General Chat

Good afternoon all

Thanks for your photos Ann, your garden looks nice and pretty with big flakes of snow.I wish we could see the moon so clearly. It seems as if Mandy is the only one of us who has snow that has laid and quite a lot too.

Gill you and your OH have been busy again today getting your garden ready for the spring, I do agree with Liz that family upsets aren't worth moving from somewhere you are happy in as it could so easily be a wrong and expensive decision which wouldn't help, I'm sure it will all blow over. Choc pudding sounds delicious and roast chicken would be ideal for me especially if I had Sandra to cook it for me

We had roast lamb today a bit later than usual as Paul was working until 2o/c I don't eat roast red meat but I'm quite happy with the vegetables and Yorkshire puddings.

Had a email earlier from Alison asking when we would like to collect Ruby, she is having her first injection tomorrow so next Saturday will be fine, I only hope it doesn't snow. Becky wants to come with us as she & Abbie will be staying next weekend from Friday onwards it's their half term this week from Monday.

Liz you two have also been busy making marmalade, my mother used to make all her own jams inc. marmalade she also pickled onions, bottled ffruit and made chutney, I don't take after her as I'm not at all domesticated, probably because she never worked and never wanted any help, I'd much rather have been at work or out walking when I was her age
Your stepfather was very young to die but hopefully you have happy memories of him prior to his illness.
I too would love to see Cas playing with her Teddy, I hope Ruby is as well behaved as she and Max are

It's still daylight and nearly 5o/c much better when the daylight hours are longer

Thought I had better pop in to say Hi.

Dull miserable day here, rain, sleet and a few flakes of snow, Bitter cold, so needless to say we haven't poked our noses out of the door apart from going to the bins.

Haven't read any posts but I see there are two pages of posts. So you have all been chin wagging. lol

Roast leg of pork in the oven. Veg all ready to go on later Dinner around 6.00 pm I recon .

Ros has been busy sewing more blankets, while I have done nothing. I have the papers from yesterday and today, but can't read anything but the headlines with or without my glass's. I will be glad when I can get to the opticians to get new glass's. ONLY two more weeks I think. The drops are now down to two a day. Then one and they will be finished. Thank goodness.

I hope you are keeping snug and warm. I expect Lady Jne will be on her way home now, hope she had a nice weekend.

I will try to get on here AM tomorrow. See you then.

Afternoon :-D :-D... Well we are home again after a really lovely time in London with our 2 and their other halves. My goodness are we pooped!!.Chris is totally cream crackered LOL.
We arrived at the hotel just before 2pm .Very nice it was too.(just too warm).I think the air con was set at a certain temp and we couldn't lower it .We had 2 large single beds and both probably had the best sleep in ages.They were so comfy and the pillows too.
At 3 we went down to the bar to meet up with Hannah ,Gareth and James.(Jess joined us a little later).After a little drinkie poo ,we got a taxi to the Restaurant .Had a great meal ,bottle of bubbly to toast Hannah (that was even before we ordered the food :-D)
A couple of bottles of wine later and full tummies we then walked to the theatre (in cold drizzle).The play was good ,very difficult to explain and very thought provoking .I have had to google it LOL. It makes far more sense now :-D.After the theatre we walked across the Thames (can't remember what bridge) to the South Bank and went to the Festival Hall and a bar called the Skylon Bar which is several floors up and looks out over the Thames. We left there just after 11 to walk back to our Hotel. By this time my hip was giving me grief ,so I hung on to Chris's arm :-).Got back to the hotel about 11.45 and fell into bed :-D.Slept like logs.We decided not to have breakfast at the hotel ,but to wait until we got to the station and had the best 'Full English' in one of the nice restaurants there.My pot of tea was also one of the best too :-D
So a lovely time was has by all .The bank balance is a fair bit slimmer now though LOL
Fitz ,bless him was waiting at the station for us.What a good friend :-D
I can't wait now to pick Thomas up tomorrow morning after we take my car in for the service.I hope he has been ok.I am sure he will be happy to get home.

I will have to read all the posts from yesterday and today !!!!!.Looks like a lot !!!!!!!!!!!!!

It sounds like you had a wonderful time Jane. I'm not surprised you both slept well with all that walking and of course the drinky poos LOL :-D :-D If Thomas has made friends with Lottie he might want to stay another night ;-) ;-) No, he'll be pleased as punch to see you again. That was nice of Fitz to pick you up, you're both really good to each other aren't you?

So not long now then until you pick Ruby up Anne. Sandra said 6 more sleeps, she's so excited for you and can't wait to hear all about her once she's settled in. Hope the weather holds out for you and little Ruby has a comfortable journey to her new home.

