General Chat

Morning all, evening Kim,

Well madam is absolutely full of COLD. She can hardly breath and if she coughs it's like thunder. I have told her she is not doing anything today. She can sit on the sofa and I will be at her beck and call, WHAT'S DIFFERENT :-D :-D :-D Joking apart, it's not like her to be this bad.

Will. Those photo's were horrendous, those poor girls. I do hope everyone feels better soon, and make a quick recovery.

Gill, You will have apple pies coming out of your ears by the sound of it. A nice apple pie and custard is hard to beat. Conrad's Partner JAN, makes excellent apple pies.

Jane Your "DRAWS" sound very nice. I have mentioned them to Conrad but they have all the furniture they need from the previous house in Rutland. Thanks for thinking of him.

Yesterday evening I stayed in the conservatory watching T.V. What with all those silly soaps followed by Broad Church ( I didn't see the first lot) so not that interested in this one. One programme was excellent. "24 hours in Police Custody" It's about what the police have to do in the 24 hours after the arrest of an attempted murder. My sort of programme.

Gill I caught a bit of the "HOTEL" what confusion. They didn't know if they were coming or going. That chap behind the bar, wants to get to a dentist. His teeth were revolting, stained with everything. I didn't like the way the CHEF wiped his sleeve across his nose either. A place I wouldn't consider staying. :-( :-( I must look on Google and see what the ratings are

Tablet time for Ros, so I'm off.

Afternoon all

Yes Mel, I've been really busy with my baking of late, I love to bake, hence my name BakerGill lol. It's something I've always enjoyed and can spend days in the kitchen happily cooking and baking, OH loves it too, but only to eat the things I make. :-D :-D :-D.

We've just had a bit of snow mixed in with light rain, it only lasted a few minutes but according to the weather forecast there is a lot more on the way. Look's like Sandra might get her wish and be able to make her snowman after all if it snow's heavily like Boxing Day. She got quite excited when I called her to the kitchen to see it. No sun here though, it's to cloudy.

OH is back at work after having 3 days off, he said it was nice to relax, I'm sure he'll be tired when he gets home later and will probably want an early night, he's on a 12 hours shift today so won't be home till nearly 9pm. He said he wanted to watch "The Secret of The Tea Chimps" it's about the chimps who starred in the long running series of adverts and how they came to be on our screens and what happened to them when the cameras stopped rolling. I decided to record it as he watches it as I'm sure he'll fall asleep before it finishes. At least he can watch it again if he does fall asleep half way though.

I'm busy again today doing yet more housework, it never seems to stop, I've got a couple of loads of washing to do, thank goodness for automatic washing machines. I remember when I first left home I bought a twin tub and it used to take forever to do the washing, don't know why I bought one, probably because my mum had one. It was like heaven when I bought my first automatic and can remember standing over it the first time watching the washing right through the whole cycle. I don't know what I thought would happen if I didn't watch it. I am a silly Gilly lol.

Sandra wants to watch some Christmas films I've still got recorded, so once all the washing is finished we'll be settling down to watch them. I was going to bake some cakes this afternoon, but will probably do them tomorrow now and spend the afternoon with Sandra watching films instead.

Well I'd better get back to the washing, sounds like this load has finished. Then the hovering and polishing is next on the list. Sandra is watching her programs for an hour so it give's me enough time to finish my jobs, before we watch the films.

BBL ;-)

Morning/Evening Everybody
Ros does sound bad Frank.It sounds like she needs to hold her head over a bowl of steaming Vicks or that other stuff.
Yes a feet up day sounds just the thing for her <3

Gill it must always smell so good in your house with all your baking :-D

Ruby we have a bit of our front drive that doesn't drain away too well when there has been a lot of rain,It's a real pain :-S
Is it Mums that worry more than the Dads when our offspring are off travelling? I think it probably is.Not saying that the men don't ,but maybe they keep it to themselves :-D
It's just a Mum thing :-D :-D

All set then Mel with a full tank of oil :-D.It seems to have taken so long for you to get it.What a good job you haven't needed to use it much .I'm sure we will get a cold snap.Quite often February can be worse than January.

