General Chat

Evening all

Sorry to hear you didn't have good nights sleep Ann and Frank, hope you both have better ones tonight.

We've had rain here to Mel, quite a miserable day all around. How many eggs did you have this week, was there as many as last week?

Poor Val being on her own and only having a drink of water, that Tony is useless isn't he Frank?

Love the pic of Benjy Ann, he's so cute, although I agree not quite as cute as Thomas. You've had a right to do with your tyre by the sound of it, hope it's all sorted now. Yes the black table cloth will need swapping for a more festive one.

Sandra was thrilled this morning as about 10 starlings were in and around the bird feeder all at once, she was so excited.......bless her.

Poor OH, he had a bad back so thought he'd make himself a hot water bottle but it leaked all over the sofa, it must of been full as the water went straight through the seat and the sofa onto the floor underneath. He jumped up grabbed the sofa seat and plonked it down in front of the fire, needless to say it soaked the carpet, so I've spent most of the day drying everything out. I had to put the sofa seat in the bath as the water was dripping out, I then squeezed the water out of it and popped it onto a baby bath I have in front of the radiator until it dried, I then put the cushion covers into the dryer for a few minutes and pulled the sofa around in front of the fire to dry that out. It's all dry and back in place now and he's nipped out and bought a new hot water bottle.

I was hoping to finish off my family tree today but that's not going to happen now as I still have lots more people to add. I really need to make a start on the insulation as I think we're going to have about 4 rolls of it left over and we only get 45 days to return it which is up in a couple of weeks. If I do need to take 4 rolls back it's almost £50 in our pockets, so I can't afford to take much longer to do the job.

Sandra's insulation is now ready to be painted so OH will do that next week and then we really must put these 4 drawer fronts on in the kitchen, we started the kitchen about half a year ago so that job desperately needs finishing. Plus all the material I was given the other day needs to be unpicked and ironed. I feel like the days are passing so quickly and nothing seems to be getting done. So I'll have to give myself a kick up the bum and get on with it ;-)

Afternoon Everyone
Well we had a right load of rain this afternoon.Onr minute it was fine and then it just got darker and darker and down it came. Chris had to abandon what he was doing in the garden which he was not happy about.
Frank and Ann I read your posts in the night as I was awake too. But as have said before I dont know my password for GR on my phone so couldn't add any post.I have had 2 rotten nights now .I go off fine but wake and then just can't go back to sleep as the mind starts going into overtime. After seeing your post Frank I thought I might be dreaming of funerals instead of weddings :-D. I dont want any hymns at my funeral .I have always thought Pink Floyds Albatros would be quite nice maybe at the beginning and then something from Annie Lennox who is a favourite of mine. Anything with a good beat will do(not that I would hear it of course :-D)

Ann what a right old performance you are having with your tyres and wheel nuts. !!!!. I am not suprised that you will go for the non locking ones now. I am sure your tyres will be safe from thieves. I saw about that walk .What a lot of people.That man (I am not even going to try and spell his name) must have been a wonderful person and so well respected by the fans and people of Leicester.

So Lewis wants a personalised plate. They cost a lot of money. Do you know how he wants it to be? I couldn't give two hoots what my Reg plate is :-D I never even remember what it is lol

Has the Squirrel been back for any more attempts Gill? :-D We have had 2 in the garden today.

Fish and Chips for us tonight .Tesco Finest Beer Battered Cod and McCains Gastro Chips. Not the healthiest meal in the world but HEY it is Saturday.Ive cooked all week and these are just the best F&Cs :-D.. Roast Beef tomorrow.

Strictly and Casualty for me on TV tonight :-D. Chris pretends not to to like Strictly but he does have sneaky peeks :-D

Ha ha Gill, I think we could all do with one of those kicks sometimes! I know I could. Time really does fly though like you say. I have lots of jobs I thought I'd get done this year that are still waiting for me. Hot water bottles do seem to help when you have pain, but it must have shocked your OH when the water came pouring out!! :-0 It's lucky you managed to dry everything though. I use one on my back in bed and dread it bursting so I buy a new one every 3 years now, just in case. My OH managed to knock his dish of porridge he was going to microwave all over the cupboards, himself and the floor this morning so your OH isn't the only one making jobs today! I keep doing bits of my tree, but go off at tangents and forget where I have got to. I should be more disciplined really and keep a note of what I do. :-S You have to watch dates for returning things don't you, so as you say, the insulation better get done so you can see if you can get a refund on any that's left over. The bird feeders must be like another telly for Sandra, she's really enjoying watching the birds.

