General Chat

Nice long post Gwyn. I wonder if what your daughter does when the TV freezes is to turn the power off to the TV at the plug, leave for a few minutes and turn back on when the TV re-boots itself. If I have to do that it does take a while to come on so you think it is not going to happen so patience is required. I am on Virgin but I think the same thing happens to daughters and she is on Sky.

How efficient of the hospital to notify you af that slight change.
Good to have a week off from medical things. Sometimes it all gets you down, although not getting appointments is more wearing here of course. At least I have a doctors appointment Monday, but did it really have to be at 0845?

I do like Hamza, love him on country file (did like him on Strictly as well) and his new programme is interesting, although for some reason I preferred the first programme to the second. He does love being with his nieces and showing them things.

Nice to see you Gwyn That appointment was quite near your original time you would think they would'nt have bothered. It will be a treat to have a week off of appointments.
I hav'nt watched Hamza but I like him when he's on other programs like Country File etc. I shall have to have a look tonight and catch up.

Its turned out nice this morning and although its on 10 degrees the suns out and the sky is blue and white and the washer is on. Its quite warm when you stand in the sun. I was fishing leaves out of the big pond and Gill turned up with the poppies and I had'nt seen her for ages I don't think she even knew oh had passed. She said she had forgotten how long a walk it was to down the house as her oh had parked up in the village hall carpark.

I was quite surprised to see Annx post so late too. Wish I had known we could have had a chat but I turned the pc off earlier last night.

Better get on as I hav'nt done the shop yet.

Morning everyone.
Mandy, I hope you get helpful advice about your covid jab.
I have never had any strong reaction, but our bodies are very individual, so what suits one person is not neccessarily right for another.

AnnG
You did well to fathom out how to fix your connection problem. Once in a while our TV freezes. I really must learn what daughter does to sort that. I know she unplugs something, so I must learn what and where instead of relying on her.

Annx The delivery people don't give you a chance to get to the door, but what hope if they haven't alerted you. I can understand that they want to be on their way, but the attitude that 'I've delivered it, so it's not my responsibility now' is not good.
So different when daughter used to deliver BT phone books and Yellow Pages years ago, for a bit of extra cash. She wasn't allowed to leave them, where they could be seen from the road, if there was no reply. It took so long and sometimes required a 2nd visit, so hopefully get a reply at the house. :-0

Vera, I hope you have had some success choosing your new cooker. I don't like having to replace big kitchen items, as I know what I want, but can't always find it. I could probably do with a new cooker, but my problem is opposite to yours. I would want to re-vamp the whole kitchen to make better use of space. Do I still need the family-size chest freezer? Should the windows and back door be replaced at the same time, so there is just one upheaval?.... and so it goes on.

Mel,
Great to get so much help from your brother-in-law, especially as he doesn't live that close. The soup sounds good. Daughter lives near a Co-op, I'll ask if she'tried that one.

Is anyone watching Hamza and his Wild Isles programmes on a Sunday evening.?
Wonderful photography and I love his unhidden excitement, when he catches a glimpse of what he has hoped to see.

I've had a week off from 'all things medical' :-0
Another echocardiogram next week, which they rang about recently and said they were sorry, but would need to re book to another time. I will now go half and hour later !
They could have just kept me waiting on the day, so I appreciate them being upfront and saying they were short staffed. That department is pretty good on time, so someone is obviously keeping their lists well organised,
That should conclude hospital tests for a while.

Right, a fine dry day, so perhaps a spell in the back garden to do a bit more trimming. There's nothing in the garden bin and it has to justify the charge ;-)

Mandy you should probably go and ask the advice of whoever is giving it. Has the problem been diagnised as caused by the jab? If so you should tell them. Has it happened every time?

If you have had the flu jab did that affect you at all?

Morning all,

Very overcast here and it was raining when we got up but I think its stopped now.

Ann that was a late posting for you ,we have had parcels delivered and don't hear them come, I did put a new battery in the doorbell outside the other day as I did ask one delivery man if he had rung the bell and he said yes so I tried the bell and it didn't work ,we have one of those doorbells with the other bit inside that rings and you can move it about so it can be taken outside ,never have done that so I don't know how far away it can be away from the outside bit but they both have batteries in so we must remember to test them now and again .

