General Chat

Sad isn't it AnnG. A friend of mine thought it would be the same for her, but her OH did come home again for a few weeks, then he died suddenly at home. I saw the online video of the funeral and it was sad to see her sitting on her own well away from just a handful of others. Your trip out and talk today sounded very interesting. I did smile when you said it had saved you some washing up too!

I bet you are so glad to get your phone back Vera and that you weren't charged any extra for the part. I'm not connected to the internet on mine, but still feel a bit vulnerable without it. You have been busy bulb planting and what a lot you have! Your garden is going to look so good next spring.

That was a good idea to do the stall then Mel and sell some things. It's a good idea to do the other stalls too. Did you manage to sell the laser printer after the people thought about it not long ago? I would have thought people would snap your hand off for one of those.

My key wasn't in the other places I checked and I'm pretty sure I didn't take it out of my pocket till I was in the car, but I don't trust my memory these days, so I might have dropped it in the car park. I usually have my hands full with my camera and change out of my muddy trainers before I set off so may have dropped it. I'll check the car boot tomorrow! I found another spare one I used today and OH told me to take the spares for the back gate and back door with me when I went out too! Perhaps he thought I am going on a losing spree now!! I'll still get another spare for the front door though in case we need it for a neighbour any time.

Well done Mel. It sounds as though you had a good day.

That really sounds an interesting trip AnnG. I would have loved it. I did go on a group tour of the Georgian Theatre Royal at Bury St Edmunds some years ago and that was very interesting too.

It's good to hear what you have been up to recently Ann and I am glad OH is recovering. I hope you find your key soon.

Gosh Mandy, you did come a cropper when you fell. There are so many rough bits of path and uneven paving stones now. We walked through town after dark the other evening and, although the town centre is quite well lit, I was treading very carefully as I could see how easy it would be to trip. It's good that you are getting on with some knitting now. Just make sure you stop as soon as you feel any aches in your wrist; you don't want to set things back again.

I did a couple of jobs this morning and after lunch went back to my bulb planting. I didn't count the bulbs but I reckon I have now planted about 150 in small pots and a couple of troughs, mostly mini tulips with a few Muscari and a few Squill. I've got some daffs and normal size tulips left to do but I am getting there.

I only have a slight cough now but I am still battling this tiredness which makes me just want to flop about. I have to make myself do things like bulb planting but I do feel very satisfied when I manage to get something done.

I now have a working phone at last. OH picked it up yesterday afternoon and the chap didn't charge us anything extra, but included the connector he had to get and fit in the price of the new battery we had already paid for.

It's an easy meal tonight, based on egg and bacon, and OH is cooking so I am now going to look again at a couple of dead ends on my tree.

Two years ago that I saw T for the last time as he was taken to the ambulance. Hard to imagine how people were incarcerated in hospital with no visitors until they died.

You did very well Mel. And more important you had a nice day socialising with people. And now have an appetite for more stalls. Well done.

Here I am back from the big breakfast and had a coffee and when I went ot get my car to load the things up BIL drove the mower up the road towards me. I thought he was'nt coming this weekend but had left the back door open incase he turned up.

Very slow to start with but by the end of the breakfast I sold quite a few things. Met some nice people and one of them (an accountant) does wood turning and may be interested in some of the wood blanks I have and the chisels he has two lathes and his wife may be interested in the dust extractor which I bought oh when he did the turning. Took just over £100 most of his things but a couple of my bits too. So still plenty to sell and have found that a village near us is having a Christmas fair and stalls are £5 so I may do that one too and then theres the primary school having their Christmas fair in the local school where I have been before so I may do that one as well.

I had a breakfast up there this morning and bought two tickets on the raffle and won a photo album that takes 200 photos. What I shall do with that I done know but it can always go back as a raffle prize for something else.

Must go and do the pond filters now.

Sorry you have lost your key Ann and I hope you find it.

Good afternoon all. Just back from Cheltenham. We had a very interesting talk and tour of the Everyman theatre.
. (The Grade II listed building was designed by Frank Matcham and was originally called "The New Theatre and Opera House".[1] It was opened on 1 October 1891 with a performance by Lilly Langtry in 'Lady Clancarty'.[2][3] When it was first built, the theatre seated around 1500 people on bench seating) The talk was in the actual theatre where all the beautiful decorations, paintings etc were explained, then we gradually walked around the theatre visiting the stage, then behind the stage, dressing room, green room and up above the stage (very high) where we were shown how different lights are operated and different scenery 'flats' are lowered and raised. we were there over an hour and a half and time just flew. We then had lunch in the theatre restaurant. There were four of us in our group but about 20 all together.We again used the Park and ride which worked well. I was picked up at 0900 and dropped home at 2pm. The theatre has actually had two refurbishes since it was built. The latest in 2011.