Mel you will have to let us know your sleep secret! Have you been able to do anymore of your craft today with it not being outdoor weather?

Oh dear the mess of a leaky hotwater bottle and Porridge :-S
The hot water bottle thing reminded me of one night when I was quite young. I woke in the night and ran to Mum and Dads bedroom to say my hot water bottle had leaked in my bed. I actually didn't have a bottle that night.. I had wet the bed!!!
On that note I am off to bed now but with no Hot Water Bottle :-D Just a bottle of water beside the bed.
I hope that Ann, Frank and Me have a better nights sleep tonight.I shall read for an hour or so.I have been watching the Royal British Legion Festival of Rememberance but can't stay up for all of it even though it is incredibly moving :-(

I hope you have a better night too Jane. There must be so much going around your head with the wedding drawing near! I could just fancy your F&C. Do you have vinegar or lemon with them? I like a squeeze of lemon juice, tartare sauce and sometimes tomato sauce as well. lol :-) Yes it seems that the Football Manager donated a lot of money to the city one way or another. I wonder if the walk will become an annual thing now.

The fireworks seem to have died down now so I will be off to bed too. I recorded Strictly so can watch that.

Well girls and guys I have told you before that I don't go to bed till 1.30am or even 2am sometimes.

When I get comfy I just think to myself blue blue blue blue and off I go. I must admit though it dos'nt always work. Saturday nights are a bit iffy for me but I don't know why. I do have a lovely dark bedroom though unles the moon is shining in the windows.

I meant to say the sun came out this morning lateish and stayed out most of the day till late afternoon when it clouded over again.

Just back quickly as I just realised I made a mistake earlier.. it was Fleetwood Mac who did Albatros not Pink Floyd.It has been playing on my mind and had to google it !!.
Night Night. I don't know how you can manage to stay up so long Mel !!

I'm a bit like you Mel and don't go to bed until the early hours of the morning most nights and I'm awake around 7 to 7.30 in the morning. I've never been one for a lot of sleep.

So you have lots of jobs building up to Ann. Our place looks like a bomb has hit it at the moment, the dining room is full of all sorts so we can't get to the dining table, so that room really needs sorting and it's the same in the spare bedroom as the furniture has been moved around ready for the insulation, but on top of that I've put lots of bits and bobs all over the place so I'll need to move all that before I can start the insulation job.

I've just finished my family tree so I'll make a start on all the jobs on Monday. I like Sunday's relaxing with OH and Sandra, plus the F1 is on tomorrow night.

Just going to watch Gogglebox that I've recorded and have a nice cuppa and I need to message the lady in New Zealand as I now know how we are related. We are 4th cousins 1 time removed. I'm her children's 5th cousin.

Hope everyone has a good nights sleep, I'll catch up properly with the posts tomorrow.
Night Night

Morning all,

Here we go again. Yesterday I did the veg for Sunday lunch and had a quiet afternoon with my Pspper and book. About 6,00 pm we ordered our takeaway and waited for the delivery settle down for strictly. then the remberence service. I stayed up to11.20/ Ros asme in at 11.50. Settleddob. n, but caul[d not sleep. came out [st 2.30 snd here I am.will watch a bit of telly, the try again yo sleep.

Morning Frank and all,

Sorry you had yet another bad night Frank and I hope you managed to have a good lie in this morning to make up for it. Perhaps today was on your mind.

We have sunshine this morning and blue sky as far as the eye can see.

Morning Mel and Frank, morning all

Bright here now after a damp start. OH and I watched about 25 starling all trying to eat the mealworms at the same time, you should of seen the chaos and don't get me going on the noise. Once then left the little tits came and had their breakfast. We couldn't let Sandra know about the starlings as we were outside having a cuppa and didn't want to disturb them, so told her after they had gone. She got up and watched the little ones eating and then a few starlings came back, so she was pleased to see them. We've noticed it seems to be around 9am when the starlings come so I'll make sure Sandra is up tomorrow to see them. I just hope they turn up on time lol ;-) ;-) as Sandra doesn't normally get up very early.

I've noticed Ancestry have got their military records open for free until tomorrow, so I'm going to see if I can find anything on all the brick walls I have on my Allen's. If you remember that's the family I've been stuck on for years. Hopefully I'll find something today which will give me a fresh start on them again.

Sorry to hear you had another bad nights sleep Frank, hope you managed a few hours and feel okay today.

Washings on the line and the suns still out and there's a nice cold breezy wind.

I am just having a COC and then I shall hoover the kitchen and get the big breakfast.

