General Chat

M orning all,

Well after two dry days we are now back to rain, westerly wind and dull skies. It made such a change yesterday having a nice dry day and now back to this miserable dark stuff.

You can tell I'm p***ed off can't you. Having to turn the lights on suring the day and just cleaned out the girls so they are nice and dry and now this.................

Wrote this and forgot to post it!

By the way I could'nt find my micro monkey last night to put on my knees. I found it this mroning un a pile of felt in the dogs bowl I won at the dog show!!!! I had to use my new pink bunny instead last night.

Your right Anng. They tyding lasted about 10 minuets then I started back on the craft and got more things out. I shall be putting them away again though as I always know where to find my two wire brushes.

The right arm on my glasses is worryig me tonight. I thinkits a bit tight and making the top of my ear itch so I have to keep moving it about.

Vera do you think you may need some lemon juice in that jelly?? Hope you have a good sleep tonight.

All my nails seem to be breaking and I can't pick things up if I hav'nt got long nails. They keep going right where they join the pink bit on the side so its hard to cut them off without leaving a bit that catches on things and I hate that. They also catch when I wash or comb my hair. Annoying to say the least........... :-|

So you did your lariat at beading today Ann. How much did you manage today? How were the cats?

Off for my shower now and watch a bit of the Chateau program before bed. See you all in the morning and sweet dreams............

Good evening all

It's really getting wintry now., I didn't sleep very much last night and at one point I was so cold that I threw my thick dressing gown on the bed on top of the cellular blanket I had already put over the duvet. I'll be changing to a higher tog duvet this weekend.

We had thought of going to Anglesey Abbey today but it was so frosty and cold and wet that we thought better of it. You wonder how much more rain there can be up there, I feel so sorry for those people who are coping with flood water.

We are promised a heavy frost overnight. I had got cuttings and most of the tender plants into our mini plastic greenhouse or the conservatory but I have 6 or 7 large pots of agapanthus that I cover with fleece in the winter. I've been using the same pieces for 2 or 3 years and they were getting very torn and tatty so in the spring I threw them out. OH assured me we still had plenty on a roll in the garage. Tonight we got it out and you've guessed it....just about enough left on the roll to go over one pot. So my agapanthus are now covered in some very pretty blue and white patterned sheets ;-) Tomorrow we will be going to buy a roll of fleece.

I have just heard that Dobbies have taken over the Wyevale garden centre at Bury St Edmunds so we'll probably go there. It's the only Dobbies I know of anywhere near us so it will be interesting to see what it is like.

My house smells of wild strawberry at the moment. I've got a Chilean Guava bush (well two but the other one is younger and hasn't fruited yet) and yesterday OH picked this year's crop and got a large bowlful. They are delicious to eat raw but a bit of a pain as they are about blackcurrant/blueberry size with a very stiff small calyx to either take off and keep removing from your mouth. Because of this I thought I would try and make some guava jelly. I've cooked the fruit and at the moment it is straining through muslin. Tomorrow I'll add a bit of sugar and boil it up till it sets like jam. At least that's the theory but I've never done it before so I don't know what it will turn out like.

Ann G, I hope your cold improves quickly but I think you have sent it over the airwaves to me. I've been sneezing on and off all afternoon.

I wonder what your thudding noise is Ann. It's certainly strange. I hope you got on OK at the opticians. Our dentists also have a surgery downstairs and a couple upstairs. Luckily our particular lady dentist occupies the downstairs one so no problem for us. They certainly wouldn't be able to put in a lift as it's a listed building and is narrow corridors and lots of small rooms.

I had a smile at you buying your son Doom Bar, Mandy. It's sold in a lot of pubs round here and when I go out for a meal with "the girls" I sometimes ask for a bitter shandy. The barman usually asks what bitter I want so I will pretend to be thinking and then I'll say "I think I'll have Doom Bar please". They think I am knowledgeable about beer and are quite respectful but I only know it because I have heard OH ask for it.

What a shame the Christmas event at the garden centre wasn't as good as you expected Gill. I hope Sandra wasn't too disappointed.

Frank, I don't think I would have had sprouts and cabbage in the same meal. I am on a surveillance programme for bowel problems and have a diet sheet. On it they have put all greens, but particularly sprouts and cabbage, as foods that can cause irritation. Anyway I hope you and Ros are over your gippy tums now. I am pleased your eye seems a bit better today but you still mustn't strain it. Keep resting it until the hospital sort you out next week. You'll miss Biggles when he is gone, though I don't suppose you will miss having to clean up after him. Good job you could deal with the mark right away.