No Mandy I don't expect him to answer his email over the weekend and won't phone him then as he doesn't work weekends. Anyway not much washing up today as I had lunch out.

Ann hope you can find your key. Could you have dropped it getting into or out of the car.

How did the day go Mel?

Morning All,

It's sunny and 14 degrees here now, so Mel should have a good day to attract people to come out and buy. :-)

AnnG and Mandy, I'm having another search for the key in my car and coat soon when I nip out to get the paper. I haven't checked down the back of the passenger seat or in my coat hems so they were good suggestions. I'm glad I'm not thinking of selling the car knowing the front door key might be in it somewhere!

Mandy that road sounds awful and an accident waiting to happen. You poor thing sitting there with people piling off the bus around you and having to wait so long in pain too. It was lucky you didn't bang your head as you say. It's good you can have a break from the splints at times, but I expect they give added protection, especially while you are out, till your wrists are stronger. It's great you are able to do some knitting and are doing the mouse now. I look forward to seeing it once you have finished it and bet it will be lovely! :-) OH is off to a local match shortly, so he hasn't hurt himself too much!!

I must nip to the shop now and then it will be back to painting I think while the light is good. I also need to pay my road tax online when I get back . This year has sped by and I couldn't believe it was due already!

Morning all,

Very dull and it looks as if we've had a little rain ver night as the ground is a bit damp.

Mel I hope you have a good day and sell lots of things ,it's good it's nice and sunny it will bring the people out .

Ann I hope the key have turned up ,have you checked your pockets haven't got a seam that's opened up and ths key has got in the lining of the jacket .
I hope OH hasn't hurt himself either getting in and out the car he doesn't want to set himself back .

Anng have you heard from your dishwasher man yet I hope he let's you know if he can do it so you know what your doing or you could be finding someone else .

Not a lot happening here I might do a bit more knitting, I'm now doing the Mouse and getting on quire well, with it as its nice and light to do .

Ann you asked how long the splints are on for ,I go to the hospital on Monday afternoon so should know a bit more then ,I have taken them off when I sit but I'm a bit weary on walking about without them on and my wrists do twinge still when I turn them a certain way.
I did walk up town to the bank yesterday and I had a look at the road where I fell ,it's so rough there it's where the bus pulls in and it's really all pot holes as the road is that stony stuff not tarmac .
My ankle twisted on the rough bit and then I was stumbling and down I went onto the path someone sat me up and there I sat on the path as the bus pulled in and all the people got off the bus trying not to step on me ,I was so lucky I didn't crack my head open and only scraped my face ,I kept asking if my head was bleeding as I could feel the blood on my face .

Morning all,

Nice sunny morning so far today. 11 degrees and pc says sunny so lets hope so.

Can't stop as I have to do the girls and it all kicks off at 9 am.

Ann I could guarantee every time T lost car or door keys they were down between the two front seats somehow, never found when he looked then I would find them. you need to search the car in the light.

Yes Good Luck for tomorrow Mel. I remember and can picture the village hall, at least the outside. I hope you do well. People won't find what you have made elsewhere as they are unique.

Well I shan't do the walk at that time of day again. The little carpark was jammed with cars and children on little scooters and bikes were pedalling around the carpark as if it was a playground, totally unsafe with all the cars toing and froing. Children and parents all shouting and then a car alarm kept going off. It was bedlam and I realised parents were using the carpark to park, then walk to collect their children from the primary school about a hundred yards away. When I was back near the entrance after the walk,several children were climbing all over one of the fibreglass foxes that are around the area. The council ran a competition to do a paint design for them and then chose the best designs to be painted and placed around the area to advertise places of interest. They aren't going to last long being treated like that though.

Now I seem to have lost a front door key since I got home and had fished it out of a zipped pocket while sitting in the car to come home. I checked every pocket, my handbag and camera case to no avail. It couldn't be anywhere other than the car so OH came out with a torch and decided to struggle into the back seats of my 2 door coupe. He checked under the seats but it wasn't there, but oh dear when he tried to get out of the car again he wished he hadn't got in!! It's so awkward that however he tried caused him pain and it took him ages with lots of ooohs and ahhhhs. I also discovered he'd been up in the loft to get something while I was out too which wasn't a good idea. He really mustn't do these things yet, he thinks things have healed more than they have and will do himself a mischief. I've told him Nurse Gladys has put the outfit away now!!

Well done Mel. Good luck

All set up for tomorrow up the village hall.

good to see you Ann, glad you have caught up with your jobs and that is a good result re the phone appointment. No more worrying about that now anyway.
Yes I am sure I did not appreciate how much T did which other OHs didn't, the more so because with another couple we were friendly with before we moved (I worked with the husband) He was the same as T and could do anything in the house, even plumbing (which T couldn't do) as his Dad was a plumber. In fact he put a new bathroom in when we moved here and he and T put in our fitted kitchen. He (our friend) with T helping also rewired my parents bungalow.

you are probably right about the birds and bird flu, what a tragedy that is for our bird population.