It won't be long now until you get your new glasses Frank, then you'll be able to read your papers properly again. Your eye drops are coming down so it won't be long before they're finished too. It sounds like you've had a nice relaxing day in the warmth. It's very cold here now, so I'm expecting a frost tonight, the wind is picking up to, so I'm glad we managed to get the tree done early this morning while it was still quite warm.

Yes Anne both my mother and S-Father died in their sixties. My S-Father had been a Japanese POW in the Far East for just over four years and his health was never that good for the rest of his life - a lot of those young men didn't make old bones but it was cancer of the oesophogus that killed him. He was lovely man and my mother and I couldn't have asked for a better.
Nice to have you back Jane, glad you had as good time.
I will try and video Cas, she's a bit difficult to catch as she suddenly decides to take off shaking and bashing poor old Teddy without any warning but I'll have a go!

Anne it will seem a long week waiting until Saturday to pick up little Ruby ,i bet you and the girls carn't wait to give her a good cuddle and get that lovely puppy smell .

Jane it sounds as if you all had a lovely weekend together , i expect the bubbly the wine and the walk back to the hotel helped you to sleep , it was good of Fitz to take you and pick you up .

I think you did the right thing Frank keeping in the warm today ,not to long to wait then before you can get your eyes tested for new glasses then you'll be away catching up with all your books .

All the snow has gone and it's quite wet out there now .

Evening All,

Thanks for the pics Mandy.....the outfits are brilliant and the tray and card look just like Max. :-D

Sounds like you had a nice time and meal in London Jane. We have found better breakfasts elsewhere than where we have stayed sometimes too. ;-) I expect Thomas will be glad to be home when you collect him.

Oh Anne I can't believe the weeks have gone by now and that Ruby will soon be with you! What age are they before they can be microchipped?

We came home after lunch as we both decided it was too chilly and miserable to call anywhere so have been in the warm instead.

I expect it will be much better once you get new glasses Frank.......won't be long now! How is the knee doing and is it getting less painful?

A pic of Cas with Ted would be nice to see Liz! I see it is 'marmalade time' at your place! How many jars of it do you usually make? I used to do it, but the easy way with those tins of 'Marmade' you used to get. OH isn't too keen on it, so it wouldn't be worth me making any now, but he does sometimes have it since he's been with me. The only other thing he isn't too keen on is celery, but he will have it on a cheese sandwich.

Gill, when I clicked on the bit to take your photo on that site, the laptop took it!! You will be getting chiblains being out in all this cold in the garden. Your poor feet, but the hot water bottle was a good idea. I wouldn't move house either.......you enjoy your place and the garden now you have done so much hard work. Try not to worry about things as they have a way of working out for the best. :-)

Better go and get ready to watch CTM soon!!

Sounds like you had a great weekend with the kids Jane and a good nights sleep too. What more could you want? I am so pleased you all enjoyed it so much. Thomas will be so pleased to see you in the morning when you go to pick him up.

Was'nt the tray of Mandy's like Max. YOu can see why her sister bought it.

We had a little snow mixed in with rain earlier but nothing settled once again........

Oh bought some new hair clippers today and I had a go with them on his hair. It looks a right mess!!!!!!! He said he wanted it short and short is what he got. I don't like it but he said it feels much better. I must admit his hair was so long that could have been half the trouble. He has that very fine hair that runs away from sissors if you know what Ii mean. I usually cut it with it wet as thats when I can control it.

Hav'nt had any time to do my crafting and I still have a bit to go before its finished.

Gill if you know anyone who has a woodburner they would be very gratefull for your apple tree trunk as its one of the best woods to burn and smells wonderful.

Don't blame you staying in today Ann if its been as cold there as it has been here. What did you do at class this week?

Love the pics Mandy, what a lovely present and card.
I'm shattered so I'm off to bed now, see you all tomorrow.
Night Night

Morning all

OH has just started cutting the trunk of the apple tree, it's going to take a while and he has to go out in a couple of hours, but he said he could cut some before he goes out. It's quite thick so it won't fall down and he can then go back to it next time he has some free time to finish it off. It does look daft without the branches on, so I'll be glad when it's finally down. Then it'll just be the stump to dig out, unless we can plant around it. We shall have to see how big the roots are and how far they spread.

Our neighbours son lives further down the road and he has a wood burner Mel, so I'll ask him if he'd like the tree trunk. So far when we've asked him he's always said no, but this is a different tree so he might say yes this time, it's worth asking him again.

I meant to mention yesterday, I managed to get 6 seeds off the Cana lily plant, so I will be planting them up this year. I've still got three seeds from the ones you gave me last year too. Will the seeds grow the same colour as the main plant, it would be nice if they do, as it was a lovely red.

