General Chat

Afternoon All,

Yes and I hope the clothes still fit after all the eating you will be doing Frank! It sounds like you have had some nice gifts. Hope the meal is good and Happy Birthday again The first time was on FB.

What a shame about the 2nd cake Gill and a pity some of it couldn't be saved for a choccy pudding with custard. :-) I have thought about sewing a coloured thread in the socks before, but the last ones I have bought have different coloured heels and toes so I can pair them up so I'm buying more like that. OH often pairs the socks up as he usually fetches the washing in, sometimes matching one of his with one of mine! lol. Then one comes nearly up to my knee!

Nice to hear from you Will. You have been busy catching up with relatives and it must be nice to actually seeing them all as you say! The ordeal that your son Kevin has been through sounds very scary but hopefully he is on the mend now and will be home for Christmas. So you could be getting either a Christmas Day baby or a New Year's Day baby if it is early or late!! My uncle Noel was born.......yes on Christmas Day! I hope you and Carmel have a nice Christmas. :-)

Liz it sounds like you have calmed the ruffled waters so to speak, but you can only do so much. Having you young grandson to stay is something to look forward to.

Anne I do hope you get the little girl pup so you can have your 'Ruby'. Hopefully you can tell from the video what it looks like and if it's a strong pup. As you say, you could always put a deposit down being as it isn't just a local trip to go and see them.

Oh Jane, we went to B&Q today and there were virtually no decorations or even artificial trees left, there were hardly any at The Range yesterday either so I hope you managed to get another lantern.

I managed to get some little brackets to fix my jewellery cabinet on the wall so I'll be wanting to do that now instead of having a good clean up tomorrow! I still have to pop and get some eggs tomorrow but that's all that's left to get now.

I hope the new PC part comes quickly Mel. Will you have to share OH's till it does? It sounds like you will be busy doing your tree now. :-)

Just a quick one as I'm cooking dinner at the moment, as you can see I have managed this photo of Ruby. Be back later

Back from the garden centre with a replacement tea light holder :-D. Mandy I will keep an eye on mine from now on and blow the candles out if they look like they are almost gone.The holders really shouldn't explode like that should they especially as that is what they are meant for!

Gill how disappointing for you with the cake. It sounds like it will be a bit of trial and error for a while with baking. Hopefully cooking meats will be better :-D

Hello William. and a MERRY CHRISTMAS to you too. I am sorry to hear about your son. What a worrying time for you. At least he sounds on the mend now are a close call with a Trachy !. I hope he continues to get well.

Mandy it sounds like a huge meal was had at lunchtime today :-D :-D.Bet it all went down a treat .I haven't even started dinner yet as James is going to be late yet again.

I had a bit of a tumble yesterday .Tripped over my own feet in the kitchen and went down like a ton of bricks :-S..I have a couple of great bruises and I ache all over now.
Made me think of Frank lol

My car is ready so I will pick it up in the morning
:-D

No Jane I only had a single, it was a bit early.and I had things to do so that's all I allowed myself!! OH and I will be having another larger one any minute now though!!
Do any of you get accused of talking to yourselves?!! I just say I'm talking aloud as there's no one else here to talk to!! Doesn't go down that well sometimes!!
OH is cooking the ham so we shall be having that tonight with jackets, nice and easy. Tomorrow we shall finish decorating, then that's it!!
Mel, why does your OH have to have the new part and not you?! or is there a proper reason!!!!!
Oh dear Gil! Not to worry, you'll soon get the hang of your new cooker. Sandra does sound a lovely daughter and a great support to you.
Cas went shooting yesterday and was slightly (?!!) over excited as there were a lot of children out and about! She had a good time, but wasn't a great asset!!
Hope the puppies are thriving!!

LOL Liz, maybe Cas was in the Christmas spirit :-D.
As for talking to myself yes is the answer :-S..Chris is always saying'what did you say?' thinking I am saying something to him . I think we all do it .Is it an age thing?? :-)
I don't like Brandy.I am either a G&T or White Wine person. Although with all the different drinks we have in for Christmas I may well sample a few different things :-D :-D .Chris seems to have got through a fair bit of Port lately .Hannah is a Prosseco girl so there is plenty of that in. James likes a Gin or Red Wine.
Enjoy your LARGE Brandy now :-D

James is on route from work now so I better get food started.

Sorry to hear your son has been really poorly Willliam but good to knwo he is now on the mend.

Gill don't you do that pop your finger on the middle of the sponge cake and if it pops back up its cooked, if it dos'nt its not. When I read your post I thought you may have been able to save the outer sponge and made a hole in the center like Mandy said. Or you could have let it go stale and used it in a trifle. A nice choc blamange and Sandra could have had a choc trifle after all.

