General Chat

No the washing did'nt dry as I did'nt put it out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Forgot it. I have just put my socks on the rail on the rad and am just about to put his jog pants on the airer in front of the hall rad. I have put his fleece on a hanger and hung that in the hall on the candle stick by that rad and his pants will go in the lounge on those rails on the rad in there.

Going to have a COC before starting dinner. We have a small lamb jiont and I shall do a cauli cheese and some new pots. I was going to do him rice but I don't want that.

Wonder what Ann has been up to today?

Hope Frank is on the mend but its going to be a long haul. Sending love and wishes.

Afternoon All,

I was awake till gone 3.00am this morning, so we never got to use our free breakfast voucher down the road that the manager sent us.......maybe tomorrow if we can get up earlier. I was a bit late for beading too which isn't like me! Topsy, who is a very large pussycat, has got into the habit of pinching the food for BOTH of the other cats now, so kept being banished from where we were sitting! She was tiptoeing in very quietly to sneak past us as well. The new girl Cleo put in a very brief appearance outside the glass door and went off again. Gill, the lady has a photo of her and is going to email it to me once she has found out how to get it from Whatsapp onto an email! I have now finished my Queen of the Nile necklace and a bracelet so will photograph and send them tomorrow when the light is better. Once I have finished more I can tidy more away! :-) :-S

I got some white battery lights at the garden centre today. They are for the twig tree with beaded stars I want to make for next Christmas and were half price, so it was a good time to get them. OH managed to find 2 more books at the Works in there! :-0 He put a moritorium on shirt buying after he chucked some out but, still counted 70, so I said he needs one on books now! lol. ;-)

On the way home we saw a huge Buzzard sitting on a fence post at the roadside at the edge of a field. Needless to say I never had my camera with me as it was so dull I never took it with me. You don't realise just how big they are till you see them close up.

That's a shame your old teacher has died Jane. It's a pity she didn't reach 100, but she sounded as if she was quite confused when you spoke to her recently, so it may have been for the best. I always wonder how anxious it must make you when you become confused and uncertain. Fancy Chris refusing a bit of help. Maybe with not being well he just wanted to get the job done quickly and come back inside. How is your cough/cold now and is Hannah better now?

The builders are cracking on then Gill with the windows fitted now. One house mum and dad rented for a year (between buying houses) as it had a large workshop for him to run his business, had clear windows in the bathroom. You can imagine my panic when I was in the bath and saw the window cleaner's ladder appear!! I was 15 and never moved so fast!! lol.

Mel, I could just fancy your lamb dinner and veg! :-) We have piles of washing to do and I think some of that will need drying inside with these dull days. Have you finished your wands yet?

OH is Mr Happy now he's finished his tax return and sent it off! He's wallowing in the bath now with the radio on.

I expect Frank will struggle for a while till his ribs start healing. I hope he can manage or will get some help in if not and that the painkillers are working well. XX to Frank. <3

Evening ,

No frost today but plenty of cloud so it's been quite dull.

Jane that's very sad news about your old school teacher ,you must be pleased that you managed to talk to her just before christmas even though she was a little muddled ,what a shame she didn't make 100 bless her .
You asked about birthdays , mines the 11th February .
Perhaps Chris just wasn't feeling up to company today and didn't want to spread his bugs about .

Yes Ann i did get the trainers for Lewis ,little blue ones , i think they are Nike ,i leave DIL to pick them as she knows what she wants him to have on his feet , they were in the sale £22 instead of £26 ,also bought him some clothes and a couple of Rusty Rivet toys they were half price at £7-50 each ,they are from a programme he watches on tv.
Got him a nice pair of trousers with Dinosaurs printed on them .

I had to smile at you catching the Pom Pom as you got in the car ,it's a wonder it didn't pull the hat off :-D
I see you got a bargain with the little white lights ,there are lots if christmas things half price and less in the shops now .

No Frank today ,i bet he's getting fed up with not being able to move about much ,as others have said i think it's going to be a long haul.

Hope your tests went ok today Anne and you remembered to have just water :-)

We went to see sister and BIL this morning ,BIL is getting on well not much pain from the knee just pain in his back when he walks ,he thinks it's because he's now more upright when he walks where as he was really bent over so i suppose the muscles have to adjust
We're having Lacey tomorrow so poor old Max will not have the run of the house around her as Lacey just doesn't like him near her, if he comes near she cries then Max comes even closer to see what wrong .

