General Chat

Morning all,

It was very foggy this morning but the suns peeping through so it might be a nice day , I want to get the lights on the tree outside and put the lights on my big rose bush along the fence ,should be wrt for the next few days so i need to get them on today .

Oh Mel it must be lovely to see the deer in the garden ,son was saying they have a Munkjac in the school grounds he settles in the trees behind the school bus they have as a library reading bus , my friend that died a few years ago lived right by the school playing field and she had a lot of Munkjac in the garden and has seen them jump her fence into the school field ,the fence was really high ,must have been at least six foot .

Morning everyone,

Very frosty here but the suns coming out now and there's blue sky wall to wall and no wind. Came in the kitchen this morning and turned on the heating and looked out the window to see 4 deer in the garden up the border. Just had my pill amd a mice coffee and I have to get myself into gear to go and pick some stuff for a ring and posies.

Slept well and up just the once in the night. Hope you others did as I see Anng did.

good morning all. Slept well but couldn't lie there after 0700 as leg was sore and I needed to get moving. 0 degrees out there,Some of the roofs look like there was a light frost but dry.

All being well hopefully going with friend and daughter to a garden centre for coffee. Got to wash my hair first so that is the first exercise for the day.

The vaseline I am Using (petroleum jelly) is in a tiny tube given by the hospital and told to only use this one and not to use it on anything else. But thank you for the warning.

Watching Master chef so will reply to the rest tomorrow.

OH has done it again. He keeps popping in for a chat before I can finish a post and by the time I post it I've missed some later posts.

Vera that was very nice of you to include the lady and have her sit on your table. I've found with some groups I've joined that some don't mix much with others and stick with a particular friend they've come with. More will join if everyone is welcoming. It sounds like you have a good spread of food to enjoy and it must have been funny hearing them sing that song! :-D

Mandy, good idea to raise the tree up like that. It might mean less bending to fix the lights which is good too. What a shame about Carol. She sounded like a lovely, friendly lady as well.

Evening All,

Please ladies that use Vaseline check the following. ' While Vaseline is marketed as a high-quality product, it is essential to check for labeling that states "100% pure" and "100% contaminant-free" to ensure safety.' My gynaecologist told me about 8 years ago to never use it which shocked me at the time. Some contaminants that may be in it from the crude oil it comes from when manufacturing petrol are known to cause cancer. Look it up as it can cause other problems like breathing/lung probems if used round the nostrils which I used to do, can trap in bacteria etc. I've used coconut oil since that is antibacterial, anti inflammatory and anti fungal.

Well I met up with a friend this morning and we were chatting for hours so had lunch as well. She was telling me about the brother of a close friend who had slipped on some shower gel and fell in the shower recently, resulting in him being in intensive care on life support. The hospital had to tell him the dreadful news that he would quadriplegic. He told them to switch off his life support which they did. What a sad and awful decision for him to have to make and so sad for his family too all caused by some spilt shower gel.

It was really busy there by the time we left with people in a queue waiting for a table to be free and I decided to have a look at The Works, then in EM and a wander around the Christmas decorations before popping to the shop and home. OH had filled his car then gone for a walk along Whistle way, which was an old mineral line years ago going from the quarry to the station.

It will be nice to have a new toaster Mel. I know I forget just how long we've had some things. It will be good if you can sell your OH's pc and mouse and get a reasonable price. I take it BIL managed to fix yours so it's ok as well when he came.

It was handy being able to get the red bulbs AnnG.I can remember when we had a fire with them struggling to find a replacement bulb. Good you got two as well. Those kinds of handy little shops are few and far between now, but they stock so many different things that the big shops don't.

It's good you got the advent ring done in time Gwyn and handy you were given some greenery for it too plus some help under your instruction!

Better get off to bed now. I want to watch Kirstie, but OH wants to watch it with me so I'll find something else.

Evening all,

I thought I had posted earlier this morning but I had just started when son arrived to do the outside tree , it's in the stand and as it's not as tall as we usually have we have stood the tree in its stand in one of my big pots that has a Hosta in , it's lifted it up nicely and won't hurt the plant as its now died down.
Son stood the old dishwasher outside so I could give the floor and wall a good wash ready for the new one ,he said he'll take the old one to the tip when he comes to connect the new one .
I then went to Tesco with him to get a few bits .

