General Chat

Mel. Did you just [post something ?? I opened the thread and saw. "I told you so Frank" then it disappeared .

The cheque is now in the post to Sirdar. So should get it tomorrow. Then I expect the wool back by end of the week.

Thanks for your offers of Help. I know I can always rely on MY FRIENDS <3 <3 <3

That's good about the wool Frank.Ros will be pleased :-D
I will send the jigsaw pic Frank.I didn't really think people other than Gill wanted to see it..You are always on my favourites list :-D :-D

Does Conrad need a chest of drawers for the new house? I have a lovely mahogany one that I am selling.If you think he might be interested I will send you a pic of it.It is a good one.I bought in either Caswells or Drapers.

The rain has just arrived.Gawd isn't it miserable :-| :-|.I am not going anywhere today.So that means I will have to get on with things that are waiting to be done :-S

Fancy you both having cramp last night.Was it something you might have eaten? (I don't know if anything in food can do that)

Frank I filled my feeder at 8.30 and it looks nearly empty once again..But it means tripping out in the rain :-S :-S.I think I might make the birdies wait a bit :-D

Hope all went well at the Dentists Mel.

I was in the dentist for nearly half an hour before I saw her then she took ages keep bunging them in and out and telling me to bite. She really wants to get them right this time. I am not really happy with the front ones as she has them a bit wobbly to my thinking but she seemed more interested in getting the side ones to fit properly and said if she straightened the front two up with my other teeth I would'nt have a bite on the front ones.

Went into Li*l after and got a few bits and came home and had a coffee and we had 8 female pheasants outside the back gate down from the patio waiting for some corn. I tried to get a pic but they are a bit jumpy and when they see you they disperse. Then I let the chickens out as I did'nt before we went out.

Glad the wool is now sorted Frank and Ros will be pleased she has the right colour.

I did'nt get the jigsaw pic either Jane. Those pics of Icland are so lovely and I shall want to see the northern lights when you get those too.

Oh is windging about being hungry so I better feed him before he fades away.....some hope :-( :-D

Good to see the wool has been sorted out Frank. There are so few wool shops these days, there are none near me and H**bycraft don't have a massive range. What does cause cramp, is it something to do with too much or too little salt in your diet, don't know where I got that idea from.

Great photos Jane, I've never seen any pics of Iceland before. I would love to see the Northern Lights but you know me anywhere less than 25 degrees is not a place I'd go for a holiday.

I'm spending so much time with my son and family it's going to make me miss them even more when they move. It all seems to be moving okay buy I guess you can't say 100% until the contracts have been signed, meanwhile I'd better get on with my own decorating,

Afternoon all.

OH gone too work this morning, good job he had Sat & Sun of this weekend as he has been feeling rotten with flu, we only went out on Sat to do food shopping , was only out about an hour & a half and by the time we got home he was exhausted, I can't get the shopping on my own as I don't drive and he doesn't like me using a taxi too often, also OH has the discount card for As*a so he wanted to go,
He felt a bit better yesterday, and dropped me off at church as the weather was and still is strong winds & pouring with rain,he managed to eat some lunch but didn't want any roast Beef and yorkshire pudding at dinner time he was just not hungry,

Looked after Matteo this morning while Victoria did her curves I had to swap to Mondays instead of Tuesdays to look after Matteo, as he starts PLAYGROUP tomorrow, he has only got 1 day at the moment as the numbers are quite high and they can only give new children 1 day , which is fine, we expect Matteo to make a bit of a fuss the first day as he clings to Victoria when we are away from familiar surroundings, I remember when I worked at the nursery it was usually the little boys who got upset when coming in on the first morning,
once he has been a few times , he'll settle in.
Victoria has to stay on the premises while Matteo is still in nappies, there is a quiet room where the mums can stay and chat , make a cup of tea/coffee if they want, I think that is good , they can have a natter and get to know each other.
another good thing is that it's the same playgroup were Sofia went , so some of the mums with their second babies around the same time will already know each other :-D :-D

Thanks to everybody who e-mail photo's :-D :-D

Smashing photo's Jane.

These colds seem to be going round and round. Martine has a stinker, and guess who is flat out on the sofa with a bad chest and sore throat. I hope she keeps it to herself.

