General Chat

Well, our little boy is safely back home again after a lovely 'sleep over'! He's such a lovely chap, but he can talk for England!!
Goodness Jane, what a to do!! Hope the chap's ok.
Thanks Ann and William for the photos. We too have taken the decs down Ann! Just left our branch with lights until 12th night, then they can all be boxed up and put away till next Xmas!! Sandra's right Gill, it is considered to be bad luck not to leave at least one decoration up until 12th night.
Hope all the sick are feeling better.

Ha ha Liz, at least you know he's happy, but I wonder if he will grow up to be a chatterbox like my OH!! Mind you OH isn't chatty for once.....he has gone for a lie down as he feels his breakfast may have upset his tum a bit with all the other rich food he's had. He'll be ok for footie tomorrow though I expect. ;-) I haven't actually started taking anything down yet Liz, but my fingers are itching to! I think the door wreath will come down tomorrow after it's dripped dry after being sodden. Isn't there something too about having to leave decorations up all year if they aren't taken down by the 12th night?

I think there are things to watch on TV at 8.00pm so I'd better get sorted out with a cuppa ready and see if the ailing one is fit now.

Sophia has the most beautiful blue eyes I think I have ever seen William. They are all wonderful children with such happy little faces.

I left a robin out last year and had to leave it out till this year but I can't remember where I put it!!!!!!! It may turn up but if not it will be out for yet another year.

OH gave me a card at breakfast this morning to wish me a Happy New Year from him, Merlin and Cas, with a lovely picture of two Swifts on the bough of a tree. It was so thoughtful of him and I was so pleased. Isn't it odd, how some times OH's can be so annoying, and then, out of the blue, do something really kind!!! Ed was very impressed!!

Good morning folks, yes, I'm here bright and early after being 'knocked up' (in the clean sense of course) by a delivery man with a parcel for Rectory Close, when we live in Manse Close. He blamed the satnav, I gave him a piece of my mind and hopefully the lady at Rectory Close finally got her parcel! This happens fairly often and it's not funny, especially when someone is at the door at 9pm when we have locked up and they are standing there with a pizza for Rectory Close!!
Anyway, rant over - Happy New Year to you all if I'm not to late. As some of you have seen, I finally got the photos of our great-grandchildren off in the email and I know Ann, Mel and Jane have seen them. I had to wait till the last moment as we knew Lauren was to go into the Pilgrim hospital, Boston, on Dec 30th for a C section because of the way her baby was laying. Then of course we had to wait for photos to appear on Facebook. I can't believe we have 7 great-grandchildren now, and on top of that, there's another on the way this year!! A sibling for Lincoln - they don't hang about these days!
Yes, Sophia has such wistful eyes but she can be a little scamp, I can tell you, but in a nice way. Olivia is very photogenic like her Mum and captivated me when we saw them last year. What I loved was that although we hadn't seen them since they were born, they didn't make strange with us and knew who we were. That's thanks to their Mum's making them aware of who we were. Lincoln is a real little man and so easy to give a big grin, and Ralph and Maggie are wonderful and have a great life as both their parents are teachers. We don't see so much of them since they moved out to Measham (Ann will know where that is). Grace is the nearest to hand and started school last year and is doing so well.
Not g-grandchildren, but the youngest of the grand children are Carla and Lucas, my sons two, but as they live in London we don't see as much of them as we would like. Carla has her mothers Spanish looks and is a real bookworm, while Lucas is very endearing and loves cuddles. He had to have a skull operation when he was very young which was done in Great Ormond Street hospital but although he goes back for checks, he is a like a whirlwind and it's hard to believe what might have been.
Well that's the youngsters accounted for, that just leaves us two old crocks, we get by and have each other so what else could we wish for. I certainly don't feel that I'm 81, unless of course I look in a mirror or my body reminds me otherwise. I have a chap come and help with my garden work every two weeks now and we get on grand. He is in his early forties and has had a sad life and is getting things together now. Being honest and charging very little, he is finding it hard as the tax man wants a cut and on the nail, so I pay him over the odds and tell him not to put it through his books. The good thing is that he will do anything he's asked, not just the garden.
Well, I've bored you all long enough now and since being rudely awakened, I think I'll go and make myself some breakfast. One of you was complaining about the TV last night - well we started out watching Sherlock and turned it off in favour of the programme on the Titanic which I'd had on record. Very interesting and with the technology they have now, very watchable and understandable. Let's hope they have some good dramas for 2017, that's what we like.
Have a good Bank Holiday everyone, I don't know what day it is lately, all I know is that it is very frosty out..