I don't blame you for going home early yesterday Ann, the weather turned very cold didn't it?

How did you get on with your marmalade Liz, is it all finished now. How many jars did you fill? Looking forward to seeing a video of Cas if you can get one. I know Sandra would love to see it too. Don't worry if you can't though, it sounds like she runs around very quickly so I can see it might be difficult to video her.

How is your finger today Jane, hope it didn't spoil your time away and is soon feeling better for you?

Nothing much planned for today, so I might take another look at my family tree, or catch up on some programmes I've recorded with Sandra when she wakes up.

What is everyone else up to today?

Morning Gill nd all,

We have lovely sunshine this morning so I shall be dusting and hoovering as the sun shows it all up. The bedroom needs a good dust too. thats the trouble with have cotton bedding it creates a lot of dust.

Your neighbours son with have to store the trunk logs for at least a year for them to season properly so they are ready to use in the stove Gill.

Well I better get oh a MOC to keep him quiet so see you later.

I have been working on my tree too!!

Morning Mel. that's the problem with the sun it shows up all the dust, my living room could do with a going over, so I'll do that before I take another look at my tree. How are you getting on with yours hope you haven't hit any brick walls. I have that many on mine, I'm trying to research other countries which isn't easy, so I've decided to leave them for now and concentrate on the ones in the UK as that's a lot easier to do. There's plenty for me to do with all the loose ends I've got.
We have the sun now too Mel, but it's really cold though.

OH has took the whole tree trunk down now, it only took him an hour. I helped him move it to the corner at the back of the garden as it's to heavy to lift. We rolled it and OH will cut it into smaller pieces when he gets some time. The stump is still in the ground but we're leaving it for now as I want to take the grass up and use it in another part of the garden which I can't do until there is no sign of any frost, which I think would be around the end of April.

It looks much better in the garden now and I can visualise what it's going to look like when I find the plants I need. Once the conifers are in place Sandra and I are going to take a look around for some flowers to go in other parts of the garden.

Good Morning all (a promised) Evening Kim,

Lovely tray Mandy. It is so much like MAX. In fact I thought it was him sitting on the chair. I see you are good with a needle and thread. The dress looks great.

I'm trying to think of the bridge you would have crossed for the South Bank and the Festival Hall. Has it changed much over the years ?? It sounds as though you had a great time with the FAMILY. I would expect with London prices your bank account would have been reduced. The way I see it, enjoy it while you can. !!!

Gill Do as we did and try to make a feature out of the remaining tree stump. How low to the ground did OH take it. You can get lots of "STUBBY PLANTS" that will grow over and around it, it would make a nice feature. Our Cherry Tree is so close to the fence that it would have been impossible to dig it out, without digging up TWO NEIGHBOURS gardens. ;-) ;-) ;-)

Bright blue sky with sunshine this morning, so might be alright for me to get a stroll around the block or a bit further.

Ros has loads of vouchers from her "WYEVALE" Gardening club, which needs to be used by tomorrow, together with a £12.00 off for two main meals. So I can see that's where we will be going tomorrow. I can find a seat while she wonders rounds finding things she wants.

I was going to take her out tomorrow evening for "Valentines Day" but if we can get a meal with £12.00 off. Why not take advantage of that. We can then just have a tea tomorrow evening.

I Haven't looked at my tree for so long. I know I am back to the 1700s on some of it. How far can you get back ???

Ros has been on to the Drs regarding her water test from last week. She has finished the antibiotics she was given. The receptionist says the doctor will ring her later as the tests have come back as abnormal, and she should still be on antibiotics.

All the bedding and whites are in the W/M and will go on the line for a good blow and dry. (sounds like a hair do) !!!! Which reminds me Ros has to ring and book a hair cut and tint this morning.

Hope you are already for your new arrival Anne ???

I've managed to go back to the 1790's on my tree, and that's where I'm leaving it as I'm not interested in going any further back. You can go back as far as you can go Frank, but you have to get into Parish Records and such like which is very time consuming! I've got some American/Canadian family but I'm not bothering to research them, they're just too remote.
Nice and sunny here today. Talked to son this morning which was nice. He should be over soon for a visit fingers crossed!
We've nearly finished the marmalade Gill. We get it done so far, then freeze it in blocks to finish as and when we need it during the year. Saves all those jars!!
Nothing much doing here today, just boring chores!

Good early afternoon all

That was a really lovely present from your sister & BIL Mandy the tray and the card could have been modelled by Max , the dog is the image of him.
Those little outfits you made for the girls are lovely, have they tried them on yet?