Maureen I don't know what causes cramp. In my case it isn't to much exercise . I haven't walked anywhere in over a week :-D :-D I will have to ask NURSE JANE.
SHE KNOWS EVERYTHING ;-) ;-) ;-) I will look on Googl# and see what that says.

Really dark miserable afternoon here. We have had more rain. When Ros came back lunchtime, I got quite wet going to the car and bringing in my BEER !!!

Beef in onions and gravy with potato's around the top of the dish. Sweetheart Cabbage, runner, peas and carrots. That has been in on 100 degrees for an hour, and should be ready for 6 ish.

No football tonight, so I have locked all up and put the keys away.

Afternoon All,

It's been pouring with rain most of today so we went to see the Stephen Hawking film which was very good. The actor who played him could not have done better and it can't have been easy at all. We went back to look at the settee we liked afterwards and after we'd been to the supermarket, as I was a bit concerned whether we would get it through the door ok as the one we have now was a tight squeeze!! Apparently you can take both of the arms off it so there should be no problem. Now we just need to settle on the colour and can then order it. I'm thinking a rich dark chocolate colour that will be easy to colour any scratches it may get!! :-) It will take 12 weeks after ordering, so I'm hoping we can sell the others by then!! We have 2 nice wicker conservatory chairs we can bring in and use if we end up with no settees for a while.

I love the cheery Christmas pic of you and the grandchildren Maureen. I like your hair too and aren't the little ones growing fast!!

Fiona, there is supposed to be a lot of this flu about just now. I hope your poor hubby soon feels better. At least he doesn't have all that travel to do in his job now.

Thanks for the lovely pics of Iceland Jane. Did they get to see the Crystal Cave at all? Yes I would like to see the jigsaw too.........I'm still battling on with mine, just a small bit to do now. Like you I just want it to be done now!!

I see you got sorted with the wool Frank, Ros must be so relieved to not have to start again. I dropped a clanger with my scarf wool. I hadn't noticed I'd bought 'chunky' instead of DK the first time and that's why it wasn't enough!! The second ball I got was correctly DK so there should be enough so I've started again with that now!! I can undo the other and maybe do a matching hat! It looks the same as the other wool except it is a bit thicker.

We have noticed more birds of prey around here lately. Driving out of the village yesterday, we saw the Kestrel we have seen before and also saw a huge Buzzard land in a tree. Further on there was another Kestrel hovering.

OH has gone to a meeting now.....he wasn't keen on going in this pouring rain!! His brakes have developed a horrid squeak now. I expect it will be MORE EXPENCE before he parts with it!!

Maureen ,you know the answer if you are going to miss your son and the family.You will have to move to Bedford :-D

Oh little Matteo starting Nursery.I think William kicked up a bit of a stink for a while but it didn't take to long before he was happy just to go in without a backwards glance :-D
I'm sure Matteo will be the same.I hope OH has managed his day at work with his nasty cold Fiona.Everyone and their Mother has one around here still.

Ann did you say it's a leather settee? I guess it is as you mention worrying about scratching it.We had one heck of a job getting our old suite in through the front door.
I can't remember how we did it now.But somehow the men managed.But it was a big squeeze !

James hasn't mentioned the Crystal Cave so I don't know if they went there.He should be boarding the plane soon.Any minute now I reckon.He will be back here tomorrow afternoon as he is staying at Jess's tonight(his car is there)

We are going to see that film next week.I was a bit worried in a way because of the Motor Neurone Disease thing (as my Dad had that) but I will be fine .Stephen Hawking must have a very different 'type' of the disease to have lived for so long .My dear dad only lived for 18 months after being diagnosed :-(

Frank did you see my question about my Chest of Drawers and Conrad?

I meant to say what a smashing pic of you Maureen with the grandchildren. Very festive you all look.

Think I will do a toad in the hole tonight. we did buy a large peice of topside in Li*l and I wass going to cook that but thought I would do that tomorrow instead.

We,ve had a filthy day here all day. When I got home and let the bantams out it was so windy and wet they all stayed in their house for ages, musthave been well over an hour.

