General Chat

Oh, I forgot to mention, all the shops have started putting their Easter eggs up. They are taking the Christmas stuff down and replacing it with Easter eggs. Talk about quick off the mark. Not sure I'd want to eat them when Easter is here, after all that time on the shelf :-0

HELLO !!! :-D :-D

I am fine Mandy.Yesterday was a busy day and I just never got around to getting on here. I took my car in and it is going to cost £350 plus VAT :-S. It will go in on Monday and be in the workshop for a few days.Then Chris and I went out to the Snooty Fox for lunch which was really nice .Just having someone else ,cook and serve was lovely.James had a ready curry last night so it was just a matter of me putting it in the oven.
Then I finally managed ot get Chris to sit down with me and decided on our Spring Holiday. We have booked a week in Lyon in May :-D.Hotel looks niceand has good reviews. We just can't book the Eurostar yet as you can't book more than 3 months ahead.
I will ring the cattery and get Thomas in.(must do that now ) and also I want to go and actually see the cattery hopefully tomorrow.I am sure it will be fine as it was recommended by the lady who Thomas used to go to. Talk of the devil ,Chris has just let him in.

Mel you are getting some lovely pics with your new camera

:-D :-D.Thanks for the latest ones.Shame the video clips were too long to send.

Ann,how rude and totally inconsiderate of those men.I have seen this too often.There is a time and place to do business and it is not in a public place where others are trying to enjoy a meal and have a nice chat.
I was in the Post office today and there was a man on his phone discussing businees with a colleague in a very loud voice. I think he might have been an Estate Agent.

I went off to town and changed a shirt for James and then headed to the hairdressers for my 3pm appointment,only to get there and discover it was actually at 2pm !!!!!!!
I even had 3pm written on my appointment card. They had tried to ring me ,but I had left my mobile phone at home !!
:-S :-S..So it is now next Wednesday at 10 am. I am beginning to feel like a shaggy dog lol

Great news for Colin and his hip Mandy :-D

Great news too Frank on the Bracelet :-D :-D.. Ros will be thrilled to get it back now.
I bet so many bits of jewellry get lost in beds.I am sure that it what has happened to several of my earrings over the years.
I was just thinking now that you are back in touch with your Sister and the fact Simon has been in touch with her too that maybe this is a good sign and you may finally be able to get back in touch with Simon. I do hope so. <3

I have got a lovely Beef Casserole in the oven slowly cooking. Mash and dumplings to go with ,plus a load of Spring Greens. Perfect meal for a very chilly evening .

James is going to Jess tomorrow night, probably until Monday or Tuesday .So he won't be here for his Birthday.We are just waiting for one more present to arrive.I couldn't get Vouchers for the airbnb,as it seems you can only buy them in the US at the moment.So it will be cash instead. I think I said that Hannah and James both use airbnb most of the time they go away.They have had some lovely accommodations .

Now I must ring this cattery

Glad your ok Jane , it's lovely having a meal cooked or you isn't it ,i really enjoyed my meal out we had just before christmas .
Is that price or a new wing on the car Jane or are they pushing the dent out ?
I take it that James is much better now if he's off to see Jess.

Really freezing out now the car windscreen is white ,this morning it looked so pretty it looked like a fern pattern all over it .

Evening All,

OUCH Jane!! These careless bumps cost so much don't they. Then you don't know whether it's worth claiming on your insurance because even if you have protected NCB, they raise your next premium because you are considered as a higher risk having made a claim!! I know just what you mean about shaggy dog with your hair, mine's doing it's own thing now! :-S

That's good the bracelet has been found Frank!! :-D I bet Ros was delighted!! I've never been able to sleep in any jewellery. On the few occasions I've left earrings in I've woken up and had to take them out straightaway. I have a fear of the bits you push on the posts coming off and falling deep in my ears in my sleep!!!! :-0 In fact now I think about it the first thing I do when I get home is take any jewellery off including all rings. Even when I wore watches, it was never around the house or in bed. lol. I bet you were flabberghasted to hear from your sister, but must be pleased to be back in touch. Maybe it will be your son ringing you next?

All I've done today is pop to Nuneaton to take something back to get a refund and fill my car up. It was quite a frost here so I was surprised our window cleaner came. My back and knees were sore after putting Christmas away yesterday, so I've been catching up on paperwork and looking through my bead stash for Sandra. :-D

The resident 'mousecatcher' tells me we have caught about 30 mice so far this winter so the traps are paying for themselves.

