General Chat

Oh said he was hungry this morning so after I had done the chickens I cooked a fried breakfast. Just mushrooms bacon a couple of eggs and toast. We hav'nt had anything since. I shall do some cold turkey and chips tonight so nice and easy. We have opened more present from each other and I have had some really good things from oh this year for my craft work. Some super magnifying glass with different lens to put on with a light in it too and they will be good for beading and felting and some different size and shape tweezers in a case. A pair of new secatares with a swivel soft grip handle a new super sonic headlight for when I go round to the chickens in the dark and a torch with different beams on it both rechargable. A hedgehog comforter as well. One you put in the micro to heat it up. O and a craft board with squares all over it and other lines like the ones they were using on Kirsties programs. A hedgehog mug.

Ann my pom pom makers are the same as the ones on that program too in different sizes.

I had a love photo from the boys of themselves in their school uniform and a nice white and silver scarf and gloves and a dear little hedgehog too.

Jane did Jess like her coat?

Gill Sandra could trace around the snowman stickers I sent her and stick them to the card and hang those on her tree as they were nice and glittery.

Wash machine has just finished so I better put that in the dryer.

Its been pelting with rain here all afternoon and I was really soaked when I came in from shutting the chickens in just now.

That's a pity it rained Frank. It sounds like you've got a house full again.

You did well for presents Mel.

We've all slept for the last few hours, poor OH had a bad night with this virus and I think Sandra and I just needed to catch up with some sleep with being so busy and having a few early mornings and late nights recently.

OH is watching Top Gear A Burma Special on Sky now and I think Sandra is going to help herself to some of the nibbles I made before settling down to watch the soaps in a hour.

She's made a couple of pink, blue and purple bracelets today, I think she's going to go back to her glitter card tomorrow and in between is reading the books we bought her, so she's happy.

Going to get a cuppa now. Hope you've all had a lovely Christmas.

Evening All,

Well it poured with rain here last night but was sunny this morning. I had a bad night too and didn't go to sleep till after 7.00am as my tum was a bit churny with all the rich food. I got up at 8.30am though, jumped in the shower and then went to Grantham to the Boundary Mill sale.There were hardly any cars on the road at 9.00am when I set off but some of the driving, running red lights etc was awful! I only bought a few bits, but got a pretty pendant that had thistles inside of a twisted wire heart which OH has treated me to. Despite him having a cough now, he managed to crawl to a footie match this afternoon and meet up with some pals.

Frank that was a really nasty fall and you must have been quite shaken up by it. I bet you will feel stiff tomorrow. We always tend to watch the Queen's Speech but didn't always have it on with my first OH. I suppose that's the downside of not being in your own house!

Jane I don't think the foil tin I used was very strong. It took the 2 of us to get it in and out of the oven and it got so bent it was rocking about in the end!! I like the idea of a teapot for the gravy, it would keep the gravy warm too! I always use the convection oven on the microwave to cook the roast potatoes and pigs in blankets as it frees up some of the oven space. The roasts were perfect as you said Mandy and they were crunchy and fluffier in the centre too just like you said. :-D I shall do them in advance again like that. :-) I have frozen most of the turkey that's left now and there is still enough left on it for us to do sandwiches tomorrow. We seem to buy less food every year and OH has already said not to get sausage rolls next year as he eats too many then gets indigestion! lol. I had to re-order one of the books I got for him from Amazon as some of the pages were crinkled and bent as if water had got on them. They are replacing it without me needing to send the damaged one back which is really good service!

I didn't think much of the Strictly Xmas Show but enjoyed Call the Midwife last night and the Sandringham prog this afternoon. I never knew that men should place their table napkin differently to ladies.....but then I am a country bumpkin!

I have got the hang of the pattern now and nearly finished the front of Teddy's new jumper!

Mel I had a battery lit magnifying mirror with it's own stand as one of my presents! It will save me using the plug in old desk lamp I have been using and that gets very hot and makes me swelter!

Sandra sounds as if she is loving her presents Gill and has been busy making things already! :-D

Evening all,

It's been a nice day here ,we saw the sun and it was so bright we had to pull the blinds down when we had lunch as it was quite blinding .
The children brought some of their presents with them today ,Lacey had a nice doll that cries and wets itself but she said it's ok Nanny as she has a nappy on :-D
I told her i would knit her doll some clothes so tomorrow i will have a look for some patterns in my box.

