General Chat

Very funny Vera :-D
You certainly brought your AGM to life. I was imagining the cast from Acorn Antiques LOL :-D :-D

Oh Vera what a time you have had! I did chuckle at the patting heads and rubbing tummies and would love to have been a fly on the wall and seen the look on everyone's faces. When you were saying who wasn't attending my first thought was whether the meeting was quorate as I'm always hearing OH say it about his meetings at the schools. It's surprising how many don't understand about it. Then your birthday girl's do at your place made me laugh too when she wished you happy birthday. You have to see the funny side of these things and laugh it off lightly and it sounded as if she really enjoyed herself, even if she soon forgot.

I think I would be too stressed trying to maintain the equipment for the Koi Mel, especially when things stopped working. Koi are very sensitive about the water quality aren't they. If the pond is that deep it might be an idea to make a way to climb out just in case you did fall in some time.

Thanks for the feedback on your slow cooker AnnG. it's much appreciated and yes it is a red one so sounds just the same. I think if I stick to wooden or plastic implements the non stick might be ok for a long time then. I want it mostly to slow cook stews, soups, rice pudding etc. so I can freeze extra portions. I have the pressure cooker which is quite quick, but is much heavier and you can't go out and leave it like you can a slow cooker. I think for me it will be more useful than a soup maker as well as I have a liquidiser to reduce a soup down. I do my baked pots in the microwave as well, but even a slow cooker would be much cheaper if you normally did them in the oven. Martin Lewis on tv last night said it would cost 3p to do a baked pot in a microwave 34p in a normal oven. I was amazed at the tiny tabletop grill/ovens you can buy now that would be big enough for 2 people. Unless you have a family or do baking and can fill an oven like Vera does, it isn't worth using a wasteful big oven if you can manage without. Our microwave doubles as a convection oven and I cook things like chops in it and even a small chicken.

Best leave the pump to BiL Mel you don’t want to go for a swim!

Vera I did enjoy that. Well the AGM you could not make it up could you. Fancy the retiring chair not turning up, that is bad manners. And the raffle! That was hilarious.
Thanks for the chuckles and I am so pleased the tea party went well. :-)

Part 2 of the saga

Now it was time for the AGM. Only 2 of the committee of 5 were there. Have you heard of an AGM where the committee don’t attend? The chairman was resigning so she had gone off on a last minute holiday when she should at least have run the meeting, given her report, stepped down and handed over to whoever was elected in her place. She hadn’t even prepared a report for someone to read out for her. The treasurer was on holiday but had at least prepared some accounts and left them with someone and the third member (who had the key to our cupboard) just didn’t bother. That left one poor girl trying to run the AGM, take minutes, read her own secretary’s report, answer questions on the treasurer’s accounts and so on and so on. The upshot eventually was a new chairman was elected, the existing treasurer and the two committee members who were in attendance were re-elected. The one who didn’t come and seldom attends meetings anyway is off the committee as she hadn’t indicated that she was willing to be re-elected.

I think the new Chairman will shake things up a bit and will be better organized. Someone told her that I had run the club for many years before she joined so she has already asked me if we had a quorum at the AGM (yes, we did) and do we have a proper Constitution (yes we do, I wrote it when I needed it to set up a better banking system for the Club).

The evening was nearly over but there was one more silly incident to come. When we go in we pay a £2 entrance fee and that includes a drink and biscuit and a raffle ticket. When we came to draw the raffle a couple of numbers were drawn out and no-one seemed to have them. Then we noticed that while we all had 1 ticket, one man had several (it turned out to be 16). We are not sure why he suddenly took all these off the table, as he is an old member and knows we pick up 1 ticket. The person organizing the raffle noticed there were none on the table so put out some more and someone else trying to be helpful thought these were the counterfoils so folded them all up and put them in a pot ready to be drawn out. So the numbers being drawn bore no relationship to the raffle tickets we all had. At that point I went back to the kitchen to wipe down the surfaces and close up so I don’t know how they got out of that one.

The whole evening was a complete farce. If you were watching it on stage you’d have laughed like a drain. Life’s just one big adventure here.