I've been looking after OH, it would of been his late brother's 50th birthday today. He rang his mum who was upset and had a cry, so it's been a sad day all around.

Sorry to hear about Ruth, Jane. I know you were hoping she would make her 100th birthday. Fancy Chris doing all the logs on his own, surely it would of been quicker and easier for him to except the help. Never mind at least you and Fitz were enjoying yourselves looking through the photos.

Hope all went well with your tests today Anne and you didn't forget you were only on water.

I wonder if Frank had a better nights sleep last night, it can't be easy with all the pain he's in. It'll be a while yet before his ribs are healed.

You did well with everything you bought Lewis Mandy, especially the little blue trainers. I think you're probably right about your BIL, it'll take time for his muscles to get used to working properly again, each day should be easier though.

Sorry to hear you didn't get to sleep until 3am Ann, it's awful when you have nights like that it makes you feel so drained the next day. Can you say thank you to your friend if she manages to send you a photo of Cleo please? Topsy sounds a cheeky cat taking the other two's food. I did smile when you said she was tiptoeing in trying to sneak past you all, did she manage it in the end? I'm looking forward to seeing the necklace you've made. Over Christmas my mum was admiring the bauble you made Sandra, the pink and white one, she said it was very pretty and also how clever you are. She also liked the fairy Mel made Sandra to.

OH had a word with the new neighbour when he went next door today and told him about the post getting damaged. He's such a lovely man and just kept apologising. OH said it wasn't his fault, which it isn't and that it should be the boss who is apologising. We do feel sorry for him as he was told the roof was going to be done by now. He came back off his holiday today expecting more work than had been done on his property and wasn't very pleased when OH told him no one had been there except for the last few days. The workmen have spent all day putting up one fascia board and a bit of guttering above it, if they carry on working at this rate, it won't be finished for years. The roof is suppose to be getting done next week now. At least the new neighbour said he would have a word about the damages to our property when he rings the boss later, but I don't suppose it will make any difference.

O I have been meaning to say that when I did some work on my family tree just before Christmas I too had problems saving the info. This happened a few times too and it puts you off entering anything when you go back and the info you added is'nt there.

I know what you mean Mel, I had the same problem the other day with my family tree.

I forgot to mention "Secret life of 4 year old's" is back on channel 4 on Thursday at 8pm for anyone who's interested. I nearly missed the first one last night and noticed it when it was just about to finish, so I recorded it on channel 4 plus one. It's now on my planner so I don't forget again. We've just watched the first one, it was really good.

Love the pics of the wands Mel, you have been busy. Do you buy the wands then decorate them, or make them all from scratch? They're really nice <3

Morning all,

Dull and raining here today that fine stuff that blows in the wind and gets everywhere.

Gill I make the wands on chop sticks. I have said before.

I went to try and catch up on Our Yorkshire Farm over Christmas and could'nt find it and I had only seen two of the programs and I think there were four of them. One for each season of the farming year. I am so cross as I was enjoying those and have seen the family on the telly before with Robson Green and I think they could have been on Country File at some point.

Egg delivery day and the shop for the paper.

The girl I get the chickens from rang last week to see if I needed any replacements as the hens are going in a week or so. I told her I still had the seven I had from her last time and I really did'nt need anymore but on thinking about it I may have just a couple. I don't like to thinkI hav'nt saved any from being gassed. I may just have two taking me up to 9. I told her they were still laying ok and she told me I had had them for 13 months! The trouble is that the ones I have have been good and not been egg eating like they do sometimes. If I have anymore I may have that troubel again. Also the 7 are not too bad to clean out and two more would make a difference.

Decision decsions...........................

Morning all

Wet and very windy here today. Sandra noticed that there are some 60 minute makeovers on, one after the other on pick TV so she's got us watching those at the moment. They started at 8am so I've recorded the first two to watch later.

Sometimes I miss some posts Mel, if I'm not online for a few days so must of missed the one of you saying the wands were made from chop sticks. What a good idea though and they look wonderful. Are they for another craft fair?

So you might have two more chickens, 9 is a lot to look after, but good on you for saving them from being killed, you are very kind. I didn't realise it had been 13 months since the last chickens you got, where has the time gone?

Going to get a cuppa while the adverts are on. What's everyone up to today?