I hope Matteo is having a fun time at Nursery and is being a good little boy :-D

I like 24hours in custody too Frank.Any kind of programme like that is right up my street :-D
That's fine about the drawers.I just thought I'd ask you first .I might actually donate them to the Heart Foundation place.

It seems to be getting darker here.It started of lovely but I think rain might just be around the corner.
James should be back here in the next hour or so........... WITH A WEEKS WORTH OF WASHING :-S :-S..It is all clear here laundry and ironing wise at the moment.

I seemed to have missed your post Frank. I hope Ros is feeling better soon, sounds like rest is the best medicine at the moment, I remember when Sandra wasn't well, she slept a lot and it seemed to help her.

There's a lot of bugs going round at the moment. I find Lemsip Max is good. I have the blackcurrant one, it really does work, maybe you could get her some of that. Sandra and I wish her a speedy recovery. <3 <3

It's ONLY ME. !!!

It's so hot up the lounge end, not only is the heating on, the Halogen heater is on, and Ros is wrapped in a BIG FLEECE. I am down the dining room end, stripped to the waist, and ready to put shorts on. ;-) ;-) ;-) Don't get too excited :-D :-D :-D

Jane I am sure you could sell that chest of draws. Try putting it on "GUMTREE" it's free and you can put it on for the Kettering/Corby Area. Worth a try. !!!

We have had more rain this morning, and it's so cold outside. From the forecast it looks like the North is going to get the worst of the weather. Would you believe it the SUN has just come out.!!!

I have checked the "HOG HOUSE" he is not in residence. The way I have looked after him, and he buggers off somewhere else, ungrateful little beggar !!!! You just wait till next spring when he comes back for his food. ;-) ;-) ;-)

I don't think Ros will be to interested in eating tonight, so will get her whatever she fancies and sort out something for me from the freezer. It's not that I haven't a multitude of selections ;-) ;-) ;-)

I hope James has plenty to tell you and Chris about Iceland. Is it somewhere you would consider for a holiday ??

Gill, When I first got married and moved into our NEW HOME. I did all the washing in either the bath or the kitchen sink. It was something I had learnt from my SAILOR Father "DOUYBEING" (sp)You put the heavy things in the bath with soap powder, and trampled them for 10 minutes, then let out the water and refilled the bath with cold water and continued to process till all the soap was out. Then rung them out by hand and hung them on the line to dry All the small stuff was washed by hand in the kitchen sink. Oh how you YOUNGSTERS were spoilt ;-) ;-) ;-)

Every summer my Dad would wash all the blankets in this way, in a big tin bath in the garden !!!

In the time I have been on here, we now have blue sky's and brilliant sunshine, What's it like your way JANE ???

We have sunshine again after a very dark lunchtime with hailstones after and then grey sky till now.

I shall whip round and corn the chickens while it is dry.

Mum always washed all the blankets in the summer Frank. I suppose you knew you were going to get hem dry and ready for the winter again. I remember having only a sheet and the counterpane or bedspread which was pink satin with embroidery on it in the middle, over me in the summer. Then when I was a bit older I had a satin pink eiderdown.

It is freezing outside. My hands got really cold and stiff when I did the chickens and filled the bird feeders up.

Afternoon All,

Well, it started dry here, then we had heavy rain, then sleet so when we got home from lunch down the road (fav carvery wasn't doing a carvery today) I changed my mind about going out to take 2 tops back to change and thought I'd stay in. Now I have my old togs on the sun is shining and the rain has stopped!! Typical :-S.

Yes, that's the firm Ruby! I don't think many of them stock furniture yet, but we have their flagship store a mile down the road that has 85,000 sq ft of space, which is big for the uk stores. It was one of the first to stock the P*r Una range of clothing and has a dehli counter and pasta bar which very few stores have as well yet. We have a block paving front drive and that has puddles in places too where the water lies. :-( At least it isn't outside the front door thank goodness.