Ann hope you enjoyed your meet up for lunch with your beading friend .

Anng we used to have a hardware shop in town that was like an aladdins cave , you could get anything in there even one screw if you wanted ,stuff hung from the ceiling and I don't know how they knew where everything was ,sadly the chap retired and the shop closed but a chap bought some of l the stock and opened another shop in the middle of town but it just wasn't the same and that's now closed .

Mel thats good the chap is interested in the gaming screen and mouse , its just knowing what price to ask , does BIL know what they sell for .

Gwyn I watched the one show with the ships coming in , did you hear the little one say ,he didn't want anything for Christmas, just happy to have his dad home bless him.

Vera hope your OH has had a better day today after his off day yesterday ,I think we all have days like that.
Hope you've had a nice Ladies club Christmas tea today ,did you have something nice to eat .

I meant to say when we were outside doing the tree a neighbour stopped by to tell us that Carol the little lady that I knitted the gloves for and gave a lot of my tomatoes to had passed away she had bread cancer and had been in hospital she then came home and had a fall so had to go back in ,her daughter said she was going into a nursing home but sadly she didn't make it there , she was such a friendly soul and loved waving to everyone and said it made her day to see people wave back she would even wave to son as he was just going in to work as she had her daily walk by the school .

Evening everyone

Considering we are in to December now it has been a glorious day, sunny and bright and not too cold although there has been a bit of a chilly breeze. I hope it’s been pleasant weather where you are and Gwyn was able to get out for a walk.

I hope you like your new toaster when you get it Mel. We only have a 2 slice one but even with 2 of us here we seldom want any more. If we have visitors I stick a few slices under the grill.

You sound as though you had a good trip into town AnnG and got some more bits and bobs. Those little independent diy or ironmongers shops are a boon. We don’t have any round here anymore. I agree with you that people have suddenly realized it’s Christmas and they need to get shopping. We went into town this morning and the car park was pretty full and not all drivers were being very careful. I was just walking past the disabled parking and a chap started reversing straight out without even looking. OH shouted and banged on his rear window and he managed to stop with the car bonnet just touching my thigh. It wasn’t hard enough to bruise me even but I could feel the car against me. If OH hadn’t managed to stop the driver and I couldn’t get out of his way quickly enough there might have been a nasty accident.

I took the last of one of my pills this morning and as the pack only had 28 in and our docs only issue enough for 28 days at a time I had to hope that the pharmacy had got them ready. Luckily they had and that particular pill was in one bag, the others all in another bag and both bags contained an identical script. Goodness knows why. I can never understand the system now. It used to flow very smoothly but then some administrator who thought he’d better earn his salary decided to fix it, even though it wasn’t broken. It’s not worked well since. I also got some Christmas crackers and a couple of birthday cards in Roys and we came home. This afternoon OH tells me that we need more compost which we get from Roys so why couldn’t he have mentioned it this morning? Men!

When we got back I had a shower and did a better job of washing my hair although I am still having to avoid getting water in my eye. Then I had a quick slice of bread spread with some pate before going out at 1.15 to the Ladies Club Christmas event. Usually everyone takes a bit of food and we have a Secret Santa and maybe a party game or a bit of music. This year it was a bit different. Mulled wine as we arrived and then we had a couple of fellows to entertain us with music of the 50s and 60s. They both looked around 70 themselves but they were very good and sang for an hour. Ladies were joining in and getting up and dancing around. I had to laugh – at one point the men and several of the ladies were singing “Why must I be a teenager in love” and I doubt if any were under 70.

Then we had the buffet. We didn’t take any food this year as Club funds allowed for it to all be bought in and it was quite a spread. Waitrose provided all the sandwiches and platters of fruit, all the little cakes came from Iceland and there were mini pork pies, cocktail sausages, crisps, mince pies etc which I believe were bought at Tesco. We helped ourselves to tea or coffee.

