General Chat

Morning peeps,another mildish morning here in the frozen north [lol],and it looks like another nice day.
Thanks Mary i feel a little better knowing that all the family are safe,and well.
I had heard on the net that the Oz peeps were pulling together,and the money was pouring in,at least then those that have lost all their belongings will find things a tad easier because of the generosity of other communities that escaped the fires and floods.
I have heard also from cousin Lynn so know that her family are okay,And t'other cousin in Brisbane ,Maureen was well out of the way in Brisbane,so all is okay in Freds little world.
I have some rather large mushrooms in the fridge,and i am going to stuff them with cos-cos and a few other bits and bobs for the tea,but i fancy some beans on toast for dinner,using the last of the home made bread up.
I will def' be making more of that next week,havn't enjoyed a baking session for a long time,lol,the missus thinks i'm daft when you can buy it in the shop so cheaply ,but when i make it ,there is only half the recommended salt in,no sugar,and i use olive oil instead of lard and butter,and it comes out very well,i even use alisons dried yeast that you stir into the pastry dry,doing away with the need for sugar to start the fermentation.
Have to scoot off now ,to take the missus her cuppa up,huh ,this wife of mine lives the life of Riley,ruddy good job i love her he he .Fred.

Weeeell,what a carry on ,lol,after the report on the lovely morning weather ,it darkened by ten oclock ,and by half past the hour ,it was snowing like hell.
The poor cat decided she had had enough of the white stuff and came to the patio window and asked to be let in.
Fred opens the door ,in comes Hissy at a great rate of knots,skids on the wooden floor,hits the carpet gripper ,stops abruptly and rolls under the kitchen table in a heap.
Couldn't help it ,i burst out laughing ,whereupon i got such a dirty look off her that i laughed even more.
Now ,she has stalked off upstairs in high dudgion ,ignoring my advances,even refusing the milk i offered in apology ,he he.what a funny animal she is,but very very entertaining to both me and the missus.
The thirteenth today is it?hmmmmm.i think we will both bide indoors to be on the safe side ,a bit like my old boss from 10 years back ,lol,he wouldn't even get out of bed.all day because he was so accident prone.
The wife has decided that seeing as we arn't going out,she is going to take the blinds down out of the two main bedrooms and wash them,Huh,i smell the onset of spring cleaning coming on,ooooops ,time to slide off out back into the greenhouse he he.
Just been on multimap to have a look at the new website ,flippin' 'eck ,it's sooooo good i can zoom in so close i can see my car ,and van in the drive,and if i had been in the greenhouse at the time the sattelite came overhead,i could have seen myself through the glass.
Away you lot ,lets have your post codes ,and we can all see each others houses to get a better idea as to exactly what all our houses look like,and even the surrounding areas.
Anyone interested ,then i will kick off[ Ne5 2ay burwell avenue] go on ,have a shotty lol.
See ya later peeps.Fred.

Morning everyone, Finally we are getting "normal" weather. A few snow

flurries,soft fluffy stuff and -5 to -10 temps. Good for us.

I was thinking of you Fred when I went to buy a leek yesterday. 1 med size

leek was $2.49. I put it back and made lentil soup instead. Would you

bring an extra one in and send it on please?????

Sounds like things are settling down in Australia, thank goodness

Apparently they have also caught one of the madmen who set the fires

here's hoping he goes away for life!!!

How are the rest of you???Friday the 13th to-day and it is usually lucky for

me, so maybe, just maybe the lotto will come my way ha ha ha .

My postal code is P8T 1H7 Fred, don't think they would map us here in

the boonies but you can give it a try.

Stay well all enjoy Valentines tomorrow. See you soon, Edith XXXX

hi well fred I have tried that google map and it is great fun my postal code is L4N-5A3 for those of you in calgary I think my sister may be on the move again they returned from the caymans recently and she has now decided that she would like to live in canmore permantly rather than have two places one in calgary and one in canmore, a 2 bedroom plus den is available in the condo in canmore so they are looking into selling the two they have and buying that one I really can't keep up with them, mackenzie town in calgary I thought was very nice but canmore well the mountains etc just take your breath away so I shall see what happens I have lost track of all the places they have lived in 19 yrs of marriage (she married at 41) I thought this move to calagary was the last but here we go again bye for now dorothy

