General Chat

We are back, frozen to the core. Roa decided she would pop into Tesco to get Sid's Val some DAY/NIGHT NURSE. What a wrong decision the place was heaving. I stayed in the car and froze.

I have just made a BIG DAFFY of Spag Bol sauce, ready for tonight. It smells so good, I could tuck into right now. All I have had today were the nibbles.

I still haven't read the posts, but assume all is well in the world for you all.

Heating in on so I'm going to get a COT and warm up.

Afternoon Everyone. This is the first time I have had the laptop on today.

Gill it sounds like you have had so much rain !! Thank heavens none of it has come through the roof.It doesnt sound like the roof will be finished now before Xmas does it ,especially if not all the roofers are turning up.
I dont know that we had any rain. If we did it wasnt much. Last night I decided to leave the heating on just to get the house warmed through properly again. Boy was I hot in bed ! .I was sweating even though our radiator was turned right down. I have got it back on timed now so it will go off at 10.30.

Frank, I didnt go to Tesco today but I did Sainsbury to get a nice bottle of Prosecco recommend .The roads were so busy ,car park full and even at the dry cleaners I couldnt get a parking space and had to chance double yellow lines for a few minutes while I nipped in to pick up my trousers. In Sainsburys they had Parma Ham on the deli counter for half price (bargain) as it is really nice Parma.I got 14 slices and the lady put the plastic sheets in between each slice for me.I have put it in the freezer as she said it would be fine.

The window cleaners turned up this morning just as I was going to run a bath .Chris shouted up the stairs to tell me to stay in bed :-D. They have only been able to work 2 days this week because of the snow and ice. It must be hard on them when it is really bad weather. Chris gave a nice Xmas tip. Then my favourite delivery chap came with some parcels for James. He is such a lovely lad and always so smiley and cheerful.
I gave him a tenner and he gave me a big smacker :-D.. He is the one who had 125 deliveries to do the other week..

Mel I hope that the shop sells all your wreaths. But it is a good idea to just check to see how many they have sold. You dont want all your hard work to go to waste.

Ann, I am sorry you have had a bad tum and that you had to miss your meal with your pals. I hope that whatever it was has cleared up now and you feel much better.

It has been really cold today and at one point it looked like we could have had some wintery showers. Still a little snow lying and plenty of slushy ice.


Frank did Ros take the car keys into Tesco? Is that why you had to freeze ?

I am still feeling so pleased that the bungalow next door is staying and no road :-D :-D

The new proposed place for the road is between the 3rd and 4th houses down the road from us. One house is where the eldery lady Joan lived before she passed away (her Nephews will be selling the house) and a Widowed lady in the other house who I think will be wanting to downsize .So I dont think there are any objections to the road going in.I do hope not as I dont want it coming back to us again :-D

Evening all,

It's been another chilly day and we've had heavy showers too much of the day , we had Lewis here this afternoon while his mum and dad went to Lacey's school for coffee and carols ,he is such a chatter box now , when they told him he was coming here he said " i'll be able to relax in front of the fire " :-D ,he said shall we call Santa up the chimney which he did and then said how rude he didn't answer me :-D :-D
The other day he called up the chimney and son said Ho Ho Ho under his breath so he thinks Santa is up there now .

Gill you've had a lot of rain by the sound of it ,i hope they can get the tilt on the roof to keep the rain out ,you'll have to prey the wind doesn't get up too and take some tiles off.

Mel i hope the wreaths have been selling well for you ,if they are as good as the one in the photo you send i should think they have all gone by now , it's a good idea just to check though .

Ann i hope your feeling better now with your poorly tummy ,shame you had to miss the meal out today with your beading friends .

Hope you've warmed up now Frank , i think its the cold wind that seems to go right through you this time of the year and chills your bones ,the Spag Bol will warm you up.

That sounds a good place to have the road go through Jane and away from you too. I bet you still can't believe your luck.

I delivered the special wreath this evening and I have just taken the money out of my pocket only to find that Andy has given me an old tenner. I hope the bank will take it.

