General Chat

Morning All , Evening Kim,

It looks like we have the same weather Mel.
A horrendous night weather wise, Strong winds , rain lashing down, and beating against the windows,
OH thinks there is a gap between the wall and the PVC on the window pane in our bedroom, as when its really windy there's a whistling sound and the longer it goes on the more irritating it gets, though I did manage to get some sleep, in between going to the bathroom twice when it was dark,

OH got the makings of a cold, runny nose and almighty sneezes, also dry throat, had to get up for a drink of water through the night, good job we didn't meet each other on the landing when we were on our walkabouts .

we have decided just to repaint the living room walls with the same colours thats on at the moment ,we can't really afford to change the whole colour scheme, and a lick of paint will refresh the room before the new Sofa & chairs arrive at the end of February, may get the RUG DOCTOR in and give the carpets a good clean too.

Off to get a cup of coffee, :-D

Frank so pleased everything went off ok for Conrad and hope he makes a speedy recovery. 2 and a half hours is a long time to be having proceedures is'nt it?

Sounds like you have the weather there we had yesterday so be warned that we have rotton weather today and it may be coming your way!

Morning/Evening All


Yes Ruby what a wonderful video clip :-D :-D.Great old chap :-D

No rain here ,just lovely sunshine and wind.I have been sneezing my head off too Fiona this morning but it doesn't feel like a cold sneezes(if you know what I mean) .It's as though something is irritating my nose .DUST probably lol

It is always nice to have a fresh lick of paint.I can't wait to get the hall and stairs done in March.It is all looking very tired and mucky now.

I started this post about an hour ago ,and then suddenly remembered that the chap from Dunel* is coming to put the right ends on the bedroom curtain poles so had a quick wipe around the bathroom (just in case he needs to use it) then I have prepared lunch fro when Fitz gets here.Have made a big salad to go with this Pizza.I will try and eat more of the salad :-D
Mel thanks for the offer of the egg diet .But I think it is better for us not to do an'actual' diet but just to eat more sensibly and like Ruby try to cut down on the portion sizes.
Chris has just gone out for lunch with his friend (from work).He has gone to Ascoughs Ann....It must be time soon for our yearly get together with Fitz..We must arrange a date.
Someone asked me if James has sent any pics.He has sent just a couple ,but so far they aren't interesting enough to forward on .I think Jess has got her good camera so I am hoping that she will get some good ones.But if I get any I think you all might like I will send on :-D
He says they aren't doing too much today for his Birthday as they spent a lot yesterday and tomorrow are hoping if the weather allows to do a tour.

Frank that was quick service with the shade for the lamp.Thank goodness the packaging was good.Was it Fiona some time ago got something in the post that has smashed to bits?
I hope you can manage to fill the gap in the window frame Fiona..We used to have lots of whistling noises with our old windows..Even with that dreadful wind last night we hardly heard a thing.We are finding these blackout linings on the curtains so dark especially in the mornings and find it difficult to wake up :-S

I had better make some space on the dining table for lunch.The puzzle is taking up half of it !!!!!!!.

Yes Jane ,Twice that has happened to me,

first time I ordered a of Jar of Jewelry Dip from Ama**n, and the whole jar was smashed and leaky wet, Got my money back.

The second time I ordered a white & gold soap dispenser for down stairs toilet , it was smashed to bits too, but sent an e-mail back complaining and got another one to replace the first one, I also sent for a new soap dispenser for up stairs bathroom , I could not get one with a gold top, so when it arrived with chrome top , I replaced the top with the gold top from the smashed bottle. phew did you understand that :-D :-S

Jane are you sure it isn't CHRIS getting up your nose :-D :-D :-D

Ros has gone to Tesc# to get the bits and bobs, and some beer for me I ran out last night. That will never do. lol lol

Yhe noise from the wind etc. never bothers me. For the passed 35 years I have worn ear plugs at night. The house could fall down and I wouldn't know about it.
This all started when I moved to Blis### and the A43 came passed the P.O. where we lived. The HGVs would change down gears to get up the High street and the noise kept me a wake, Being a very old building the windows would shake and I could never sleep. As I needed to be alert all day, handling all the cash £1,000 a day. I started using them, and now find I can't sleep with out them. lol lol

Conrad has just arrived so will sign off.