Speaking of water lying, did anyone watch Countryfile and see that chap who had a big house near the Thames? He has got builders to gradually jack his house up 5 feet higher and build the walls up and a flight of steps to his front door so it won't flood in future!!

William your family seem to have been in the wars lately! The poor girls with their legs and bruises. I do hope they soon improve enough to be a bit more mobile! It gets you down being stuck in bed for long. Poor Carmel too with all that pain. I hope she is feeling a bit better now.

Frank, that's the best thing for Ros.......a bit of RR with 'nurse Frank' in attendance!! lol. ;-) It seemed to work for OH with his cough and cold. Maybe your hog was on a walkabout when you looked for him? I hope you leave his house there in case he comes back. I used to wash by hand when I was first married till we saved up for an automatic (I didn't want a twin tub) after about 6 months. I remember treading the sheets in the bath too (lovely clean feet after!!) and wringing things out by hand. The worst was the pong from the men's socks when the hot water hit them! Hankies used then and underwear would be boiled in an old saucepan. I soon sent the sheets to the laundry and loved and appreciated my automatic when I got it!!

We are recording the chimps prog Gill. I have a feeling they were kept at Twycross Zoo not too far from here years ago and they used to have tea parties for them there too before it became non PC.

I like Michael Portillo too. He's a better communicator with people having been an MP than some of the PM's we've had and has a nice manner. He was just the same as in the progs when we saw him on stage.

It's FREEZING FRANK.There was some rain with sleet a bit earlier.But it looks like we could have bit of snow tonight.I wouldn't be surprised if you definitely get it.
My big toe and thumb have been painful today.I'm sure it is the weather.

I might just try Gumtr** Frank

James is back and says the trip was brilliant.They would love to go back again one day.But it is so expensive there.I think he is tired out now so has gone up for a nice bath.He's back to work tomorrow.
Chris is going to Cambridge tomorrow.He wants to see some exhibition.So I will have a nice day on my own :-D

All nice and toasty here with the Woodburner :-D.I might just be too hot in a minute.

When I was married the first time (this is my second marriage) I used to wash everything by hand and then I put it through a mangle turning the handle and putting the washing through a few times until I couldn't get anymore water out of it. I didn't have a garden back then, just a balcony, so I would hang the washing over that and put the small stuff on a clothes maid.

I was given a small spin dryer a bit later and that was fun. I had to put a bowl underneath the outlet and hope I'd managed to get most of the water out with the mangle first so that the bowl wouldn't get full and overflow. That actually happened once and the water went all over the kitchen floor.

I didn't get a washing machine until long after my second marriage as they were quite expensive back then and I didn't upgrade to an automatic washing machine until Sandra was about six, so quite a long time.

I had to laugh the other week when my youngest daughter, who has recently moved out, rang me and asked how to hand wash as she hasn't got a washing machine yet. So I think you're right Frank the youngsters have been spoilt over the years and more so as each generation passes.

After all that tender loving care your HOGS have up and left you Frank, how inconsiderate of them lol. I have that with our little Rosie the squirrel, I was just saying the other day how I hadn't seen her for a while and then yesterday there she was outside our back door waiting for the nuts. That's the thing with wild animals, they're not at all faithful. :-D :-D :-D.

I bet you're glad both your children are safely back home now Jane, sounds like James has brought the snow back with him according to the weather forecast.

Poor Ros, it's awful when you can't get warm and you're achy all over. You want to be careful you don't catch a cold sitting around with no top on ;-) ;-).

I'm still washing, I thought I only had two loads to do, but it ended up five, so now I'm busy trying to get it all dried and ironed before dinner.

Better get back to it ;-)

You nipped in there just before me Ann.
The only M&* I know that has a deli and Pasta bar near us is Milton Keynes.But that is still nearly an hour away :-S.I am hoping when the new Retail park opens at Rushden that there will be a huge M&*.That would be really good.