On to yesterday which, thankfully, was a great day. I tidied the lounge and cleaned the downstairs toilets and OH moved chairs and tables around for me. Then friend M arrived with the things she had got with the money we had all contributed which were a huge, triple layer chocolate cake and candles that spelt out Happy Birthday, a kg box of milk, dark and white chocolates and a really beautiful flower arrangement. We arranged them all on a trolley in a cool room so we just had to light the candles and wheel the trolley in. I got out all the best Royal Doulton china and some pretty serviettes and set out a plate of fancy biscuits, a plate of plainer ones, some cheesy ones and some crisps as nibbles.

Everyone arrived about 2 and friend J collected the birthday girl and got her to mine about 2.15. I went to meet her as the car drove up and she wished me a happy birthday and gave me a hug. I had to tell her it was her birthday we were celebrating but she didn’t believe me until later. Everything went extremely well and there was lots of chat and laughter with the first cuppa and nibbles, then M and I went out and wheeled in the trolley and our 90 year old shed a few tears when she realized it really was for her. I made fresh drinks and M cut the cake and everyone had a huge slice. We also had a small vanilla cream sponge for any non-chocolate eaters.

No-one left till 5.30. The birthday girl kept forgetting she had said goodbye to me and must have come back 4 or 5 times to give me a hug and thank me and each time she had another little cry. In the end I had to say “You are getting chilly and J is waiting to drive you home so you must get in the car now.” Then J noticed that she hadn’t got her glasses on. Our lovely lady declared that she didn’t wear glasses but she does and we thought she had them on when she arrived. So back indoors I go and hunt the kitchen and the lounge, no glasses. Then I remembered she had put a small bag in the back of J.’s car. Sure enough, inside the bag were a pair of slippers and inside a slipper were her glasses.

She left smiling and waving and looking very happy. We know that she probably has forgotten her tea here already but I hope the happy feeling will stay with her for a while.

Well, I told you I would bore you rigid didn’t I? It’s time I stopped typing and started sorting out tonight’s dinner.

Pond pump still not working I think I will have to see if I can get the pump out the pond to check the impeller but I think I will leave that till BIL is here on Saturday. He has a better chance of lifting it out of the pond than I have and I don't want to fall in the pond as its about 7 foot deep. and if I go in I shan't be able to get out and can't take my phone with me to ring anyone.

I shall be glad to go to bed tonight and hope tomorrow brings a better day with it.

Vera you did make me laugh at your meeting but at least you had soemthing to wet your whistle in the end be it no sugar for those who take it. :-S

I am looking forward to the sequel Vera/ At least it gave me a laugh as I am sure you had with fellow members eventually. when things go wrong they often go really wrong.

Just back from the U3a main meeting. That was a really good talk he must have talked for about 40 minutes about the exhibits in Nature in Art and it was so interesting. He didn't have a note. Made me want to go back and have another look at the exhibits so maybe next year I will. although it is not cheap to go in.

At tea break I seemed to have a long chat to everyone afterwards well, not everyone well over a hundred there but spoke to a lot of people. brain buzzing now but a good feeling. Then when we got home sat chatting to Barbara for ages in the car. Wouldn't think I spent yesterday with her. There is always something to chat about.

We crossed with our posts Island, I see you answered my question before I asked it. Pleased the pain is getting less spiteful.

At the moment it’s around 14 degrees and bright sunshine with a strong breeze from the East, though the computer’s telling me it’s cloudy with a gentle breeze. At least all the bedding on the line blew dry this morning.

I’m glad your ribs are feeling somewhat better Island. Just be very careful; no awkward movements. That goes for you too Mandy. It’s good to hear from you but you and Island must give yourselves time to heal and do everything very gently.

Thank you for the Batsford pictures AnnG. The autumn colours look wonderful. I’m pleased you had good weather for your trip. A bit of blue sky makes everything more enjoyable. It’s hard to appreciate that sort of place when you’re trudging around in wind and rain.

Mel, I hope you have managed to sort out filters, pumps and plugs. I’m very impressed with you doing these jobs; I wouldn’t know where to start so well done you.


That slow cooker sounds good value Ann. I’ve had mine donkey’s years and it has a big, heavy ceramic pan. I could do with something a bit lighter in weight now. I used to use mine a lot but haven’t used it much in recent years. I did a brisket of beef in it a couple of weeks ago but I ought to use it more now, with fuel prices as they are. We like a lot of our food cooked in the oven so I am trying to make sure the oven is full to the brim every time I use it now. I do use the microwave quite a lot and always do jacket potatoes in there.