A special (((((hug))))) for Jane <3 <3 <3

Well I had better get our dinner in the oven if we are going to eat anytime soon. Have a good night's sleep everyone. See you tomorrow.

Yes, OH is affected by sprouts as I know to my cost! lol :-S

What a job cleaning that off the carpet Frank! I think I prefer my operating the plunger down the toilet!! I bet you were watching him like a hawk after that till he was collected. No doubt he will be getting a trip to the vet to clean his anal glands.

Mandy it is a real puzzle as the noise we hear sounds to me like something heavy, like a man jumping off the fence onto the slabs with a dull slight rattle after which could be the fence moving a little in the post slots. The little dog can't get down that side of the bungalow as the garage next door is within 2 feet of our fence and they have fenced it off anyway, front and back so nothing can get down the side. I suppose it might be a fox, especially if it has a heavy breakfast rabbit it is carrying? I wish we had CCTV now!! Your dentist's stairs sound much like our dentist's. The surgery used to be a house and the worst bit of the stairs is where they turn at the top so the steps are very narrow on the inside of the curve. As with yours, the steps are so narrow I have to put my feet sideways coming down!

My eye test surprisingly showed that I have 20/20 vision! It is the cataracts giving me problems with clarity which is worse with close work. They are not bad enough to refer me for surgery yet, but I need a new reading adjustment which will help with close work, and a 'drive safe' coating which will reduce glare, particularly from headlights at night and the sun bouncing off glass windows of other cars. I was told that overhead lighting for doing craftwork or reading, however good, will not be as good as a lamp that is over what I am doing and below my eyes, as the light won't be reflecting off the cataracts to cause so much problem then. She said I would be referred well before my eyes would affect driving, which I was pleased to hear. So now the agony of finding frames I like that are comfy and MORE EXPENSE as Frank would say!!

I bet the 'girls' like their nice clean shed and nests Mel......even if it doesn't last too long. Did you get any craft work done? I started the other side of my lariat this morning with different beads and I think it looks better and smoother so will carry on with those now.

Afternoon all,

Funny old weather here today ,pouring one minute and the next the suns out ,very chilly though .

Oh Gill what a shame the night out was a bit of a let down and Sandra was so looking forward to it too , did you check to see if they have any other christmas events there perhaps there will be another one nearer christmas that will be a bit more christmasy .

Oh naughty Biggles it does sound like his glands need clearing out ,i know it's not very nice but it can smell quite a bit ,quite a fishy smell.
Keep that appointment Frank even if your eye is a bit clearer it must need doing or they wouldn't be doing it and you don't want it happening again at Christmas .
Hope both your tummies are better now i should think it was having the sprouts and cabbage together ,it can make quite a windy mix having them together .

Ann we use to have to get up some very steep stairs at our dentists but now it's much better as the dentist we see now has a bottom room ,i was quite out of puff by the time i got to the top and each tread was very small and you could easily catch your heel on the treads on the way down too.
I wonder what the thudding noise is ,very strange and once your awake you keep listening and it takes a while to get off to sleep again .
You don't think they let the little dog out next door for a wee or poo in the night and he's knocking against the fence ? i know some times when Max has been he kicks out his back feet .

You asked what we got son for his birthday , we gave him money so he can get what he wants with it but we did get him some Doom Bar ale as he had some one day when we went out to lunch and he liked it and i spotted it in Tesco's so get him some .

AnnG i hope your cold is not a lingering one ,it does sound as if it's coming out so hopefully it will be on it's way out soon .
I think if your weather is like ours it is a day for staying in and pottering .

Mel you mustn't get side tracked when your clearing up , it's easy to get side tracked and spot some thing that needs doing and then you lay some thing down that you have in you hands and forget where you've put it .

All those poor people flooded out in Yorkshire ,i doubt some of them will be back in their homes for christmas .

Love and hugs to Jane if your looking in ,hope your not in to much discomfort <3

Annx well I am hoping it coming out quickly will send it on its way equally quickly. wouldn't be so bad if the sneezing phase would go away, such violent sneezes too.

We have two garden centres that have displays of the Lemax village scenes. One is Dobbies but the best one is a Blue Diamond up at Evesham. Not sure if the Blue Diamond near to us has a display. sometime they just sell the cottages but don't demonstrate them. I have 7 of the cottages myself and always make a display in the lounge, but I can't really do it as I would like as they take up quite a bit of space. I usually do it around 1st December so I get plenty of time to look at them.

Mel, how is the tidying away going or are you getting as much out as you are putting away? :-D

Good luck with the eye test Ann.

