General Chat

Hi Frank.....Bye Frank lol Better luck later.Have you got a nice cold beer close at hand yet?

Mel I have just sent 2 pics.I'd love to know if they are 2 different ones please and not duplicates.Where do you do your BBQ?
I have picked the veg in 3 goes lol.It was too hot for me so I kept coming in and shelling some ,then going again to pick more once I'd cooled down.I'm not doing any more now.Time to chill :-D

Morning All and Evening Km,

Hot hot hot here today and getting ready for the company who are coming here for the day tomorrow. Got the BBQ out and cleaned it all up and I am just off to the shop for supplies of beer for the boys and milk and burgers etc.

Ann I loved the card from Gordon!! Trust him to find a suitable one to fit what you were talking about!!

Jane I would love to see the mummy pics when you can sort them out too please.

Morning All,

Yes I got the pics this time Jane. :-D I'm in vest top and shorts, but will change in a mo to nip and get the papers and some salad extras (if there are any left!!). Then I'm in for the day. OH is going to a footie match this afternoon.......I think he's mad in this heat!!

Poor Lewis......did you call him a brave little soldier.......too big for that now I expect!!!

I hope the tabs clear up Carmel's cough soon William and that yours soon clears up..........the summer versions do seem to last longer than in winter as you say!

I picked 4 cues this morning!! OH will drop one off to his mum on the way to footie. It was me that sent the funny valentine to OH Jane.....the seaside postcard one! lol. Poor old Chris was up early wasn't he........he'll soon be done with these things won't he. :-) OH was saying yesterday how glad he is that he finished when he did and has never regretted it. :-)

Better get a move on to the shop now..........the sun's well over the yardarm! BBL

Just lost a long posting. SODS LAW. I can't get on for a long time, and when I can they pinch my posting.

Will try again later.

Morning/Evening All

25 degrees already !.I have been into town to pick something up from the Sorting Office,got a few foodie bits in M&* then came straight home.No more venturing out today other than in and out from the garden to sit by the fan :-D

William ,I still have a tiny bit of a cough left after weeks and weeks.I'm almost there though.
I need to get out there and pick more peas which I will put in the freezer but before that I need to get my shorts on.

Mandy I hope dear old Toby will cope with this heat today.

Good morning all, or evening or whatever. Looks like a hot one in store.
Think I'm going to have mushrooms and stilton on toast for my brekky this morning.

Carmel on antibiotics now too to see her cold/cough off (we hope) these summer colds/coughs seem to hang on much longer than the winter ones. I still haven't shaken mine off yet after over two weeks.

C Y A L

By joy, you have been busy chatting.

Lewis had his extraction alright, but would you believe two teeth came out, the reason was that one was stuck to the other growing on one little root. Ros said he just sat there and took it in his stride. When he got back here, he had one of my hankies tied round his head, and in his mouth like a gag :-D :-D :-D He has been fine this evening, and ate his Spag Bol. and had a Cheese, Ham, Onion and Tomato sandwich and a glass of milk about 10 00 pm. He is now settlewd down for the night..

He won't be staying the weekend Jane. They have a big BBQ to go to tomorrow night, and they are going up to Conrad's on Sunday for lunch.

You certainly had a good day for your Birthday Ann, glad you enjoyed it.

Ros is taking Lewis to the cinema tomorrow morning, so I will be "home alone" again. They say it could get to over 30 degrees tomorrow, so won't be out in the sun too long

I'm off to the land of nod now, so see you in the morning, sleep tight..

Sent pics again Mandy.Hope they come through now.

I'm off to bed ,and the big fan will be on in the bedroom tonight :-D

Night Night x

Just a few words before we're off to bed. Great account of home shoe repairs Frank, you really took my mind back. As well as Blakeys there were Skegs. Ann got the Clickers right, I never found out about that till I was doing my family research. Can you see anyone doing all that these days, no, it's a throw away world and footwear doesn't usually last long enough to have it repaired, unless you buy expensive stuff.

My Dad had about everything in his shed and I can see him heating the (looked like candles to me) blacking to finish off the edge of the shoes.
All the stuff was in his shed when he died and no one had the heart to sort it out before the house sold. Whoever bought it must have thought they'd either stumbled on a treasure trove or a museum. They're were tools of all sorts, a lot came from the railway works at Stratford (permanently borrowed) and there were lathes and all sorts of power tools. He was very methodical and had a place for everything and two drawers full of tools. I think I take after him a lot for all those things.

Still nothing coming through Jane.....!!

