General Chat

Morning all and evening Kim,

Dull morn ing with some brighter patches if you can call them that grey sky but hey its not rainig yet.

Lovely picture of Max chewing his way through the cardboard box. He is growin g quickly.

My finger are a bit stiff this morning and I don't know why as I did'nt do any weedig yesterday with my big thick leather gloves on. Thats what ususally does it.

Dermot I like your Researching bit........

Tomorrow would have been my mums 92nd birthday. I have bought her one of those little roses in a lovely pink as she used to like those and it fits nicely on her stone.

BIG BREAKFAST day today. My favorite dinner. Naughty ar'nt I ?

My Father would be 98. He passed 26 years ago today.

Afternoon All
What a shame the sun hasn't got it's hat on today what with all the street parties and celebrations going on.It is that horrible drizzle here.The kind that makes your hair go frizzy or curly :-S

So Barbara and Helen are both of the same opinion as most of us then Dermot when it comes to your neighbour.Who knows what the real story is behind it all.I am sure she is grateful for your friendship and she is obviously a lonely maybe embittered lady.
I do think it is very sad that there are so many eldery people on their own with no family close by and maybe living in accomodation where they may not get to see neighbours.Much of the problem is that families no longer stay in the same place like in 'the old days' and move many miles or even continents to find work and get a better life.Having to leave elderly parents behind.I felt awful being so far from my Mum after died died and then she developed Vascular Dementia.She was down in Plymouth and me up here in the East Midlands.Not ideal at all.There were times when I was up and down that M5 like a yoyo each week.Then trying to find a good care home.Moving her up here so to be near us (that was her wishes) but that didn't work and so it was then moving her back to Plymouth to another home.That wasn't successful either (but that was due to her condition really) The good thing was that she had friends in Plymouth who could visit her and a wondereful old family friend Graham who would take her out each week for tea and cakes :-D..
I am sure my children dread the time when they have to find homes for us two old codgers.My daughter said she reckons I will be easy but Dad will be a nightmare :-)

I am just sure that we would not live with either in our old age .I just don't think it would be fair.
Hugs are so important to some people.I am a hugger :-D Isn't there a National Hug Day?

David I saw everyone on the balcony yesterday but didn't really take note of who was there.

Ann,how is that little bird?.Did it fly away? I hope it was just a bit scared and not hurt in any way.
Those Lodges soundes very nice indeed,especially the ones with the doors opening onto the verandas and a dressing room !!.I too really want one :-D
Are you actaully thinking of having one?.I must have missed where you said these are.
How are the knees today?

Mandy ,Thomas is supposed to be in the cage for at least 10 days I think.But he can be out if supervised just to make sure he doesn't try and jump on the furniture.
Guess where he is now..............only curled up on one of the dining chairs :-S.I left Chris in charge when I popped out :-| :-|.So now I am just waiting forThomas to wake and I will lift him down.I think I will sleep in my own bed tonight as he was doing a lot of miaowing and pacing last night.I think he must be really bored stiff.He is eating well though and pooing and weeing well too.So I won't be giving him any more Lactulose .

Oh i see the Queen coming down The Mall now.Her outfit is a much nicer colour today
Would it be called Cerise ? Oh How lovely that both her and Phillip are standing up.
LOL it looks like she has just told Phillip off for something :-D :-D

My error Jane. The front page shows Windsor 1 -5 with the exclusion of the others.
Inside the paper it shows the whole family, sorry.

Well I have done absolutely nothing today except make the bed and do the breakfast/lunch. Now I am sitting here with a cuppa whihc oh made half of and left me to put the milk in.

I have done my dialy challenges on the pc all but one. I just can't do that one so it will be the first one I could'nt do. Its a mahjong one.

David I never actually looked to see who was on the balcony.Just noticed the main ones lol.I doubt everyone would have been able to fit on there !!.Some were in the background just inside the windows.

So a nice easy day for you today Mel :-D.I never do games or puzzles on the pooter.
I dare not even start as I would never be off the darned thing .

Just seen on the news about the dreadful killing of 50 (plus) people at a Gay Club in Orlando. :-0 :-0.So many lives lost yet again by yet another evil person.Chris just said they might be treating it as a terrorist attack.