The big girls are paddling as the water is running over the back field.

Evening all,

Another cold day but again we had a little sun.

Lovely photo's of all the ice Jane,gosh it looks a cold place , looking forward to seeing the Northern lights too.

Frank ....do you want Jane's old draws or not !!! :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D

Glad that Ros has got the wool , so annoying to run out of wool .

We had sausage casserole tonight with lots of veg ,needed some warming ,i just carn't seem to get warm today .

Yes, they are leather Jane. I want ones I can just dust and not have to wear myself out with the hoover when I clean them. The ones we have now are like new, a plum colour velour from M&S about 7 years old, but even when you've hoovered them, if you pat the arms hard, dust comes out of them and they were like that when they were new!! Once we changed to hard floors we noticed there was far less dust about and I think there will be less still when we have leather settees. These don't need 2 cushions to fill the gap behind me either! :-) I bet James and Jess will think how warm it is here when they land and Hannah will have thought how cold!!! lol.

I thought the film might be a bit depressing or upsetting Jane but it wasn't really. It had to show the progression of the disease affecting him, but was quite touching and showed more about his focus and determination. I came out feeling I have nothing to complain about.

I like that actor that played Stephen Hawkins, Eddie Radmayne, he has been in a lot of things and is always good whatever part he plays.

Hi everyone, I've not read any posts since I was last on, so my apologies.

I think I told you all that my daughter Mandy was transferred to the Bone Infections Unit at Nufffeld - Oxford, so I'll continue the sage with her own words, copied from Facebook as follows:-
"I am starting to feel a bit better, although each day is very up and down. I'm still in a lot of pain mostt of the time but copious drugs help a lot. I will get an update from the doctors this morning on my progress. I have run out of good veins for them to stick needles into because of the many canulars I've had and the vampires taking my blood once sometimes twice a day. My arms are black and blue now and I dread every day when I need another needle. I've been out of bed twice now, the physio bullies won't let you rest. They call it walking, I call iit the Zimmer frame shuffle. I managed to stay out for a full half hour, then needed drugs and a sleep to recover
I am up for a few visits now. I am in ward B (BIU) room 12. Visiting is 10-12 and 2-8pm

I dropped my phone in my drug fugue so Oliver has taken it to get it fixed. In the meantime I have my old phone. I can't make calls or send texts but can receive. "

So, the phone being out of action now makes it difficult to have contact with her except via Facebook, couldn't have happened at a worse time! Initially she said she would be there a further two weeks then sent home to be under the care of the local doctors team. I think that won't happen now for a longer period, watch this space.

On the home front, I've so far taken Carmel to the local surgery three times with the excruciating pains in her upper back. Last Monday we saw one of the GP's, whom himself was suffering from a bad cold or whatever. He just said keep on with the rub and pain killers. By Friday she was in even more pain and all we could get was an emergency appointment with a young locum. All she said was 'carry on carrying on' but if continues, come in the see Dr Hickson who is the specialist here and he may do a steroid injection.
Yesterday, she was in tears and also in bed all morning with the pain. First thing this morning I got onto her 'at risk' nurse coordinator and she got me a 11.20 slot with Dr H. He tested her out and said what muscles were in spasm (all double Dutch to me/us), in the centre of the upper back back where the pain radiates to affect neck, shoulders and surrounding area. It wasn't a place he could do an injection, it wouldn't have helped, but he told her what exercises to do and gave her a special liniment, which contained Chillies of all things. Plus he said apply heat, wheat bag, or hot water bottle etc. So, there you have it, that was her first time out since last Friday, not that you'd want to go out in those gales!

So that's our boring life. I'll email out some photos relating to Mandy and also my granddaughter Carla in London. Fancy them both ending up with similar casts on their legs, one on the right - one on the left, mus run in the family!

Broadchurch on tonight, see what we can make of it. Also first part of Silent Witness. We watched that last week (ironically about a sniper), part one was a cliff hanger, but part two got us both confused and we sat there asking ourselves, who was who??? Following Christmas I don't think there's a lot of interest on, although we do like Last Tango. We used to like Stars in Their Eyes (nearly put STYES then LOL) but sorry, we can't stand Harry Hill. The ads for it look like it should belong on CBBC.