Afternoon to you all.

I went back to bed and dropped off. At 5.00 am I woke having a job to breath, really frightened me. I sat bolt upright in panic. No way I dare close my eyes again, so got up and made tea. Roa came out about 9.00 am. So I had more tea with her.

I decided to get showered and shaved before the Remembrance Parade. Which as always was very moving. I slipped in the shower and banged my head on the tiles, which has given me a nice headache to go with my neck and shoulder pain.

That rain yesterday lunchtime was just as Ros came back from shopping. I couldn't believe how much we had in such a short time. I hope none of you got caught in it.

I MIGHT go to the pub for the Manchester Derby. Kick off 4.30 so dinner will be late. I will put the joint in the oven on a lowish heat, and turn it up when I get home around 6.15. Not made ny mind up yet. So I might sill be at home, and have dinner as usual around 4,00/5.00 pm. Country File is early tonight as is Strictly

We had MAGPIES in the garden this morning, which I haven't seen for ages.

Have a pleasant afternoon folks. xxxx

Afternoon all,

Nice and bright here now after some rain first thing ,i can now see some nice blue sky.

Sounds as if you had another rough nights sleep Frank you will have to have an afternoon doze .

Yes Gill F1 race on today ,you did know you can see it live on Sky sports F1 on number 406 ,i think it's on live about five o'clock, you don't have to have the sports channels it's a channel you can get if you have sky .

Your certainly getting plenty of birds in the garden now Gill ,it's lovely watching them ,they do fight over the seed though some times the little ones don't get a look in .

Not a lot happening here today we're just having a lazy day ,i might do a bit of my knitting ,i'm knitting Lewis a Beanie hat ,there was a pattern for a mans sweater in the womans weekly this week so i'm doing a little bit of the pattern from that onto the hat .

Afternoon All
It is a beautiful day here . Wall to wall sunshine. My washing is out too now Mel.
Oh dear Frank. You are going to have to have 40 winks this afternoon I think.You had been doing so well with your nights too.

Don't the Starlings make a racket Gill !!. Shame Sandra missed them all but I bet they will be back again :-D..I have just refilled my window feeder and all the Blue Tits and I think Gt Tits(ones with black heads) they could be Coal Tits are busy feeding now. The Robin has just been on it too.

I have been back to Rushden Lakes to change a couple of things I got the other day. When it was the 2 minutes silence in M&S everyone stopped except for an eldery lady .She then noticed everyone standing still and she suddenly realised why. I think she might have been a bit deaf and missed the announcement .She did look emabarrased bless her.

Mel how did your flower displays go the other day? Did you manage to get any greenery?

My Sister was chuffed with herself yesterday as Larry took her to Sainsbury and with the aid of the trolly she managed to hobble around the food Halland at last choose all the things she has wanted.By the time she got home though she had to lie down as her knee was so bad. But at least she did it and that is a big step forward for her.
How is your BIL Mandy?. Is he allowed to bend his knee yet ?

I have the joint of Beef in the oven for tonight. I like to cook it now and then slice and cover it in lovely gravy ready to just be reheated after I have done the Roast Potatoes and Yorkshires . I can't smell the Beef yet as it has not long been in.

Chris took James to pick his car up just now as James was out last night and had a few drinks so had to leave his car at his friends house.It's nice that he still is good friends with all his old school pals.The same as Hannah . I lost touch years ago with many friends but still have two I regularly keep in touch with even though I dont see them often.That is the trouble when you move away from home ground . My old Primary School Head and Ruth my old teacher and good friend of my Mums are still going strong.Ruth must be not far off 100 yrs old now!! and is in a care home .Sadlt her sight has gone but boy her mind is sharp .I spoke to John my old Headmaster just last week and he too is amazing although he says he is slowing down a lot now but considering he had a major heart attack and had bypass surgery back in 2005 he's doing blooming well :-D

Oh !! a Magpie just landed on the feeder !!!!!!. I dont want them on it as their weight will take the feeder off the window ,plus I dont want Magpies around.There are too many at the moment.

Afternoon All,

Sorry to hear you had yet another bad night Frank........the breathless feeling might be the way you were sleeping. It is a scary feeling though and you can't settle after so it was a good idea to get up. I had a super sleep last night and didn't wake till 8.30am

We decided because so many roads in the villages were being closed for the Parades today to go for breakfast at the farm shop instead of going out for lunch later. We drove back through the villages as the roads were open by then and there were loads of people around, I doubt the churches have had so many attend for a long time! It was all very vibrant with a band playing in one place and even some of the dogs had their poppies on their collars. We were saying how our grandparents lived through both World Wars and how much of their lives must have been dominated by 10 years of Wars and it's effects on daily life and worry about family members who were fighting or never came back.