I have to say that Port is my tipple now when I do have a drink but I hav'nt had one for 2 months now.

Oh wants to do something to the pc now so I have to get off it.

Jane I like most tipples!! The only thing I really don't like and can't actually drink is a bloody Mary! apart from that its always, 'yes please!' The brandy was lovely, we have it with ginger. My S-father always brandy neat, and was very fond of whisky mac! actually he was fond of most things as was my mother!!
We've had our ham and are now contemplating the TV. University challenge is a front runner, the last episode of Close to the Enemy' which has been super good is a must apart from that?!!!

Yes Jane I think you're right it's going to be a bit of trial and error until I'm used to the new cooker. Everything else I've cooked seems to be okay. I just under estimated the timing on the second cake. The first cake, the chocolate one, was lovely and moist inside, I thought it was going to be a bit dry as I over baked it a bit, but no, it was lovely and I'll be making another one soon. It was a recipe off the TV a programme with Mary Berry in, she is such a good cook.
Hope your new lantern doesn't blow like the last one. Good idea not to let the candle burn down to much.
Sorry to hear you've had a tumble Jane and right on Christmas, hope the bruises go soon. Good news about your car, at least you'll have that back in time for Christmas.

It sounds like you've had a lovely time out with your sister and BIL Mandy.

Yes Mel I do test the cakes, but for some reason even though it bounced back it was still a bit raw right in the centre, it would of only taken another few minutes to bake it properly but by the time I'd taken it out of the tin it had been out of the oven far to long to put it back in. I think I might alter the shelf and move it up a little, that will probably work for the timings I used. It'll take a few attempts to get it just right. At least the chocolate one was okay but that was a slightly different recipe.

Hello William, nice to hear from you. Sorry to hear about Kevin hope he feels better soon <3 You have a lot of great grandchildren, it'll be nice to see some photo's when you've taken them.

So Cass got a bit over excited yesterday Liz. Maybe she was just to distracted with all the children as she's normally quite good isn't she?

Going to watch the final of Masterchef at 8pm. Sandra and I are looking forward to it.

We had lamb shanks, roast potatoes, carrots and broccoli for dinner, everything eaten and the dishwasher is on so just having a COT now with raspberry Swiss roll.

Jane I hope your car doesn't give you anymore problems, how is young Thomas now?

It was good to hear from William again hope his son continues to improve and the family have a happy Christmas

We have heard from Sasha and the little girl is now ours we hope to go and see her after Christmas when Paul has a day off and depending on the weather.

Gill it's a shame about the 2nd cake and how sweet of Sandra for her comforting remarks.

Liz it must be a relief that your son and daughter have called a truce and I hope it stays that way for your sake.

Richard has finished work until after the New Year, I will see if he can send the side show on for me tomorrow. I have managed her photo as you can see.

Oh, I'm so pleased for you Anne now you have had it confirmed that Ruby is going to be yours. The picture on here is a bit small for me to see her properly, so I'm looking forward to seeing the slideshow <3

Oooh !!! Little Ruby is yours Anne :-D :-D :-D...What good news.I am so pleased for you.

I am off to bed shortly.......Bloody Mary or anthing with tomato juice would never pass my lips Liz. Just the thought of anything cold tomato in drink form makes me shudder.YUK :-S

Off to bed myself soon, just watching the second Emmerdale, I recorded it earlier while we watched Masterchef. I'm the same as you Jane, the thought of cold tomato in a drink, isn't something I'd like either.

See you all tomorrow
Night Night

No Ann our two haven't called a truce! far from it!! Our son is in New Zealand, so they won't be in contact for weeks! I've just managed to get back on an even keel with our daughter after a difficult summer, which will hopefully lead to a thaw between them!
We're in bed watching a history prog.

Morning all,

Bit of a dull day here today and its been raining.

Anne I am pleased that Ruby will definately be yours. How exciting and only 6 weeks to wait. Looking for forward to the pics so we can see her better. The pic on here is'nt good with here on a black and white blanket. I love it that she has black ears with white all around.

I don't mind a tomato juice with a bit of worcester sauce in it. Never had a Bl**dy Mary though.

I too shall be getting the turkey crown out of the freezer today ours is'nt that big but like Mandy I like to know it is defrosted properly.

There's something I keep meaning to tell you and once again it has slipped my memory.............

Hope Frank had a lovely meal last night.

Afternoon all

It's been raining but now the sun is out, the wind has picked up and the sky is as Black as the Ace of Spades. I was checking Storm Barbara online last night and they reckon it could cause power cuts, so I thought I'd better let you know incase I can't get online. Luckily I cook by gas so we'll still have our Christmas dinner even if we are sitting in almost darkness in the evening. It'll definitely be a Christmas to remember with no electric. Sandra said it would be boring......the youth of today :-D they can't cope without the TV and their mobile phones can they?