I finished off the door hanging thing I was making and then had a play at making something I wanted to do last year and never got round to it. I made a Nordic Gnome so when I went to Andy's I took the hanging and the Gnome down the shop and there was only one ring left at the shop. I put the hanging on their windowsill outside the shop and walked in with the Gnome to show Ann. A young lady who was talking to Ann saw it and loved it and said how much was it? I said £16.50 and she said she would go and ask her dad if he would buy it for her. Off she went and I asked Keith for my list to add the two new things to it putting Nordy outside in the potato box. As I left the young lady was there with her dad and he said to her "O alright then you can have it". He asked if he paid me or in the shop so I said in the shop please. I could'nt just take the money as I give the shop a commision on what they sell and the girl was in the shop. Anyway when I went to go the girl was outside while her father was paying and she said to me. " My brother died two months ago and I want to put it by his bench". I thought that was so nice and came away with a little tear in my eye.

I don't care if the door hanging dos'nt sell as I liked it myself.

I shall now download the pictures of the two things and send them to you.

Mel i like the door Hanging ,i don't they'll have any trouble selling that so you'd better make your self another one .
The Gnome i love love love ,i bet they will fly off out of the shop if made some more ,how nice to think it's going beside the girls brothers bench <3

You had quite a night last night then Jane if you were 'hot in bed!!!' ;-) ;-) lol. Can Chris cope! It must be so nice to have your house warm again, especially as another cold night is forecast for tonight. We were shocked and I was about to have a shower when our window cleaner turned up on Monday when the ground was covered in snow. When OH paid him he said they had cobbled together a 'bungalow' round so they didn't need the ladders which would be too dangerous to use. It sounds like there won't be any objections to the new builder's plans for the road which will be great for you.

We both had a chuckle when I opened the lovely card from our Shirl this morning as it said 'To Ann and Colin'. OH said 'what's this with you and the window cleaner then?' as his name is Colin. I am wondering now what she put on Mandy's card?

I am feeling quite a bit better now, but after I ate I had more tummy cramps but it's much less painful. If it is like OH had, I should be ok in a day or two.

Young Lewis sounds as bright as a button Mandy. I had to smile at him saying he could relax at your place and I can just picture him shouting up the chimney to Santa and being a bit cross he didn't answer.

The pavements and roads round here haven't been gritted and OH said it was like glass with black ice this morning. Even the surgery hadn't gritted their car park, just the short path to their doors which they had coned off. OH said it would be lethal for some to get to the path from their cars, as he'd had to do Wilson, Keppel and Betty shuffle to get to the chemist next door.

OH bumped into the new neighbour outside tonight putting some lights up and he said he brings the water board van home sometimes, so they don't have any problems!

It sounds like it will be chaos at the shops from now on. I still need some sausage rolls, then the last minute veg etc next week. My wreath sucker didn't come today so hopefully it will arrive tomorrow.

You made a great job of the Gnome and door hanging Mel. They are both lovely and you should do some more! That was touching to hear the girl was going to put it next to her father's edit brother's bench.

Your Nordic Gnome is just brilliant Mel :-D :-D. How lovely of that girl to want it to put on her Brother's seat. I think I might have been a little teary too. :-(

Ha Ha !!!! Mandy, Lewis sounds so grown up LOL Relaxing by the fire :-D :-D.
He knows Santa is up the chimney somewhere now your son did the Ho! Ho! Ho! :-D

I used to love seeing the childrens excitment putting the mince pie, a carrot and a glass of Sherry for Santa and the Reindeer. Then we ate the mince pie (leaving plenty of crumbs,drank the sherry and leaving the top of the carrot. :-D :-D Then in the morning they would come and check everything had gone and see all the presents :-D I wish they were little children again just to do it all again :-D

No pic with your last email Mel !!

Ann ,maybe Mandy has a card from Shirl to Mandy and Gordon :-D :-D
At least you know that your new neigbour has no problems with water and it is just the work vans :-D

James just rang and said he wont be home until well after 9 !!. He left here at 7 this morning. I am having to re jig dinner a bit now so that his wont dry out.

LOL hot in bed ! It wasnt the right kind of hot :-D.(for Chris ) he must have been very disappointed :-D :-D

No no Gordon in my card from Shirl ,it just has to Mandy and family :-D

Long day for James Jane ,he'll be tired when he gets home .

No picture with your last email Mel .

I thought something went wrong when I was doing the last email. First it said it was too big to send then I lost the lot and had to get dinner. I'll do it again.

I hope you feel better after tonight Ann it does sound like the thing Gordon has last week. Shame you missed your friends today though but it is always best to be at home when you feel like that.

As to Shirl send you a card to Ann and Colin, Frank sent me one to Mel and Andrew. What I want to know is who is Andrew??????

Morning all

<3 <3 <3 HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANNE <3 <3 <3 Have a great day. Have you got anything planned for your special day?