Then the Secret Santa gifts were distributed. I got Badedas bath gel which was nice but you pour it under running water when you are going to have a bath and you get lots of bubbles. Unfortunately I don’t use the bath these days so my daughter will probably get that. My friend M also gave me her gift for my daughter as it was a box with 3 mini bottles of pink gin. Friends don’t drink gin so that is going daughter’s way as well.

At the last club meeting there was a lady sitting on her own that I hadn’t seen before. I’m sometimes a bit reserved with people I don’t know but she looked so lonely that I went and chatted to her for a while. As we were going into our meeting hall this afternoon she was just in front of me so we said hello. One of the committee members asked me where I was sitting and I pointed out the table where our little “gang” were and she asked if this new lady could sit with us. Of course I said yes and found a spare chair and we all shunted round a bit. I introduced her round the group and we tried to include her in our conversation. When we were leaving she walked up the road with me and thanked me so nicely for letting her sit at our table. There are well over 40 members so we do tend to split into our own little groups but some of them are so “cliquey” and not very welcoming to newcomers so I was pleased she enjoyed sitting with us.

It's my baby boy’s birthday today. He’s 59. I always feel very old on my kids’ birthdays as I realise just how old they are now. I think I’ll go and cheer myself up with a glass of wine while I am getting us something to eat. I’m only going to have soup but I have some cold pork and salad that OH can have to follow his soup.

Craft stuff always keep the kids quiet Anng good stocking fillers.

Had the same driver this week as last dear old Carl. He took a look at oh's gaming screen and the mouse and if I can find a good price he's interested in both.

A parcel arrived and I sorted all that out and put it all away and Iv'e not done much else. I have just corned the chickens and its really cold out there and pc is saying 6 degrees. There's a lovely moon shining tonight and reflecting on the big pond.

Trying to think what to eat tonight now as I did'nt get any meals for one the last few weeks.

Think I'll sit and do my pills forthe week.

I only have a two slice toaster mel, I don't remember the time I ever needed three slices.

It is 11 degrees here now and still dry and some weak sun.

I got all I wanted/needed in town. There is a small DIY type shop in the indoor markey (called aladdins cave) T always used to go there for odd bits he needed and the man who owns it is so helpful. I wanted a replacement red fire light bulb for the next time the current one goes. Nobody else selld them, even B&Q don't now. anyway I bought two. He only takes cash but they were only £1.99 each so no problem.

I also got a few odd bits and pieces and another pair of the pull on trousers 25 length from Bonmarche. Unfortunately they had sold out of the ones like I bought before but managed to get a black pair, And, for the second time I got 10% off.

It was really busy on the bus and in town. As if everyone had suddenly said, 'Oh it is December, we had better get some Christmas stuff'. One man had a huge basket full of childrens craft type stuff and toys, he was just shoving anything he saw into the basket I reckon he was mentally filling a couple of stockings.

I have ordered a new toaster from Asda its a light green one from George and its a bit smaller than the one I have now somore room on the work surface. It should come with my order today. The one up the caravan was only a two slice one.

Gwyn if its mainly evergreen it won't need much water so don't worry about it.

Good morning.
Lovely to see the sun after the wildness of yesterday. The air is calm and it's 9 degress, so hopefully I will be able to get out for a walk in the dry.

It was a good idea to take the paracetamols before bed, Ann, so that you had a better sleep and are therefore more ready for your busy outings and activities.
I hope it stays dry for your visit to town.
Yesterday evening, on The One Show on BBC1, they showed film of the ships coming into Portsmouth Harbour. Quite emotional to see the little children waiting to spot their daddy, then running to greet them <3

Mel
You asked about the Advent wreath.
Yes, it was a bit of a last minute rush to get everything ready to complete it by Saturday ready for the first candle to be lit last Sunday, as I wasn't given the candles until Saturday afternoon.
A lovely lady was picking everygreen to make one for the parish church, so she dropped off a garden bag of it for me to use too. In fact, my 2 girls did most of it, under my instruction, while I was busy doing other jobs round the church. I need to go round and give it some water to keep the oasis moist, so that it lasts and looks fresh.

