General Chat

Morning Mel and all,,well it is afternoon now
Rain here Mel and it looks set to stay :-S. Its not too heavy but just persistent .
Knitting needles out I see Mandy :-D. I bet like you say all the girls will want an Elf now LOL
I love it when there is enough leftovers for the next day ,especially a casserole. I often think it is nicer the second time around.
I am doing another small Rack of Lamb as I bought a couple more the other day as there was still 25% off. I also have a Chicken in a bag to cook as James hates Lamb. I have just peeled the spuds and got the Carrots and Parsnips ready.Bit of stuffing to do in a minute .I dont make my own .Good old Paxo is good enough :-D

Frank are you still asleep? :-D. I do hope you had another good kip last night.

I have been looking on line for a special card for H&G to put the cheque in .I wanted to find a card with something to do with Paris and that I can have their names on. I have found a few nice ones but it is deciding which one now. Oh decisions decisions!

Liz I might just try an ice pack and then the heat one for my back . It is worth a go as you say. Pack of peas first maybe :-D :-D. No-one will fancy having them after they have been tucked down the back of my trousers :-D

Gill I hope the rain you have had has not made the damp patch on the ceiling any worse over night.
I will be back as Arni wotsisname said :-D

We were up betimes as it looks as if it may be the last fine day for a day or two!! OH has been laying the willow hedge at the top of our paddock yesterday and this morning, it looks really good and well worth doing. Now he's using the long arm hedge cutter to get the ivy away from the back of the workshop, Merlins stable and the two big barns. I think that'll be it for today as it's trying to drizzle!! Tomorrow is a Waitrose shop and on the weeks go!!
Duck breasts for lunch with a nice orange sauce, cauliflower, roast spuds, oh, and a white sauce!! (no cheese! OH isn't allowed cheese anyway!)

Good Morning all,

We have sunshine, hooray.

Oh is out working on another mower part. I think it the deck off the other mower. Not quite sure as they are all the same make and colour till he has done them.

I may do a bit of craft today or I may not. See how I feel after breakfast. I need to clean the big girls out so I just may do that instead or I may go in the garden and do some gardening. I could'nt sweep for long yesterday as it did my back no good at all and today my knee feels like its going to go if I turn on it too quickly.

Frank did you have a good night??????? I do hope so.

Mandy how are you getting on with the elves??




Sorry about the long pause as I had to blow my nose which keeps running at the most inconvenient times.

Had a lie in this morning............

She's found you another job then Mandy. Bless. It will be nice for them to have some Spring Elves. I had a pattern somewhere for some Elves and they were really cute but I never made them. How big are the ones you have the pattern of Mandy? We shall want to see a picture of them please.

I have been out in the garden as the sun came out and it was quite pleasent out there. I tidied around the bantam pen and then started to cut my strawberry plants down. What did find but they were all eaten away by vine weevils. The bantams had a feast as I EMPtied a pot of compost in their tray and they were all fighting over who had the tasty morsals. The pot I emptied in the barrow I picked them all out and put those in the run too but scattered those ones about so they all got some.

Tired now so I am going to get dinner. Steak tonight and this week I bought rump. I don't think the fillet has any flavour anymore. This bit I have has a nice bit of fat on the edge so that should make it tasty if I frizzle that up first. Chip mushrooms and asparagus and a tomato for me. Oh dos'nt like tomato with steak but loves it when we have the big breakfast.

Oh the stew was so good and there's enough for us for tomorrow, just have to do more veg and it's an easy meal .
We don't have many puds but i did make a Bread and butter pud with some hot cross buns the other day ,that was tasty .

That's good your ear ache has eased Mel ,i find in the winter if it's really cold and windy when i walk Max my right ear get painful ,i'm not one for a hat i just don't look right in one so i usually pull my scarf up and the collar on my coat .

Poor OH i bet he was looking forward to the sausage rolls but you've done a good job cleaning the mixer , i hope you made sure it worked before you cleaned it or all the cleaning will have been for nothing .

When Chelsea came the other day she wanted to do some knitting so she went into the box where i keep the wool and at the bottom she found a pattern for an Elf ,goodness how long that has been in there as i don't remember it ,it was cut out from a magazine , so i'm now knitting that for her but i can see them all wanting one.

O Gill not another leak. I hope the chap can sort it for you quickly.

My ear has eased off now but I have had my hat on most of the day to keep it warm. I had been laying on that side when I woke up so maybe I bent it up a bit. I hope so anyway. I have been sneezing a lot lately and think I may have a funny sort of cold. I used to get ear infections when I was small and had to have that horrid pink medicine, all thick and gloopy with a nasty taste.