I too did all the washing by hand or in the bath when we were first married.We had just bought our first house and couldn't afford a washing machine.Trying to squeeze all the water out of the sheets and towels was horrible and so heavy.The carrying it all downstairs to get it out on the line.I think that was for about 6 months and then I was left some money from a step Grandmother (who I never knew).I had no idea who this money was from until I asked my Mum is she knew the name lol
So the first things I bought was a washing Machine and a Hoover.Oh Bliss :-D
I remember well the smell of the washing when Mum had her twin tub.She used Omo.
I loved it :-D When the machine was emptied and the hose went into the sink to drain it the drain outside would fill with foam and bubbles .

I hope Sandra has enjoyed watching more Christmas films this afternoon Gill,and hope her wish comes true and that she might be able to make a snowman :-D.It looks more likely that you will get snow up where you are .
I also think my sister might get a bit too down in Tewkesbury.I don't know that little William has seen snow yet.That would be very exciting for him :-D

It's just started snowing here.. :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D

Big Snow? Will it settle?

O bum it has stopped..................................... :-( :-( :-( :-( :-( :-( :-( :-(

It is a bit on the pot soil on the patio and on the roof of oh's car outside. It is also on the decking but everywhere else is so wet it is not staying there. I did take a pic out the back door just to prove it happened.

Evening all,

We had sun first thing then it turned to rain and hail ,the next time i looked out the window it was snowing ,it hasn't laid as the ground was so wet .

We have had a messed up day ,hubby has a chap that does jobs on his van and hubby order the part for the brakes on the van when he collected it and took it to his chap it was the wrong part !! seems as if the box was the right box but the wrong part was inside the box !! so he had to wait until this afternoon for the new part to arrive ,not that he would have done much at work in this weather ,he's working on a roof !!

I have stewed apples in the freezer but i've never thawed them and made apple pies and then re frozen the apple again, is it ok to do that ?
Gill what cakes do you bake ? got any nice recipes ?
I bet Sandra is hoping for the snow to make her snow man.

Oh William the poor girls and Carmel too ,i hope she's feeling a little better today .
Your daughters leg looked just like my BIL's with all those staples down the leg .

I can remember mum washing the blankets in the old tin bath ,and then using the mangle to get most of the water out ,also she lit the fire under the copper to boil the whites and used a blue bag in the rinse .
I had a twin tub when we were first married ,boil wash in first then i added some cold water for the cooler wash and hubby's work clothes went in last , it took all morning to do the washing now you just shove the clothes in the machine and get on with some thing else .

I too had a twin tub when I was first married in 69 and then we moved from Ilford to Redbridge and it was there that I had an sutomatic and like Gill I watched the first load right the way through with my sister in law. It was so nice not to have to stand and load and unload the twin tub. I must have had it between 73 and 83 because we took it with us when we went to Suffolk and it died there after flooding the kitchen floor. When we looked inside the weights at the bottom of the drum had rotted off and were laying on the floor. We were surprized it still worked. So we bought another one the same make which came down here with us to Devon but was'nt used till mums one died.

My nan bought us a washing machine, fridge and drier and cooker for our wedding present.

We've got thunder and lightning now and it just put the leccy out for a minuet. I have a huge piece of beef in the oven so I hope it dos'nt go out and stay out!! It is nearly cooked but not the teddies . There it goes again...........a big rumble.

Mandy ,what a pain for OH not having the right part for the van.Will it be up and running tomorrow?
Oh Mel .You were getting so excited about the snow.Maybe that was just the first flutters and there will be more to come :-D..

Mandy have you seen on the local news about the Rhea bird that went missing last year?????.It has been spotted again but is too fast for anyone to catch LOL There is a film clip of it running through a field and it looks like the 'Road Runner' from the cartoon :-D :-D.It looked s funny.

Don't know about the snow but it looks like it is going to be a very windy day tomorrow.