General Chat

It was morning when I looked in, now it'e GOOD AFTERNOON ALL.

I think it will be the same for us Mel, the clouds are quite low and there is a strong breeze.

Had a good laugh last night. Ros came home from the concert on her own. Sid's Val had her son and DIL at the concert, so she was going home with them. She searched for Val next door, she searched the car park, went back and looked in the church. She wasn't to be found. Ros assumed she had gone home with Val and her son and DIL .After searching for a further 15 minutes she got in the car and came home. HALF AN HOUR LATER. there was a knock on the door it was Valerie from next door. She had come out of another door in the church and got lost. !!! Someone saw her and bought her home. She didn't know the person only that they lived in Northampton.We keep saying she should not be allowed out on her own.This proved it. !!!

Poor Martine has had a nasty fall. She had slippery shoes on and went into the toilet of a pub where they were eating. It had shiny tiled floor. She said "she had never had her legs so far apart" She is bruised black and blue from her buttock to below the knee. So she must have gone down very hard.

Ros has popped to tesco for odds and ends. Then it will be a quiet afternoon for us.

I was up half the night again last night. Feel like getting back to bed now,

Anne did you receive my email ???

Afternoon all

Sunny here but very windy.

Sorry to hear you didn't have a good nights sleep last night Frank. Poor Martine, her bruises sound very nasty, hope she feels better soon. I see what you mean about Val, maybe it's time for her to get some help, it must of been so frightening for her.

I've just finished the trousers I was altering for mum's friend so they're ready to pass on to mum. OH is cutting back the tree trunks which is taking forever so there is nothing I can do to help until he is finished doing that. Because it taking so long I doubt the framework will be finished this weekend.

I set the timer to record Corrie last night for Sandra and I and it didn't record so I'll have to put it on my laptop for us to watch later. I'm catching up with one of my programmes at the moment and Sandra has a few on her TV to watch as well.

So at the moment I'm not doing much, just waiting for OH to finish then I can go and help him with the next bit.

Hope the weather improves for everyone
BBL

OH's just finished the first tree trunk, he's been on it most of the day so is stopping now as I need to go shopping and he wants to watch the F1 Qualifying at 5.30, we're just waiting for Sandra to finish watching her programme as she wants to come with us. It's just started raining so that was timed right for OH.

Good Afternoon all

We have had all sorts of weather here today, sun, thunder,rain & hailstones.

Frank I did send you an email but just to say I couldn't open the attachment which was disappointing. I only open my emails in the morning because they come through on the upstairs main computer for some reason, I can't access them on this laptop which I use all the time.

Richard has been busy cleaning the pond filters this morning we always seem to get a lot of blanket weed this time of the year.

Jane you asked about the life span of Boxers here is a list of all our girls and how old they were when they sadly left us.

Kim - 10
Emma - 13.5
Katie - 12
Jenny - 9.5
Rosie - 12

We use to always have 2, so they were company for each other, Richard was talking to someone over the forest and his boxer lived to 17.

The details of Richard's O2 experience can be seen by typing in "Up at The O2"

Afternoon All,

Lovely sunny breezy day here. :-)

We have been to an exhibition (at a city museum) of the Enderby artist Mary Sloane who lived in the village and died in 1961 aged 95. She painted some lovely atmospheric paintings of framework knitters among other things and we were interested to see those as some of OH's ancestors were framework knitters. When I went to the talk a few months ago, about the building of the Asylum in the village, some of the heritage group members were talking about visiting where her cottage used to be in the village, as the outline of the foundations can be seen in winter. We also had a look at the dinosaur skeletons and the egyptian mummies they have there. We both agreed it is a shame to have moved the mummies from the environment where they were found, but these days I don't expect they would have survived without protection.

After that, as we were in the area, we walked down the road where we thought a house that featured on the George Clarke house renovation programme last week was. It was a splendid 3 storey ornate georgian house that they restored back to it's original features with some modern improvements too. In the programme they discovered from the censuses that a famous clockmaker used to live there who made the clock for the city landmark clock tower and the corn exchange building in the market. Anyway, we couldn't spot the street so I will look it up and go again another time.