I was in the mood for baking today and thought I would make some sausage rolls. I decided to get mums Kenwood mixer out to make it easier to make some pastry. WELL it came out of the cupboard in the uti room and oh said to me you'll have to give that a dummy run before you use it. When I took the cover off it was filthy so instead of cooking it took me all afternoon to clean the whole thing up. I have never usedit as I always used my little hand mixer oh bought me. Mum must have never cleaned it properly each time she used it. It is now white and grey again as I had to clean off all the ciggy smoke of many years it sat on the kitchen worktop under its cover and mum never wiped it down well after using it and it had old cake mix up the top of the blade. It had also dripped a bit of oil in the bowl and the three blade things were dirty too.

So no baking done and I really felt like doing some today.

Thats a nasty cramp you had Mandy and dos'nt it ache and feel stiff the next day? I had it a while ago when I stretched my leg and foot out in bed one morning and it shot right up my calf.

Anne ,I heard that too about the young Ice Hockey team in that terrible accident in Canada. How tragic and sad . So many young people(I think they were boys/young men)

Mandy your Cramp sounded a nightmare!! and to have to use a crutch to walk too :-0
Shame the Buscapan didnt help that. At least you got the relief of pain from between your shoulder blades. I wonder why you had such severe cramp like that which left your foot puffy. :-S

That was certainty swift service with the trolley Frank :-D. I am sure it will make things much easier for Ros now with the sewing machine .

Al next door has been up on his roof today. I did notice that there was a tarpaulin on part of the roof (nearest the neighbours the other side of him) So I reckon there must have been a leak there ,probably when they were away in Australia .

I must do more Jacket Potatoes Mandy. I just never think to do them. Cheap and easy too.I bet your dinner will be delish :-D
As it is just us two here tonight I am going easy and doing Tesco Finest Beer Battered Cod from the chilled fish bit (it is just wonderful) ,McCains triple cooked Gastro Chips, Cauliflower Cheese and Peas. Those chips are the best. NO pudding though after that lot :-D

Afternoon all,

Sun shine and showers here today so i haven't bothered to hang any washing out .

Oh dear Gill perhaps you have another tile/slate that has a crack in which the roof chap didn't spot it when he came ,im sure he'll soon sort it for you.

I wonder what's caused the ear ache Mel i hope it has eased a bit by now .

Ros will be pleased with the trolley Frank it will make it a lot easier for her to move the sewing machine about ,that was very quick delivery .
I think we all find these little rotten bits of veg in the fridge and it doesn't take long for them to start stinking the fridge out.

Sounds as if Ruby was so pleased to have Richard home Anne just a shame the weather wasn't better for them .

Well the Buscopan seems to be helping ,the pain has gone from my shoulder blades but last night when i sat at the table eating i had terrible cramp across the top of my right foot and into my ankle , it was so bad i couldn't bear my weight on my foot for a while and i had to use some crutches that Colin had when he had his hip done ,this morning my foot is a bit puffy on the top and sore from the cramp , never had cramp like that before .

Stew for us tonight with veg and jacket potatoes ,i love jacket spuds with gravy .

I'm here now Mel. Just back from Tesco. It was surprisingly quiet when I was there but the girl said I should have seen it half an hour earlier !!. So I was in and out in record time. Now I am just going to get Chris to grab Thomas so I can get his Flea treatment on the back of his neck. He will then run off out to the garden to have a sulk LOL . (Thomas not Chris :-D )

Good night for you then last night Frank :-D. That has been a long time in coming. Fingers crossed tonight will be as good. You would have words with me too sometimes if you saw the state my Salad Drawer gets into !!!! It is usually some cucumber or peppers that have turned to mush under the other stuff :-S

Gill I bet your heart sank when you saw another damp patch on the ceiling ! and now today you have really heavy rain :-S. Lets hope your chap comes back swiftly and sorts it out for you.
It seems like we are not going to be getting rain now after all so as I have a full washing machine I might just get everything hung out on the line.

Mel is your earache still bad?I cant think of the last time I had one of those but it is miserable and so painful.I hope it isnt an infection.

Anne ,John must be so relieved that all is done now and he is back home again. His wife and Children must be over the moon considering how close they came to losing him.
I expect Ruby will have been exhausted last night after her big welcome for Richard and then the others LOL
I just noticed the battery has almost gone on my laptop so I need to get it plugged in quickly .

