General Chat

Good morning all,Fred has decided to have rthe day off from family history and is having a few minutes before planning todays dinner,one chicken to roast upon the orders of Chris lol.
Mud,Mud ,Glorious Mud ,from the show ,by Michael Flanders and Donald Swan,.
Hows that for a quick answer to a question,and showing my age at the same time he he.
How near are you to Finishing this sewing bee Les'? And what's next in line?
Hissy has been fed already,and is swanning around in the back garden somewhere,no doubt lurking amoung the brassica ,waiting for an unwary bird,but i have put a load bell on her collar ,so i think they will be okay.
She met her match yesterday ,ttrying to intimidate the two ,rather large magpies that frequent our back garden,she came barreling out of the hidey hole towards them,and to her suprise the two magpies actually hopped towards her beaks at the ready,he he,she skidded to a halt ,took one long look ,decided that discression was the order of the day,and scooted into the greenhouse and hid under the heater,,Laugh ? i nearly choked on my cuppa,i don't think Hissy likes being chased back lol
I think i will hit the cavity of the chicken with salt and pepper ,and leave it to absorb it for a while,and i will then cut an orange in half ,squeeze the juice into the inside too,cut up an apple and shove it in,and cook the chicken ,breast down for the first hour for the taste to slip into the flesh before turning it over to brown the top,which i will help on it's way by putting some oil on first ,then putting a lattice of streaky bacon on.the breast and thighs.
The stuffing ,weeell i'm cheating this week,taking some i made a couple of weeks ago from the freezer
The last hour of the cooking i will do some fluffy roasties round the bird,some roast parsnip,sweet potato,and sweet peppers,all that's left then is cabbage out of the garden,sweede ditto,and some mash,oh,and of course ,gravy,made with the gibblets of the said chicken,anyone wanting dinner had better get a move on ,it goes on the table sharp at twelve ,if you ain't here by then ,sorry ,you have had it ,lol.
Still the weather is pretty mild ,and i hope it will last a little longer,it would be nice if i could have a nice day for the shindig next Wednesday,i have the whole of the family ,including grandkids going for a meal at the metro centre my retirement celibration ,
A chinese buffet,and a nice birthday cake [ i hope] don't normally bother much with such things ,but ,well a 65 th is a little special after all,then ,a life of leasure ,huh ,wishfull thinking lol,but ,at least i can do the chores at my own pace from then on[he says hopefully]
Well,time to get the boss her cuppa,then i will get cracking and get the dinner prep' started.
Have a nice Sunday all,back later Fred.

Hi all... Sorry haven't been here for a while but have had a visitor from New Zealand, A friend who I worked with 48 years ago in New Plymouth..NZ We had a great time and I took her out as John could not do any of the walking but it was good to catch up again as it is 3 years since we last met..

All the gallivanting left me a bit tired so am taking it easy for a couple of days..Tomorrow I will start on your Charles again Fred..Still cant find where you say you found him..but I will get back to it tomorrow.Hey hold dinner I am on my way..If I dont make it just keep it warm in the oven...

Edith Do hope you are ok and you have someone to look after you..big hugs xxxx

Veronica Sorry to hear about Kieth. My brother has just had a quad bypass op and is now on the mend..He has lost a lot of weight and suffered a lot of pain in his back,, which is funny as you would expect it to be in the front,,but that was ok,,He is ok now and doing rehab which is improving things a lot..Big hugs for you and him..


Well am off to bed so hi to all looking in and Les...How is the apron industry going..Have you made enough to come to OZ yet...lol..

Lotsa love Mary xxx

Still sewing....have to set up for the Fair on Thursday at noon and then I think that will be it for now. I do actually quite enjoy it.....but I enjoy other stuff too. My house meanwhile is a shambles and the garden still not put to bed. Next week I plan on putting up my tree so that I have a good long while to enjoy it....old softie that I am!

Glad you had a good visit Mary and yes I will be along with you to Fred's for a yummy dinner except you can have my parsnips!!!