Morning all,

So nice to hear from you William. Sending love and wishes to CArmel for a happy new year for 2017.

Frosty here this morning but the sun is out now and burning it off where it reaches. My car out the front of the kitchen is still iced up and that won't thaw for a while yet as it dos'nt get the sun being on the north side.

Fancy that delivery man getting the wrong place and waking William at that early hour!! when the parcel was'nt for him at all.

I have a piece of beef to cook for today. Oh looked at it and said it will only need 40mins in the oven. He likes it rare. We will see how I do. I have never managed to cook it like he likes it yet. I once thought I had but by the time I had dished up the blood from the middle had gone!!

Hoping to have a go with my new pom pom makers today..............we'll see.

Morning All, Evening Kim,

Woke up to brilliant sunshine this morning. Ros got up and made tea, then went for her breakfast, while I showered and shaved, I managed to squeeze the last bit of shaving foam from the canister. Ros will get more today.

I bet the customers at the service station thought all their Christmas's had come at once, getting free fuel. I hope the chap recovered from his attack, and is at home resting.

There's me thinking it's TUESDAY TODAY, that's why I said we were going home WEDNESDAY, but we will be going home TOMORROW. Ros thinks it will be nice for Conrad and Jan to have a couple of days on their own. Plus I think it will be nice to get home to our own surroundings and BED.

Ros will be able to go to "Stitchery Do" on Thursday now, which will please her. She will also be able to get the tree and decorations down.

I hope it's not too cold for my walk today, I have a wooly hat, scarf and gloves, so will be well wrapped up. Conrad is just off to collect Ella for their time together. She made me laugh Christmas day. She said can Alexander find another name for PAPPY because HE IS MY PAPPY. and I don't want him to be Alexander's as well.
<3 <3 <3 <3 She absolutely adores him.

I trust James is felling a bit better this morning, and your head is better Gill.

Not sure what time the girls will be off to Exeter. As it's our last evening, I will see if they want to go out for a meal, as my farewell gift for having us down here for TWO WEEKS.

Afternoon all

Sunny here today but quite cold with it.

I didn't go to the doctors in the end as the painkiller kicked in and my eyesight returned to normal, so it must of been the headache and probably the lack of sleep I'd had the night before. I hate wasting doctors time and with everything going back to normal I stayed in and kept warm. I've still got a small headache but I think it's because I haven't slept well for over a month. OH is tossing and turning all night and it keeps me awake. I know he can't help it, so all I can do is wait for his chest infection and back to sort themselves out then hopefully he'll sleep better, then so will I.

I found the picture online Mel, Sandra loved it of course with it being pink so I thought I'd use it on here as my avatar. I've noticed there are a lot of plants starting to grow in my garden including my lilies, it must be all the mild weather we've been having lately, I think it's confused all my plants ;-) ;-) so I thought I'd put a pretty spring picture up now.

Love all the pictures you sent Will, what lovely great grandchildren you have.
I don't blame you for being annoyed with the delivery man, maybe he should check the name of the road he is going into if he's had problems with the sat nav.

So you're on your way home tomorrow Frank. Yes you can't beat your own bed can you? Hope the weather is okay for the drive home.

Is the man okay now Jane, have you heard anything? It must of been such a shock for everyone. I wonder if anyone took advantage of the situation and helped themselves to free fuel. Some people can be like that can't they?

Lovely picture of your necklace Ann, you are clever. I was right, Sandra loved the snowflake bracelet. Do you make any to sell? I only ask because Sandra said she'd love one of the snowflake bracelets if you do.

Sandra and I have finished our books, and we both enjoyed the story. Because I had a different copy to Sandra's, at the back of my book it showed the next books about Bob the cat, so I'm going to see if I can find them, then we'll have the collection. There are five books in total. My book also had the first chapter of the next book, so Sandra is just reading that now, as her book didn't have that chapter.

Going to get a cuppa now and a bite to eat.

Just made some fresh tomato soup for lunch! OH reckons his card has brought him dividends!! He does loved home made soup particularly tomato from ones we grow in the summer.
Lovely day here and peaceful!, even Cas is snoozing by the fire! Glad you feel better Gill. This afternoon we've planned a decent walk and poached salmon for supper.
Yesterday we had crown of duck, which was delicious, and is now in the slow cooker being turned into stock, for more soup!!!!
We watched the programme about Titanic too. It was fascinating and certainly gave us food for thought.

Afternoon all ,

Lovely day here and quite mild too ,so nice to see the sun after those dull days.

Had a busy day yesterday with the family here and this morning i have taken a few decorations down the rest i will do tomorrow just leaving my little snowman up until twelfth night .