Overcast here with the sun trying to come out! OH went to the shop for bits and bobs, while I cleared up and gave the bathroom a good birthday!! I hoovered though then did a bit outside! A friend called and we took Cas for a run in the field opposite (it'll be ploughed soon when the rain stops!!) and here we are about to have lunch!
A nuisance about your ceiling Gill! I'm sure it can be easily put right though.
Hope your sciatica and back are feeling better Jane. I found an ice pack followed by a heat bag three times a day, worked really well, but it might not for everyone.
I'm afraid our fridge/freezer drawers get in a bit of a state sometimes too Frank!!!!
Glad the family are back with you Anne <3 what a lovely welcome from Ruby!
Nothing else happening here!! :-)

Good morning all

Not as nice as yesterday a bit overcast but still quite warm.

Richard got home about 6.30 yesterday Ruby was OTT and then went outside and greeted David, Caroline and their 2 daughters, they had been to Sandringham on the way home. Everyone enjoyed the holiday despite the weather. John's OP was a success they also did laser treatment to stop the extra heart beat he is now home and taking it easy

Pleased for you Mel that your eyes are still healthy, I must go for a check up soon but as I had the Diabetic screening not too long ago I thought I'd leave it for a while but I do need new reading glasses Hope your earache has now eased off, maybe you laid on it awkwardly when you were asleep.

Good that you had a good nights Frank it does make a difference to how you feel the next day. Reading about the vegs that were past their use by date reminded me when I had a terrible smell in the utility room for a few days and it turned out to be a cauliflower that had startted to rot right at the back of the vegetable drawer, something we are all guilty of now and again I also have had cucumbers that have made an awful mess..

What a pity you have another damp patch on the ceiling Gill lets hope this can be sorted quickly with no extra charge.

I do hope your hip pain and sciatica has eased off Jane maybe you can have some stronger pain relief from your Doctor the warmer weather will help as well.

I have just read about the tragic accident in Canada involving a coach with a team of young Ice hockey players being involved with a head on crash with a lorry, 14 dead a lot more critically injured so very sad,

Come on where are you all?

Good morning my ladies,

Talk about turning the tables. Last night I was very tired and was settled down by 10.30. Slept like a log. THEN at 3.45 AM I woke feeling very refreshed, and only dozed until I got up at 7.00 am.

I had words with madam this morning. I went to the salad draws in the fridge to see what veg I needed. There was a head of celery and three courgettes that had gone over. (ROTTEN) there was GUNGE on the bottom and sides of the draw. I had the lot out and cleaned both draws and threw out stuff that was out of date. She had some beetroot in there dated 10/01/2018 :-| :-| :-|

Ruby, is like most dogs, that seem to know when someone is coming home. What a lovely welcome Richard will have.xx

No rain here yet, but looking cloudy. with hardly any breeze.

I mentioned yesterday that Ros's sewing machine was getting too heavy to lug around. Well, I ordered a trolly from Amazon yesterday afternoon, and low and behold it was here at 10.15 this morning. HOWS that for service.!!! I have sent them a complimentary note.

Ros is out with Martine, shopping and nattering. It was her Birthday yesterday, I'm not sure what we bought her, but I know Ros gave it to her last weekend.

What are you all up to over the weekend. ?? Any family visiting. ?? We will have a quite evening today with a take-a-way, and a Roast for tomorrow. If the weather holds out Ros will be in the garden, and who knows I might even help her. ;-) ;-) ;-)

I remember ahold saying, when you were not feeling top notch. Mum would say."I need putting in a sack, and given a good shake " Funny where these pop up from.

Jane, aren't the tablets not working for your hip and back.?? You must get another appointment at the doctors to get it sorted. Nothing worse than having back pain all the time, as we are all too aware of. :-\ :-\ :-\

Well I am off for my shower and shave. If I feel like it I might walk to the pub, for the lunchtime match. Everton V Liverpool local DERBY.

Morning all and Gill,

Its raining here too Gill so your not the only one with the wet weather.

I have woken with ear ache in my left ear so not a happy bunny today. I have two days eggs to check over and do the egg delivery and fetch the paper this morning. Then I am not doing anything after feeding the wild birds and chickens.

Thirsty now so I must get a cuppa.

Morning all

It's pouring down with rain here today, Rosie has been for her breakfast and ate the nuts really quickly so she could get out of the rain.......I don't blame her, it's terrible out there.

That was a lot of money Mel, but like you said you got two pairs of glasses so I suppose it's not to bad a price. Pleased to see your eyesight hasn't changed much in the last 5 years, you must be pleased with that?

Hope you had a better nights sleep last night Frank. Cutting both lawns and cleaning your window would of tired you out, so hopefully you had more sleep than you usually do.

It was a shock to hear on the news of Eric Bristow, he was very young wasn't he?

Oh bless Ruby looking out of the window for Richard Anne. One of our cat's used to do that when OH was due home from work. Animal's are so cute sometimes aren't they?