Ann your meal sounded delicious..so you didn't have 2 puddings lol
Have tried to send the Mummy pics again.My sister had the same pic of Hannah 4 times too :-S.......Mandy I hope you haven't had the same.
The pics are through something called a Whats AP and come through to my mobile phone .I then email them to myself.Then try and forward the pics from there.All a bit long winded and obviously not working right.
Ann I have just forwarded a couple off my phone now.
Love the card from your OH :-D.Was it last year he sent you a cracker .Or was it a Valentine Card?
Just off to do the dishes...Chris had gone to bed :-S....He is working in the morning so is up at 5.30 !

LOL Ann yes i would get the blame you could be sure of that !! LOL

Sounds as if you have had a lovely day , i love the card from OH LOL

Jane i also got four lovey photo's of Hannah !! LOL :-D

Hope you had a good day Ann.

I have cleaned all the kitchen from head to foot. No spiders or cobwebs now. Then I started on the bathroom. The amount of those little bodied, long legged ones in there was unbeleivable. I think I had mums and spiderlings and teenagers all up one corner. You can hardly see the teeny winy ones. Their legs must be soo fragile.

Oh done some mowing this morning but said it was too hot to carry on.

We had a cuppa on the lower deck late afternoon and he has put a defuser on the outlet from the pump on my pond. It has a flat end with a loop on the top with a hole in it that makes air go into the water. Well I sat there with my tea and kept looking at this thing woggleing around on the surface of the water and said to oh I think that great caterpillar drinking out of the pond needs a pair of eyes. I knew I had some of those goggly eyes in the sewing drawers so off I went to look for them. Well I found some really smashing ones so oh took the thing out the water and stuck them on for me. Now when I sit out by the pond or on the upper deck I think I am being watched!!!!!!!!

Will get a pic tomorrow.

We hav'nt heard whether our SIL is down here yet!! They are staying at the same place they stayed last year. It is a smashing place with a heated swimming pool for all the cottages in the complex which is round a little courtyard surrounded by trees.

Better go and shut the chickens in now and then feed the hedgehogs and the rest of the evening in mine then as oh has gone off to bed.

I was a very good girl Pat. :-) OH was whipping the cards off me as they arrived and hiding them away......before I could even read the postmarks!! :-S

Got your card this morning Maureen, another lovely hand painted one! :-)

Oh Jane, Fitz up a ladder sounds like another 'trouser malfunction' waiting to happen!! I hope he was wearing a sturdy pair. :-0

Mandy, it's always best to keep out when there are choice words.....or the next one's are likely to be 'look what you just made me do!!!'. lol. :-D

Phew!! Phew!! It's been boiling here......car said 31 degrees when we were out. The meal was lovely......OH talked me into a starter which I didn't think I'd be able to manage as well as 2 other courses! I had tomato and basil soup with a crusty olive bread and OH had smoked Mackerel pate. We both had the ham hock with a chive mash next which was in an apple and calvados sauce with black pudding and crispy parsnip curls. Then we both finished with a citrus tart and chantilly cream as it looked the smallest!! We then went to the exhibition which was quite interesting, but it was too hot to hang around and look at properly. We went a very slow walk in the heat to see the battlefield where they have built a nice, new monument surrounded by rosebeds in the appropriate colours. After we got back I was down to bra and pants and flaked out on the bed to cool off for a few hours!! I was going to sit outside but OH said it was too hot out there and very humid. He has just come in from hosing all the plants down in his shorts.

I love the 'card' William.......very clever of you.....I'd never have thought of that! :-) My dad also had a last as he was in the shoe trade when I was little. I think the curved knife you and Frank refer to would be a 'clicking knife' as that was a sharp, curved knife used for cutting patterns. I remember seeing the newspaper ads years ago 'Clickers wanted'. Dad used to repair our shoes too and then when he had his own business connected with the shoe trade he would be given sole rubber and heel tips by his customers. By the time I was 18ish I used to replace the heel tips on my stilletoes myself, but dad was better at doing the soles. He even had shaped grinding wheels to rub the edge of the sole around after to give it a ribbed edge. Then out would come the black ink for the edges. I used to use that on the sole bit that went down the inside of my high heels so they would look 'new'.

What a shame you couldn't take pics at the sports day Mandy. Things seem to have gone a bit extreme now, especially when so many parents put pics of their children on social network sites that can easily be copied. Maybe they should have issued forms that 'assumed' permission unless a parent replied otherwise.

Jane, the 'mummies' haven't arrived, just 4 identical, but very nice pics of Hannah!! What a wait for your decorating to be done, it must mean they are good and in demand. You won't be tempted to do it yourself then? ;-)

I hope young Lewis isn't too sore now his tooth is out......at least he will be glad it's over.

<3 <3 <3 HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR ANN <3 <3 <3 Hope you have had a wonderful day and are still enjoying your birthday.