Sounds as if Sandra has been kept busy making her pictures and bracelets and plenty of reading to do too with the ten books you bought her .

Frank i hope the fall hasn't left you to bruised and sore ,it was a shame it rained so you didn't get your walk today perhaps you'll be able to tomorrow .

Mel you had some lovely pressies ,so you've had rain too ,the wind really got up here last night i quite expected to see some damage as the gusts were so strong but every thing was ok this morning .

Ann my roasties turned out lovely and crispy too ,i told DIL how i did them and she's going to give them a go too .
The Yorkshires i froze were lovely too ,it made such a difference doing them and roasties ahead of time .
I tried those foil tins a few years ago and found they were so hard to get in and out of the oven once you had the weight in them , i ended up putting them in one of my tins which worked a treat and i still didn't have a tin to wash up.

DIL took the rest of the turkey crown home with them along with some sliced Gammon as her mum and dad ,sister and boy friend were going for tea this afternoon .

I think tomorrow will be a day for resting although i might have a look in the sales to see if they are selling the christmas tree lights off as this morning when i turned the lights on the tree Chelsea said ~Nanny only half are lit !!!

Morning All
Have woken to a good inch or so of SNOW !!!!! I thought we were just forecast Sleety showers. It is all wet snow so I cant see many children making decent Snowmen. I am glad it is not today we are taking Hannah down to Cheltenham and James and Jess to Kent. That is tomorrow when the weather should be ok.

I am sitting in bed with my tea and watching the snowflakes :-D

See you later

Morning Jane, morning all,

Very wet here and the last half hour we've had snow too, it won't lay as it's to wet, i think it's going to be a dreay old day it's so dark, i think we'll light the fire and keep in the warm ,I've found out some wool and dolls clothes knitting patterns so that will keep me busy .

Morning you lucky things getting a little snow,

The suns been out here this morning but the sky out the front is now grey and its blimmin cold.

Had a lovely long email from my cousin yesterday and replied to it last night but kept losing the internet connection so gave up sending pictures in the end.

Did I send everyone the pic of my cake?

It sound like Sandra has been really busy m aking her bracelets and decorations and reading her books. So she is a happy little soul at the moment. It should take her a while to get through 10 books.

Ann my glasses with the light I will send a picture of as they would certainly help you with beading and threading the needle, thats what I have trouble with.

We've now got sleety rain. Its turned really cold here.

Snow and rain now.

snowing hard now.

Good morning all, from a SUNNY DEVON. Blue sky's as far as you can see.

Kerry rang this morning, the roads around her are to dangerous to drive on, so they will try to get down tomorrow. I see that around Bristol is pretty bad, so I expect LIZ has snow as well.

Didn't sleep again last night. My right hip and lower back won't let me move about very well. I hate this clock watching throughout the night.

We are having a chill day until we go to Jo's for a family get together, at 3.00 pm. Conrad has already said he doesn't want to be there too long, so I expect we will be home around 6.00 pm As least we would have shown our faces !!!

Well it looks like SANDRA is fixed up for a few days with TEN BOOKS to read. I am pleased she had a nice Christmas.

Are any of you having to travel today. if so, please be careful, as are are many roads with ICE on them, and I see there is 114 food warning out around the Counry.

We had a very pleasant evening with Jan's SIL and Max her husband . Jan cooked a massive piece of pork with loads of crackling. All the veg that we had on Christmas day (FRESHLY COOKED). There was Panacea, Christmas pudding and fruit. Cheese and biscuits and PORT. What an end to a perfect meal.

They decided to go home at 9.00 pm as did Jo and Ella. That was my cue to go to bed. Ros came in around 10.00 when Jan and Conrad decided to go to bed. Jan was up very early clearing away and washing up/dishwasher and bowls of water. All done by the time I came out at 8.45.

Looks very cold outside, so I will be in my chair with my book, until I have to shave and change to go to Jo's later.

Hope everyone is well and not over fed. !!!!

Its not settling and the sky is getting brighter.

Frank is Kerry the one who lives in Rutland or Corby way? That sounded a lovely meal you had last night. Maybe the combination of eating too much ,not sleeping on your new mattress didnt help with you having a good night .I expect too you have been doing a bit more walking than normal with might have aggravated your hip.