OH has put new bigger screws in the wall for the new wall pots, so I'll finish planting them tomorrow and they can go on the wall. While I was out on Friday he managed to unscrew the porch light fitting. It had about 3 year's worth of dead flies in it that he cleaned out. He screwed it back so tight 3 years ago neither of us could get it off again so I was amazed he'd managed to do it. I thought it was going to be a hammer job and new fitting. :-S

That's good your sister is managing to hobble a few steps now Jane and could look around to do a bit of shopping. It will give her confidence to see some progress. I only have one school friend I'm still in touch with. I suppose going to 6 schools and my parents moving house 7 times didn't help with making close friends. I've caught up with one or two from my old Grammar School on a school forum on FB which has been quite interesting to see what has happened to them all. Lots of interesting photos of my old teachers!

I've done some washing today too...............something MIL would never have done on a Sunday!

I saw that sweater in WW Mandy. Good idea to use some of the pattern on the beanie. I was looking at some free on line patterns of hats to knit the other night. Also those large fake fur pom poms on ebay! I think I'd better try some of the hats on next though as very few suit me!! :-S I fancy one as it is supposed to be cold this winter, even cold enough for me to need a hat. :-D

Gill those birds are certainly enjoying the food you put out and coming regularly now. We don't get as many starlings since the farmer cut down the Elderberry tree in the field, but you can have our hoodlum Magpies any time. lol. I have to get out of bed and bang the window at first light as they try to tug the bird proofing mesh out of the gutters or the Sky cables!! :-0 Round the back you can hear them tugging at the conservatory and trying to lift the flashing to find insects. The young ones seem to be in gangs of 4 or 5.

Frank, maybe you should put a crash helmet on your Xmas present list :-D. That would keep you safe in the shower !!. I hope your headache has goen now and you will get off to see the match.
Mandy I haven't knitted for years now. I used to quiet enjoy making easy things for the children when they were babies or just little. It was mainly jumpers ,scarves etc. A Beanie hat sounds a lovely idea for Lewis. I never had anyone to help me with kniting when I went wrong so I used to take my kneedles with knitting on and go the the wool shop where a lady would help me put things right :-D :-D.I do remember Mum trying to teach me to knit but back then I used to do it all left handed which was a real problem for poor Mum !

The Beef is cooked and guess who came in when I took it out of the oven? Thomas. He had been asleep in the Summerhouse but must have got a whiff of it :-D. So he has had his little bit now and has happily wandered off again.

It will be another trip to Rushden Lakes for me. The lovely dark blue Velvet trousers I bought this morning are actually leggings and I thought they were looser legged :-S
I am going to have a look on line and see if there are any in a different style.(it's M&S)

The sun seems to be going down now and its certainly getting cooler. I am still in short sleeves!!!. It seems crazy for almost the middle of November to still be so mild.I love it as I hate wearing jumpers and coats. Ann and me are so alike :-D

One for sorrow
Two for joy,
Three for a girl,
Four for a boy,
Five for silver,
Six for gold,
Seven for a story never to be told.

This shows it is only seeing a lone magpie that brings bad luck and groups of magpies are said to predict the future.

I was once tod by a friend that if you see one Magpie you should scratch your nose twice to counteract the sorrow. How true this saying is I don't know but I do scratch my nose twice if I see one Magpie.

Are any of you superstious?

Well that's our late lunch over and plates cleared. Barnsley Lamb chops with savoy, broc, carrot and onion. OH had mashed potato with his and I had just a bit! He peeled the potatoes and carrots and will wash up the bits that don't go in the dishwasher. I notice I have a gravy slick down my front so another top for the wash!

That must have hurt banging your head like that Frank. Maybe you need a rubber mat down to stop you slipping, you could knock yourself out if you aren't careful. Hopefully you managed to go to the pub. OH seems to be watching some footie on the telly while he reads the paper. :-)

I'd forgotten that rhyme Mel. I don't think I am very superstitious although I don't tend to walk under ladders in case they come crashing down. My first MIL was always coming out with superstitions I'd never heard of so I don't think mum and dad were very superstitious either. The only one's mum would trot out were about 7 years bad luck if you break a mirror and opening an umbrella in the house. MIL had ones about washing on New Year's Day, putting new shoes on the table, hanging mens pants next to women's on the line, throwing salt over your shoulder.