We went to Courtney yesterday and took in a xmas fair or two. It was good to have a day away. Came home thru Qualicum Beach but the tide was in so our Bella couldn't have her paddle....today she is sulking!!!

Had a chat with Edith, she is coping and is keeping faairly cheerful which is a good thing. She gets her second eye done next week and then in a little while she will be better than ever.

Hi to everyone else. Guess were I am off to????????
Lesxx

Hi All

Thanks for all the hugs and words of encouragement. Friday was a good day and the Dr was pleased with Keith's progress. Saturday not so good - he was very tired and cranky - today well the family all came by and I just did an impromptue dinner for 10!!!!! Thanks goodness for M & M's meatballs and a good supply of pasta. Arn't we Mums great!!!!! I wonder if either of my daughters or daughter in law would have been able to pull that off, I bet they couldn't.

But truly, it was lovely to see them all and they pitched in and helped so I wasn't stuck doing it all. The grandkids took Keith out for his 8 minute walk and where facinated by the heart pace monitor, so of courses they had to try it.

Fun had by all and now Keith is asleep in the chair. I just hope he sleeps tonight.

Off to take care of the last lot of dishes

Luv to all

V

Hi all...

Veronica Glad things are on the mend..Kieth will have periods of ups and down,,which are natural..my brother did to.. but in the end he will be a new man...just make sure that he dosent want a new woman...hee hee hee hee..At Christmas he will probably eat you out of house and home,,lol..

Fred Bet you ate my dinner and gave Hissy the rest..Just cant trust friends these day..Have a great day tomorrow and ya got a bit to do to catch up with me ...hee hee hee...65 ya just a kid...but have a lovely day and mind the diet..lol

Off to water jerks tomorrow and boy do I need the exercise..

Love Mary xxx

You know your from Vancouver when:

You feel guilty throwing aluminum cans or paper in the trash
You see two Starbucks locations directly across the street from each other and think nothing of it
You use the statement “sunny break” and know what it means.
You know more than 10 ways to order coffee.
You feel overdressed wearing a suit to a nice restaurant.
You stand on a deserted corner in the rain waiting for the “Walk” signal.
You consider that if it has no snow, it is not a real mountain.
You can taste the difference between Starbucks, Blenz, and Tim Horton’s.
Your concept of a city’s downtown core does not include freeways.
Living downtown and working in the suburbs does not seem like a strange idea.
You’ve seen enough bus drivers re-mount bus poles to overhead trolley wires that you think you could do it yourself.
You know the difference between Chinook, Coho, and Sockeye salmon.
You know how to pronounce Squamish, Osoyoos, Coquitlam,
Nanaimo,Chilliwack, and Tsawwassen (although you might argue about the last one).
You consider swimming an indoor sport.
You can tell the difference between Japanese, Chinese,
Vietnamese,Korean, and Thai food as well as the languages, even if you don’t speak them.
In winter, you go to work in the dark and come home in the dark while only working eight-hour days.
You never go camping without waterproof matches and a poncho.
You are not fazed by “Today’s forecast: showers followed by rain,”and “Tomorrow’s forecast: rain followed by showers.”
You cannot wait for a day with “showers and sunny breaks.”
You have no concept of humidity without precipitation.
You know that Dawson Creek is a town, not a TV show.
You can point to at least two ski mountains, even if you cannot see through the cloud cover.
You notice “the mountains are out” when it is a pretty day and you can actually see them.
You’re comfortable living within sight of a 10,000-foot
glacier-clad volcano that could become active at any time˜and you know that its being in another country will be no help if it does. (but the wind will blow ash mostly east … eh?)
You put on your shorts when the temperature gets above 5, but still wear your hiking boots and parka.
You switch to your sandals when it gets about 10, but keep your socks on.
You have actually used your mountain bike on a mountain.
You think people who use umbrellas are either wimps, tourists, or smart locals who use them for sun protection in the summer.
You recognize the background shots in your favourite movies and TV shows.
You buy new sunglasses every year, because you can’t find the old ones after such a long time.
You measure distance in hours.
You often switch from “heat” to “a/c” in your car in the same day.
You use a down comforter in the summer.
You carry jumper cables in your car and your spouse knows how to use them.
You design your kid’s Halloween costume to fit under a raincoat.
You know all the important seasons: Almost Winter, Winter, Still Raining (Spring), Road Construction (Summer), and Raining Again (Autumn).
You are aware that “curry” is not a spice, but a combination of spices.