Have been very busy in the garden, sitting reading my book in the sunshine

;-) and taking note of all the things that need doing.

Been watching the women's football, it's quite good, as good as the men's anyway.

Still haven't caught up with all the posts, but have seen most of the e.mails, I love what you have done with the boot William, I've got one of those as well never thought to paint it, great to see different gardens, and what a lovely idea to paint ladybirds on the stones.

Happy Birthday Ann...Hope you were a good girl and didn't open the card until today.Hope you had a good one..

Oh yes Frank i can remember dad sticking those rubber soles on our shoes ,they didn't use to stick on very well.
Also dad use to whiten my plimsolls for school with that whitener in a tube with the foam bit on the end .

Oh i forgot to say i'd like to see the mummies please Jane.
This is the first time i've heard them say no photo's to be taken at a sports day , i think some people hadn't returned their forms to say yes or no for photo's ,so everyone missed out !!
Chelsea's sports day on monday so we'll see what happens then .
That's a long time to wait for your decorating to be done , can you wait that long ??
Mind you the rate my kitchens going it's going to be october before thats done !! :-S :-D

Old sinks out ,new one laid in but now hubby's fitting the worktop and plumber will be back tomorrow to plumb it in !! :-D
There's an awful lot of banging going on in the kitchen ........think i'll keep out of the way as i just heard a choice word !!!!! :-D

OH WILLIAM .I have just seen your card for Ann..........Clever you :-D

I see Lewis has a late appointment Frank g.ood job he has had something to eat otherwise he would be starving later and not able to eat.

Oh Kim I remember sitting up waiting for one or the other to come home wondering what state they would be in.I used to pretend I was just watching a really interesting programme on the tv lol.Then I realised I could be in bed and get a few hours kip in before I heard them come in,but there was always one ear open lol.I have been quite lucky with them really.(In their teen years).I do recall finding James on the bathroom floor once .I think he had been sick in the loo but couldn't get up to get into bed ,so I just covered him up and left him there.(to heavy to lift ).Once there was trouble with one of Hannah's friends.She had got so drunk that had got kicked out of somewhere.It was a special night for some reason.Hannah was so cross with her for spoiling the evening.She refused to share the bedroom with her and slept downstairs.I was the one with the bucket and cloth dealing with the aftermath and her friend drunkenly pleading with me not to tell her parents .I couldn't really say much as I had been there ,done that and had a few TShirts lol(in my youth of course) ;-)

Mandy I always think it is a terrible shame that parents/grandparents aren't allowed to take photos or videos of their children at these type of events.Luckily this didn't happen when my 2 were at school so we have plenty of picsIt must hve been so hot for the little ones doing their races !!!
I am sat right under the big fan now cooling off after ironing :-S and cleaning all the cobwebs and curtain rail and windows in Hannahs room .Those new curtains i bought are still waiting to go up.I will wait until it has cooled down before I put them up now.It seems to have got hotter as the afternoon has gone on and now feels humid.Tomorrow ,well i don't think I will enjoy the heat.Chris said he will do a BBQ again.That suits me fine :-D

I hope Lewis will get on ok having his tooth out and it's not too painful for him.
Is he with you for the weekend Frank?

I rang a decorator earlier who was recommended by a neighbour of ours.He will come and have a look at what we need doing on Monday...BUT he wouldn't be able to do anything until OCTOBER !!!!!!!!.I guess that means he is high demand.

Hannah is now on a long journey to somewhere where they will be staying for a couple of days preparing them for the High Altitude when they go to on to Macchu Picchu ( I 'm still not sure how to spell that :-S).My friends son went there and had problems with sickness and Diarrhoea :-S :-SBut he was doing the proper trekking .I think Hannah and John have chosen just to do a half day trek .

Fitz called in to see if we had a house key for his place as he was locked out.His son had been around to put a massive Lamb joint in the oven to cook for a few hours before finishing it off on the BBQ tonight.(he left instructions for Fitz to turn it after a couple of hours ) but then left and locked up not realising Fitz was out without a key.
I couldn't find a key here so dear old Fitz had to get the ladder and climb in through a window !!!!!!.It sounds like they will be having a feast tonight as his boys and Georgette are doing a Moroccan style BBQ as a late celebration for his Birthday.Both his boys and OH are the most amazing cooks and create some brilliant food.
Our BBQ tomorrow will be Burgers ,Sausages and Chicken Kebabs lol

I hope Ann has had a great day out today and hasn't wilted too much :-D
I should be thinking about dinner but can't be ar***d at the moment.We ate so late last night ..Chris was not amused :-|
I must do better tonight :-D