Good that you had kept the gold top off the broken bottle Fiona. Love the picture of Matteo. He is a proper little boy now and not a baby anymore. Dear little chap..

HAPPY BIRTHDAY FOR JAMES TODAY EVEN THOUGH HE CAN'T SEE THIS GREETING. <3

Oh's cold is back with avengence again. He is coughing and coughing and is all bunged up. We really thought this cold was all behind us at Christmas and it is unusual for him to have two bad colds in a year.

I have made a HUGE pot of homemade soup so we can have that with a sandwich at lunchtime and he can dip into it whenever he wants. He asked me for fresh orange juice which he only really has on a Sunday with our breakfast.

I thought maybe that was a ruse Jane pointing out the red kites so the park attendants would look up and you could nip in the car and be away before they wrote you a ticket ;-)

I don't believe in diets, it's better to have a healthy eating plan you can stick to all the time that's not to say you can't indulge now and then. It's when I stopped drinking those glasses of wine of an evening that the weight just fell off me and it is only habit, I don't miss it now at all, and still have a good old drink if I go out. It's little things like semi milk, low fat cheese, reduced sugar, it all makes a difference. Having said that I'm off for dinner at my son's this evening and he always 'makes' me have a really fattening pudding but at least no alcohol as I will be driving.

How lovely to have breakfast on the beach, you never really see the best bits of India it's usually the slum areas shown on TV. So glad Hannah can now enjoy what's left of her holiday.

Must get on and get a bit of decorating done before I go out, shall be at my daughters this weekend, babysitting Harry and Chloe so won't be on line.
have a good weekend everyone.

Meant to ask Mel, are you still smoking those e.cigarettes or did you give them up in the end.

Conrad has just left. He's very sore at the rear end as you can imagine. Would you believe he has had a BOTOX injection up his rear end. I said "NO WRINKLES NOW THEN" we all had a good laugh. But not him, It hurts for him to laugh or cough. He's on two types of tablets, and has to go back to Peterborough Hospital in Three months.

Maureen, that is something I have never done, go on a diet. I am manly a meat and 3 or 4 veg man, I like fish also. I have that if I do Ros a steak. She doesn't like fish that much. I tend to have some toast and mymate for breakfast or a grilled bacon sarnie. Don't normally eat lunch, then my main meal about 6.00 pm. Once in a while I might indulge in a bit of Stilton and biscuits in the evening.

The cash handling should have read 1000s of pounds a day. I would have two deliveries a week from the Head office plus what was paid in by customers. I had to do the books every Friday evening to account for every penny. Then sometimes out of the blue TWO men from Head Office would arrive at your door at 8.00 in the morning to do a spot check. So you had to make sure everything was correct every night after closing.

One story I heard was a certain gentleman ran a P.O .and bought a 2nd for his son to run. When they did a check, they found he had used P.O. cash to buy the other one. Ran in tens of thousands. lol

Looks like the weather is on the change, getting very cloudy and the wind is getting up.

I told you Frank it was coming your way. It is still like it here, rain high wind and grey skies.

Just watched an old Time Team. It was very interesting.

Those Time Team always are goon entertainment Mel, When I am bored some afternoons I flick through the box and they come up.

While Conrad was here he fixed us up with "ON DEMAND" so no more recording programmes . He had a connector wire sent in the post, which arrived yesterday. One end goes into the Sk# box the other into the Wi Fi box. Now I have seen it done. I COULD HAVE DONE IT MYSELF lol

Give my regards to James for his Birthday Jane. Hope the weather has improved for them. You didn't tell me when Hannah is back. I WON'T ASK AGAIN. you naughty girl. !!!

Roast Chicken in a bag tonight. (Garlic and Herb seasoning.) and roasted Mediterranian (sp) vegetables with the sprinkle on them, and olive oil.

Think I will have pasta tonight in cheese sauce with mushrooms leeks tomatoes and I have nice spinach pasta curls I shall also add some turkey ham.