Goodness me Deb -hope dem is not rools lol
Good to see you pop in
~~~~ãll been travelling for work today so off to bed
Veronica glad things are going Ok
Hugs for the seamstress lol and the cook and bottlewasher and all the rest of us

JA

Hi Gang,

Glad that Keith is doing OK Veronica. Yup I agree, only a Mom could pull that off. Haven't tried M&M meatballs but some of their other stuff is great too.

Deb, thanks for the chuckle. I always liked living in Vancouver, we were in Kits for many years.

I am still at it but the end is in sight. I have to set up on Thursday afternoon so that will be the end of the sewing....hopefully.

'lo to the rest of you. Glad to see that most of you are keeping out of mischief. Short and sweet today.....off to the "machine"!!!
Lesxx

Morning peeps[just]sorry to take so long this morning ,but i am a busy bunnytoday.
We had a very enjoyable laid back day yesterday,and i got twelve cards in all,which we put on the table as we sat down to our meal.and i found a card on the net from Mary that made my day.
This morning getting back into the routine ,i was out back early getting the last of the stump rot carrot out of the tubs,and cleaning ,cutting them ready for the boss to make a huge pan of carrot and corriander soup for the freezer.
I have been getting the meat into the slow cooker ,and the corned beef is now under way,it being ready for the fridge as soon as it cools down this evening.
Tomorrow morning when it has firmed up i will slice it and get it into the big freezer ,where it will stay till we fancy a couple of slices.
The joint was too big for the cooker so i sliced the tail piece off ,and put it in a saucepan,which i will cook for tea tonight with a couple of chunks of cabbage put in the pot in the last hour of cooking.
I will also add the tatties at the same time.with celery carrot ,onion andparsnip,so ,i am looking forward to it lol.
Still a bit stuffed from yesterday ,so dinner is a bowl of veg' soup with a slice of wholemeal bread,tea will be late lol ,very late ,he he,and the rest of the small piece of corned beef will do for tomorrow.
I still have a clamp to put together to take the maincrop carrot,and there is tons of veggies out back that will keep us going until early spring,so ,we won't starve.
I have to go now and get the soup on,so ,ta ta for now,have a good weekend all.Fred.

Hi All

Brr - we had the first snow of the winter today, just a bit too early for me.

Les - I can highly recommend both the M & M beef or turkey meatballs, they are a life saver to have in the freezer.

Keith is doing well and is encouraged by the contacts he has had from friends welcoming him to "The Zipper Club" a cute name I thought and very appropriate once you look at the scars.

Its amazing how many people we have come across who have had the same surgery.

Off to clear the snow - we have found a man who comes on our street to clear 3 other houses and signed him up for the rest of the winter.

regards

V

Morning Veronica,,we have the same club over here lol,so Keith has a bigger membership than he thought,tell him the tirdness does wear off,and so long as he dosn't go daft ,he should go on fine.
I am back to doing my garden,and so long as i take my time it's okay,but four years on ,if i overdo it i still get pains across my back and shoulders ,it's just a matter of knowing your limitations,no track running ,or heavy lifting he he.
Liz and i still were a little stuffed yesterday evening so we decided to leave that tail of corned beef for today and had a bowl of noodles each for tea,and very nice it was.
I have sliced the whole joint up this morning and have it down in the freezer for meals later on.
Cor ,Mary ,you started Liz and me off on a mission with our own beef ,not out of a tin,which is called bully beef over here.
This batch old buddy ,is spot on,a lovely shade of pink this time ,and tastes divine,i even found the juniper berries for it this time ,and proper cinniman sticks,not the powder,you would have been proud of me ,and i had to taste a morsal to insure it was kosher,mmmmmmmm,even hissy scranned the little crumbs that were left from the carving.
I may just get a couple of panninies out of the freezer,get the press out ,and shred some beef ,and add the usual bits and pieces including emmental cheese and do panninies for dinner with a few chips ,instead of a roast,i could even then freeze the rest of the tail for another day.
The weather here this morning is really naff ,the snow clouds are gathering ,and i reckon we are due a real blow too,but they do say we could be into blizzards.