Morning girls,

A nice bright sunny morning here at the moment and its 7 degrees and sunny blue sky with many whispy white clouds. Pc is saying rain in 2 and a half hours so I better get my skates on and pic some stuff for one wreath and some table decs.

Did two presents up last night just filled Santas pants with beer for a neighbour and his wife has a bottle of port so very easy with no paper or tape involved.

Informed by Temu that I have a £4 credit as my parcel did'nt arrive on time. How they work that I don't know.

Anng Vaseline is a good healer as when my fingers crack open or my lips vaseline is the only thing that seems to work very quickly. I always have some in my handbag.

Good morning all dry so far and 5 degrees. I think the morning is supposed to stay dry som I might just go into town on the bus. there are a couple of things I need. slept very well. did take 2 paracetomols before bed and that seemed to work I had only taken a couple during the day. This week was alreadyscheduled to be busy before I had the appointment. Tomorrow friend and her daughter are taking me to a garden centre, Thursday our ladies U3a group have their Christmas meeting at a local village hall, about 24 of us 'bring a plate'. And Friday it is our small group that go out and about together's Christmas lunch. I am being picked up down the road for the latter two. Hopefully leg will behave.

I think the leg pain will continue until the operation site heals, as it was a scrape not a cut and stitch it is a more open wound and as they said not to cover it, the chance of infection where it is, is more likely than if it was stitched. Havine said that, at least two in the past, both cut and stitched, got infected, no idea how or why just 'luck of the draw' I suppose. that is why vaseline is used now as a barrier.

Ann I have posted one half of my cards now. I usually post beginning of December as a lot of them will have letters in and that gives the recipient a chance to answer in with their cards. I still expect to get more after I come home than before I go as our area was on the list of those whose post is delayed through staff shortages.

Yes it must be very tight getting the larger ships in through the narrow channel deep enough for them. I saw a photo yesterday of the Pilot transferring from a 'tug' to the Prince of Wales outside the harbour. He or she will be skilled at knowinf the correct way through the gap.

Many many years ago one of the older ships (I think it might have been the Vanguard,) was being taken out ot the harbour on route to another country for re-purpose or scrap. She went off to the side somehow and ended up with her bow right up against the buildings on the left hand side of the harbour exit. No damage to buildings I think but well remembered by many and often published on facebook etc.

Yes, it's the LED headlights in newer cars that dazzle so much at night, but I think it's been raised as an issue and they are looking into it as most people find it dangerous. My present car is the first I've ever had where the sun visor drops low enough to block out the sun! Manufacturers don't cater for shorter people. First OH was tall and had trouble with his head touching the roof in some cars though. Oh to be average size so everything fits including clothes!

I just had a google and think I may have solved where the coil shaped light is as it should be just under the centre of the MPH circle that's on the left of the kilometres per hour circle. However, something new to me, the one on your car only lights up when it is cold enough for it to be necessary to wait to start it up, so that is probably why you couldn't see it! Your car does have a lot of switches and lights doesn't it!

You had a good shop up on your trip out and got all sorts didn't you. I wonder whether your factory shop has toasters in case you need one, but you may be ok with the caravan one now.

You got a lot done today Vera and it's good to have extra you can freeze for another meal. I like bubble and squeak. Lots of things do fall to women, even after menfolk have retired from their jobs. OH does write his own cards, including the ones to his few remaining family menbers and those we send to neighbours.

It's really windy now and I think I heard bins go over twice. I hope it's better tomorrow as I'm meeting a beading friend for lunch at a garden centre and to look at their decorations.

What a lot of work you put into all those blankets Mandy I hope they appreciate them the time it took to make them. You're a great nan.

I came home in the dark and it was'nt a pleasent journey. Why are cars light so very bright now and mine arn't?

Annx yes my old car was a deisel and I always looked for the little spirel light to go out and always started it with my foot on the clutch anyway. This car has so very many lights on the dash, doors and everywhere else it can have them I hav'nt notice the spirel if it has one. I do know the car has to be hot wired before you start it.Having to have the seat so far forward makes it hard to get out when you have ducks decease and the seat is a bit high to so I shall have to see if I can lower it a bit. I have ordered one of those things you clip on the sun visor as sometimes the suns so low and me being short it dos'nt work unless I clench my bottom to make me higher.!! does the Magpi go back and eat the bread after he has hidden it?