Frank ,you are right .Weather looks on the change here too now :-S After some lovely sunshine ,when I had to draw the curtains it is now dark and really gusty with an iffy looking sky.
Poor Conrad and his painful nether region.Did you say he had Crohns Disease? or something similar? Botox is a great thing for many problems (including wrinkles lol)

Mel ,I think it quite common for a cold to to come back with vengeance .Especially this time of year,with every one and their mother having one.The first cold often doesn't get the chance to completely clear before you get zapped again by catching it again .A sneeze can travel 5 metres !!!!.He might have been in the firing line from someone :-S
Maureen it sounds like you have a hectic weekend ahead of you !!
I am so pleased now that Hannah has been able to enjoy her second week,now she feels better.
The girls have arrived at their next destination after a 4 and a half hour train journey.
I know they weren't sure what the train was going to be like even though they did book 'A' class.Well Hannah just sent me a couple of pics and it looked just fine :-D.
I had visions of them sharing their seats with chickens ,goats etc :-S :-S.But it looks like first class :-D.So they are now on the last leg of the holiday.I think just 3 more nights to go.It sounds like they are in another Luxury Hotel !
I think I am right in saying that for the fortnights accommodation they have had it has only cost the 3 of them £500 each !!!!!!.The most expensive bit was the flights.

Well the chap from Dunel* didn't arrive :-S.He rang at 2.30 to say he was behind with calls and could he come on Monday morning.

Just going to have a look at Hannahs pics and see if there are any I might forward on.

Evening All,

Well it rained and blew like mad here last night and is quite windy now. We've found the same effect since we had the wooden blinds Jane. We are sleeping later than we used to!! The dog is waking me at 6.30am at the moment, as soon as he hears the milkman, but I have been managing to go back off to sleep ok. I could leave the blinds slightly open as we have curtains as well, but it's rather nice to be getting some good sleep for a change!! :-D Yes it will soon be Ascough's time as you say. Something to look forward to as we get fed up with winter!! lol. I have done a bit more jigsaw today, about two thirds done now, but what is left is all hard.......tree leaves and sky!!

Fiona, we had a gap between the window sill and the wall underneath at my old house. It didn't whistle, but I never realised how much draught came through it!! Well done keeping that top for the new bottle.

I had my credit card declined twice today but luckily I could use another I carry with me. When I contacted the bank later they said (in very hard to understand english) that they had blocked my card because I was dealing with a debt management company!!! Er no, I said, I don't have any debts. But CAB have told us you are, she insisted. Er NO, CAB are wrong I said and I have never even contacted them about any debt because I don't have any!! Off she went to speak to her manager. She came back and said that CAB had made a mistake with the details they had given to them. Well they must think people are stupid because how could it be CAB, they don't have my details to give to them. It is the bank that must have made the mistake wrongly connecting the details they were given to my account. :-S Why not hold their hands up and admit it was their mistake. They've unblocked the card now so I can use it in 24 hours. Something else she did really made me cringe though. As part of the security checks she asked me if my full name was ***** and if I lived at ****** and actually read out my full name and address to me!! How stupid!! She should have asked me to say those details instead of read them to me!! Anyone wanting to steal my ID would just say 'yes' and be busy scribbling that down and silently thanking her for giving them info to use to access my account etc. ;-) You wonder if they understand about security at all and these are bank employees supposed to be looking after your money!!

We went into the city this morning to look at dining chairs. I really love the ones we already have that are oak and dark brown leather, but that bar under the knees is really uncomfy and cuts my circulation off now they have been used for a while. :-S We didn't find any we liked, but the parking for over one hour jumps from £1 to £3 now!! Also on two of the main routes, they have reduced the 4 lanes of traffic to 2 by making 1 a bus lane and the other a wide cycle lane. Needless to say we were shuffling along slowly in the 2 lanes jam packed with traffic with not a bus or cycle to be seen in the other lanes!!

Hopefully Conrad will see the end of his troubles with the BOTOX and other treatments Frank. ;-) It's good he's got your BOX working for you now.

Oh dear I hope you don't get the cough/cold Mel. My OH's has miraculously cleared up now after just 2-3 days, so that is good. I was reading today that flu cases are increasing and that it is a new strain the flu jab doesn't cover, although they say it should still offer some protection.

I called at the chemist for my prescription today. I do wish the surgery would sychronise them better. I take 3 lots of tablets and they all run out at different times so I am always at the surgery collecting prescriptions and then queueing at the chemist!! I noticed that the surgery has put a notice up following their recent poor performance stats, basically saying it is the system used that is untested and patients shouldn't worry!! I don't think that is helpful to slam the testers and when I read what was reported a while ago I had to agree with the findings about trying to get an appointment etc!! They would do far better to put up a notice saying what they are doing about things!