I still have not got through to the man I want to come and look at the dishwasher, no answer at all so I guess it is only him and he is out on a job. (Or on holiday).
So it is hand wash for the weekend.

That was strange with your laptop too, and very suspicious that it miraculously cured itself. still all's well that ends well.
anyway good to see you back we were a lonely few for a while.

Today was the day they turned our leccy off to do maintainance work on the leccy poles. Of course I forgot but luckily I was'nt in the shower but sitting doing some painting so stopped that. Thoguht I would do some ironing but no that uses leccy. Thought I will do the pond filter but no that too uses leccy. Thought I would have some toast but no thats leccy too. So I went and elt some water out the pond filter and then turned the tap back on so no more went out when the leccy came back on. It was well after lunch which was late for me anyway so I suppose it came back on about 2.45pm.

So nice to hear what you've been up to Ann and glad G is getting on ok. Fancy it taking all that time to find out that its just a fatty lump and nothing serious. Oh had one of those on his left wrist which he was worried about for a time till the doc told him what it was. What a todo with you pc as well but glad its all sorted now and what was the subject of this weeks picture???

I better go ND DO THE GIRLS AS i KEEP FORGETTING IT GETS DARK QUICKLY AND THEY ARE SETTING THE TABLES OUT IN THE VILLAGE HALL AT 6.30PM SO i THINK i WILL GO UP WITH MY STUFF (sorry ) and set up the stall tonight.

Lovely to hear from Mandy and know your getting along well and managing task with Colin's help.

Speak later. <3

Afternoon All,

It's a balmy 16 degrees here and dull now. I was hot in the night and found the 3.5 tog duvet plenty hot enough without the fleece throw I'd pulled up earlier.

When I told OH about partners doing all these DIY jobs he chuckled and said that you'd be waiting a long time here!! I know what you mean though as first OH could mend/make or repair most things. What I missed was having things custom made, like lower worktops and cupboards the depth I wanted instead of having to have standard sizes. It's not so easy to repair things yourself now with special tools needed or computer repairs on some appliances. As men get older they can't do what they used to be able to do either, so I think we all end up getting someone in for some jobs. The problem is contacting them to speak to and fixing a date. You do get left in limbo wondering whether to try someone else.

Ann, we have a built in dishwasher like yours and it should be easy to remove I watched when ours was put in and the plinth at the bottom just pushes in onto clips that hold it so I think they will only need a screwdriver to flip it out. If it doesn't heat on any program it perhaps just needs a new heating element. I would be lost without my dishwasher and was glad of one when I lived on my own too. So much time is saved. OH still washes the bulky pans and measuring jugs we use most days as the D/W isn't on every day. I wait till it's full.

Well I have thrown myself into getting some jobs done that have been waiting for me for ages and at last had the phone appointment with the endocrinologist. The good news is that there is no disruption to the hormone output and it is just a harmless fatty lump, similar to the makeup of glands anyway. Fancy it taking a year of tests to be sure though, but now I needn't worry about it, it won't grow or need anymore watching which is good. That's enough of medical things for now as I could spend a day on those! lol. OH is doing well though, but still some pain at times which at this stage is to be expected.

On the subject of less birds in the garden, we have noticed less too, particularly the small ones and a lot of the ducks have gone from where we walk, but I expect some of the youngsters will have left home. I have put it down to bird flu here as there have been several outbreaks in the county and dead birds including Swans have been found almost daily at or near the waterways. Farmers are having to keep all their birds in now and 2 Peregrines that nest at the Cathedral have succumbed to bird flu as well.

Like Mel I had a 'tech' headache this week. I switched the laptop on to start my painting course and the taskbar with the start button was all greyed out and didn't work! Luckily I'd saved a desktop shortcut for my course and thought I might just have to watch with no sound as I couldn't change that, but when I logged into it the sound was on which was strange, a bit quiet but I managed! Afterwards I rang our support people which have now changed to Curry's and is not as friendly or good as before. After the usual of giving them all the security info they wanted (enough to also clone me if they wished!) I needed to log on to their remote control which the PC then wouldn't allow! I was told then that I needed to phone my internet provider and ask them to switch off something as my particular provider would often block their site. Well that was easier said than done as various attempts led to lengthy waits on the phone and still not getting through. I then went online and found their 'chat'. They were very unwilling but I persuaded them to switch off the block which they said stopped spam. Then guess what, as soon as they had done it for me my taskbar and icons all came back! I told the chap and that I thought my PC problem must be to do with some of their updates and he agreed and decided to report it higher up. So, after all that, the problem had gone and I didn't need the remote access!! What a waste of time these things are.