I am looking at the sky now and wondering if we are going to get the same big thunderstorm my sister had in Teweksbury a couple of hours ago. :-S :-S

Evening All,

Dermot, I agree that it is sad that so many of the elderly are lonely but you can be alone without being lonely and some of it is down to attitude and expectation I think. Even if you are housebound there are charitable organisations where volunteers will take you out to lunch groups for example. Remember there's no pleasing some people though and and they would find fault one way or another. I'm not saying that it is the case with this lady, but moaning is an ingrained habit that doesn't attract friendship as much as a ready smile and cheerful disposition!! :-) Maybe she has now found you friendly she will be happier! :-)

Jane, when we were in Cornwall, the lodge owners told us they were building some more lodges on their land, but to sell this time. It got us interested and Sam even said we could buy the existing one we like and always stay in instead if we wanted. We decided it would be a good opportunity to have a look at different types and find more out about it. I'm very wary though and would want to know a lot more like the life these buildings have, depreciation and what the hidden charges could be, maintenance, insurance etc. Some of the sellers at the event had their own residential Parks in lovely settings, some were just for the over 50s. Some would make lovely luxurious and comfortable retirement homes with low running costs and only small gardens to maintain......useful to bear in mind! lol.

The knees were better than expected this morning which was a nice surprise, just a bit achey.

Off to bed now and to see if the window cleaner comes in the morning. It's either a very early shower or wait till you think it's too late for him to turn up and hope for the best!!

Encyclopaedia Britannica.

Google can take some credit for changing so much of the way we now acquire information – but the power of the search engine also means that there's a generation who will look blankly at anyone who mentions the wonderful world of ‘Encyclopaedia Britannica‘.

Youngsters with twitching thumbs will never know the infinite wisdom and knowledge contained within the covers of those expensive & expansive big black leather-bound books with their gold lettering that opened the reader's eyes to a wealth of facts.

Want to know the history of the ancient Greeks? Look no further. The fastest animal on the planet (before Usain Bolt was born); circumference of the planet; world's rarest birds? All you had to know was the English alphabet so you didn't waste time checking the wrong volume. (The ancient Greek alphabet is of no use whatsoever!)

We all know that a little knowledge is indeed a dangerous thing. So having the full set of 32 heavy volumes is necessary. And if you went to the bother of buying them, then not displaying these massive books wasn't an option either. The world – or at least that portion of the neighbourhood that visited the sitting room – had to know that here was a family with a few bob and a zest for knowledge.

We didn't have a set in our house – if we did, quite frankly, my dad would have had to build new shelves for them and all that seemed too much like hard work – but as children, we marvelled when we saw this expanse of information proudly displayed in some swanky house we went to visit.

Encyclopaedia Britannica still exists I believe and thrives of course, but online as opposed to in print since 1996 – and the sales team too, who numbered 2,300 at their peak, are confined to history. The book format lasted for 244 years, since it was first compiled and printed in Edinburgh – but alas no more.

Partly it came down to price – about £1,000 before they stopped printing them – but mainly it was because of accessibility; the need to be pulling down heavy books evaporated when everything anyone needed was available at the touch of a mouse.

And in reality, owners of the Encyclopaedia Britannica seemed to prefer the notion of having all of this information at our finger tips more than actually consuming it – apparently. Britannica's own market research showed that the typical encyclopaedia owner got up off his/her posterior to open the books just once or twice a year.

But the difference between the encyclopaedia and the internet is that, with the latter, the search for something in particular can be traced in an instant. And in many ways that mirrors life on so many fronts – everything has to be instantaneous and accessible, because there's no time left to assimilate information.

Kindles have evolved to replace printed books. But there are enough readers of the printed page still out there to ensure this isn't a slide to the death. If no one buys books, how do you hand on your favourites to your children; what stocks the shelves in you sitting room – and how does one casually pick up a book they've never heard of, only to find themselves engrossed on the couch?

There are many advantages to e-books too – and to acquiring knowledge in an instant, thanks to Google – but there's nothing like the feel of a brand new book or the smell of its freshly opened pages.

Morning Dermot and all and evening Kim,

Grey skies but quite bright and warm.

Still missing our Frank and his antics. I wonder what they ahve been doping on holiday. Hope Ros is all better now after her antibiotics and warm weather. I can't remember how long they went for.