OH and I have been staking a tree this morning, it was rubbing on the back of the shed on the trim around the roof, so that's done and is now about 2 inches away from the shed. It might rub a bit on the stake though.

Mum's just rang to say my sister is at her's and she wants to take us all out for a meal as we won't all be together for Christmas. My sister has to work and mum is out. I've just had a bath so I'd better go and dry my hair, OH is having his dressing done so should be back soon.

Hopefully we won't lose our electric so I can get back on here again. If not I hope everyone has a lovely Christmas and Santa is kind to you all ;-) :-D
<3 <3 <3 MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE <3 <3 <3

It's getting pretty windy here too!! OH is finishing off the decorating this afternoon, lights along the beam in the sitting room. I'm finishing wrapping the childrens presents. They'll get money but I always get them a little present as well! Daughters, partner, and his mother's presents all have yet to be wrapped so better get on!!

AFTERN0N ALL,

THOUGHT IHAD BETTER CONTACT YOU WHILE I HAVE FIVE MINUTES. SORRY ABOUT THE CAPS, BUT I CAN'T FIND HOW TO GET RID OF THEM ;-) ;-) ;-) ;-).

WE HAD A LOVELY MEAL LAST NIGHT, WHICH CONRAD INSISTED ON PAYING FOR. EVERYTHING ABOUT THE PLACE INCLUDING THE WAITRESS WAS EXCELLENT. WE Have been before but only Sunday Lunch.

I am finding this keyboard difficult to cope with, if you don't hit the key spot on it won't come out.

I have been cooking the HAM it was on at 10,00 and I have just taken it out of the saucepan to cool down. Then I will remove the skin and put my Mustard and Honey dressing on and bake for half an hour.

Jan,Conrad and Ros have gone to see Jan's sister and do more shopping, so I am in the best place ;-) ;-) ;-)

Jane do you need your BUM rubbing this morning after your fall ???? :-( :-( :-(

Great news Anne that you will get RUBY, I bet you can't wait,

I am sitting here waiting for the delivery of Flowers for Ros. as a extra thank you for looking after me this passed six months. All I know is they will be here today !!!

Thanks Will for your message, and hope you and Carmel have a nice Christmas. Nice to see you posting.

I don't think I would like to put my finger into a sponge, MY LUCK it would go right through and burn my finger. <3 <3

Had an accident last night, I was lying on the bed with the tele on and a glass of red on the table. I went to get a tissue and knocked the wine over.I told Rosthis morning that I had cleared it all up. BUT I hadn't, it had splashed over the wall and carpet. So she was down on her knees clearing it up. She has rubbed the wall so hard it has taken some paint off :-( :-( :-( Who's a naughty boy then ???

Chicken in a wine sauce this evening with roasts and Veg. So I am told !!

Afternoon All,

That's great news Ruby is to be yours Ann. :-) I hope you don't have to wait too long before you see her!

Oh Frank, you haven't been there 5 minutes and you're in trouble already! You'll have to stick to white wine that won't show!

I bet you will be stiff after that tumble Jane as well as have the bruises. It's amazing how fast you go down isn't it.

Vodka was my tipple, even with just ice at times and I would have the odd Bloody Mary, but only if I was peckish as it seemed more like a meal in a glass, same with Advocaat!! lol Whisky I would never touch after mum telling me about the Whisky drinkers pickled livers she'd seen in the Infirmary museum when she worked at the hospital and I never liked the taste of Brandy, Gin or dark rum. I don't drink now and OH doesn't even bother with a pint at footie any more but he does enjoy white wine and ginger wine at Christmas. I do miss white wine with Christmas lunch, and have always added a glass to the Christmas lunch gravy and still do as most of the alcohol is burnt off.

The farm shop was packed early this morning, but they opened another till and I was the first to notice and so was called over to it. :-)

I read something in our local paper that has made me so angry today. In Hinckley, in the early hours at the weekend, a teenager stole the defibrillator from a paramedic while he was attending to a patient in the street. At the same time a group of aggressive drinkers were not only verbally abusing the paramedic, they were spitting on him. Later they found the defibrillator, damaged and discarded with it's batteries removed, in a nearby car park. It had been urinated on. What useless, irresponsible, disrespectful scumbags some parents have brought into the world.

You could say Ann! What in God's name is wrong with these idiots. They're just vile! I'm not violent, but I do sometimes wonder!!!!
Very windy here and at last I've finished those presents! OH is just putting away the decs that we don't need, before a well earned cuppa!