It's good you are managing to do a little posting now Mandy and the improvement with your wrists must be cheering you up now you can manage more. I can imagine that showering and washing your hair would have been so difficult and still not easy. Are the stitches out now and how long will you have to use the splints for?

Sorry you and OH had covid Vera, but it sounds like you are much better apart from the awful tiredness that takes a while to go. I still have bulbs to plant too, but only a few so I'd better get them in soon.

Best be going for my walk now before I write too much.

16 degrees here and bright and dry. I have spent ages trying to phone the domestic repair place but nobody is answering the phone and it doesn't have an answer phone (which I find strange. I guess it is a one man band. Anyway I have texted him on his mobile and asked him to call my landline. I find it very difficult to hear people when they use their mobiles as they sound so quiet. (strange when I can hear every word when they use them on the bus.) if they phone the land line and not the mobile I can hear much better as it has a very good speaker. (loud).

Mel, yes it is a real pain. I always did appreciate that T could do anything in the woodwork line and anything electrical (that was part of his RN trade) But it is so time consuming trying to sort out somebody to do these things. I don't mind paying but it is just getting in contact with people.

Goodness Vera, you could have a stall with all those bulbs. But what a glorious sight in the spring.

Morning all,

Cloudy here but quite mild out for November.

We've been out in the garden cutting a few things back well I say we but I mean OH ,I held ths bag open to put the bits in ,he gave the grass a cut my goodness if was long and the mower was struggling but it's done now so thats good .

Anng I hope you can find someone to sort out the dishwasher ,has any of your friends had anyone they could recommend you do miss these things when they go wrong .

Mel its a while since you've had a stall ,it's so hard to price things but if you can cover your materials and make a little extra for labour that's all you can do ,things take a lot of work and if you had to charge for all your time you wouldn't get your money back and these days people don't have the money and don't realise all the work that goes Into making things ,I hope you have a good day selling though as you make some lovely things .

Vera I hope your tummy soon settles ,your garden will look so pretty when all the bulbs flower.
It's been fun and games here when we've changed our king size quilt cover with OH pulling one way and me trying to help with my splints on.

Good morning AnnG, Mel and all

I hope you can get your dishwasher sorted out soon AnnG. I'd hate to be without mine though I know I could manage perfectly well without one if I had to. I think we all have one of those kitchen drawers that hold a bit of everything. You've reminded me that I have to go and sort through mine to find some batteries.

Good luck with all your pricing Mel. It's a difficult job as you know the hours of work that have gone into making the stuff but charging a decent price for labour will often make things too expensive for people to buy. It's quite hard to find a happy medium between practically giving things away or making them too expensive.

Yesterday, I changed all my bedding - I hate changing the covers on king size duvets. Then I got on with more bulb planting. I still have loads to do. I've had a few pots of bulb plants as birthday presents over the last few years which accounts for some of them but it's the mini tulips that amaze me. I am sure I originally just had about 10 each of two kinds but I've had them for several years and they seem to increase in number every year. One sort I've probably only got 20-25 bulbs now but I have dozens of the other sort. It's getting to be hard work planting them all though I love seeing them when they are in bloom in the spring.

At lunch time we picked up our friend and took her to have her tooth out. Her husband came as well so that he could be in the waiting room with her. He can't drive now as he has sight problems. We waited in the car in a car park which was right by the dentists. It was a difficult extraction and a specialist dentist had come down from the hospital to do it. She was OK but a bit groggy when she came out so I was glad we hadn't let her drive herself.

While we were in the car park a message flashed up that the battery was low. The car hasn't had much of a run out for at least 6 weeks so, after we dropped our friends back home, we went for a long run around to charge it up a bit.

Right now I am supposed to be having a haircut but my inner workings are playing up again so I've got a fair bit of pain and have had no sleep. I couldn't face getting my hair done so I've cancelled the appointment and they are going to reschedule it for Tuesday.

OH needed to go into town to sort out a new security light for our back door as the old one isn't working properly so he said he would pop in the phone shop and see what's happening as I am still without my phone. The chap ordered a connector thing that goes in the phone on Monday and said the factory usually post stuff to him and it often arrives the next day but of course Royal Mail have been on strike. He did say he would phone OH when the phone is ready but OH is going to go in and try and chivvy things up a bit.

The computer is telling me it's 14 degrees and sunny. Strange as I was up at 7 am and I haven't seen the sun yet

That's it for now. Have a good day. whatever you are doing.

Morning Anng and all,

Dull and grey here this morning and its 15 degrees.

Why is everything so hard to do when your partners gone? They would'nt think anything of it just get on with the job. Thats when we miss them the most Anng.

I have a bit more pricing to do for tomorrow and I want to wash my hair today and thats about it apart from do the girls.