Not too botherred ,i have plenty of stuff in,and if we lose the powere we have gas heaters on standby,and our camping stove in the shed,and hell ,if it comes to the worst,i can put on me cap ,coat and scarf ,and do a B B Q
on the patio ,and stuff the weather.he he.
Edith ,you hang in there petal,we are all thinking of you,and are praying for your swift recovery,and return to the fold.
Veronica ,i heard from the other thread about kieth,and his membership to the club,he is now in good company lol.
It will be about three months before he is fit to go skating again,but if he behaves himself he should be soon back to normal,heck ,i am digging my garden again,fishing ,doing the houswork ,whatever.
He will of course even months ahead get maybe ,shoulder ,backpain if he over exerts himself ,but that is just a bodily warning that he is overdoing it,and as soon as he slows down a tad ,he will be okay.
In the meantime get him under the thumb to make sure he will do as he is told he he.
Gonna slide out into the garden now ,to get a bit of veg' out just in case we get a white out lol,see ya all later.Fred.

Morning Veronica,,we have the same club over here lol,so Keith has a bigger membership than he thought,tell him the tirdness does wear off,and so long as he dosn't go daft ,he should go on fine.
I am back to doing my garden,and so long as i take my time it's okay,but four years on ,if i overdo it i still get pains across my back and shoulders ,it's just a matter of knowing your limitations,no track running ,or heavy lifting he he.
Liz and i still were a little stuffed yesterday evening so we decided to leave that tail of corned beef for today and had a bowl of noodles each for tea,and very nice it was.
I have sliced the whole joint up this morning and have it down in the freezer for meals later on.
Cor ,Mary ,you started Liz and me off on a mission with our own beef ,not out of a tin,which is called bully beef over here.
This batch old buddy ,is spot on,a lovely shade of pink this time ,and tastes divine,i even found the juniper berries for it this time ,and proper cinniman sticks,not the powder,you would have been proud of me ,and i had to taste a morsal to insure it was kosher,mmmmmmmm,even hissy scranned the little crumbs that were left from the carving.
I may just get a couple of panninies out of the freezer,get the press out ,and shred some beef ,and add the usual bits and pieces including emmental cheese and do panninies for dinner with a few chips ,instead of a roast,i could even then freeze the rest of the tail for another day.
The weather here this morning is really naff ,the snow clouds are gathering ,and i reckon we are due a real blow too,but they do say we could be into blizzards.
Not too botherred ,i have plenty of stuff in,and if we lose the powere we have gas heaters on standby,and our camping stove in the shed,and hell ,if it comes to the worst,i can put on me cap ,coat and scarf ,and do a B B Q
on the patio ,and stuff the weather.he he.
Edith ,you hang in there petal,we are all thinking of you,and are praying for your swift recovery,and return to the fold.
Veronica ,i heard from the other thread about kieth,and his membership to the club,he is now in good company lol.
It will be about three months before he is fit to go skating again,but if he behaves himself he should be soon back to normal,heck ,i am digging my garden again,fishing ,doing the houswork ,whatever.
He will of course even months ahead get maybe ,shoulder ,backpain if he over exerts himself ,but that is just a bodily warning that he is overdoing it,and as soon as he slows down a tad ,he will be okay.
In the meantime get him under the thumb to make sure he will do as he is told he he.
Gonna slide out into the garden now ,to get a bit of veg' out just in case we get a white out lol,see ya all later.Fred.
P.S my zip has all but gone ,so it Kieth is a bit iffy about it,they normally fade after a while.

Hi everyone We have had some beautiful days but I feel sorry for the Brisbane ites who have had some terrible storms and gale force winds and rain and hail,,Many homes lost their roofs and trees falling on houses damaging them beyond repair..It seemed to make a path through certain suburbs and others were not touched,,Weather is funny some times,,

Fred you certainly sound like you had a great birthday..Now that the summer is over you can now relax a bit and let the garden freeze up..lol.. until next spring that is..lol..I am very proud of how you have managed the corned beef,, you are a very brave man,,It could be that we have it all dont for us and are amazed when someone decides to do it themselves..The Aussies are very spoilt...That freezer sound like it is chockers and will last you right through winter and next spring..well done..
