General Chat

BIL has been here we had lunch and he showed me how to send emails a diferent way. Iv'e had nothing done to the pc but today BIL deleted all my empty files of photos I had deleted giving me more room.

You must take a look at this it made me laugh so much my sides ached.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Fctwa6TxD6s

We had a dry period between11.30 and 1215 and I just managed to walk down to Irene's and take a couple of books down for the stall and brought 8 back. As I guessed however I had already read two of them, they were quite old books so I am not surprised and they can go back either tomorrow or Monday.

I have done a bit of admin, not my favourite, sorting out stuff that is kept for safety in my fire protected safe. so that is a bundle of House indurance stuff filed and another bundle of finance statements. and now there is a pile for shredding. There is more to sort in the safe but hopefully I can get that done tomorrow.

I have sent both yours and mel's cards Mandy but Mel I don't think mine was in a large envelope (how large is large?)

Mandy you have been busy knitting then and keeping quiet about it. Well done for getting the logs round so they are covered from the rain.

Ann don't blame OH for watching footie on TV, no point in getting wet.

Afternoon everyone

Another gloomy, wet day. It could be worse. On this day 5 years ago we had an awful snow blizzard and I was panicking that I wouldn’t get to my brother’s funeral the following day.

Daughter arrived with the dogs about 12.30, had a quick cuppa and left for her 2 o’clock rehearsal. I was really pleased to see that this time they only sat by the front door for about 10 minutes after she left and then came and settled down with us. About 2.30 I tried to tempt them out into the garden as it had stopped raining. Maggi refused to come out and very pointedly went and laid down in the kitchen, Benji came out and seemed happy wandering about as I pulled up a few weeds (a few of thousands). Suddenly I realized I was talking to myself, he’d given up and gone back indoors as well.

Mandy, I am glad your son managed to get the logs moved and covered before it rained too much. I lost count years ago of how many times I’ve heard daughter play from the time she started recorder at around 8 or 9. She played with a couple of youth orchestras in her teens and toured East Germany with one of them. We don’t usually go to concerts anymore. After A Levels she did a degree in music and went into teaching. If you have a child with a talent you have to nurture it but, by golly, it hammers the finances. The better the child gets the more advanced instruments they need and the better teachers. We went without a lot and have never regretted it but I feel very sorry for any poorer family with a talented child.

Better go and see what those dogs and OH are up to. It’s very quiet so I suspect they are all asleep.

Afternoon All,

Another gloomy day and lots of rain. It tipped it down last night so The floods will be even worse now. OH nipped to the village shop to save me getting soaked and is watching footie on tv instead of going to the match he planned to watch, even though it has an artificial pitch. He's off to the retiring do later, about 60 miles away, but at least the forecast isn't showing snow that way now.

I need to do lots of h/w but don't feel at all motivated and OH has tv on in the lounge so I can't hoover anywhere anyway. He offers to watch tv in the bedroom, but I think I prefer the excuse to not be able to hoover just now! I'm sleeping well lately but still get up late and feeling weary. I was reading quite late last night though. OH passed me his book called 'Entitled' about the downfall of the House of York and by Andrew Lownie ages ago and I had kept meaning to start reading it. I'm on Andrew and Fergie's childhoods at the moment and it's interesting to see that Andrew was quite a difficult child and I had no idea Fergie had such well connected ancestry, which to me has never been apparent before.

Well I think I'd better change the bed and do the veg for tommorow's lunch. At least that will get me a bit ahead for tomorrow. Then I might look at some seed catalogues online and see if I can grow something new or a new variety this year.

Afternoon all,

Well we had sunshine first thing but now it's turned grey and been raining ,son had just finished borrowing the logs round as the first spits of rain fell, its all covered with a tilt now until it can be stacked in ths wood shed .

Anng you asked if I had any knitting on ths go ,I finished off some clothing for a couple of rabbits I had knitted before the blankets and I'm now finishing off a doll and dressing that .
No I didn't have a doze in the end as it disturbs my sleep at night .
The glass engraving sounded good ,there are certainly some talented people about .

Vera how lovely to have a daughter that can play so well , have you been and heard her when she's played .
I hope they can soon fix your car and your not to long without it .

Son sorted out our car insurance for us this morning ,he does it so much quicker than we can , we were with Sainsburys but he found one with Aviva ,we used to be with them a few years ago and Avica was cheaper than Sainsburys.

Ann those poor fields all flooded they are going to take a while to clear and be really soggy when they do ,the poor wildlife will suffer too.

Mel I posted your card on Thursday so I don't think it's mine you have yet , I had two in the post this morning so they are up on ths shelf for Wednesday.