That's good news about Colin's hip Mandy. He must be pleased to hear that.

That's a nice pic of the deer Mel. Do you see them more often now than you used to do? I hope the little hogs are all tucked up warmly in your 'Hotel'.

Tomorrow I'm meeting up with my beading friends for a good chinwag before class starts the following week.

Mandy It might be a new wing.I got the impression pushing the dent out was a no no.The fact they want the car for a few days makes me think it is just not popping the dent out .The chap said the scratch on the front bumper could be dealt with easily enough.

James is fine now other than this dreadful cough .Chris still has his :-S..The sound is horrendous especially when they both start 'barking' at the same time :-S. I need ear plugs. James's cough always is worse in the night(which wakes me up ) even though his bedroom is at the other end of the house.

I have just lost a large post and I have no idea why so will try again later, I know how Frank feels now, :-0 :-0

Eastenders on for an hour, Doom and Gloom. I can stand it. !!! I have already say though an hour of Emmerdale.

I don't learn, after dinner tonight I fancied something sweet, so had some chocolates. Wrong thing to do, indigestion now, so will have to have some gunge. !!!!

Glad James is feeling a lot better Jane, I hope he enjoys his Birthday with Jess.

I have just started sneezing 15 times so far. Sometimes it goes on to 30 or more.

I won'r hold my breath that my SON will make contact. He hasn't done so for a long time like my Daughter and her children.

Feeling a bit low tonight, so I think I will have a few beers and go to bed.

See you in th morning, sleep tight.

We've just watched Halcyon on the planner, and thoroughly enjoyed it. We shall certainly be watching the rest of it!
Don't know how you stand all those soaps Frank !!! Sooner you than me!!!!
More cases of Bird Flu on the news tonight which is becoming a bit of a worry, particularly at Slimbridge!
Watching Kate Humble at Yellowstone National Park which we recorded a while back - fascinating stuff!

Iv'e been watch Yellowstone to Liz.

The deer are coming for the apples at the moment but they are disappearing fast with the foz, deer, Blackbirds who are on them most of the day and the rabbits.

Caught and shot another one yesterday and thats 5 so far so I am hoping a lot of them were does and there won't be so many kittens this year. There's still two very large ones out the back I see in th emorning when I get up, munching on oh's new grass.

All my decs and things are all packed away and oh put the tree outside saying he thinks thats the last year it can come in. It is now so big and heavy as its in a huge tub he has trouble lifting it now. He gets it in on the sack barrow.

Morning all,

Horrid dull and dreay day here so there's not much else to say...............

Think I have to go and get a bit of shopping.

Morning sweet things, evening Kim.

My mates "PADDY" and "RASHER" are here cutting down the cherry tree. The car has been moved so they can get their trailer down the drive. The ladders are up and the top of the tree is slowly disappearing. It must be over 50 foot high.

Ros is in full swing, getting all the bits back into place in the lounge. It's starting to look like home again.

We watched Yellowstone also. What wonderful scenes they must be to see in person. We can but dream !!! Whatever Kate does always seems very interesting as also the chap who's name I can't think of. :-( :-(

Dull, cold day here also. We had a very heavy frost last night. There is no way I am going for a walk in this weather.

No breakfast again this morning, so I will get something a little later as an early lunch.

Conrad should have landed in Spain by 10.00 am. His flight was at 7.05 am from Exeter. I will Skype him a bit later to check on him !!!

I had better call down the garden to see if HOT DRINKS are needed yet. They had Coffee and Tea before they started at 9.00 am.

Afternoon all,

Really cold here today so the woodburner is going and we're all nice and cosy .

Lovely photo of dear little Ruby ,i bet you carn't wait to go and have a cuddle with her Anne .

All go in your garden today then Frank , will you replace the old cherry tree with a new one ?
I think hot drinks on a day like this will go down well ,you look after them and I'm sure they'll do a good job .
I love the names Paddy and Rasher :-D

Yes the drinks are going down well. Just made some more. It's raining here, so they are working away in waterproof cloths. Better them than me. I can just see me up a ladder at the top of the tree "TIMBER"

No Mandy I don't think Madam has any plans to replace it. It will certainly open up the bottom of the garden. We never had any Cherry's as the birds always got there first. !! I have known both the chaps since I moved into the village in 1979. "PADDY" has always had a gardening business, and is highly regarded by all who use him. His blockwork is second to none.