It good your leg is getting a little easyier now and that the paracetemol help too. Hope you get a good night tonight.

Vera you've done so much today and your oh did'nt even have to get lunch today as you made the soup.Perhaps he was'nt feeling too good today.

Gwyn how you getting on with the Advent ring? I don't like the right candles we did have then two years running but they were bought by the reader. They are very expensive. I just use the dinner candles in either white of cream for our ring.

I went off to Holsworthy this afternoon just about 1.30pm. Got deisel first and then the library to take two books back and then I walked into town. went in the factory shop to see if they had any cotton roll neck tops but they did'nt so bought a pack of 5 twirl and some fry's mint cream bars. Popped in the co-op for some flour but did'nt like thier range as I don't like flour from Asda. Then down to waitrose and got the flur their and some smoked haddock for dinner tonight, treated myself to the uncoloured stuff and I am having that with a jacket potato. Also bought some of the fruit fools, strawberry ones by Bonn Maman and some prawn crackers. Then went down to Mole Valley just down the road from Waitrose and got chicken food and some nice pickle, rowntrees pastils for the boys and a oyster joint of ham which has a date of 1st Jan on it and it will do for Christmas only £3.45 and plenty big enough for me. Also while in Hosworthy I got two more of the 50p pend in the hardware shop and some oasis for the flower arranging. The first thing I did was post the parcel and cards I had to send and but a couple more second class stamps incase I need them forgot to get some cash out while I was in there.

Afternoon All,

Raining, dull and miserable here! OH had a routine Drs appointment so has been to that and has had to make another appointment for this afternoon for a 5 minute chat about something else. Long gone are the days when at the end of a consultation your GP would ask if there was anything else.

Mel, putting the clutch down when you start any car helps it, particularly a diesel, which operates with much higher pressure in the cylinders making the engine harder to turn over and start. Many diesels have a coil shaped light among the dashboard lights and you should always wait till it goes out before trying to start the engine, as it allows the engine to preheat the glow plugs a few seconds which helps it fire and start. I thought your old car was a diesel as well?

Vera I was in total agreement with you about getting out and about while you can and said how I used to be out somewhere a lot of days myself as well, even before OH retired. It only became less once my knees got worse for walking far or climbing steps. My dread is them stopping us oldies driving just because of our age. How do they expect us to get to Drs/hospital appointments etc without our cars especially when you have no relatives to help or they live over 100 miles away or abroad. Many Post Offices have closed and now it is happening with Pharmacies too. I wonder how much longer I will be able to keep up with the constant change in IT and be able to even shop online with the rate tech changes. I don't like driving at night now because of my eyes, especially now there are so few lights on.

I'm glad you didn't have too bad a night's sleep AnnG and that the wound seems to be healing and getting less painful. It was a bit early to send it, but I'm glad my card arrived as I wanted to be sure you got it before you went away. It always amazes me how they manage to manoeuvre those big ships through small spaces. Any mistakes could be so costly couldn't they! I used to enjoy going to see the Tall Ships in the past as well and going on board.

I chucked some broken up, old seeded bread on the patio while we had lunch as I'd spotted one of the Magpies in the garden looking for food. I was in a hurry and didn't want to get wet, so didn't soak it or put it on the birdfeeder. We did have a chuckle as the Magpie soon spotted it and had his beak bristling with bread each side as he crammed his mouth full while checking if anything was watching him. He then scurried across the gravel up the path on his skinny black legs with his head lowered as fast as he could and disappeared under the arbour to apparently hide it, as he soon reappeared and repeated the process twice with two new hiding places!

I bet your christmas tree by the front door looks lovely Mandy. Good idea to unravel the lights and check they work before you are ready to put them up. I'm not sure we will decorate this year as neither of us can get up into the loft to get them down! I might make a wreath for the door though as I have a copper ring I could use and the Holly tree does need a bit of pruning. The berries have nearly all gone, but I think I have red beads that are big enough.;-)