Well, the AGM of our club on Monday evening was a total shambles. We didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. We were supposed to have a speaker but he cancelled at the weekend. The person who books speakers did very well to get a last minute replacement but the young girl who came obviously didn’t have a clue who she was coming to and seemed to think that we were all suffering from some form of senility. She had us stood in a circle patting our tummies and rubbing the tops of our heads “to keep our brains active” (we usually do that by listening to an interesting speaker, lol). Then we played silly games suitable for a 5-7 year old and every 2 minutes she told us we were fantastic, amazing, wonderful. People just started dropping out and sitting on chairs chatting and after a while I’m afraid I dropped out too, though I felt sorry for the poor girl. OH was very good and stuck it out with a few others.

Then it was a short break for a cuppa. Hang on, the committee member supposedly organizing the tea hadn’t come. Our stuff is stored in a cupboard at the hall and this committee member has the cupboard key. Never mind, the caretaker has all the duplicate keys, a whole big board of them. Only he was unwell and there was a relief caretaker there and he had no idea which key was which. After trying about a dozen with him we gave up. He kindly lent us his own jar of coffee and box of teabags and, as it happens, I had a load of the disposable cups we use and had taken them with me to put in the cupboard, so one of the ladies and I set to in the kitchen. We didn’t bother with the urn, just a couple of kettles. Somehow we acquired 2 pints of milk and I never did find out where that came from and everyone who wanted one got a tea or coffee. It was hard luck if they took sugar – they had to go without.

This is getting a bit long so I’ll post it and then continue the saga on a new post. I’m going to bore the pants off you today!

I missed all the post before faffing about with the water board trying to pay the bill.

Nice to hear that Mandy is slowly getting better and that I sland is in less pain now too.

Its blowing here and all the leaves are going in oh's pond and I am having to go out and net them all off every quarter of an hour cos I can't make the scimmer work.

I am going to try another plug so wish me luck. I thought the lecdy had gone out but the light and airr pump were still working so its not that, changed the fuse in the plug for the pump now I am going to try a new adapter.

I'm in a state!! I clkeaned the filter in the pond but when I tried to turn the pump back on it won't go. I changed the fuse in the plug but it still won't work.

I have not seen slow cooker bags Mandy. $.5 hours on high works out quite expensive to run compared with doing them in the microwave. I have to say I rarely cook on high, nearly always on low. I did see recently that it is much cheaper if you can cook slowly on low.

Morning all,

Feel I'm slowly getting there but it's hard when your only supposed to lift nothing heavier than a cup of tea but I can't even do that I can lift the empty cup.

Anng lovely photos looks like you picked a good day for the trip .

Ann we have been using our slow cooker ,we did a couple of jacket potatoes in it and they were lovely, you don't get the nice crispy skin but they were nice and fluffy ,took about 4and half hours on high , yesterday we did peanut chicken had two servings and put two servings in the freezer.
You can get slow cooker bags to use in them .

glad you enjoyed them Gwyn and lucky you to still heve the sun.

Ann that one sounds like the one I have. Mine is red. I have had it at least 4 years with no problems and I wonder if people are using metal spoons etc as mine has not got any scratches and I use it a lot. I have never even had anything stick to it either and it washes clean in the dishwasher. Mine is in frequent use. It is on now in fact.

at least with going to daughter's for Christmas I don't need a Christmas slot.

I have been on the pc and the phone trying to pay an account and changing a password all morning. Fed up to the teeth with it not being able to get through and speaking to this person and the message chat.

Thank you for sharing the arboretum photos AnnG.
What an amazing blue sky and beautiful autumn shades on the trees.
It's probably one of the best times to visit an arboretum, so no wonder it was busy.

We have brilliant sunshine again today and earlier the sky was beautiful as the sun was rising, - all pale pink and turquoise.
It is very breezy though.
Yesterday was really warm.I had to carry my coat, when I returned home from school at lunchtime.
It's such a lovely bonus, when we can enjoy the autumn warmth and sunshine.

I hope everyone's various ailments are easing and healing well. It is so much less stressful coping with life's challenges if we are rested and not in pain.