Pouring with rain here today, I've just had to bring in my Banana plant from the greenhouse as it looked like it was dying. I've put it in a nice pot and it's by the side of our fire now. When I re-potted it the compost was freezing cold, it was like putting my hands in a freezer, so I'm not surprised it was dying off. Hopefully it'll warm up now it's inside and start to grow. We had three new shoots on it and now there's only one left, so hopefully that one will carry on growing.

We're going to my mum's this morning as Sandra wants to give her friend her Christmas present and the two she bought for her friends daughter. Her friend's dad lives next door to my mum and we think she will be visiting her dad today, so Sandra wants to catch her if she's there. She's gone back to work part time so it's difficult for Sandra to meet up with her sometimes.

I haven't caught up with any of the posts yet, so will do that later when I come home.

<3 <3 <3 <3 HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANNE <3 <3 <3 <3

Hope you get spoilt on your special day, lovely presents and lots of love from Ruby.xx

Bright morning again and I over slept again and did'nt get up till 10 to 10am.

I also have a bit of a sore throat which is'nt good.

Goon morning to all and sundry , Evening Kim.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANNE" 21 again i expect. LOL LOL. Have a nice day.

I have only skirted over the posts, so excuse me if I am not up to date with things.

Glad the hearing is up and working Jane.To much heat in bed then !!! ;-) ;-) ;-)

Have the rockers covered everything up now Gill. It seems to be taking them a long rime to do a bungalow roof ??

Yes wouldn't it be smashing to have little children around at this time of the year. My own two use to get so excited and I think it put us in a better mood also. I expect little Alexander with be the excitable one down at Conrad's and Jan's. Ella is coming up for 10 now so she will be passed the Santa thing.

I haven't opened my Emails yet, so expect to see Mel's work of arts when I do.

It's peeing with rain here, after a very heavy frost last night. Roa has gone to meet Martine for the last time before Christmas, and to get some bits for us. Difficult to shop when you know you are going away in a weeks time.

Ros has finished her antibiotics, so will start to feel a bit better in her self now. I think she will take another Water sample to have it checked before we go away.

I can't remember if I mentioned that Martines OH Brian has Bowel Cancer. They found when he had the camera inserted last week. So an operation is on the cards. Poor man.

Just had a tree bloke knocking on the door, Do I want the fir tree trimming before Christmas. NO why should I !!!!

Roa left the keys in the car yesterday, but I didn't like/think to have the engine running while parked. But it certainly would have warmed me up.

14 hour day for James, seems a very long working day. Is there something that is that urgent, that requires all those hours. ??

No carol singers have been round yet, or Father Christmas in his SLEY on back of the big flat bed lorry. Roa has her Concert on Wednesday. She is hoping I will go along to hear all the hard work they have put in. I expect I will.

Harvey said he is popping up one evening next week, to see us before Christmas. I wonder if Lewis will come with him/them. I certainly hope so. It seems months since he came to see us. Roa is getting Harvey some BRIXWORTH PATE. Jane will know of it, a local Company. The pate is excellent.

Heating has gone off, so I will put that on again. Not sure if I will go out at lunchtime. It will be the last time to see my Saturday lads before Christmas, if I don't. It will depend if it's still raining :-P :-P :-P

Been doing some wiring this morning and am just having a coffee before going up the shop. I WAS HOping to get another ring done but I have all the bits to puit in it and then realized I had'nt mossed the ring!!! I need more moss too.

It would be nice to see the lads one more time before going away Frank. I hope you m ake it to the pub if it stops raining. It will be nice to see Harvey next week and I expect he will bring some pressies with him and Ros can give him his.

Thats not what you need to know before Christmas for Martine's hubby. I hope his op goes well.

We had a bit of sleet as I was doing the lunch but then it turned to rain.

I have just recieved a lovely home made card from my little friend in Cheshire. It is absolutely delightfull with pretty flowers and cat stickers and hearts and inside there is a silver butterfly a lovely cat curled up and four more different hearts. Thank you Sandra its going up with the Christmas cards. x

Afternoon All,

Horrid sleety drizzle after a frosty start here! :-S

<3 <3 HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANNE <3 <3 Hope you have a nice day and that Ruby gives you some birthday kisses! :-D No doubt she will be wondering what's going on and be thinking things might be for her as you open your cards and presents! :-)

Gill, have a look at the RHS site about overwintering your banana plant. It says about cutting back the leaves etc after frost and wrapping the stem in fleece.