How is you back today Jane, it must be getting you down now. At least you got all your hoovering done so that's a big job out of the way.

You were very busy yesterday Liz, it sounds like we've all been cutting our lawns. I'm pleased OH did ours yesterday with the bad weather we have today.

I've noticed we have a damp patch on our living room ceiling which we didn't have before the roofer came, so I'll have to ring him to let him know as I think when he looked at one of the roof slates he must of moved it to cause a leak. I hope he doesn't want more money to fix it as it was fine before he touched it.

I did well on my family tree yesterday. I'm trying to find a few sister's families and found one going to New York to meet a Mrs Parnell, I hadn't got a clue who she was until I did a bit of digging and it turned out the be another sister, so I'm now trying to find that bit of the family, it's not easy researching America though. Never mind, I'll plod on and hopefully have her finished today. There are six sister's in total and I'm only half way through them, so still a bit more to do until they're finished. It's keep me out of trouble for a while lol ;-) ;-) :-D I hope there isn't any more sister's going to America though, it's so much easier to research them if they stayed in the UK.

Iv'e got a program on BBC 4 about Billy Fury. I once had my picture taken with him when I worked for the PDSA. He came in a mercadies, a maroon one and he parked nearly outside my office. I still have the picture somewhere. Must see if I can scan it and send it to you. He was a great guy and loved animals of all kinds. I think I had pictures taken with a goat which we fed cigarettes to and an aligator which rubbed its tooth up my finger and grazed the skin.

Hi all back and done the chickens and had a cuppa. I had to feed the meter on the parking!! as I would have gone over the hour by the time they had done all the tests.

I had to have a glaucoma test as my dad had it, the pressure test and pictures taken of behind my eyes and all sorts but in all the 5 YEARS since my last lot of glasses my eyes hav'nt really changed much at all but it still cost me £372 but I did get two pairs, one with the lenses that go dark in the sunshine.

Our sunshine did'nt last long this morning and it clouded over and its tried to rain a couple of times but not come to anything.

We have kebabs for dinner. Home made not bought in a shop. I cook Lamb burgers and we have them sliced in pockets with salad and chilli sauce. I may do a few chips for oh.

Liz you've been busy today. I did two lots of washng and its still on the line so I better bring it in before it takes in the night damp air.

Afternoon Everyone
It seems to have been a day for cutting the lawns. Chris did ours this morning.First time thsi year. There is heck of a lot of moss. I am sitting here in a sleeveless top after hoovering all the downstairs. It has taken me ages as I kept having to have a sit to ease the old back and hip. But it all looks a lot cleaner now. Ftiz popped in as I was doing the lounge so that was a nice opportunity to sit and have a natter.He didnt stay too long. He just brought a newspaper cutting on info about Paris thinking it might be useful for us when we go in September.

Anne It only seems like yesterday Richard went off for his holiday. Ruby will be beside herself with Joy when she sees him arrive :-D. I bet her little nose has been glued to that window for a week LOL . When my 2 were at school and came home on the bus our old dog Dodger would go into the study at the same time every day and sit on the settee in there looking for the bus,he would then run to the front door to greet them .They just seem to know the time.

Frank you have been a really busy boy!! what with doing the lawns and the windows.I hope you haven't over done it. Maybe tonight you will sleep really well :-D
I can hear lawn mowers going now in various gardens along the road.

It has been such a lovely day today,and tomorrow is going to be wet by the sound of things. We don't seem to get 2 nice days in a row at the moment.

Hope the eye test has gone well Mel and no new specs needed :-D
I am so glad I cooked the meal for tonight yesterday.I only need to heat it up in the oven and cook some rice ,and a few veg.

I did see about Eric Bristow. He was very young .I remember watching him on that Darts programme donkeys years ago when he was probably in his early twenties.
I must go and clear the innards of a mouse that Thomas has kindly just left outside the back door before anyone steps on them. At least it is not a rabbit :-D

All the washing done, dried outside and put away - hooray!! Have taken the electric blanket off the bed and packed it away, turned the mattress and changed the underblanket! Have also cut the little lawn and trimmed the edges along with a bit of weeding!! OH has done some more rotavating and various other jobs, so a busy day all round!!
Chicken Kiev and rice for supper so nice and easy!

Good afternoon all

Lovely day hear again but it's getting a bit chilly now so must put the heating on.

Ruby is upstairs looking out of the window she doesn't know Richards due home but seems to have a sixth sense where he is concerned , I don't know when to expect him but I expect their making the most of the nice day as they have had a mostly wet week.

I hope your eye test gives good Results Mel and doesn't prove too expensive.

A winter wedding to look forward to Jane it will soon come round no doubt are they arranging it themselves?