Dermot so true about the encyclopaedia. I remember when we had garden fetes for the Bell Fund and were given a whole set of them to sell. They still sit in the potting shed gathering dust to this day. I must get oh to burn them when he next has a big bonfire.

Bin day today and oh has put them out. Thank goodness we never had a wheelie bin when they offered them. At our ages we would never have been able to wheel that up the top of the drive to the road.

I know there were an awful lot of changes to life in the Victorian times but there have also been a lot of changes in our lifetimes too when you think back. It does make you wonder what the future is going to bring to the next few generations? :-S

Afternoon all,

Showery here today and still on the muggy side .

I think Frank went on a wednesday and for two weeks so he should be home this wednesday , i bet he has a good tan.

Oh gosh Ann that was a lot of lodges to look round , i didn't realise it was a place with lots of companies there i thought it was just a lodge site you were looking round .
There are wooden lodges in a village near us that people can buy , i said to hubby thats ok but what happens to the site if the company folds and the other lodges haven't sold !! you could end up being the only one on the site and no one doing any maintenance on site .

I been out and bought some teething gel for Max poor little chaps teeth are really giving him some pain ,he keeps trying to bite everything and whining when he does ,since i rubbed some on he seems a bit happier.

Hows Thomas today Jane ?

Keeps raining here that horrid fine steady rain coming straight down. It did dry up a bit and we had a little sun so I went up the border and used some of the new supports I bought the other day for the peonys and delphiniums.

Baby Max has sore gums then has he? I can sympathize with him today as I have my new teeth in..........

Afternoon Everyone.
Oh poor Max ,it must be just like a baby teething and so sore for him.Somehow I never think of animals teething.Hopefully what you can rub on his gums will make it a lot easier for him.I hope all your furniture will be safe from his chewing :-D

I have just got home from Thomas's post op check up and the vet is really pleased with how he is doing.The only bit of concern was the wounds on his feet bit I have got an extra 10 days of antibiotics to give him.He was so good.Not even one miaow .In fact after he had had his temperature taken (in that very undignified way) he settled on the table and just started purring lol.His stitches come out on the 22nd.I can take him in the garden next week on the harness(if he will tolerate it) and just walk him for 5-10 minutes 2 a day.Then gradually build it up.He will not be allowed out properly for a couple of months !! :-S.The muscles need to repair around the unstable femur to hold it in place as he no longer has the 'ball' to secure into the socket..This is why his leg gives way sometimes now when he turns or stands awkwardly . So all in all he is doing really well :-D :-D

Dermot,I have been racking my brains to recall it we had the Encyclopaedia Britannica when I was young.I do remember a chap who used to come around door to door selling them.I am pretty sure we had some but maybe not the whole lot.That is another thing I must ask my Sister.She may well remember.I loved looking up things in encyclopaedias . I would now but as you said it is so easy with Google .Just a click and you find out what you are looking for straight away.
We have hundreds of books in our house.Bookshelves full.I can't imagine living without books.My kindle is wonderful for reading in bed especially and for taking on holiday,but I too love to hold and read a 'proper' book :-D OH and my son regularly have books arriving from'Amazon'.My Daughter runs a Book Club once a month for recovering Addicts in London and those who attend really enjoy it.Some have never read at all until now.She said it gives them a focus.They have a month to read whatever book she has chosen and then it is discussed the following month before beginning a new one :-D..I think it is a brilliant idea of hers.

I expect Frank will be glued to the tv in Spain,watching all the footie :-D no doubt with a few cans beside him :-D :-D.So just a few days now before he is home :-D.I can't wait to hear from him again .It seems so long ago he went away !!.His garden might look like a jungle when he gets home !!!

So it's teeth in for short periods at a time is it Mel ? have you tried some Bonjela to help the sorness?

I'am glad Thomas is doing well , thats quite a while he has to keep in though poor little boy , the harness walking will at least give him some time outside.

Well we walked Max this afternoon and got a right soaking ,it was nice and sunny when we set out but as we got to half way on the walk down came the rain ,hubby had taken the brolly so he was ok but poor Max and i got wet, he kept trotting along beside me looking up shaking the rain off his head as if to say why have you brought me out in this LOL

Oh Bum lost my post :-S :-S :-S

Evening All,

Oh dear, Mel and Max both with sore gums!! The gel for Max's gums is a good idea Mandy, I wouldn't have thought of that! He must have wondered what the rain was keep landing on his head.