Covid jabs today but I am in two minds whether to have mine as it does make me feel so poorly and takes me a good two or three months to get over it ,the tiredness is horrible and with no energy I just don't know what to do really ,the hairdresser said she doesn't have it either as it makes her ill too .

Good morning all fairly bright here so far and dry. It did rain yesterday evening I could hear it on the conservatory so it must have been heavy.

That soup sounds tasty Mel. BiL is so good to you, I wish I had a relative living that close. Yes I did wonder about lightening but had not had any storm around that evening it could have been a switch over between programmes though. Had never happened before and, as it only affected the mic and that is a new addition since the new VM control I suspect it was to do with that. The most awkward thing really was manually doing the garage door as it is very heavy but it was good to see the untried emergency key worked.

Ann Some garage doors have a remote that if you use it from indoors you can see on the remote that the door is shut or open. But good job that you realised.

Vera glad that the appointment went OK. I was once told at one such appointment that there was nothing they can do about low BP just gave warning about sizziness etc.

Ann gosh that was late for you, hope you finally got to sleep, I sometimes wonder if parcels are damaged.opened if the driver is looking to see what is inside. I do find these days that, now Amazon seem to have gone away from using cardboard boxes, a lot of things in thos card enveloped actially go through the letter box.

Morning girls,

Bit dull here today and it feels cold and pc is telling me rainy days ahead so no change there then. Its 10 degrees but I am still in my pj's.

Annx thats the thing here they can't get away quickly as they usually have to turn round. Don't you get a box to write in on the Amazon site where you could put about the driver or the delivery and state of the parcel etc?

Just the shop to do today and the rest of the days to myself as BIL said he would'nt be coming any more this weekend.

Is it the Yorkshire Provender Roast chicken and Vegetable one in a polythene tub Mel? I know I've mentioned that one on here before as I love it? I don't think I've tried the ones in the cartons yet so they may be worth me trying as well.

I'm still awake so have come on here for a bit and been watching a video someone has made about the Roman Road across the back of the field at the back of us and how it's to be ruined with the warehouses. He belongs to the Archealogical Society I think.

More and more of the drivers here don't seem to ring the bell or knock Mel. I am usually in the study which is small and I sit about 9 feet from the front door so always hear the doorbell if they ring it. I think you are right about this driver. I think he must have tiptoed past the window quietly so he couldn't be heard and be away before he got asked about the damage. The feedback email Amazon sent only asks whether the delivery was good and things like if the parcel was damaged, nothing about how it was delivered or left. You are right that those who do ring the bell often don't wait for you to answer the door and are driving off as quickly as they can by the time you get to the door.

Yes he does live in Barnstaple which Ithi9nk is 25 miles from here. Anyway when he got back he gave me two cartons of the Co-op chicken and veg soup which is very nice. One for lunch and one for another day. I can highly recommend it if anyone has'nt tried it and theres plenty for two if you don't eat it all yourself. I had a buttered crust of my wholemeal bread with mine and was'nt hungry again till 8.30pm.

Glad you sorted your Wifi Anng its surprising what we can do when we have to do these things ourselves. It may have been a flash of lightning that knocked the thing out or a surge in the leccy on a switch over.

I did'nt get on very well today but I did do some admin while BIL was here as I did it on the pc and he watched to make sure I did it right.

These delivery drivers leave your parcels by the door and take a picture of them so they can say they were delivered. Sometimes mine are left and photographed before I can get to the door. Its a nuisance when you're on your own to get caught in the loo or shower or even in the garden and don't hear them come. I bet as the parcel was damaged he did'nt want to get a mouthful from you so rushed off but its a bit much when things can be damaged inside too.

Evening All,

My third attempt to post as I have kept losing them with interruptions to do other things.

Bright and chilly but not windy this morning then quite a lot of rain this afternoon. We called for an egg cob and coffee this morning, then OH went for his walk and got some photos of the packhorse bridge for me about a quarter of a mile away.