I did smile at Lacey saying not to worry because her little doll had a nappy on :-D :-D

I dont remember Tiny Tears having a nappy !

So snow seems to be everywhere other than up with Gill. Nothing was gritted here and I also guess neither was the A14 judging from the chaos on there.I did hear that some of the M11 was shut .
It is really windy and biting cold. Thomas is out. I have no idea where. I am hoping that once he knows Benjy has gone he will spend a bit more time indoors and relaxing lol I think a week with the dog here is too much for him really as he is on edge all the time,other than at night when everyone is in bed.

I am dog sitting this afternoon. I said on one condition , and that is as long as he has been out and done a poo.I dont want to find any more unexpected surprises :-S
:-S

Goodness thats quite a bit of snow on that road Jane , it's been pouring here and we've had hail at times too, there lots of roads flooded round about and a double decker bus has got stuck in flood water under a bridge ,some homes with no power too .
Max hasn't had a walk yet but he's not keen in going out in the rain ,i open the door and he turns tail , at the moment he's fast asleep and dreaming on the sofa , he does lift his head when the hail beats on the front window .

It's nice to hear some one has some sun then Frank , i expect sleeping in a strange bed probably isn't helping your hip ,have you any cream you could rub
on ?

Hope no one has to travel to far today in this weather ,if you do take care .

Wow why could'nt we have snow like that Jane when there is no need to go out.

Evening All,

We awoke to 2-3 inches of snow but there was more in the local villages when we went out. The fields are all covered with the floods by the river just down the road and there were floods and huge puddles across some of the other roads too. I saw my second upside down car in a ditch after seeing one on my way to Grantham yesterday and we saw 2 cars that had run into each other, but no-one hurt. Tomorrow we plan to go to the Rutland garden centre with the lovely restaurant and nice decorations as their sale starts then, but after the tricky trip in all the snow last time OH is sticking to the main roads as much as poss so we'll go to Oakham as the road from there is better. There's likely to be more snow that way and with no gritting to speak of it could be quite treacherous with black ice on the back roads.

Mandy I can just picture Lacey reassuring you the doll had a nappy on! The things they come out with! <3 I see you are getting your knitting needles out to do some doll's clothes now. I like knitting little outfits as they quick to do being small! I should be starting the back of teddy's jumper tonight. I should manage that quite quickly as it is all in moss stitch with no tricky aran pattern to follow like the front. :-) I did wonder about putting the foil tin on a metal tray, but couldn't find my big one, but a tin like you suggest would be safer as it couldn't slide off!! I must try freezing yorkshires next as I have never done that before.

Oh Frank I don't know where you are managing to put all these feasts! lol. I think we have about had enough now and there aren't too many goodies left. We sat and polished off a layer of choccie biccies in bed this morning and were just saying how nice and quiet it is now the builder has finished building, when all of a sudden a load of noise started with a pneumatic drill digging the road up in front of our next door neighbour! lol. Luckily it only lasted a few minutes and they'd finished by the time we went out. I think our Christmas Pud will be eaten on New Years Day now. It's a shame you aren't sleeping well, but that fall must have bruised your side which won't have helped. Perhaps tonight will be better.

No pics of your cake or light yet Mel. You had some nice pressies didn't you! You will be like a giant firefly in the dark with your new sonic light on! It will be safer to be able to see and not trip on anything though. I have a craft board thing I got from The Works with squares on it. I got it for cutting on really and could do with a bigger one now.

I got an awful sharp pain in my right side as I launched myself onto the new mattress getting into bed last night. At first I thought it must be appendicitis with how sharp it was but a few tentative prods didn't cause any pain so I must have strained a muscle. It's made me stop in my tracks a few times today, but is more sore than painful now.

I was so shattered last night I couldn't keep my eyes open to watch the end of the Miniaturist so better go and watch it now before the second part tonight.

Ann we have just watched the Miniturist but think we shall have to watch tonights tomorrow when we get back from Cheltenham.Christmas seems so tiring we are yawning our heads off here now,and havent even had a meal. The thought of anything rich now is making us grimace lol so it is going to be an egg on toast.

I seem to have itchy patches breaking out on my scalp again :-S. I think it is most likely to be due to just all the extra stress with having everyone here for so long plus worrying about Thomas and Benjy. All Thomas wants now is a bit pf peace.