Afternoon All

It is a horrible dark and dismal day here.One of those days where you just want to be sat in front of the fire watching TV. I did go to Tesco just now to get some more kindling and TISSUES. Yes more tissues :-S.I do hope I wont need to get any more.Its ridiculous w hat we have got through.

Mel your wands are really good :-D. How long does it take you to do one? I think you have done so well with rescuing Chickens . I wouldnt feel bad if you dont have another 2. Like you say the 7 you have now have settled so well and are good layers it would be a shame to upset them now.

Gill I watched the Secret Life of 4 year olds this morning. I just love this programme.
Little Arthur loved Bobby the Robot didnt he :-D

Ann did you have a better night last night and manage to go out for your Breakfast this morning?. I love the name Topsy for a cat. She does sound a greedy puss . I expect the other cats just move out the way when she snaffles their food.

I am going to light the fire now.I was going to wait a bit but it is so dreary and the room needs cheering up. Chris seems a bit better today but is just like a wet fish . He says it is Post Flu Debility . I can see him going for another lie down this afternoon. I just hope we are all a bit healthier by Friday when H&G come for the weekend.They are at Gareth's parents this weekend.

I hope Frank is ok and has managed to get at least a bit of quality sleep ,even if it might have been in the chair. I wonder if he has a recliner?

Afternoon All,

I had a bit better night last night, but we didn't feel lively enough to get up in time to go for breakfast after all and had poached eggs on toast at home instead. I have felt really weary this afternoon. Couldn't do any photos as the battery was flat when I switched on and the spare hasn't arrived yet.

The wands you have made look really good Mel. Is it a runny plastic that makes the drip pattern on them? It's a difficult decision about the chickens isn't it? Whether to save a couple more or risk upsetting those you already have. There were 4 episodes of Yorkshire Farm as you say, the four seasons. I still have the last one to watch.

OH has gone somewhere near Jane's again to two matches. All I know is that Frank's Blisworth team are playing in one match. I wonder how he is today and hope he's more comfortable.

I bet Chris is glad to be feeling a bit better. These things do take it out of you though. Yes H & G won't want to be coming to a house of bugs on Friday will they.

The secret life of 4 year olds was good wasn't it. It's amazing how quick and bright they are at that age. A bit worrying how all their activity stops once they have their ipads though! Did you see how parrots are talking to Alexa now and getting music played?

Gill I'm glad your mum liked the bauble I made and Mel's fairy. Has Sandra finished the pictures she had for Christmas? It's so sad your BIL never reached his 50th birthday. My BIL only reached 49 and had children too. I expect it was a sad day for your BIL's mum too. Are the builders working today?

Oh you got some nice things for Lewis's birthday Mandy! He will love his Dinosaur trousers! lol. I had to look up the Rusty Rivet toys, I'm so out of touch with the latest toy trends, but he will love them if he likes the programme. I bet he will be showing his presents to his brother and sisters. You are good to get his mum to choose his trainers, it's far better to get something she will be happy with. I was wondering how your BIL was and it's good he's improving. Yes, you stand and walk differently for so long with a bad knee, it must take a while and ache a bit when you start to walk properly again and are more upright.

The weather has gone really windy now, one of the tall Red Robins we bought, the 12 foot high one, is blowing like mad, but given the size of the pot it's in I doubt it'll ever blow over. At least I hope it never does as there's no chance of OH and I lifting it up again.

Hope everyone is fit and well for Friday Jane when Hannah and Gareth visit. How is Hannah now, you said she was feeling unwell just after her honeymoon? I know how you feel about staying in front of the fire and watching TV on bad weather days, that's what we've done today, although I did fall asleep this afternoon, it's my own fault I was tired after having a very late night last night, followed by a very early morning this morning, so I didn't get much sleep.

Pleased to see you had a better nights sleep Ann, pity you missed breakfast again, maybe tomorrow you can go out for it. Yes, the builders were back again today putting up more fascia boards, they are very slow though so I think they may be back again tomorrow, unless they are leaving around the back for now. I can't see the new people moving in, in February though, not unless the builders pull out all the stops and really get going on the place. The inside is still a bare shell.

OH spoke with the new neighbour yesterday and the neighbour said he was expecting some work to have been done on the inside while he was away on holiday, but that didn't happen. I wonder what he said to the boss when he rang him yesterday, he said he was going to mention all the breakages that's happened to our place to, not that it'll do any good I shouldn't think.