A bit difficult with emails winging to and fro, but I finally got the second site visit booked for the bedroom cupboards, paid the deposit and the fitter even phoned me back with an installation date in November so that job should get done by Christmas now. By sending photos of our roof front and back I now have a quote for clearing the gutters and will let the man know tomorrow whether to go ahead. There only seems to be an issue over the front door where some grass has taken root and the chap was concerned whether the mesh we have to stop leaves could be removed. I have no idea whether it is expensive at £147 with today's prices, but with having a pointed roof there is a lot of guttering all around the bungalow and built in garage. It's annoying this getting older business as either one of us could have easily had a look at them ourselves with tall steps with it being a bungalow, but not anymore.

Yesterday when I got home I asked OH to pass me the garage door remote to save me taking my shoes off to go inside as I needed something out of the freezer. Instead of passing it to me he opened the garage door himself, so I went and fetched what I wanted and came inside. That evening when it was dark, OH poked his head out of the front door to see how cold it was and noticed the garage door was wide open! We had 'words' then as I had assumed with him having kept the remote that he would close the garage door as well and he said he'd left the remote where I put my keys for me to do it and didn't I see it? Obviously not! If he'd just passed me the remote like I asked it wouldn't have happened, but we are both paranoid about checking it tonight as someone could have raided a lot in there.

Well done sorting the wi fi issue AnnG. I bet you were chuffed you worked out the problem and solved it. I hope you had a good meeting and what was the subject this time?

Vera I thought the same when Mel said BIL had to go back for what he'd forgotten. I thought he lived at Barnstaple which is a long way away. You have had a busy day getting more done in the garden then your walk to see the clinic pharmacist. I hope they sort a suitable balance with your meds and I'm sure my risk must be high with my father being 58 when he had his first heart attack and me being overweight. I've no idea when my cholesterol was last checked and when I asked about a check recently at reception I was told they only do one if you are having symptoms they are concerned about. So much for preventing things I thought. I hope you get on ok with the Chia seeds.

I hope your washing dried quickly Mandy. I've worn my thick fleece jacket a few times recently too.

My new duvet was delivered at teatime. No ring of the doorbell by the Amazon driver who dumped it next to the door with the box top half open and in full view for anyone to see. It's a good job it wasn't raining and that we had looked outside as we didn't hear him.

Your bil does a bit of going backwards and forwards to you, doesn't he Mel. Does he live fairly close to you? I had a feeling he lives quite a distance away. I hope he got back with the plans and has the grass box sorted out now.

Well done AnnG on sorting out your electrics. I hope you have enjoyed your photography meeting this afternoon.

If it weren't for this cold wind which is still blowing it would be a lovely day. For once we have sunshine and blue skies but it feels sooo cold outside. OH has been working outside most of the day and must be frozen. I've just made him a hot coffee. I managed about an hour out there but, on top of walking to the surgery and back, that was more than enough for me. The temperature is supposed to drop very low tomorrow night so I've brought in my little rescued fuchsia as I don't know how hardy it is. I've put it in the conservatory which is unheated but will protect it from any frost.

I got on OK with the nurse this morning. Apparently the clinical pharmacist was concerned about the fluctuations in my bp so she took it another 3 times. She has to send the results and her comments about the conversation we have had and the pharmacist will decide what to do next. She thinks he may want to increase the dosage of my bp pills but this comes with other problems and risks. While all the blood tests I had were nearly all in the normal range one of them showed I had a more than 30% chance of a heart attack in the next 10 years. At my advanced age I don't think I am going to start worrying about the next 10 years. This particular test is to do with cholesterol but the results can be affected by bp medication. The nurse discussed my whole diet with me and apparently I am doing everything right and the only thing she could suggest was that I have flax seeds or chia seeds on my cereal or yoghurt. This contradicts the diet sheet I have for my bowel problems that says no nuts or seeds. However I did read in the paper recently that new research suggests that advice is unnecessary so I've said I'll try chia seeds for a little while and just have a small teaspoonful at a time. If they seem to upset my innards I'll stop them. The nurse was very helpful and prepared to give me time and discuss things properly with me. I'll now wait to see if I get a phone call at any time from the clinical pharmacist with a change of medication If I don't hear it will mean he is leaving things as they are for the time being.

Now I had better go and sort out our dinner which is oily fish (salmon) with lots of fresh veg, followed by a handful of grapes. How healthy is that ;-)

BIL was here he forgot some plans for fitting the net on the new grass box and has gone back home to get them!!

Morning girls,

Its nice and bright this morning but pc says expect light rain about 3pm and its only 9 degrees so a bit on the chilly side.