Hannah is having a bath and James and Jess are at James's friends for a few Drinks.Hannah dropped them off but they will be walking home Or they could be sliding home as it ig so icy in places.Maybe they will get a taxi .

That pulled muscle in your tum sounded so painful Ann. No more leaping onto you mattress !!

Hannah and Chris are going to pick up J&J now as it is going to be too dicey walking. Hardly any lights on our road and a very narrow pavement which will be really iffy.

Good morning my lovely FRIENDS.

Nice clear morning here, It looks blooming cold as the forecast was minus 3/4 degrees.

Kerry and Mark Set of from Weldon, Corby and phoned to say they were on the M42 heading to the M 5 They arrived safe and sound at Jo's around 8.30 pm.

We went to Jo's around 5,00 pm. It was not our scene. As the youngsters starting to arrive, they al stayed in the kitchen drinking and chatting. Roa and I sat in the long on our own. Around 7.00 I said to Conrad, cn you take us back as I am not feeling too well (my excuse) He dropped us home and went back. They came home about 10.00 pm.

We chatted a while and Jan had taken photo's of all the family, which I said she should get printed.

Another "Sleepless night in Seattle" Ros was off the moment her head touched the pillow, Had I been at home I would have got up and rad my book. But instead I just lain and CLOCK WATCHED. By 6,30 I was ready to drop off, but knowing Kerry, Mark, Alexander, Jo and Ella were coming round 9.30/10.00 am for Alexanders Christmas Present opening. I got up had my two COT's. Showered and dressed and now sitting waiting for them to arrive.

You certainly had some snow up your way folks. I just hope it is sake for any one you who are travelling today. (SAFE TRIP JANE) xx

Ann That Garden Centre at Rutland wasn't far from where Conrad lived, and most of his trees and plants came from there. I hope you have an enjoyable lunch there. I have never tried it.

I don't think there will be any walks for me today. When ever the company leave, Conrad needs to get a couple of SIM CARDS from town and take back his shirts to T K Max. The girls will no doubt find something to do in the shops, I will stay at home and read my book.

That cake looks very nice Mel, what a clever girl you are. How are the HOGS and Chickens. Is Mr Fox showing his face, looking for a dinner ??

I am hoping we will be coming home Tomorrow, but nothing has been mentioned. Roa rang Pam and Denis last night, and everything seems to be alright at home. I feel I have had enough sleepless nights to last me a few weeks. Thee is nothing like your own home and bed.

Last night I put my book down beside the Sofa when I had finished with it. This morning it was no where to be found. JAN had, as usual put it away out of sight. She does it every day. I have to bite my tongue, and be a good boy. ;-) ;-) ;-)

I do hope you have had a wonderful Christmas. Have you any plans for the NEW YEAR ???

Simon and Sally went off yesterday on the Narrow Boat for SIX DAYS. I hope it's not too cold for them. I don't think I would want to stand at the "Tiller" steering that all day. !!! Everyone to their own xxxx

Be good and have a safe day.

Morning Frank and all,

I don't think I would.nt like standing at the tiller in this weather either Frank, and certainly not in the wind we have had lately as there is nowhere to go once your on there.

We seem to have stripes of blue sky here this morning with whitey grey clouds in between. No wind and some sun out the back.

Oh wants me for something.

Afternoon all,

What a different day today ,we have some lovely sun shine with a bright blue sky ,it was very frosty this morning and all the puddles from the rain yesterday are still frozen ,we nipped to Tesco's to get some fresh bread and milk it was quite busy in there ,got a few bits that had been reduced .

Mel that's a lovely cake you've decorated ,it seems a shame to cut it .

We are off to son's later for a buffet tea,i must say we are getting so we don't feel like eating much after all the rich food we've had the last few days.

Yes Ann the knitting needles are out ,i've started with a little jacket for her doll in a lilac colour ,fronts and back all knitted in one just the sleeves to do ,i think it might be to big though ,it's hard when i don't have the doll to measure by ,oh well better to big than to small ,i don't suppose she will mind ,it will be easier for her to dress the doll in some thing bigger as they tend to pull at the clothes to get them n .

Sounds as if you will be gad to get back home Frank, you carn't beat your own bed though can you.