No Sandra hasn't started her pictures yet, she started reading the Secret Seven books we bought her for Christmas, there are 10 books in total and she's just finished book one. I'm sure she'll do them at some point though. She had so much for Christmas this year, so had a lot to choose from. She did make us a lovely Anniversary card with the card making things we bought her, she's getting really good at card making now. I looked at one of her first cards she made that I kept and you can really tell the difference between that one and the one she made the other day. She loves making cards, so we went all out and bought her so much card making things and lots of sticker which are her favourite. She's in her element now....bless her <3

I did laugh when you said parrots are talking to Alexa now and getting music played, very funny lol

I loved the Secret life of 4 years old's to. Yes Arthur loved Bobby the Robot didn't he, I think he would of liked to have taken Bobby home with him. He saw him as his friend, rather than a toy. Isn't he the one who's mum said she thinks he'll be an inventor when he's older? I was also shocked at the lack of interaction between the girls when they were given the ipads. I really don't think children should have them all the time if it's going to effect the way they interact with other children, their social skills are going to be almost zero.

Good evening all

Wet, dull and windy here to, I much prefer it to be cold.

Hope Frank isn't suffering too much at the moment and the pain killers are helping

Those wands look very pretty Mel, were they fiddly to make?

Good that you slept better last night Ann a good nights sleep can make such a difference to how you feel the next day.

That was sad that Ruth your old school teacher past away before she reached her 100th birthday.Jane. So it was good that you managed to speak to her not long before she passed away .You must be keeping Kleenex in business at the moment.
,
Reading about the early deaths of BIL's reminded me of Ronald, Peter's youngest brother who died at the age of 28 , he left 3 children one not yet born, he died on 28th Feb.Peter's birthday and April was born on 31st March her name was chosen by Ronald because she was due in April, I don't know what name he had chosen if it had been a boy. Ronald was also a friend of Colin's as they were in the same class at Hastings Grammar school.

Amanda managed to get blood out of me on first attempt, she said I had lost 4 kilo in weight since last year, something I didn't want to hear. I have to make an appointment to see the Diabetic Doctor next Friday and pick up a report of the tests.

I'm watching the channel 5 programme on Anne Boleyn it's on for 2 hours, this is my favourite period of History

Morning all

Another very windy day here. I can't believe none of my pots have fallen over, we must of blocked them all in now. Every time one falls over we put rocks around them, so I think they must all be secure now given how windy it is out there. OH has just tightened the screws again that is holding the end of the wooden frame the screening is on, it's in a corner and gets blown back and forth quite a bit so sometimes the screws become loose and need tightening. No workmen next door yet. I think the roof is being done next so I doubt they'll be able to make a start until the wind dies down. Not sure if anymore fascia boards are going up, they've finished in the front and around the side so only the back to do on the extension.

Hope all goes well with the Diabetic doctor next Friday Anne. Is the weight loss to do with your diabetes? Sorry to hear about Ronald, 28 was a very young age.

Hope Frank is managing to get some sleep and the painkillers are working for him. It'll be nice to see him back on here when he feels up to it.
Thinking of you Frank and wishing you a speedy recovery <3 <3

OH is watching match of the day and was watching his team Arsenal playing West Ham. West Ham won 1-0 OH said Frank would be pleased, as he supports that team. Hopefully West Ham winning we'll have cheered Frank up a bit. :-) :-)

Morning Gill and all,

Not windy here and we did have a bit of sun earlier on but now its clouded over and looks like we might get a bit of fine rain. I hope not but we will see.

Yes good that West Ham won and I am sure Frank will be pleased at least thats something to cheer him up while he mends. It would be lovely to here from him to know how he is progressing. Each day must get better you would think but I know ribs take a long while to heal. Sending love. <3 <3 <3

You're lucky having calm weather Mel, hope the fine rain keeps away. Have you decided on whether you're having the two other chickens yet? Are you making more wands today?

I think I might take another look at my family tree. Thankfully everything is done in the garden. With all this wind I wouldn't of been able to do anything today. It's not very warm out there either, so I'm staying in doors where it's warm.

Afternoon All,

No wind here ......yet either, just horrid, soak you to the skin drizzle and gloom!