Maureen what have you been decorating? I'm just being nosey.......you seem to have had some sort of paintbrush in your hand quite often in the past year!

I had some mesh tubing arrive today for the next jewellery class first lesson. It will be filled with our own design and choice of beads.....not sure it will be my cup of tea though. :-S

Off to bed now.......we are both shattered after scooting around the city this morning so we didn't have to pay the £3 parking.

Ooh I got a shock then.I couldn't find our thread.We were on Page 2 !!

Frank I think Hannah comes back on MONDAY :-D..I thought I had said.I do beg your puddin'

Well I am off to have a read now.The wind is a blowing !!..Night Night x

Television has been absolute CR#P tonight. I have been playing on my Kindle, Who ever writes this stuff I don't know. They should get lessons from somewhere. I can hear Benidorm on at the moment. Sounds complete rubbish. Tomorrow seems no better with Harry Hill, Stars in their eyes. That other pra## NO LIKEY NO LIGHTY So I will be in the conservatory all evening if Ros has it on.

Dinner was very nice. I have a breast over which I will eat cold tomorrow lunchtime with B & B

I will see what's on ITV 3 at 10. 00 pm. If northing worth seeing I will go to bed for a read.

Ann that was awful with your bank card. I don't know one half of these employees dos'nt know what the other half are doing and this sort of thing just should'nt happen when they are dealing with peoples money.

Signing out now so saying night all.

Hi all

The weather here is very windy, so much so it has knocked the sky dish slightly so the programs jump. OH is going to move the dish back for me in a mo.

Luckily I also have a free view box, so I have been watching my programs on that while OH was at work.

OH finally got the hours he wanted so now has a contract for 30 hours. It was a stroke of luck, someone resigned and because OH has a good record at work the extra hours were offered to him, so now we can claim tax credits which will be a great help with all the bills.

I had to laugh when OH told me that the boss said his track record was even better than her's. He's never had a day off sick since he started and so far, apart from twice, he's never refused any overtime even at an hours noticed, so he thinks that's why he was offered the extra contracted hours. He is so made up, but it also means we will be staying here after all. I feel like our life's been like a yo yo recently, but at least we know where we stand now.

He might be offered even more hours next month as someone else is leaving, although other's have asked for extra hours too, so it might not happen. It doesn't matter to OH as he's made up his hours have almost doubled on his contract now (he only had 16 hours when he first started).

I've been busy baking today, making lots of goodies for tomorrow. It's our wedding anniversary and OH has finally got a weekend off. It's not very often he gets a whole weekend off so we're looking forward to spending some time together.

I hope James had a lovely birthday Jane. Has the weather got any better in Iceland yet. It's nice to hear Hannah is much better and can enjoy the rest of her holiday.

Glad to hear Conrad's operation went well and that he is feeling a bit better now. Hope everything goes alright for him when he goes back to the hospital.

I can't believe what you said about the bank and their security questions Ann, you are right they are suppose to ask you the questions for you to give the answers, not the other way round. At least the situation is sorted now, although it should never of happened in the first place.

Well, OH is falling asleep on the sofa, so I think it's time to hit the hay and go to bed. I wonder where that saying came from, it's something my mum used to say to me as a child, that and up the wooden hill to Bedfordshire. Funny how things come back to you. ;-) ;-).

Night Night everyone

Morning all and evening Kim,

Still the same here today, windy and that fine rain blowing in clouds. The wind really came up extremly gusty last night and while I was out having a ciggy I noticed the bucket of stones I had on top of the bar b q cover had gone, blown away and the cover looked like it would take off any minuet and go over the fields. So there I was in my dressing gown with a coat over the top and a hat on my head pulled well down out there at nearly 1 am putting some round pavers on the top of it to keep the cover on. My dressing gown was blowing around in the strong wind and I came in all wet form the blowing rain. The bucket was along the garden and the stones all on the floor so I had to be careful not to tread on them in the dark and fall over.

It's good your oh has more hours now Gill you both must be very pleased. It will make a big difference to you all.

<3 <3 <3 <3 HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO GILL AND HUBBY TODAY <3 <3 <3 <3

Hope you have a lovely weekend.