That's a shame about Martine's husband Frank. It's good that it's operable though, but it's a worrying time for them both. It would be good if you saw Lewis, but he's a young man now with a busy life no doubt! It sounds like the tree man was looking to make a few extra bob for Christmas......probably sells what he trims for wreath making too!

My tum is back to normal today, but last night I sat on the settee for ages making a bracelet and earrings while we watched 2 episodes of Kirstie. (still don't like much of what they made but loved the gingerbread caravan with Santa sleeping inside!) Anyway, the settee is lower than the computer chair I sit on the most and I often get achey, stiff knees and have a job to get up from it. Last night something 'went' in my right knee as I slowly straightened up and the pain was awful! I could hardly bend or straighten it without a painful, gristly click and had to hobble about! This morning it gradually improved and feels ok with it straight, but bending it is still quite sore so I am being careful!! Going to the loo in the night was quite a performance as was getting in the bath to use the shower this morning! lol. I should have used the ensuite shower but never thought. Hopefully it will be ok in a few days when I have a hairdresser's appointment. I think I need to put a pillow on the settee seat next time. :-S

Our little friend in Cheshire has been busy hasn't she Mel. :-D

Afternoon everyone and a <3 <3 <3 VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY <3 <3 <3 Anne.
I hope you have a lovely day. Are you doing anything to celebrate ?

Well, James was up with the lark this morning and was at Rushen Lakes shops by 8.30 !!!! to do the last bits of his Xmas shopping. He is going to see a friend this afternoon who has a little baby and he have bought a set of those lovely little finger puppets for him :-).
These long work days he is having to do now is I think to finish setting up deals with clients before Xmas. 14 hours though is ridiculous. He is having to go in again on Monday even though he had booked it off.

I have been to Tesco and am now totally pooped.It was heaving and I did quite a big shop. 25% off wines again so it was 6 for us and I rang Fitz and he asked me to get 6 for him.Beef joints were half price but they were massive and I didnt want one so big but got a nice joint of Topside with 25% off. Carol singers were singing away and all the horrible Christmas songs were belting out over the speakers.It was a very noisy shop today.

I am sorry to hear of Martines OH's diagnosis Frank. Lets hope they have caught it at an early stage and that they manage to get rid of it all.
There always seems to be bad news at this time of year. Hannah was telling me last night that a friend of Gareths Dad committed suicide this week :-(. What with that and the young lad down by Fitz I hope there wont be a third.

Chris was busy in the kitchen while I was out. He made yet another batch of Cantucci and Marzipaned the top of the Xmas cake.None of us are big fans of marzipan hence just the top being done.

Mel I bet your poor fingers will be suffering with all this wiring and ring making.Good job you enjoy doing it :-)

Gill your poor Banana plant must have been too cold it should perk up now you have it indoors. I have noticed that the leaves on a couple of Orchids look really bad (not flowering now)

Oh my ! I started this post almost 2 hours ago ,but my sister rang and I have been on hte phone for all this time !!! She has had no water since the day before yesterday !!.The whole of Tewkesbury and surrounding areas have the water tanks or can collect free water bottles from the Supermarket. She said that they have been told it should be back on sometime today but up till now she hasnt seen an update on the situation.

I'm back from mum's, I haven't caught up with all the posts but did notice that Ann and Mel received their thank you cards off Sandra. She wouldn't let me tell you about them as she wanted it to be a surprise. I'll let her know you've received them and loved the way she made them. She always says thank you <3 <3

It looks like the roofers have been busy while we were out and are now around the back, so hopefully it won't be long before it's all finished.

I'll read all the posts later as I'm just about to sort out dinner. We're having it early tonight as we haven't eaten all day and we're starving. I bought some lamb shanks so we're having those with some roast potatoes and veg....yum yum ;-)

Evening all,

<3 Happy Birthday Anne <3 i hope you've had a lovely birthday with lots of cards and pressies .

It's been a chilly old day here ,it was very frosty this morning and the screen on the car took a lot of scraping .

I am sorry to hear of Martines OH's diagnosis Frank , it's not some thing he wanted to hear just before christmas , as Jane said lets hope it's been caught in time and with a bit of treatment he will be ok .

So your tum is feeling better Ann but now your knee is not so good , have you got any cream to rub on ?

I just need to ask if you've had my christmas cards as i was a bit concerned when i posted them the post box was so full and i had to shove them over to one side of the box just to get them in ,anyone could get the cards out it was so full .

Dancing tonight ,i hope Debbie wins but they are all good really .