Its good your eye is a bit better today Frank but still keep that appointment for wednesday as they will clean it all out and you should be back to normal in no time. Its so hard when you have something wrong with your eyes. Naughty Biggles wiping his botty on the carpet. Not something you want to have to clean up is it? I should think he needs his glands cleaned out if he is doing that. It could well have been the sprouts and cabbage that upset both your tums.

O what a shame Sandra's night out was not what you expected Gill. Still she has a nice lot of presents to look forward to at Christmas which I am sure will make up for it.
There are quite a few farms that put on carol concerts near Christmastime so you should look on the net to see if there is any in your area. Is that the only garden center near you?

I cleaned the chickens out this morning so they are all nice and dry inside now but for how long??????

Right I am now going to put a few more things away and get on with some more crafts.

Afternoon All,

It was chilly this morning after raining for ages last night. We were both woken up at 3.30am by that same thudding we heard before at the side of the bungalow a few weeks ago. It happened 2 or 3 times and we put lights on and looked through windows but couldn't see anything. It sounded quite heavy so we don't think it was cats and I think a fox wouldn't be so loud jumping off the side fence so it is still a mystery?? :-S

What a shame the night was a bit of a disappointment Gill. We have said that the displays at several of our garden centres haven't been as good this year. We thought they were just cutting back. Very few decorated trees and some haven't had the little villages they usually do.

Sorry to hear your cold is still with you AnnG, but I find sometimes a cold coming out means it will clear up more quickly. Staying in pottering about sounds like a good idea for today. They say plenty of fluids helps clear it from your system too. Our dentist has downstairs surgeries for some of the dentists and I expect they would see me downstairs if I asked. If I can't manage I will ask to be seen downstairs another time like you say, but I hate the thought of being a nuisance which I know is silly!

Sorry to hear you have iffy tummies Frank and it does sound like something you may have eaten. I'm lucky in that veg doesn't affect me really as from being a child mum and dad grew lots! For many years now I have had just turkey usually with a plateful of veg at carveries we go to, no trimmings and no potatoes of any kind and it helps me cut calories. One thing I have to watch how much I have is Rhubarb!!!! I hope your tummies soon feel better and it's good your eye is a bit better today.

Off to the opticians for an eye test now!

Mel, make a note of where you put anything that you are likely to need.

Frank I think if I ate sprouts and cabbage in the same meal my tum would be a bit off the next day too. did you put anything unusual in the gravy? I thought I might have had a problem today as I did lamb steaks in the slow cooker with quite a lot of garlic, chestnut mushrooms, tinned tomatoes, butterbeans and a red wine gravy with crushed new potatoes, skin on. But I have had no problem at all (other than the cold!)

Gill how disappointing, is it an independent garden centre or a chain? Wonder if it is under new management and cost saving. You will have to find somewhere else to take Sandra now as a consolation.

Annx Our dentist's surgery is on the ground floor there are two downstairs and two up. they say if you can't manage the stairs they will treat you downstairs. I did have to go up once many years ago when they had a hygenist (they don't any more) and the stairs are really steep,

Morning all

Bright and sunny here, I can't believe I've only just woken up, I must of needed the sleep as it's very unusual for me to sleep in this long.

Well last night was a bit of a disappointment, there was hardly anything there and what was there they had last year. The people they had in to sing weren't up to much and sang lots of old songs which OH and I liked but poor Sandra didn't know the songs. She was hoping they would of sang some Christmas Carols with it being a Christmas event but they didn't and they only sang for about half an hour, so once we'd seen everything we came home earlier than we normally do. The weather was awful and rained not stop, you could hear it on the roof inside the garden centre. Sandra managed to take a few pictures on her camera but there wasn't much she hadn't seen before, so she didn't take many. We were home in time for her to watch a few of her programmes and only needed to watch Emmerdale of the planner that had been recorded.

I managed to do some more of OH's tree which was good as Ancestry had their records open for free. They said it was only the war records but for a while they had them all open, I think it was a mistake on their part as they stopped showing them after a few hours. Luckily I managed to do quite a bit of OH's tree while they had them all open so that was good, the only one I couldn't get before they shut them happened to be on the tree I've got access to, so all in all I got everything I needed in the end.

Good luck sorting out your craft stuff Mel, I hope you don't lose anything though.

So Biggles is in your bad books Frank, good job you spotted it straight away and managed to clean it up. I'm sure he didn't mean any harm, at least he has a clean bum now lol :-D Good news on the eye front, but I'd still go to your appointment on Wednesday.