Gonna buy myself a Tom Tom Fred.. got the one I want and am getting it tomorrow,,A bit dearer than your In Car navigation but as our dear Prime Minister is giving us pensioners $1000 Christmas Present I though why not as it is one of the best we can get in OZ and we might pull ourselves out of a deeper recession..hee hee hee hee ..If the Prime minister says spend..who am I to say no..especially when he is giving me the money to do it with..

Veronica Glad to hear that Kieth is ok,, Tell him my brother who has just had a bypass is still getting a little back pain but that is normal..I suppose that if they cut you down the middle to open you up its gotta affect the back as it is all connected in one piece..time is the main healer so tell him not to get impatient..and done overdo it..listen to Fred...
It must be getting cold now if you are getting snow...bbbrrrr,,give me my lovely Sydney winters..love them...

Les.. Have you saved enough to come over to OZ yet..keep sewing..what ya doing reading this...get back to that machine...pppp,,, pmsl...Luv ya..

Edith I suppose that you find it hard to read this,,If you can big hugs ...


Deb Thanks for the little chuckle.. Lovely to see you drop in...

Diane,, How is the cake,, I am lazy and buy mine.. We have a charity who makes them so I think I will kill two birds with one stone..get a nice cake and donate to charity at the same time...lol


Hi to Christine and Dorothy...Hope you are all well and getting ready for Christmas..Gosh it comes around fast..Only seems like a few months ago that it was Christmas..I bet that on the day after Christmas the shops bring out Easter Eggs,, They must have a timetable that is the same every year..Do your shops do that also..I get quite angry as they commercialise everything these days.

Sylvia Hope things are ok with you and Norman is not to much of a problem,,Big hugs..

Have a nice weekend all and hope all are well and hugs for them that are not to good..

Love Mary xxxx

Moring all ,And Mary,who says she is buying a Tom-Tom,and i thought you werere happy with John he he,,Yes ,the tom tom is a very good make ,but i think they take the water with their prices,far higher than all the other makes,but ,no mater Old chum,it will prove a boon to you,PROVIDING you set it properly.
A mate of mine set his away to go to some little village inLincolnshire,put the wrong area code in and went to another place of the same name 150 miles away lol,which isn't much of a distance to you oz crowd ,but it made him three hours late .
I see your weather in NSW has gotten even worse than it was ,with unseasonable snow and freezing temperatures in parts as well as howling gales.
It isn't so bad here ,i put the temostate up 1 degree last night,and battened down the hatches because we have the white stuff too.
After a life time of getting up early in the morning ,i can't stay in bed now ,so i was up at five again,and did a couple of hours of family history,beforer getting the cat her breckie ,and still she wound herself around and between my legs,'till i suddenly realised that i hadn't given her her milk that she gets every two mornings [who says cats are daft]?
I opened the door for her to go out and do her usual visit to the boyfriend,she stuck her nose through the portal,saw the snow ,and shot back into the dining room,sat under the table to sulk for a while ,before joining me as i was doing the family history on the puter.
Ten minutes ago ,i opened the blinds to reveal a whiteout ,with it still snowing ,Hissy had a quick look and shot back upstairs to bed with the missus.
With the weather today i think something nice and warming for dinner,bacon badger comes to mind ,along with bubble & squeek made with the last of the cabbage ,and potato from yesterday.
I think i will slope off now ,and attempt to order a marriage certificate for one of my Bird family,hoping that this will allow me to link him up with a ;long line of birds from Stokenchurch oxfordshire.
I have a few from the bucks area too ,and hope this certificate will give me the connection i am after,aas once i know his fathers name i can order the birth certificate too,and get the info on both of his parents.
I will ttry to get back later ,once the wife ,and Chris have had enough of my puter for the day.Fred.