We had homemade mushroom soup at lunch time Liz ,we love the home made soups.

Glad your feeling a little better today Gill ,do you have a spare bed so you could get a good nights sleep .
Maybe its the reading thats giving you headaches ,trying to beat Sandra to the end of the book ;-) :-D

How is James today Jane ? It must be a worry when he gets so bad like that.
What a todo at the petrol station yesterday with that poor man collapsing ,have you heard any thing more about it ?

So it's home tomorrow is it Frank ,i bet you'll be glad to get into your own bed , it's nice to have the company but nice to be home .
I take it the concrete dog got there in one piece with no breakage?
Still no sign of the bracelet ?

I walked up the the bank machine to check if the money for the car tax had been taken out as son did it for us on line and we usually get an email receipt to say it's gone through but haven't had one ,i don't want to be driving with no road tax !! the money did come out so we're ok .

Not sure what to have for our meal tonight , i might just have beans on toast , not that Colin will want that as he likes his meat , theres still Gammon !!!



:-D

My oh likes homemade soup too and would eat a whole big sausepan full if I let him.

Suns still out and its really warm when you are in it.

Our snowdrops are up in the orchard. Some are showing colour.

Did a load of ironing this morning and am going back to it this afternoon to get it all out of the way.

What a cold day it was here. I went for my walk along the sea front as planed, but boy oh boy was it cold. The wind cut right through you. I went onto the pier and found Conrad and Ella enjoying themselves on the slot machines. I left them to it and walked back to the Harbour. The tide must have been high last night/this morning as the sand was right up on the walk way. I stopped of at the Harbour Inn for a couple of pints and a nice warm. Next door and run by the same people is Olives a TAPAS BAR. They are doing two for one this evening, so I will see if everyone would like to go there. It's not far from where we are, I will have to see.

I had a stumble along the sea front and jared my my right hip. It is quite painful, so I hope I haven't done any harm.

Nice to see that everyone has had a nice day, and that most are over fed to the point that you don't want much tonight.

I have told Conrad that all the Turkey and Ham, that they want to throw out can come home with me tomorrow. I had some this afternoon and it's fine. I will get Ros to make a Turkey Curry and I will find something to do with the ham.

We plan on leaving mid morning, so Ros doesn't have to drive in the dark at the there end.

If I don't get on tomorrow morning, I will see you all tomorrow night.

Evening All
Mandy ,I can't believe it was mild your way !!!.it has been absolutly freezing here today. Even Thomas was back in not long after I let him out this morning.He little feet must have been frozen.

Frank why don't you do a nice Turkey and Ham pie like I did with the left over meat you will be taking home?. It was really tasty and dead easy.

I saw on my Niece's FB this morning that the young man was still in hospital earlier today but he was ok.She also said that most people who had filled up with fuel were happy to leave their names and some kind of details.I bet there would have been one or 2 that thought that they got away with free full tanks... Saying that if there were cameras on the forecourt they would have got number plates.

James is not great still but insists he HAS to be in work tomorrow. :-S.He is in the bath now,I have his dinner in the oven so he can just eat and then go to bed if he wants .
I wouldn't be at all surprised if he comes home early tomorrow.

Gill,I was worried about you last night when I saw you hadn't come back on the thread.But thank goodness things have improved now for you.I think you have had so much to contend with over the weeks with OH and your Mum that things have taken its toll. Try and take things a bit easier for a little while(if that is possible :-D )

oooh Home made Tomato Soup. Liz ,I bet it was really tasty.I never had much luck with making that with our tomatoes.I can't think what wasn't quite right now.But I won't be trying it again. How lovely to get that card from Ian :-D :-D..I think it was so sweet of him.

Well the tree is down and the decs back in the boxes and bags. I have left the Garland and lights though on the Mantlepiece as I think it looks so pretty .I may leave that until winter is over.One thing I have forgotten though are the little lights on the Box Trees outside the front door.Job for tomorrow.The Wreath is drying off in the garage.
Thomas was a hoot!!! he got so excited when I was taking everything off the tree ,and then when James lifted the tree out through the Patio Doors he had space with his toys and went quite bonkers LOL.. One point he was just about to climb the curtain :-S.But luckily I spotted him ,and a good clap of the hands put him off.He actually had his 2 front feet about a foot up the material and was ready to leap !!!
I have made my list of cards recieved this year so that is now put away somewhere safe .Woe betide anyone who moves it.