I had a visit from the Police earlier............no they hadn't come to take me away!! They wanted to know what, if any, problems we'd had with the builders building the bungalows and house at the end of the close. To be honest we haven't had any with the contractors who seem to have taken over the building work now, it's the other vehicles delivering materials that have been using other people's drives to turn round in. I did say it was dangerous them having to turn around in a tight space higher up the close before they reverse past us and that I'd seen the big lorries have a struggle to exit the close with there being vehicles parked there. It seems they'd been contacted about noise and disturbance etc.

That's a good length of fence to make frames for Gill. Will you have to paint them all too? It's good you are keeping your hand in with the sewing job.

Afternoon Everyone
Sunshine most of the time here ,but there have been a few very loud rumbles of thunder and a few showers .

Ann ,what an interesting day you have had.Plus a visit from the Boys in Blue :-D
I can understand people reporting the noise ans disruption with all the heavy traffic up and down your road and especially if driveways are having to be used for turning.It doesn't sound terribly safe.

Martine will feel like she has been run over by a truck today Frank.What a nasty fall !!!
I think you are right too about your next door neighbour not being allowed out on her own .What a worry.

Anne I see you have only had bitches.12 seems to be a good average age for the Boxer.

Well I went down to Fitz's this morning with his Birthday card.He is 69 today.He was busy with the hoover.I asked why he was hoovering on his birthday and he was hoovering up all the feathers from a Wood Pigeon that Podge had brought in through the flap and eaten .Everything other than the head,beak and wings :-S.The cylinder on his hoover was full to the top with the feathers !!!.
I then went to Lidl to have a look at the steaks that we were talking about yesterday.
They looked good.So I got 2 Rib Eyes for Chris and I and a Sirloin for James.He has just had his as he is going out and said it was delish :-DHopefully the Rib Eyes will be just as good later.

Ann,I have had Varifocals for a while now.But it is the depth of my new specs which will take a bit of getting used to .I feel less giddy today :-)It is the moving of the head up and down to get the right bit to see clearly.But I'm getting there :-D

Tennis is on and Murray is winning :-).I see tickets have gone on sale this afternoon for tomorrow.They are so behind on matches because of the weather.

Thomas is looking out the patio window at the moment.He is keeping his eyes on the spot where he sees mice LOL.Had a spell in the cage this morning afer me sitting half way down the garden for a good half hour in my nightie while he sunbathed.I felt mean picking him up and shutting him in ,but I needed to shower and washg my hair.

Gill ,does this girl spend a lot of time with Sandra?..She does sound a bit strange(NOT SANDRA).THis spraying of her perfume on the men is certainly a bit odd :-S.How old is she?Your OH must feel better now that he has told them at work he will no longer be doing jobs other than the one he is paid for.It has been so good of him to to all the extra jobs,but as you say he has lots of things he need to get done at home.I don't envy him trying to cut down the tree trunks !.

Liz that was nice to have gone to the memorial service and to remember both of your very brave Grandfathers...When I think of what such waste of lives(numbers too unimaginable to comprehend ) it just makes me so sad. :-(

The sun is out again (for now) :-).I better just get the few bits of washing in

The girl in question is 27 this month so old enough to know better Jane. The men aren't happy with her and if she carries on I think they are going to put in a complaint about her to the boss. It's a bit worrying knowing she is Sandra's friend. She lives next door to my mum so Sandra sees her quite a lot and we're worried she might be a bad influence on her. We'll just keep an eye on her and see how things go, although we're not to happy about her talking about OH to Sandra and telling lies about warnings at work.
Yes OH is feeling much better now he's sorted things out with his boss, she was very good about it and fully understood how busy he is at home. It took OH 7 hours to cut one tree trunk today, but thankfully it's the only one that needed lots of cutting, we are moving the bottom half of the framework forward tomorrow so with a bit of luck there won't be anymore tree trunks in the way for him to cut.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO FITZ what a shame he had to hoover on his birthday, it sounds like Podge is like your Thomas LOL. Pleased to hear you're getting used to your new glasses now.