Your weekend sounds a great success Jane with everyone having a good time.
Now you have your lovely Thomas back with you , his girlfriend will miss him
<3 <3.
Was it Waterloo Bridge you crossed over, I remember years ago when Peter was in Westminster Hospital crossing that bridge from the station and passing The Royal Festival Hall

When we collect Ruby she will already have been chipped and insured. She is on facebook again with her brothers under " Angies Bostons" Paul showed it to me yesterday, they are all playing with Sasha, Angela's daughter and Ruby is the one attempting to pull her hair so Abbie who has very long hair will have to watch out :-D :-D .

On my tree I have got back on one of my maternal lines to a William Jefrey born in Chiddingly, Sussex in 1476. I use to belong to the Sussex Family History group and the Kent one as well these have both been a great help

A very sunny day here and it looks like lasting , fingers crossed

That's a good idea Liz, it will definitely save you jars and keep it fresh for when you're ready for it.

I've gone back to around 1783, so no where near as far back as you Anne. You were lucky getting all that help. I struggled getting as far back as I did, I wouldn't have a clue how to go back that far. I already have nearly 3.500 people on my tree so it would be huge if I went back any further.

OH has cut the tree trunk down to about 6 inches above ground level Frank. I was thinking the same as you, I'd just need to find some nice plants to put around it. Mind you OH will probably want to cut it right down to ground level so it can't be seen at all. I'm not keen on him digging the stump out as it might harm the roots of the conifers behind it and I'd be so upset if anything happened to them. One of the branches has already been damaged when a branch off the apple tree fell on it, so I've had to cut it off. I wouldn't want anything else to happen to them. A branch off my Azalea broke off this morning too when we were moving the trunk to the bottom of the garden, so I now have a few more cuttings of Azalea's on my kitchen windowsill. They are bright pink, so if they take I'll have a few more free plants to put in our garden.
Enjoy your meal tomorrow Frank, that was lucky having a voucher for £12 off. My OH is in work tomorrow so we won't be doing anything as he doesn't get in till almost 9pm and he's always tired and falls asleep on the sofa.

I saw the clips Anne of Angies Bostons, they are all so cute and very boisterous aren't they?

I've found a lovely picture of the way I'd like my garden so I have emailed it to you all, hope it went through okay. Just got your reply to my email Mandy, so I guess it worked. Yes there are lots of colours aren't there and like you said you could put seats in different places for different views of the garden. At the moment most of our back garden is grass and looks a bit boring, so a bit of colour all year round should be nice.

Had a look at the picture Gill but you must realize that that garden has'nt got high fences or large conifer trees arolund it. Also many of the red plants are acers which loose their leaves in the winter and are not cheap to buy ones of any size. Another thing is lots of the conifers are clipped and it can take a few years to get them to a size to clip. You also need to know which ones to buy that only grow 3 foot in 10 years and thats not always the case. Mum bought some and they grew huge cos she ddi'nt clip them and they can only be clipped suring the growing season and not back into bare branches as they son't regenerate.

I used to sell a lot of those conifers when I had the nursery here 20 years ago.

Evening All

Gill what a colourful pic you sent .I think it is a lovely idea ,as you say on a smaller scale :-D..Just to have colours like that in the winter would be smashing. I must show Chris :-D

Oh Anne :-D...What a lively bunch of Puppies !!!!!!. I think you are going to have to be very active when Ruby comes home.She will find it very strange for a whlle with her Brothers to run about with !!!!!..That are all so funny in the videos .

How is the Leccy Mel? You must get so frustrated with it going out like that all the time :-S It would drive me crazy .

So Thomas is home.He is behaving really oddly. he hasn't settled at all until now.

Oh it is all excitement here.I have been on 2 phones whilst trying to do this post. First call from my Sister to say her son Matthew is getting married on Sept 2nd.As I was talking to her my mobile rang and it was Matthew to tell me LOL.I didn't let on his Mum was on the other phone :-D,so acted all surprised :-D :-D
My Sister has been to a funeral today and met Hannah 's Gareth's parents !!!!!.. Small world.
I have to get on with dinner now as I am all behind.

The picture looked really pretty Gill and if you can use it as a guide for your own garden the end result should look great.
A wedding Jane, that's exciting and something to look forward to later on this year .
We're going to Avebury tomorrow as a Valentine! It'll be nice to have lunch out and hopefully look round the museum if it's open, else we shall just mosey around.

How exciting Jane, a wedding to look forward to. I bet that was a bit awkward being on two phones at the same time, nice that you acted surprised when Matthew rang ;-)

I see what you mean Mel, conifers can be a lot of work. Do you have any suggestions on what I can put in my garden to give the same effect as the picture? I have lots of evergreen plants in pots but mostly green and I'd like different colours like red and yellow that keep their leaves all year round. Any ideas would be great :-) :-)