OH dear Ann, it sounds like you had quite a struggle getting up the stairs at the dentist, you'd think they'd have a lift put in wouldn't you? How are you feeling today?

Sorry to hear you're not well AnnG, wrap up warm and drink plenty. The Sudafed seems to be working, good idea to keep taking them. I think it's that time of year where there's lots of coughs and colds around. Ann has the right idea trying to keep away from anyone who's ill, but it doesn't always work. I hope you feel better soon, sending you a gentle hug <3

Thinking of our Jane, sending a gentle hug to you to <3 <3 <3

Good morning Mel and AnninG and to all the others of course.

We both have "DICKY TUMMIES" this morning. We had lamb steaks, with peas carrots, brussels and cabbage, with roasties last night. So it must have been something in that. :-( :-( :-( :-(

Biggles has blotted his copy book. He has rubbed his bum along the carpet and left a "SKID MARK" I have scrubbed the area and used the carpet cleaner. All looking good now. I have given his bum a good wash as well. ;-) ;-) ;-)

How's our Jane this morning, ?? I hope she had a reasonable nights sleep. Our thoughts are will you, xxx

I have no Idea when Biggles will go home, we haven't heard from them, so I expect they will just turn up. As we haven't been out to eat this week. When Alan and Ann collect Biggles, we will pop out for a bite to eat, so no cooking for me tonight.

Eye seems a little better this morning, even though it's still a bit blurred. So I am wondering if it will clear itself.

Damp, mizzerly morning here, I hope it's better where you all are. See you later. xxx

O meant to say the suns out here now.

Another day nearer the end of the cold though Anng.
Keep taking the meds.....

I am going to have a tidy up too of my craft stuff so watch this space when I say I can't find something!! Its always the same when I put things away.

Good morning. I slept well but the cold is still with me, sneezing for England eyes watering, tickly cough. Another day indoors I think. Have put a load of washing in and tidied round a bit but not feeling like doing much else. Before bed I took just one Sudafed tablet I think that helped me sleep. I shall take another one later on and another tonight.

Morning all,

How is everyone this morning? Did you all sleep ok?

Its dry here at the moment but there are clouds in the sky and bright spells now and again but mostly dull.

Not long to wait now till Wednesday when you get your eye seen to Frank then you can get back to your reading.

Thinking of Jane and sending love and hugs. <3 <3 <3

Nighty night Frank hope to see you in the morning and that you get a good nights sleep.

Just popped in to say goodnight to you all. Ros is at CHOIR and I am ready for bed.

Biggles has just been out, so Ros will let him out before she goes to bed.

See you in the morning. GOD BLESS ALL.

Gill you should have seen me negotiating the stairs at the dentist this morning. I must have looked about 100 hanging onto a handrail each side to haul me up! I hope you all enjoy your evening. :-D

Good to hear from you Frank.......not long till next Wednesday now.

AnnG, as I said, it was only a temporary filling this morning and that he has another appointment to get it filled properly. I have had temporary fillings before when I've broken pieces off a tooth and have never had an injection for those. They seem to just cover the broken off bit with a white substance so it isn't sensitive to hot or cold. The injections and drilling will come with his next appointment to fill it properly. He was fitted in as an emergency today so no time to do it properly.

I went to the doctor a couple of years ago after a month and then 6 weeks after having a sore throat and no voice and feeling quite ill with it. They then wanted to send me to ear, nose and throat at the hospital, even though I'd explained I get bacterial infections on top of a virus infection and that a previous partner in the practice had told me to come and get antibiotics as soon as I knew it was not going to clear up. It was only when I said was there really no alternative than hospital that she reluctantly said I could try antibiotics. Of course after 2 days antibiotics my voice was coming back and I felt 100% better! Now it worries me to death if I get a sore throat as I know sometimes I will be ill for weeks and know I will have a battle with the doctor. It means I avoid anyone with a cold or cough. In restaurants if someone comes and sits at a table near us with a cold or cough, I get up and move to sit somewhere else. If I'm in a queue at a checkout and I notice the person on the till sniffling, or someone with a cold joins the queue behind me, I will leave the queue to go to another till to queue even if it's a much longer queue.

Mel I think snowmen would be quicker to make and less fiddly as you say. A friend is doing a stall at a garden centre fair soon and has been making snowmen too.

Well I didn't get all the wool I wanted and it seems dark green isn't popular or is popular and has sold out! There's no rush and I know another local shop I can try. Beading again tomorrow so I shall see whether I carry on with the lariat. Whoever said that they get bored in retirement........it's all go isn't it!!

Threw myself on the bed after lunch and fell asleep. Woke up at 420pm.