It's sounds like you've had a lovely day today Ann, pity you couldn't find the house though, but something to look forward to for the future. We're not painting the framework as it will be covered with the screening so won't be seen, so at least that's one job we don't have to do, we're thinking of putting up bamboo screening unless we see something else we fancy instead.

Well I'm lost for words Gill. What a stupid woman spraying perfume on the married men. Sounds like she's 27 going on 15! Yes, the men should tell her they'll let the manager know for certain if she even thinks of doing such a stupid thing again. It's good your OH has stayed on good terms with his manager and will have more time to get things done at home now. That was quite a tree trunk your OH cut down. I can remember years ago cutting down an Ash tree at the bottom of the garden. We had to keep resting and going back to it over a few days. Then when we'd done it it was too heavy for us to move and we had to saw it into smaller bits.

How worried poor Val must have been getting lost like that Frank. I bet Ros was surprised when she told her. Gawd poor Martine.......I had to chuckle at what she said as it reminded me of a rather rude tale from Jethro!! lol. I did the same thing on the bathroom floor once and it's amazing how quick it happens. At least she didn't bang her head which is lucky.

I thought you wore varifocals Jane. :-) Are your new frames narrower top to bottom? They managed to squeeze my prescription into narrower ones that I am wearing now and it does mean getting your head in just the right position as you describe.

'HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO FITZ'...........I'll soon be catching up with him!! lol. :-D Podge is still managing to hunt then, despite him not being 100%. Fitz never knows what gory find there'll be next does he? Mind you, Thomas is the same!

If I had a dog it would be a bitch too Anne. Have you always had Boxers?

My paternal grandfather fought and was injured in France in WW1. As is usually the case with scant information I was told about dad's family, I was told he had silver kneecaps after a spell in hospital where he also learned to knit. Goodness knows how true it was, but it was dad who told me.

Heard this morning that our dear friend with terminal cancer died a few hours ago. We're both very upset, so I won't be posting for a day or two.
Hope you all have a peaceful day.

Morning all,

Liz sorry to hear about your friend and I am sure you are both upset. We quite understand so just come back when you can.

Gill I hope these tree trunks won't regrow and push through your screening. That bamboo stuff dos'nt last that long outside either.

When we had dogs it was always bitches as I always found them more faithfull. The first one I had when we married was a dog, Sultan and alsatian.

I had a baby Chaffinch on the kitchen windowsill the other day and it still had its curly bits on its head blowing around in the breeze. It did look funny and I took some pics of it and a little video. Oh still has'nt downloaded my camera for me but when he does I shall have lots of pics to send.

RIP Caroline Oherne. I liked her as Mrs Merton. Did'nt watch The Royal Family though.

‘Bob The Builder’.

There is little that gets the adrenaline going & raises the blood pressure as quickly is the mere idea of some home renovations.

A builder as an individual can be a very pleasant, easygoing & a helpful chap. He has the answers to your little household problems at his fingertips. All that needs to be done is to knock this down or take something else out & not worry too much about possible damage to that over there as he can easily put it right.

Builders seem to be salesmen trained by Encyclopaedia Britannica Publishers. With a wealth of experience & know-how, nothing appears beyond their capability. You are safe in their hands or so they reassure the fretful customer.

The picture portrayed above may give you the one brief spell when worry is not creasing your sweaty brow at a time when you are desperate & think you have at last found your saviour. Having worried about the scope of the work & the likely cost, there is a tendency to relax a little. After all, with the present EU political shenanigans, there will surely be plenty of other builders falling over one another to handle your little job. And pigs may fly someday.

Let me take you through a sample of the inevitable problems. Will someone phone back as promised? If he does, will he give you a written estimate - not just a scribble on the back of an old church Newsletter? Why did he imply that the foundations are moving when the work under discussion has nothing to do with the structure of the building? Does he want payment in advance in used notes? Will you ever see him again?