Yes it does seem ages since Frank went away and we do miss hearing about the scrapes he gets into!! :-) I hope Ros was ok and has enjoyed her holiday too. I think Jane is right about him coming home to a jungle after all the rain we've had. There have been a couple of downpours here again today and OH said our neighbour's garden was under water at the bottom yesterday.

Well it's going to be a little while before Thomas goes hunting again! It's good he is doing well though despite Chris not seeing him jump on the chair for a nap! lol. I forgot to say the little bird was gone the next morning when OH went to look. Hopefully it was ok. That is a great thing your daughter does with the book club.

I can remember the Encyclopaedia salesmen coming round when I was young, but of course we never had any. We didn't even have a bookshelf till I got dad to fix a shelf in the alcove above my bed. Now we have a wall full of bookcases in the study and more in the 2nd bedroom. OH is an avid reader and likes the feel of a book too. I'm not sure he'd like a kindle.

I'm off to the hospital for another focus group meeting tomorrow so it's an early start. We get their nice lunch with this one so that is good too. :-) I just hope my car park pass arrives before I go. I must remember to tell them to send them earlier!

Off to watch TGSB now that's recording.

Bald Facts.

This is a subject which is close to my heart or, should that be 'my head'.

With trees, you can tell their age by the rings on the bark. With men like me, it's the proportion of time at the barber, divided between cutting the hair on my head; the trimming of hairs expanding like a wild bush up my nose, in my ears & on your eyebrows. (Apologies to a certain reader for mentioning 'nose' again.)

Have I got your attention yet? Ok - read on. Ladies, you can join in too if you like & have a laugh at the fellow's expense just this once.

Gentlemen - unless you're a proponent of the Homer Simpson comb-over, you must reconcile yourself to the reality that eventually the haircut will take one-third of the time; the ears, nose & eyebrows will be the highlight of your occasional visit. Don't panic about the size of the barber's chair since it is scientifically designed to fit all posteriors.

One item that should be banned in the barber's shop is the rear view mirror. (Just in case you don't know, a rear view mirror is an alien object to many female drivers.)

Anyway, it doesn't matter how the haircut has turned out at the back because you get such a fright when you see the ever expanding bald patch that you think you're looking at a picture of a small wrinkly moon or some other old chap's head.

By the time you realise it's your own head, the dreaded mirror is back on its hook - in which case you've no idea how your head looks to anyone walking behind you down the street.

All of this evolving process towards baldness has more downsides than vanity & the biggest one concerns sun cream. You have a choice of wearing a baseball cap or smothering the back of your head in cream which makes it like a seagull has deposited its entire lunch on top of you.

And, believe me; seagulls have a tremendously accurate dumping ability. In fact, they have practised the art of snapping a chip from your hand & simultaneously discarding their 'calling card' on your lap. Gosh, I can still smell it!

Of course, there's the odd bald chap whose brain has vanished even faster than his hair. I saw such a bloke during a warm spell in Seaton, Devon. That must have been last summer because we are still waiting for a bit of proper sunshine this year. Anyway, there he was wearing a visor to keep the sun out of his eyes, utterly oblivious to the burning he was getting up on top. No hat or cap! Talk about 'hot spots'!

Thankfully, in recent times, not alone has any serious stigma about male baldness vanished, but it's actually quite macho sometimes to have no hair.

Well, that's what I think. It's well known that the ladies swoon after baldy chaps like Keith Wood, the Mitchell brothers of Eastenders & Bruce Willis. I live in hope.

I'm a bit inclined to go for that gorgeous & controversial Irish singer/songwriter - Sinead O'Connor who has a regular head shave. But, there's is no need for you to tell anyone else about my predilection.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
PS: I just noticed that I haven't mentioned anything about Ireland or Co Mayo in this article. Well, I have now! Pity about yesterday’s Irish Euro match result. Perhaps the outcome of the UK/EU referendum might end in a one-one draw too.

Morning all and evening Kim,

Absolutely pouring here, tipping it down, wet wet wet and dull with it.
Need I say more I am utterly fed up with the rain and we have only had it for a few days. I don't get fed up with the sun in that time.......I wonder why? :-S

Well another Donkey Day and I need to go up the High St in Bideford too as there's something I want in Poundstretcher if they have any left.