I need to do a bit of H/W today and go up the shop to post a little parcel. Not sure if BIL will comem today or not and as you know he never lets me know.

Yes Vera wrap up well when you go to the surgery as Mandy says

Good morning all sunny here but only 7 degrees and that has only just gone up from 5.

My brain is axhausted now! What there is of it. Last night, just before I switched off for bed, the mic on my Virgin TV kept saying that Wfi was disconnected. I couldn't work that out as I don't access Wifi through the TV. (the mic is used to access various parts of the TV -subtitles, recordings etc which canbe accessed manually as well) I couldn't sort it so just switched off and went up to bed.
This morning I got up, went in to my desk top and switched on. No Wifi, checked Ipad and phone ditto.
noticed that the modem light was off so that was confirmation something was amiss.
Crawled under the desk in the front office (Tony's) where there is a huge mass of wires to goodness know what (PCs, Printers etc etc). switched off what I worked out was the modem and switched on again. No miracle happened there so gave up, got dressed and went down for breakfast, Got bread out of freezer, put in microwave, it didn't work, then tried various other things, kettle, toaster, all not working ('sigh). Shoes on went out to garage, pressed to open door, (no surprise here) not working, back indoors, get emergency key and push the rather large heavy door up manually. Check trips, one id down. push it up, go back indoors and all working again, I have no idea why it tripped out last night . Just feel quite proud that I managed to sort it out. But I think I have used 90% of my brain power for today.

Photography this afternoon.

Morning Vera, morning all,

Sunny and bright here too and the wind is quite blustery ,I've just hung some washing out so hopefully with the wind it won't take long to dry .
I've been wearing my fleece jacket to go out and about but with this wind making it feel colder I will have to get my winter coat out .
Vera wrap up well for your walk to the doctors you'll definitely need your gloves and maybe a scarf .
Oh poor Terry he's missing cuddling up to Buster for warmth.

No plans for today just see how the day goes ,since I got up I keep thinking it's Saturday, we alter the clicks tomorrow night .

Good morning

It’s sunny and bright but very cold today and still quite windy. I’ve got an appointment with a nurse at the surgery today for yet another blood pressure review. Not sure why I need another review. It’s at the local surgery so I can walk up there but I’ll be wearing a warm jacket and gloves. Otherwise I have no plans for the day - depends on how much energy I can muster.

nd chips cooked.

Just lost a huge post so I am now giving up.

We had heavy rain and wind right through the night and up to around 1 pm today. The rain eased up then but it was still windy. That seems to be easing up now as well, thank goodness.

Getting a new tap is probably the right decision AnnG. The washer on that should keep you drip free for a long while.

I've got AO on my list of cooker sites to look at Mandy. I don't know anyone who has used them and wondered if they were any good so I'm pleased to hear that you were satisfied with them. You are right about our animals becoming part of the family. Son said that even Terry the tortoise seems to be looking for Buster. Terry lives indoors. He has his own corner with a lamp for him to get under when he feels his blood needs warming up but he was frequently found curled up against Buster.

I hope OH's back is a bit easier now Annx. I had some of those Iris Reticulata in a bowl for years. It stayed in the garden and I would just bring it indoors for a few days when they were in bloom. Mine were just the standard blue. I got rid of them last year as I think they had reached the end of their natural life. The leaves were starting to grow very tall but there were no blooms. Granddaughter is very much enjoying her time in HK. Her fiance is also about to audition for Disney but none of us are holding our breath as they are auditioning around the world and hundreds turn up to each venue to try for just a few positions. Son and dil are going out there at the end of this month to spend 3 days in HK to see F., then going on to Phuket in Thailand for a week's relaxation which they both sorely need. They have a one night stopover in India and you wouldn't believe the form they each had to fill in to get a visa to stay 1 night. I kept getting phone calls from son with questions like "Where was Dad born and where were you born?".

I'm going to stop before I bore you rigid. As you know I can witter on for ever given half a chance. Enjoy your evening and stay warm and dry everyone.

Iv'e got hailstones now just after I got back from corning the chickens.

When Oliver came he looked at the tap and we discussed new washers, then I thought it is about ten years old. After having a new washer how long would the tap last? So I have decides on a new tap which Oliver will do for me in a couple of weeks time.