For anyone not very experienced in worrying, now is the time to close your eyes & pray to your God for the task to be completed or, alternatively, sell up & move house before your foundations do.

However, if your worry capacity has been expanded, you could try to obtain a second estimate if it makes you feel better. But before doing so, you should realise that real worrying has not started yet - nor has the work itself.

If & when progress begins to be seen, you can expect a twenty-four hour day & seven-day weeks of continuous worrying. At that time, try to have a smidgen of sympathy for your chosen builder - he has the worry about you, his customer, turning into a nervous wreck before handing over the balance of his Invoice.

Afternoon All

Liz,you must be very sad today after getting the news of your dear friend.I am so sorry. <3

We have only had a builder once Dermot ,and I have to say it was a pleasant experience.We must have been one of the lucky few who had no problems. All the men turned up on time and never once let us down.NOW as for my Plumber well ,I am gritting my teeth and will say no more. It will be yet another phone call from me to him in the morning :-S I did hear thatthere are a shortage of skilled people in the building trade.Now I am quite happy to hear this as it may mean all the building work due to go on around us may not happen as quickly as planned.I can live in hope.

Mel I love the little Chaffinches .I had a kamikaze one the day before yesterday .It had flown into the patio door and that was the end of the poor little thing.I also heard a bang on the glass greenhouse the other day when I was down the garden with Thomas and it was a Blackbird .Dead as a Dodo :-(.The onlt good thing is that they died instantly.

Well I think this is more like Summer today.Very warm ,plenty of sun :-D..But it could cloud up later with maybe a shower or two :-S.. I just wish the hayfever seaon was over .My eyes are streaming .

Ann my two new pairs of specs are both a bit deeper than my others.I think the width is about the same .It is just one pair now that I am getting to grips with.

I see it is lunch time . So will go and sort something out .BBL

I have for no reason just had a blank screen, needless to say I have lost a half hour posting. Will try again later.

Not again Frank !!!! :-S.Have another go :-D

Afternoon all,

So sorrry to hear you have lost your dear friend Liz ,a sad day for you both <3


Nice and sunny here i have just taken Max for his walk so he's now fast asleep under hubbys chair .
Went to my sisters this morning to pick some thing up and she picked me a nice bunch of her Sweetpeas ,i keep getting the lovely smell every now and then.
My nephew was there with his Spaniel Barney he had walked him and he had been in a couple of ponds so he was a bit wet !! He is into everything ,we sat out side and he was on the go all the time we were there and that was after he had had a long walk too.

Poor little birds it does make you jump when you hear them bash into the glass like that ,some times they just stun themselves and just need a few minutes to recover.

Oh not again Frank , try again in short posts .

Hope you've had a dry day so you can get on again in the garden Gill , you might need to paint your frame work Gill or it will soon rot with the wet and all your hard work will be undone .
Glad to hear your OH didn't get any warning from work and that it's all sorted now , what is that young women thinking spraying the men with her perfume , thats not on it could cause all sorts of trouble, she needs a warning i think !!

Oh Max has just woken up and has hopped up beside me for a cuddle.

Ahh give him a cuddle for me too please Mandy.

I think oh has just woken up after his 40 winks after lunch. He will be wanting a cuppa I expect.

Iv'e just looked at the time and he has had much more than 40 winks........

We've had a few birds hit the windows in doors and in my shed but no casualties yet but watch this space. We still have the hawk coming through the garden and taking some of the birds. The barn owl flew through the garden yseterday and I heard plenty of tawney owls last night.

Think I may go up the border for a bit. I have fed the tom plants and I have loads of strawberries to pick later and I should feed those too.

There's aways something to do and I never seem to get a chance to sit down and have a bit of me time.

I am sorry to hear about your family friend Liz and can understand that you won't feel like chatting for a while <3 <3

I love the smell of sweet peas Mandy, I have tried growing them but without much success. It's nice that Max still enjoys a cuddle, Amy has also had a long walk over the forest with Richard today and is also fast asleep.