Have you had anything done to your PC since the last time you sent photos Mel? Sounds like a google problem.

Just tried to send you all an email with the rainbow but pc is playing up and keeps telling me no damain for all your addresses.

Morning Anng and all,

Another dull day at the mo 8 degrees and pc says light rain.

Just the hsop to do for my paper and I need to post a card.

Who has sent me a card in a big envelope??? it came the begining o f the week I think and I put it in front of the telly where oh used to put them.

Good morning all 7 degrees grey sky hope it will give us some dry spells. Not got anything planned. BBL

There is quite a bit about it on line I think Ann.
I started to learn the piano but didn’t stick at it and gave up while still young. My granddaughter plays piano and also teaches it. She passed quite a few exams and has a piano in her bedroom.

I love both Sax and clarinet to listen to, I envy your daughter having that talent.

Oh I wish I had musical talent like that Vera and had learned to read music and play an instrument. It's great she gets these opportunities and enjoys it too. Are either you or your OH musical and able to play?

I've not heard of copper wheel glass engraving AnnG so will see if I can look it up. It sounds as if it was an enjoyable visit with the exhibits.

Annx, she is a woodwind player. Not basson or oboe but the full range of clarinets, saxophones, flutes. Her main instrument is clarinet and she often gets called to play with various orchestras when a clarinet is needed, particularly a bass clarinet. She also gets asked to play for shows put on by various amateur groups; some are paid, some she does for love. Tomorrow’s concert is a classical one at The Apex at Bury St Edmunds.

Oh, she can get by on piano and guitar as well.

Glad they were not too late to collect the car. Hope they can solve the problem.
Yes I saw that you had posted on the garden thread. I thought I would try and revive it.
Yes both exhibitions were really good. And I loved the fact that there were so many photos taken on proper cameras.
I meant to add that the copper wheel glass engraving is a heritage occupation now. Hopefully that skill won’t be lost.

That's good things are at least moving with the car now and they managed to get it up the ramp ok Vera. Fingers crossed it won't take too long or be too expensive to sort out. What instrument does your daughter play?

Recovery vehicle arrived earlier than expected and we had calls at different times from Volvo and from the recovery driver to tell us how far away they were. Two men, one managed to get the car in gear and inch it out of the garage and the other operated the ramp he had to drive up to get it on the truck. So the car has gone and will be delivered to Volvo tomorrow. I don’t suppose anyone will look at it before Monday or Tuesday but at least things are moving now..

Your trip out sounds really interesting AnnG. I’d have enjoyed both the glasswork and the photography exhibitions. Btw, I have posted on the garden thread but still haven’t got on to the book thread but I will do so soon.

I would have had time to cook a dinner for 6.30 or 7 pm which is our usual time but we have decided to stick with our baguette with bits and pieces and OH is sorting that now.

Afternoon All,

Sorry folks, I had almost posted this when OH interrupted me for ages, so some of you had then posted before I sent it!

Dull and dreary here too and no chance of a rainbow. :-( Did Stu enjoy your cheesy leeks Mel?

It sounds like an interesting trip to see the glass engraving exhibition at Wallsworth House AnnG and hopefully a nice lunch too. I hope your hearing aid gets fixed for you next Friday and the other is ok till then.

I read somewhere that we don't start using the caddies till April Vera. I must check if we have been left the 50 bags to go with the large one or maybe they will come later. That's good you have breakdown cover included by having your car serviced with them and I hope your OH soon gets a reply to his email. We are in a similar situation as a lot in our close are elderly as well. At least two couples in the close have children, but their children live abroad in Australia and Taiwan so not handy to help them. We have plenty of shops and eateries within a couple of miles,but I think without a car we would have to change our doctors to those in the village. Although our current surgery is only a couple of miles away, the only bus service is two buses to get there by going into the city on one and another out of the city about 15 miles. Of course once you have mobility difficulties buses are no good to you.A driverless car perhaps??

Yes rest up for the wood delivery tomorrow Mandy. It's good your head feels better now. I know I feel more tired and lacking in energy so maybe this weather isn't helping. The fields were all flooded again this morning when I went out and now it is raining again.

It's all happening here today. The text OH got gave him a link to click on. As we were sure it was a genuine text he clicked on it but all he could get up was a heading of Mobile Assistance. His phone is very old and I wondered if that was the problem so I copied this long, long link address into my computer and up came all the information we needed. The technician that was coming has been cancelled but there is a recovery vehicle arriving in around 3 hours and it will take the car to the service centre where we have taken it ourselves before. I've printed out all the relevant bits of info. At the top of the page it actually said Your Benefits and nowhere was there a price mentioned for this recovery, so I am wondering if they have found that our Volvo Assist cover hasn't expired. I think if we had to pay they would have got our agreement to a price before sending a recovery vehicle out.