Myself, I like the Michael Portillo train journeys, such a lot to learn about places etc. He's not someone I'd leave home for, but he does justice to this I must say. We watched that film last night - A Lonely Place to Die, brilliant - AND I didn't nod off to sleep during it.

I'll go and get that email off now. TTFN

Evening all

Been baking again today. I'm trying to run my freezer down so I can defrost it and had a pile of apples I'd stewed and froze, so today I've been busy making loads of apple pies. I was going to make some cakes too but ran out of time.

I liked the photo's Jane, Iceland looks like my kind of place, I'm not good with hot places and I love snow. I do envy James and Jess seeing the Northern Lights, now that is one thing I would love to do one day.

Glad to hear you managed to get hold of the wool for Ros Frank, I bet she's made up and can now finish the blanket. I'd love to see a picture when it's finished if that's alright.

Did you take a look at "The Hotel" program on channel 4 last night Frank about the Cavendish Hotel in Torquay.

Well, better get going Broadchurch is coming on in a bit
BBL

Heavens William
Your poor girls are all going through the mill :-( :-(...Carla,Mandy and Carmel
I have seen the pics ,and even though Mandy has the most dreadful bruisings,I think her cut down her leg looks very neat.Hopefully it will heal well and not leave a bad scar.

I have to go to watch Silent Witness now .Just had a nice bath,so feel nice and relaxed.I hope I don't fall asleep :-S

Will, I didn't see your post earlier and just noticed it now when I was going to sign off.

I'm so sorry to hear about your family and hope they all feel better soon. There's nothing worse than back pain especially if it goes into the neck area as well, I hope Carmel is feeling much better now. I'm sure it won't be long before Mandy has her phone fixed then you can speak with her again. I bet you can't wait.

I've seen Michael Portillo's train journeys, what a wonderful program and very interesting, the way he explains all about the different places he goes to.

Well, I'd better sign off, it's getting late and OH is back at work tomorrow, he has to get up at 6.30.
Night all

We have had rain and drizzle since last night and my front yard looks terrible. It doesn't drain well - I'm going to have to have someone in to do something to it, in the spring.

William, I am so sorry to hear of Carmel being in pain, and hope the med. will help. I bought some over the counter cream one time to rub into my arthritic hands, and it contained capsicum (an ingredient from peppers), and it made my hands feel as though they were scalded. They were still sore for several days. OH could use it and it didn't phase him one little bit. I think meds with capsicum are used for a number of different things. I hope Mandy and Carla will soon be able to get around again also.

Ann, when you say M & S, do you mean Mar*s and Spar*s? If so, I had no idea they sold furniture. Things have moved on since I left home haven't they? Of course it's been 53 years :-D

I'm sure Matteo will love playschool Fiona, once he realizes he'll only be there for a while. Don't they grow fast? Before you know it, he'll be in school.

Jane, I'm glad your daughter is back home and James is on his way. I worry so when my boy is travelling. It's always a relief when he gets home safely. The pics are lovely - so interesting.

I used to get dreadful leg cramps when I was working; assumed it had something to do with the type of flooring at work, but I also have heard somewhere that there's a connection with salt - don't know whether it was too much or too little. I took quinine for mine and it helped a lot. Strange that you both would have it Frank, on the same night. ;-) ;-) I wonder what brought it on. :-D

Morning all and evening Kim,

We've had sleety rain and sunshine this morning and it is still bright at the moment.

William those pics of your girls are horrific the poor things. I do hope they get better soon as I am sure Mandy is in a lot of pain with all the ops and the bruising.

The oil arrived just now and now the tank is full so if the weather turns really cold we know we are ok for heating. It is a nuisance not having an open fire at all in this place as I really miss the woodburner I had in the cottage. Mum had the W B taken out of here when she moved in. Too much like hard work for her with the amount of dust it made.

I see Gill has been busy baking again. She should have a nice lot of apple pies stored away in the freezer now. I did'nt get round to freezing many apples this year but did an amount of apple sauce which we like with pork.

O pouring now out the front and bright out the back!! :-0 :-0

I lied it is hailstones :-( :-(