Paul and the girls are here as usual and we have just had roast lamb etc. I don't eat it but it carved very easily so must have been tender.

Gill I hope you are able to get on with your hard work today, is Sandra helping with the cooking still? I am pleased for you that your OH has sorted out his working duties and must feel more secure now. That girl sounds like a real trouble maker in more ways than one, she certainly deserves a verbal warning if nothing else.

Frank how annoying to have lost yet another one of your posts, is your wrist feeling any better now?

Since we got married we have always had Boxer bitches but we both grew up with dogs. The boxer preference all started when Peter's uncle's boxer had puppies, my Mum & Dad had one and also Peter's parents , we were unable to have one of the puppies because we lived in a flat and were both working full time then. After 3 years when Mark was born it wasn't the right time to buy one , so we waited until Richard was 3 when we bought Kim and soon after Emma.So we were about 7 years without a dog but we did have pet rabbits when we moved to Bracknell and had a garden So we have had them for just under 47 years, they are so good with children which was the main reason for having them.

Here we go again. Afternoon all,

Ros has been in the garden since 9.30 am. I have tried to help but not a lot of use.
I did manage to water the greenhouse and fill the water butt. Watered all the pots and baskets on the fence up the drive. The hanging baskets have been fed and watered also.

Dinner is in the oven. Roast leg of pork, with lovely crackling. Just checked it and turned down the oven. Dinner will be about 5.30/ 6.00 pm.

All this upset with my brother hasn't done me any good, I have been very touchy and ready to get into a row, anybody is at risk. !!! I haven't been anywhere for over a week. Ros keeps telling me to go to the pub for a break. I feel I need to get out, but not sure I need the pub. I am drinking too many beers at home, without going to the pub. !!! It's a way of trying to get a good nights sleep. I am getting a couple of hours then I am up for 3/4 hours before going back to bed. I am always feeling tired, but WON'T drop off during thr day, hence my bad moods.

Jane I sat out on thr patio this morning with a COT and the paper. But I wasn't in my NIGHTIE ;-) ;-) ;-)

We often have birds fly into the front lounge window. Thank goodness they all seem to get up shake their heads and fly off again.

Sorry to hear about your Friend Liz, it's times like this when you need your own space. Look forward to seeing you back on here when you are ready <3 <3 <3

Jane, I have sent you a email regarding hay fever. It might be worth a look.

Better go and check on the meat, and see about putting the roasts and pudding in the oven.

Here we go again. Afternoon all,

Ros has been in the garden since 9.30 am. I have tried to help but not a lot of use.
I did manage to water the greenhouse and fill the water butt. Watered all the pots and baskets on the fence up the drive. The hanging baskets have been fed and watered also.

Dinner is in the oven. Roast leg of pork, with lovely crackling. Just checked it and turned down the oven. Dinner will be about 5.30/ 6.00 pm.

All this upset with my brother hasn't done me any good, I have been very touchy and ready to get into a row, anybody is at risk. !!! I haven't been anywhere for over a week. Ros keeps telling me to go to the pub for a break. I feel I need to get out, but not sure I need the pub. I am drinking too many beers at home, without going to the pub. !!! It's a way of trying to get a good nights sleep. I am getting a couple of hours then I am up for 3/4 hours before going back to bed. I am always feeling tired, but WON'T drop off during thr day, hence my bad moods.

Jane I sat out on thr patio this morning with a COT and the paper. But I wasn't in my NIGHTIE ;-) ;-) ;-)

We often have birds fly into the front lounge window. Thank goodness they all seem to get up shake their heads and fly off again.

Sorry to hear about your Friend Liz, it's times like this when you need your own space. Look forward to seeing you back on here when you are ready <3 <3 <3

Jane, I have sent you a email regarding hay fever. It might be worth a look.

Better go and check on the meat, and see about putting the roasts and pudding in the oven.

Now it is my turn to lose a LONG POST !!!! :-S :-S