org.uk/types-of-student/disabled-students/vat-reliefs-for-disabled-and-older-people

Personally, at the time I would have gone further with things and even asked the ombudsman to look at what happened with your knee and the screw. They might have offered you some kind of payment then rather than have things escalate and be pursued further. Still, I expect the time limits for doing that have passed now.

Jane, what film did Chris go to see today?

Liz I have replied to your pm. I'm like you regarding ironing I do a good job in folding, I only iron Richard's shirts and my blouses. David does his own .

Ann, When I had to buy wigs after having chemo I didn't' have to pay any VAT so lets hope David's bathroom is the same it would be a big saving on his bill.

It's been a grey day today but no rain thank goodness.

Jane, Hannah certainly has a great social life, lucky girl

Still no Gill, I wonder if her connection is still causing problems

David ,why will it cost you that much for your new bathroom? With your disability should you not have a grant or at least some money from NHS towards it.
Ann I can't remember what film Chris saw today.and I can't ask now as he has gone to bed with a really painful shoulder.He is getting so much pain in it at times.Pretty sure it is an Arthritis problem.
Still think it is so bad that you have no claim on the bit of metal left in your leg :-S.WE all remember you telling us about that so know it happened .As you say though if it was never put in your records then it is though that never happened.Shame on that hospital for covering up a HUGE Mistake (or Cock up) .That is what happened.That metal was surely what caused the terrible infection and then the following weeks of IV Antibiotics :-S :-S.I will get off my high horse now...Can you not ask for records of X-rays .There might just be one showing that bit of metal !!!

Anne ,Hannah loves living in London.There is always something (free) to go to.Her social life is just incredible .Oh to be 30 something and living in London :-) .My life is so dull in comparison .Not that I would cope with living it up any more LOL I had my time years ago :-D Made the most of it too :-D :-D

David youshould be abe to get a grant towards the bathroom. Have you got to have a larger shower? because the chap just up the road had a large one put in because his wife was ill. The nhs paid for it I think. Its worth looking into...

I still think it is not at all fair about that metal left in your leg and can't understand how it did'nt go down on the records.

Surely a new bathroom doesn't cost that much David?!! When we built our log cabin four years ago, .we fitted out the bathroom for under £1,5000! admittedly we haven't got a bath, but we have got a very smart walk in shower, basin, loo and carpet + towel rail and glass cabinet! As Jane says, surely you could apply for a grant?! would be worth investigating.
I think the time limit for suing the NHS is three years after the event. Might be worth looking into though.
We're in bed early as today has been such a rubbish day, so we're watching a bit of TV and hoping tomorrow will be a bit sunnier!

Speaking of bathroom costs reminds me of a female colleague who regularly boasts about the quality & sumptuousness of her bathroom.

She has a habit when visiting other homes to pardon herself politely & asks to use the loo. She is not an incontinence sufferer or anything like that. She is just nosey & keen to see the 'facilities' of others. Any fresh or different ideas gleamed elsewhere will surely be promptly incorporated in her own establishment, She is Mrs Bucket's double - well, almost!

When & who was it decided to promote the bathroom from a room that wasn’t always necessarily indoors into what might well be described as a new private living room at the heart of every house?

It used to be a room for your ablutions that you got in and out of as fast as you could – now it's all about quality time for relaxation in the bath, where you might like to light smelly candles & perhaps read a chapter or two of your favourite book. My dad, being a bit more down to earth, never went anywhere without his Woodbines!

Some drink wine in the bathroom now, and not because they’re hiding away, too mean to share it with everyone else. There are magazine racks where you can enjoy a read in case you get bored while doing what nature intended – although why you’d want to handle any paper or other publication that was perused by previous occupiers of the ceramic throne is probably not something to cogitate too deeply, especially this early in the morning.

Today’s bathroom has some wonderful ideas never seen in my young days, such as under-floor heating, ‘his and her’ sinks, and roll-top baths on a plinth with Jacuzzi jet streams to tickle the places that nature never intended.

The shower is no longer an off-white rubber tube attached to the two bath taps – looking more like the original implement for an enema; it now has a rain-shower head that recreates a downpour in the jungle or in Co Mayo (one of the nicer Irish counties - as if you didn't know!) albeit with loads of hot water and soap.

There are bathrooms with armchairs in them, just in case you need to sit down after the trauma of your bath or powdering your nose. If I wanted an armchair in my bathroom, I’d have to remove the bath.

Showhouse bathrooms now have themes – a nautical feel for example, illustrated by the presence of sailing collectibles on the window sill, white floorboards and blue & white striped tongue and groove walls.

We now have wet rooms where the water flows through a drain in the middle of the floor – something that we also had even in my young days but it was more to do with a leak in the roof than a design feature.

There are some posh houses with more bathrooms than bedrooms, although if you have armchairs in them, it’s probably comfortable enough to sleep there as well.

You almost grow nostalgic for the old days when a home had one functional bathroom with a sink, a toilet and a bath – and that was a huge step up from the outside loo and the tin bath in front of the open fire, filled with hot water from the kettle, on a Saturday night.

Lino was the height of luxury when it came to bathroom floor coverings – although that material too has gone the way of the dodo.

Morning All,

So true Dermot! I think the Japanese have invented a toilet that blows sweet aromas around the toilet bowl as you are enthroned too to prevent any nasty niffs escaping. The one thing that I find hasn't improved enough in bathrooms is the damp air extraction and ventilation. We had a far more powerful extractor fitted but despite that and keeping windows open, we still have to clean off spots of black mould that form. Mind you we do the ablutions far more often these days. We both shower at least once a day and there's a bath too some days. What we need is a ceiling that opens to the outside! :-) It's nice having extra bathrooms these days, but it makes more work!

Grandma's 'facilities' were an outside toilet emptied by the 'soil men' and a tin bath by the fire. This was used every day though as grandad was a coal miner. I never thought about it till recently but the miners that looked so grubby with their black faces when they left the pit were actually some of the cleanest people of the early 1900s as a lot of people at that time just bathed once a week!

I think some of the grants available for showers/bathrooms. stairlifts etc for the disabled are means tested. Social services did assessments for MIL and FIL. It's always worth making enquiries though as rules can change and better to be told no than miss out. :-)