Hi Fred... I have my Tom Tom and very pleased I am with it to..I am thanking our prime minister for it and did what he said,,go and spend it,,so I did...lol...Have programmed it into my puta and picked a nice mans english voice..so that I can pretend that I am on hols in the UK.......lol..

Had a busy day today so now all my chores are finished I am gonna rest..We are working on a new add for this retirement village and want to sell all the remaining units that are for sale.There are not that many but the village operator is anxious as we dont get our money till they are sold..so they are a liability..not an asset..

Might do some FH so see yaall later..

Love to all..Mary xxx

Hi Fred and Mary,

Great that you are keeping us all going.

I am exhausted from 3 days at the Christmas Market but it was a great time. Lots of nice folks, made some good sales....great fun. This was the first year that they opened the Mill site and allowed crafters in the old cottages. It was set up as a turn of the century village....very cute. Everywhere was covered in lites and we had hay rides and carol singers, even a band on saturday. The steam train ran from the Mill out to the winery and did two trips a day. We all waited eagerly as the tipsy's came back!! 'cos we knew they'd spend a little lolly. Great weekend!! Now I thought I'd be finished with this sewing malarky for now but the Local Christian Women's assoc. asked me to be a vendor at their xmas bazaar which is next tuesday....I am shackled to that bloody machine!!! and I still need to sew the apron for Edith's granddaughter.

And speaking of Edith, she had her other eye done today so say a little prayer for her. I know that she will soon be able to be back on here, just a-raring to go.

They called for snow today but so far it has held off. We will need to get the winter tires on pretty quick just to be on the safe side. Because we were gone everyday for those three days the house cooled down. We have been keeping it toasty with just the woodstove in the basement but of course we weren't here to stoke it. So today Norm has been force feeding it and the heat is just belching out...nice and warm again.

Short and sweet today. Hi to everyone.
Lesxx

hi lesley glad you had such a good time at the xmas fair two of the ladies in my building do a craft sale about three times a year I envy you all who can do crafts my talents are in reading only failed sewing at school many years ago, I have a baby dress that I was supposed to smock and it it is still not finished 52yrs later, the wood stove sounds like a great thing to have, the weather in barrie is cold wet and more snow later to-day, the ski hills opened on the week-end and where very busy I am sure they are hoping that they will pick up more business with the cost of travelling across the country that more people will come their way bye for now dorothy

Hello everyone, we had snow yesterday in Durham it was a bit of a shock to the system, global warming... ha bring it on I say... Pleased your sewing days have paid off for you Lesley, its kept you out of mischief??? Just started a little christmas shopping, can't seem to get into it yet, I'll have to get a move on!! Hope everyone is keeping well. Take Care

Hi all

I have spent the whole day doing research. My cousin Gwyneth who lives in Edinburgh and I have been emailing backwards and forwards and even called each other twice.

Had lots of luck with 3 of our grandfathers siblings.

William Brown Macdougall was an artist and illustrator

Robert Ernest macdougall & his wife Kitty seemed to have lived in Shanghai and sailed backwards and forwards to Vancouver/Seatle in the early 1900's

John Cyril Macdougall shows up twice on ships lists into New York from Scotland and into Vancouver from Shanghai the later giving his wife who I didn't know existeds name and their address in Shanghai.

Quite the day and it has kept me out of mischief for several hours.

Now I need to find the birth record of a child who appears to have been born in China/Hong Kong in about 1912 - Any Ideas.

Wet and cool today so what a better way to while away the hours.

V

Hello all, Like Arnold I'm baaack.
The surgery went well except everything is very bright now. Also my right eye is adjusting to having help again so I get quite wonky from time to time. Feel like the song"with his one eye on the pot and the other up the chimney".
Look forward to getting all the stuff ready for Christmas now that I can see what I'm doing. !!!!!
Haven't had time to read back yet but will try tonite. Hope you are all well.
See you soon. Edith