Why is it that the weeks go so quickly until Frank goes away and they they go slowly, well the second week is or seems to. I hope he's had a nice time and has'nt got himself into any scrapes whilst out there. You know what he is like, trouble follows him........

WE've been sleeping with the window open a bit and been ok most nights but last night they arrived. I have been bitten all over my forhead and shoulders. Oh is as clear as a bell. He must have bitter blood is all I can say.

Oh has decided it is toast time and wants to know when the Toast Maiden is coming?? Better go now and do my duty.

Good Afternoon Everyone

It's been raining here most of the day, well it is Ascot week :-( :-(

Paul has put in an offer for a flat and it has been accepted, again there is no chain.
It's not the one he viewed earlier but still has the same number of rooms, it is built on the site where the Met office, was just off the town centre. The block of flats is named Kelvin Gate

My youngest S.I.L. and her husband with their 3 daughters along with their O.H. and children are all are all off to Disney Land, Paris on Sunday this is to celebrate her youngest daughter's 30th birthday. There will be about 16 of them.

Afternoon all,

Oh Mel those bites can be so itchy ,have you got any cream to rub on? have you got a fine piece of net you could just put up the window when you have it open at night ? might stop them getting in but would still let the air through.


I didn't realise it was Ascot week Anne i like looking at all the fashion especially the hats !! there can be some weird looking ones it makes you wonder how they keep them on their heads some are so big.
So Paul has had his offer accepted thats good and no chain which should speed things along for him.
Oh thats quite a crowd going to disney ,i hope they all have a good time.

Our walk was dry today but it's now clouded over and we've just heard a rumbling in the distance .

How did the group meeting go at the hospital today Ann? did you have some thing nice for lunch?

Afternoon All
It has been thundering and rumbling here for hours now .A couple of torrential downpours !!,and it is so dark :-S.I know we all need a bit of rain but enough is enough now .We just want some Summer.

Mel I bet it is the humid air that has brought out your nasty biting unwanted visitors.Hope the bites have calmed down a bit and haven't spoilt your beauty(if they are on your face :-) )

Mandy did you say whether Max is bothered by the thunder or not?.Thomas doesn't hear a thing.My dear old Chester was a wreck when we had a thunderstorm.

Anne that is great Pauls offer has been accepted on the flat.Hopefully it won't take too long to all go through for him.

Ha Ha Dermot I bet you are a handsome man with your Shiny Pate..I actually find some men very attractive with no hair.It is very popular with many to shave it all off.I too think that some women look beautiful without hair.Not sure it would suit me with my chubby face though.
Both Chris and James still have all their hair although Chris is thinning out a bit now especially on the crown.One person who has a good head of hair still is Fitz.He is proud of his hair.(I think Ann will agree :-D).Eyebows ,Ears and Nose are done for Chris when he goes for a haircut.

Anne I do hope your SIL and family have a lovely time in Disney Paris and that they are well away from any kind of footie hooliganism.
I see that England and Russia are close to being kicked out if the fans carry on with the dreadful behaviour.What is wrong with them :-S :-S.It spoils it for everyone who are there just to enjoy the Football and to have a good time.

Gill must still be having trouble with the Router
:-(
I forgot it was the group meeting today Ann.I hope it all went well.

Just had a message from Hannah asking me to go to London for the day at the beginning of July.She must have something in mind for my Birthday :-DSomething at 4pm and then dinner.I think I wil go on the 7th the day after my birthday.Chris will book my train tickets for me.
She is off to Italy on the 26th with the new boyfriend for 4 nights.It is on the border of Tuscany and Umbria .Not far from Sienna.It looks beautiful.
My Nephew and little William are off to Kos on thursday for a week.That will be nice for my Sister and BIL as they will be William free for a while :-D.Not that they don't love looking after him for a large part of the week ,but it will give them a break.Saying that poor Larry is still up in Leeds sorting things with his Mum as she is still in hospital and he is moving some of her things from Sheltered Acommodation into a room at the Home.It must be pretty miserable for him up there on his own and as far as i know still doesn't know what is wrong with his Mum.

I reckon Frank will either be home now or at least on his way :-D