How sad about Ronald Anne. Was his death unexpected? I was trying to imagine his wife being left with two children and another on the way. It must have been a very upsetting and difficult time for the family. That must have been a bit of a surprise to find you had lost that much weight without trying to. Maybe it was a lack of appetite recovering from one of these bugs that caused it. I must see if OH has recorded the Anne Boleyn prog as he loves historical things like that. He was saying today that there is a new Lucy Worsely programme starting soon and she does historical things plus the dressing up for them.

I must get back to doing some of my tree too Gill. Once you find one bit of info it leads to more doesn't it! I need to update more of OH's family on his mother's side too. It's good your plants aren't blowing over in the wind now.

We had the nice lamb for lunch today and a quick whip round the factory shop after but didn't get anything. I probably will do next week as I have a £5 off £20 spend voucher that runs out soon after. I can always get some dishwasher cleaner and socks and other household stuff if there isn't anything else I fancy!

I expect Jane will be hearing more details about the honeymoon. It's got me thinking about mine which was four days in my then MIL's caravan at Ingomells! It had stretched us to the limit to buy and part furnish the bungalow we bought so we had no money for a honeymoon and dad wanted me back by Thursday anyway to do the bank run at work!

A bit more sorting next I think........OH has taken a pile of his paperwork in the lounge to sort through. :-)

Ann you were lucky to get 4 days honeymoon I did'nt get any. We lived with mum and dad until dad had finished our flat. They bought a house and dad divided it into two flats and I had the bottom one with the garden. At present I still own the land the two flats stand on.

Winds got up a bit here but its still dry and gloomy as Ann put it.

I shall make sausage rolls this afternoon so I can have a couple for tea tonight and I shall make some salad to go with them. A Waldof I think.

We had a weeks honeymoon in Torquay.

Ann you asked about Ronald he was suffering from bowel cancer and met his wife Marilyn when she was nursing , he would have had a better chance of surviving now. He died in The Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading which I found upsetting when Peter spent some time there before being moved to a nursing home in Windsor where he died.

I did roast beef today for Richard, Paul, Abbie and Connor and a lamb shank for Becky I just had the vegetables.

My youngest SIL Diane had a bad experience while walking Angus her little Scots terrier, it was on a local walk she has taken him since he was a puppy, when out of the blue two Staffordshire bull terrier's started to attack him the owner wearing a hoody started to shout at her telling her to pick her dog up as if it was her fault, fortunately Angus was more shaken up than injured as he has a very thick winter coat and she had him on a lead since he picked up poison there a way back.
When she got home she reported him to the police. Now she is afraid to go up there again.

The Anne Boleyn programme was interesting, we will never know if she was guilty of all she was accused of although I very much doubt it. I think I mentioned before, that Margaret Boleyn is in Peter's direct line she was Anne's Aunt.

I spoke to soon Ann, one of our larger plants rocked a bit so we dashed outside to sort it out, luckily the wind has died down a bit now so the plant is still standing. It was the one at the back of the new water fall. The top of the water feature just slots into the main bit and until I went and sorted the plant out I didn't realise it had knocked the top of the water feature, luckily it didn't break it just knocked it out a bit so that had to be put back in place. The wind was very strong and even the post we concreted the other week started wobbling again, but thankfully didn't fall down. It's been quite some time since we've had such high wind around here, I hope it doesn't happen again. OH had to go out in the front and take some mortar out of the guttering as it had broke away from around the chimney, it's all been a bit scary around here today. Then when the wind died down we had a massive downpour of rain, it looked like we were sitting in a car wash at one point as you couldn't see through the living room window. I'm just glad we didn't have to go out today.

I was saying to OH I need to do some more sorting, it's been a while since I did it last and things are starting to pile up again. How did you get on with your sorting today? I see you had the lamb again. Good idea to buy household things if there's nothing else you fancy with your voucher, it saves wasting it.

I have some sausage rolls still in the freezer Mel, along with some little quiches and some sticky chicken on sticks. I bought more than I needed for Christmas so they're still there waiting for me to cook them. Unfortunately I've had a bit of a sore tummy today so I won't be cooking them until my tum is better otherwise OH and Sandra will eat it all and I'll end up with nothing. I bet your OH has eaten quite a lot of the sausage rolls you made today. ;-)

Dancing on Ice has just started so I'll go and watch it, I like that programme.