Now I just have to worry about tonight's dinner. I don't want to dish it up just as they arrive but these days I am not good if I eat late in the evening. I might persuade OH that he doesn't want anything cooked. I've got a fresh baguette I bought for lunch and OH didn't use so I think we might have that with pate and cheese. I've got salad stuff and there's plenty of fruit. If we have something cold it won't matter if they come while we're eating it.

You all keep asking me about yesterdays roast. It went ddown very well he througherly enjoyed it and I even filled him up and he left a bit of chicken and potatoes and stuffing and half a pig in blanket its all gone to the birds now. Our plates were piled high even I left some for tomorrow but managed to eat two cold roasties with a bit of salt on later in the evening!!

I have just been up the road to post two parcels and the amount of water lying on the roads is dreadful with just a little bit in the middle to drive without going through the water. The lengthsman been too but the ditch, where there are ditches, are full and its just not draining away.

Had a very interesting few hours at Wallsworth House. ( Nature in Art).
We struck lucky as there was an overlap of two exhibitions So two for the price of one (6.75) and well worth it/ The glass engraving exhibition by the late Michael Fairbairn (he died in 2024) was mind blowing, beautiful, totally awesome. He was a copper Wheel glass engraver. This type of engraving makes some of the animals and other subject appear to be 3D and it is not set in the glass but engraved so it is raised and some things were engraved on both sides of the glass. He was engraving right up to the time he died in December 2024 when he was 89.

With the engraving was a Wildlife photography of the year exhibition. 100 images that ‘capture nature at its most dramatic, beautiful and raw’ Selected from over 60,000 entries.
I particularly liked to see the entries from under 18 year olds, with one of my favourites being from a young girl in the under 10 class A close up head shot looking up through his antlers, so close and so sharp a beautiful photo. I am in awe of these young people who should go far in the world of photography. And all but (I think) one were taken on cameras, not phones.

We just decided to have a snack lunch as the little cafe was really crowded so we had coffee and a cheese scone which was very nice. I will probably have bacon and eggs for a meal this evening which will be fine, maybe a few chips.

Let's hope there can be a repreave for the car then Vera, and at least that your OH gets a reply from the garage. I do so feel for you re going without the car. Although it was my choice and I am on a bus rout for some things, for others it is difficult and I miss the flexibility of being able to just pop out to have a coffee somewhere. Maybe there are local coach companies that run coach trips to places like Anglesy Abbey I know there are a couple of companies in this area which are very popular with people.

Mandy I think this weather is getting everybody down, it is almost as bad as the covid lockdown when people got stir crazy being shut in with the same one or two people (or on their own) for days at a time. did you have a doze? I don't hear any mention of you knitting anything,

Mel did the roast go down well?

I hope you're managing to get a bit of rest Mandy. Don't try to do too much, get yourself fit first.

I went out to collect my glasses leaving home at 9.40 in plenty of time for the bus. I met my neighbour at the bus stop and we both waited in the pouring rain and the bus was nearly 15 minutes late. My neighbour was just about to go back home again and I was thinking of doing the same when it turned up. Needless to say, we were both pretty wet by then. It's only a few minutes to town and we arrived with just about enough time for me to walk to the opticians. My glasses seem fine and I don't have to keep changing from one pair to another all the time. I can see distance and close print equally well. They are not quite so good on the computer. It's really clear if I sit upright with my head slightly tilted back and look down through the bottom of my glasses but that's not a comfortable position to hold for more than a minute or two. However, I still seem to be able to manage the computer with the old reading glasses so I'll keep them in the study and use them just when I am wanting to work on the computer.

OH has at last managed to speak to someone at Volvo who is hopefully sending a technician today to check just what needs doing on the car and make arrangements to get it done. As it's already 3.30 pm and they have a few miles to come I can't see him arriving today.OH mentioned our Volvo Assist cover to the person he was speaking to and was told it had expired. He was so worried about getting the car fixed that he didn't ask when or why it had expired. Something else to chase up!

We have the dogs tomorrow and tbh we could do without that right now but daughter asked us 3 weeks ago and I can't let her down at the last minute. She's been asked to play at a concert tomorrow and needs to rehearse during the day as it will be the first time the orchestra will have rehearsed together and then play the concert tomorrow evening.

OH has now come in muttering about a text he's got about a recovery vehicle which makes no sense so I am going to disappear from the computer and let him fume in peace.