I think I will try to get forty winks, when Ros finishes drying her hair. WHAT A NOISE !!!

Yes the drinks are going down well. Just made some more. It's raining here, so they are working away in waterproof cloths. Better them than me. I can just see me up a ladder at the top of the tree "TIMBER"

No Mandy I don't think Madam has any plans to replace it. It will certainly open up the bottom of the garden. We never had any Cherry's as the birds always got there first. !! I have known both the chaps since I moved into the village in 1979. "PADDY" has always had a gardening business, and is highly regarded by all who use him. His blockwork is second to none.

I think I will try to get forty winks, when Ros finishes drying her hair. WHAT A NOISE !!!

Afternoon all

Raining here today, but at least it's a bit warmer than of late.

Glad to see you are okay Jane, thanks for passing on the photo's of little Ruby, she's adorable. I bet you're counting the weeks till you get her Anne.
That's a lot of money for a small accident, hopefully they won't have your car for to long Jane. Pleased to hear James is fine now apart from the cough, that's the problem with coughs they do tend to linger on after the bug has gone. Hope it's not to long before he's 100% :-) Chris too.

So you're having your cherry tree taken down Frank? I thought you liked your cherry tree. Has it just got to big for the space or is it it's age?

I've only just sat down after such a hectic day. First of all my washing machine is on the blink so I'll have to give them a call to get it fixed or replaced. We've only had it 5 minutes and the spin isn't working at all on the washing cycles. OH and I had to ring the clothes out by hand, then I tried the drain and spin, that didn't work at first but then kicked in, but for how long who knows. So all in all it took me almost 5 hours to do two loads of washing that should of taken around 1 hour. We were going to buy a fridge and freezer from the same place but have decided to get them elsewhere now. It reminded us of the time be bought a dryer from that place and it needed fixing almost straight away. I hope the new dryer and cooker don't brake now.

Not only did the washing machine brake, the knob came off one of our cupboards when I was getting the nuts for Rosie, at least I think it's Rosie :-S Luckily that was easy to fix with a bit of super glue, the metal bit inside the knob that the screw goes into had come lose so a bit of super glue sorted that problems out. Then I needed to plump up the seat cushions on the sofa OH and Sandra sit on as they were complaining they had squashed down. OH couldn't open the zips on the covers as they had put the bit you pull the zip open inside the stitching, so I got a metal nail file and managed to flick it out so I could open the cover to get to the seat pad inside. I've now said to everyone not to touch anything as it seems to be a day of mis-haps. Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day.

Well, I'm off for my bath now, I've had to run another one as the first one went cold while I was sorting out all the problems.

I'll catch up with the posts properly later <3

Afternoon Everyone
Little Ruby looks so dinky in those pics Anne.She must have grown a bit now though since they were taken. Not long now before you can go and see her and have a lovely little cuddle and tell her that you will be her new Mummy :-D :-D

I hope that Paddy and Rasher have finished the tree now Frank.The weather is horrible amd rainy here. Bit nippy too now,so I have just lit the fire.

I went to see the cattery this morning. Fitz came with me.(Chris wasn't interested :-| )
It is quite a place!. There is even a huge'playroom' with all sorts of climbing things and even a little covered walkway high up that goes to a tree with a fenced in platform.Bit like a look out :-D. Only one cat will be allowed in there at a time.It's massive.
I took a couple of pics .Nice outlook for all the cats from their kennels (I don't know what the cat name is for them lol ).Lots of greenery ,plants and a pond.The owner can take up to 38 cats .She also has 9 cats of her own.All rescue cats ,but they fight and have to be kept seperate from each other !!!!.Good job the house is massive.She even has a couple of cat rooms indoors for some cats.Mainly the elderly ones.So it is all very well thought out and I am quite happy for Thomas to go there.Fitz said is is just like a Cat Hotel what with the playroom thing.Children would love to have a play in there.