Morning All,

Quite dull here and only 11 degrees. Mel my last delivery is on the 18th December and I'm not bothering to book another slot before Christmas. I see they are charging £6.50 for nearly all of the Christmas slots anyway and I can get anything last minute from the farm shop. I need one early in January though and they haven't released those yet. We both want to lose weight anyway so will be buying less this year and it's hard to get back on track if there's a week of too much overindulgence!! :-) I've noticed some of their prices have gone up 75p this time which is a lot. I had trouble with my mouse freezing yesterday. It happened 3 times and I even tried changing the battery but it made no difference.

It was to look at reviews and prices on line AnnG. I have found it on Curry's website now and it's a Morphy Richards one for £39.99 and holds 3.5 litres. It is very lightweight as the pot is non stick metal instead of a heavy ceramic one and you can brown meat/onions on your hob in the pot first which is handy (not induction hob though). The downside is that some reviews say the non stick scratches after a while, but you can buy new pots for it for about £12. I think I will most likely get it and it ocurred to me that now I have cut back on using the big oven and use the convection function on the microwave instead, I could store it in there when not in use.

Sorry Island I forgot your ribs is the pain any better?

Thanks Mel :-D
I'm fine now, just a little stab now and again, the big area has diminished. Nothing like what Mandy is going through - at least I could us my hands.

Morning AnnG, Lovely photos, I've emailed you.
Ribs.... jab cardi.... hmmm ;-)

Morning Anng and all,

Forgot to post when I first got up!!

Its dull, dreary, dire and dark here this morning in fact I am having to have the light on to see the keyboard. Pc says its 15 degrees and pc is still slow in putting my type up.

Not a very good day all round then yet so far.

Hope Mandy and Island are less in pain today and that Mandy had a good night now she's back in her own bed.

I think I have a cold as my nose keeps running and I have been sneezing. Must remember to put a coat on when I go out.

Those pics were lovely Anng I meant to say last night but had turned the pc off as the mouse kept freezing. I was half way through the Chirstmas order on Asda when it happened the second time so don't know if I have my Christmas slot yet or not. Still it dos'nt make much difference to me.

good morning all 11 degrees here now but no sun, all cloud which is a shame after yesterday's glorious day. That blue sky in my photos was with us here all day.

sounds like you had a good look round the shopping centre Ann.Also sounds like you managed all those shops without buying anything. can you not remember the make of the slow cooker that you saw? Shame if it is what you want. Are you hoping it will be cheaper on line or just want to check reviews?

Hoe many more cupboards and drawers do you have to clear out mel? sounds like the charity shop is doing well out of you.

Vera hope you are feeling better now, don't give up on your back, it might suddenly start to ease if you don't overdo things.

Mandy hope you are beginning to sleep better and that the pain is easing a bit now.

Evening All,

Yes another sunny day after a chilly start.

Sorry you aren't too good Vera and hope you soon improve. I hope the meeting is over quickly and that you have a better night tonight.

At last the pain is easing for you Mandy, which is great! It must be wonderful to be able to sleep in your bed again too and be much more restful. I expect Max is puzzled though! :-) Just watch those stairs, but going sideways down them as you are is much safer. I hope it gets better each day now. :-)

AnnG we have a local chap who advertises himself as 'Handy Andy' so I had to smile. Yours sounds like a gem though and seems to be a quick worker as well and is getting everything shipshape for you. The Batsford pics were lovely in the sunshine. I must go back there sometime.

Mel is getting through her drawers too and you are putting me to shame. This morning we were up early though and I drove OH to the new part of the retail park down the road for opening time which we haven't looked around yet. There is a T K Maxx, new Next and Waterstones as well as Flannels. We had a mooch around, a coffee and bacon roll in the Costa Coffee in Waterstones (OH bought 2 books. It was buy one get one half price and he had a £10 off coupon, so not expensive) Then we drove to the Curry's there and looked at phones, slow cookers and cameras. I saw a slow cooker I liked and wrote the name of it on the back of an old receipt to look it up when I got home. Waste of time though as I shredded the receipt when I got home forgetting all about the note I'd made on it! :-S Then we called in the Co-op for a few bits and into a bathroom place on the way home to get some idea of the newest fittings! So another day with no jobs done, but I have downloaded the form to send my postage stamps that will be out of date before I can use them.