Sometime later this week I will have to take my car into the Body Workshop and see what will happen about the 'BIG CRUMP'
:-S

Lamb Shanks in the oven now and beginning to smell pretty good :-D

Not so mild out there now ,just let Max out for a wee and i can see the moons on its back and has such a bright star just below it , i don't know whst star it is .

I like to look through all my christmas card then i cut them up for shopping lists or use the smaller ones for present tags next year.
Glad that young chap at the garage is ok, i don't think the drivers would get away without paying the forecourt cameras would see the number plates .

Anyone going to watch The Halcyon on ITV tonight , its a period drama set in a hotel during WW11

Glad you all sound a bit better Jane! Christmas is such a bad time of year for illness and weather! Yes the card was kind. I'm still slightly surprised by it!!!!!
Our decs are down except for the window lights. When they come down everything will be packed away properly for another year. I've not done my card list yet maybe tomorrow!!
We've still got some ham left, which OH likes at breakfast. Tomorrow, I may do a ham risotto for supper to use it up, then we shall finally be back to normal. The soup's really easy Jane! Just de skin the tom's, cook in the microwave with stock, then put into the liquidiser and whizz away till 'liguid!' I put a leek and potato I as well just for flavour and thickening. Heat up in micro, and bob's your uncle!!
Safe journey tomorrow Frank.

We've just had roast beef and all the trimmings. I now feel stuffed as I am so full up.

Soup sounds eally nice Liz and I may give that a go. I have some toms in the freezer from the year before last. OOOOOOO I have just remembered I had a small bag of our runners in the freezer I meant to have with our Christmas dinner and surprize him. Blow.......

I shall be watching The Halcyon tonight too. Have been looking forward to it and hope it stands up to its write up.

I don't know if any of you have watched Father Brown which is on in the afternoon but there is a new lot on the telly now. I like it because it dos'nt take much thinking about and I also like Mark Williams who plays Father Brown and other characters and its old fashioned. I think it is on each day. Some parts are quite funny too.

My decs are all still up as I don't take them down till 12th night.

There is a really hard frost out there already tonight as I went out to put something in the dustbin and the grass is all frozen and the roof of my car is all white.

Funny you should mention the bright star close to the moon Mandy, OH and I have been watching it for quite some time now and curiosity got the better of me tonight and I Googled it. Apparently it isn't a star it's Venus with Neptune behind it and if you look the other side of the moon a bit higher up you can just about make out Mars. I have a telescope and OH is going to set it up for me tomorrow so we can take a closer look at the planets.
I have recorded The Halcyon and will be watching it soon :-)

Bless you Jane for worrying about me, but I'm okay just tired and a bit stressed at the moment. My headache has gone for now and my eyesight is back to normal, although it did frighten me a bit when I couldn't see properly. I even had my glasses on while trying to post on here and still I couldn't see anything. I've read my post today and I'm pleased to see I can still touch type without mistakes LOL.

Pleased to hear the young lad is making a good recovery. If anyone has tried to get free fuel I'm sure the camera's will catch them. It was nice of the people to leave their details so they can pay later.
So Thomas has had another mad moment, he does remind me of our Jez, she was just like him, into all sorts without a care in the world. You did make me laugh when you said you clapped your hands at him, that's exactly what OH and I used to do ;-) :-D Not that she paid that much attention to us after a while though. I do miss her <3

Your soup sounds lovely Liz and just the ticket in these cold days. How nice of your OH to give you a card. I didn't know you could get them, what a lovely surprise for you.

We had frost everywhere this morning Mel, but it seems to be a bit warmer now, probably because it's getting cloudy. We were hoping to go out and see if we could see Jupiter in a few hours, we noticed what looked like another bright star and after checking it out on the Internet we now think it might be Jupiter, hope it doesn't get to cloudy before we can check, as it's not visible until almost midnight .
I'm the same as you Mel and won't be taking the decs down until 12th night. Is that the 5th or 6th January, I can never remember which day it is? I think it's the 5th, am I right?

Going to watch the second corrie now, I recorded it earlier and Sandra is waiting.

Off to bed now.
I have just been standing outside star gazing.What a beautiful starry night it is.The best and clearest I have seen in a very long time. I could have stood for much longer just looking up but it is freezing .It was quite magical :-D

Night Night x

Gill yes the 5th is 12th night. There's frost on everything here tonight and the stars are shining bright as they are with you.

I watched the Halcyon but thought it was a bit boring but that sometimes happens when you are trying to get to know new characters. There are a lot of faces I recognise though and the blond girl that was in Close to The Enemy. Don't you just find that though actors seem to pop up in a lot of things that are put on at the same time on another day during that week.

Well I think I shall go in the hsower and then watch Father Brown before bedibyes.