Gill ,sounds like you have had a bit of a day ,what with the washing machine failing, knobs dropping off the cupboard and the cushions. .I assume you will be getting in touch with the place you got the washing machine.When we buy new things we expect them to work !!,and so they should .It is so disappointing when there is a problem so soon after buying.Not only disappointing but infuriating. :-S :-S

Fitz had to go and see his Surgeon this morning for his post op check.It went fine and all is going ok, but certain problems Fitz still has could take a year or even 2 to get right.The main thing I think is this dropped foot business. It is just down to nerve damage and could take a very long time to recover(if ever :-( )..It is just a wait and see thing.But all in all the Surgeon was quite happy.So that is great news.

I will send a pic of the cattery in a minute.

Jane the cattery looks good , Kitty Kingdom play room and the tree top bit sounds lovely for the cats to play in .
It must be one heck of a job to keep 9 cats away from each other so they don't fight , good job it's a big house .


Ann i meant to say what a lot of mice you've caught , your traps are certainly working over time !!! :-0 :-D

Is the tree down now Frank ? You'll miss the shade from the tree when you sit out in the summer.

We've had a few spits of rain this afternoon but thats all it was ,not enough to wet the ground really.

Absolutely worn out. I went shopping. I only had as couple of slices of toast before I went and that was the first thing I had eaten and I left at 1.45pm. Had a lovely back ache when I got home.

What a smasher that little Ruby is. I love the markings on her brow. Bet you can't wait to see her again Anne and have a little hold of her. There is'nt really much there to cuddle yet. Bless <3

Jane the Cattery looks very nice upside down and by that it all has a green roof of grass. Its a shame but we can't download pics from your phone to turn them the right way up. Can you take your camera when you go next time so we can view them the right way up please?

They were selling off Christmas things in Morrisons today. I bought an advent calender for 25p, a big bag of bows for 15p and two Santa please stop here signs for the boys to hang on their bedroom doors next for 15p each. They even have a little blackboard on them where a child can write his or her name and a peice of chalk provided too. I also bought two packs of baking cases with holly pics on for 50p a pack of 24 to put away for next year. I think the price before Christmas was £1.50 a pack.

So Mandy if you go to your Morrisons have a look out for some bargains.

Frank you will miss that cherry tree inthe summer as its the one you used to sit under. No blossom either on a tree that is'nt there anymore but on the up side no blossom all over the lawn when the winds blows. Will you get more light in the garden from that side now. I am not sure which way your garden faces from the top by your conservatory.

Must start getting something to eat for dinner now. I have a curry for oh and a pie for myself so nice and easy. I shall have a jacket tato and cabbage with mine.

I love the photo's of the cattery Jane, Thomas will certainly love his time there. I did laugh when I saw the gnome leaning against the tree, it looked like he was the one looking after all those cats and needed a rest LOL.
Love the name Kitty Kingdom. I bet the cats love being in there.

Pleased to hear the surgeon was happy with Fitz, it does sound like he's got a way to go yet though, but at least he's heading in the right direction. I've never heard of a dropped foot before, it sounds quite painful.

Yes, I've had a few problems today. I asked Sandra to put another load in the washing machine and wouldn't you know it, it worked. She said she has the touch :-D :-D I still have to put it on the drain and spin to get the 1600 spin but so far it's working. I'll still ring them on Monday as we've only had the machine a few weeks. I mentioned to OH that on the second time of using the spin cycle I heard a loud knock, which I also heard again today. I'd forgotten about the sound I heard the first time, so at least I can tell them that.

I don't know if I mentioned it, but when the delivery man brought it here, he dropped it onto our patio, well, I say drop, he put it down really heavily, it went down with such a thud, so maybe that has broken it in some way. I don't want to get the man into trouble when he kindly offered to plumb the machine in for us when OH had his back operation, so I don't know weather to mention that bit or not.
What do you think, should I mention it, or keep quiet? :-S :-S

Is your Cherry tree out now Frank? It's raining here so I don't envy your friends doing such a big job in the rain. I'm sure they'd of been grateful of the warm drinks you provided.

Well, I'm running really late with everything that's happened today, so I'd better go and sort something out for dinner.

I don't know what happened there but I went to send a post and my router stopped working. Maybe I should just go to bed before any more bad luck happens LOL.
Hope tomorrow is a better day.

I was saying that I'd missed your post Mel and that you had got some really good bargains. I might go to our shops tomorrow to see if we can pick up something cheap. ;-) :-D

Better send this before something else goes wrong. LOL.