Yes, I saw you Fred, Edith you are just a dot. I checked myself and it was also disappointing. I am V9Y 4S2
Ah! Dorothy, Canmore. Such a nice little community. I can understand why they would like to live there BUT also living in a small town an hour away from good shopping I can tell you that sometimes I do get cabin fever. Now our local Walmart, the only store in town that does sewing notions, has made a company decision not to do them any more. So if I need seam binding or buttons or what ever....I have to drive over the mountain to Nanaimo an hour away...now that actually sucks!! Hope your sister considers such things.
Sunny here today after a foggy start...few more weeks and it will be garden time...oh! joy!!
Sewing today...keep well you lot.
Lesxx

Hi all what lovely weather we are now having..rain,rain,glorious rain...and more to come,,Wish we could send it down south to the bushfire areas but cant do anything about that..It will stop the crazies up here deciding to light fires though so at least we are now fairly free of them,,for a while anyway.. There is talk here now,don't know id it is true or not,,that the large power lines were swinging in the very high winds and touched and in arcing dropped Sparks to the ground,,I have actually seen this happen so it is very possible,,There was another alert last night near a national park close to Melb. but they got it contained before midnight,,Looks like some idiot started this one..Lets hope some good rain comes soon..

Fred.. I tried your google thingy and found you ok but was not allowed to see anyone in Canada..they don't like us ...boo hoo..It said your house was about 5 houses along the road ,not where I thought it should be,,Was yours the one with the caravan out the front and close to the corner,,???,or practically right on the corner..

Edith Leeks are very expensive here to and I don't buy them because of that..pity as I rather like them,,I love lentils also and often make pea and ham soup with them instead of dried peas...my favourite winter soup..Glad your weather is improving,,keep warm..

Les.. Our maid of the Mountains..back to the sewing and keep warm..

Well better go and get some brekky so have a nice day all and back later

Love Mary xxxx

Mornin'all,and mornin'to the lasses as well lol.
Yes Mary ,my house is the one next to the corner,and if you look again ,you will see the car in front of the van too,let me know before you sent the satellite over next time ,and i will give you a wave he he.
Sorry to hear that the leeks are so expensive ,but there is a quick remidy.a four by six piece of ground ,and you could grow your own ,very easy to grow,much easier than onions,and all that sun ,they would quickly grow to a fair old size.
You know how small my veggie patch is ,and i grow them every year in front of the brussels.
How tight arsed they are ,these canadians ,wont even allow us to take photos of their land from the air [humph] lol,don't tell the brit's Edith ,they will do it over here too,our goverment try to make a buck anywhere and everywhere they can ,to help pay for the biiiiiig government pensions.
Nice and mild here for the next few days,so i may get out into the gardens and start the big clear out ,ready for spring.
No sign of an orange tree yet but i am still hoping,they don't grow very big ,so if one does come through i reckon i could get one to grow on in a big tub.
Catch you all later ,take care all.and stay safe .Fred

hi lesley my sister is a quilter and there is a terrific quilting shop in canmore when I was there I thought that it had everything one could want and for me it had a pretty good library, and as she says calgary is not far away also they are quite close to banff I had an idea that this move would take place eventually as her husband just loves the place so we shall see how they do with selling the two other places, fred I am sorry that our government does not let you see where we live, thought of you last night when the pot luck took place quite a good variety of dishes it went well. bye for now dorothy

Hi all, Fred I think you can get to the larger areas in Canada but I live

in the boonies. We usually say 42 miles up you know what. !!!!! We are

on the main rail line across Canada, but a small town.

You can try a larger area. Here is one for Thunder Bay P7E 4K2.

It should be a moderate size house with a very large back yard and a

garage.

The fox are still visiting every night and are now bringing other family to

taste our fare as well. They loved the dregs of the lentil soup so will

have to make some more and keep some for them. hee hee.

Weather is changing for the better and the days are getting longer so

things are indeed looking up. Hope the folks in Oz soon get a break

as well. Maybe the rain will stay and help all the areas. Your country

like ours is so vast that weather from coast to coast is sometimes like

nite and day.

Our fresh veg prices are beyond reason now, a clamshell of

strawberries is $6.00, and they have no taste and a thick skin.

Asparagas is $16.00a bundle, cabbage is cheap and the other root veg

are not too bad yet. As our fruit comes from California and Chile with

citrus from Florida we do pay a lot.

Enough moaning as I manage well enough . We have a holiday to-day

someone decided we needed a mid-winter Feb. day off, so it is

officially "Family Day". Only recreation places are open and

we are being urged to spend the day in the outdoors with family !!!!!!!

Most young folks I know will spend the day in jammies and get some

extra sleep heehee

Enough of my blathering, stay well. bye for now. Edith XXXXXXX

nudge

Hi there edith,Hows the weather you end ?.Been so nice here this morning that have been standing at the sink preparing the veggfies for the dinner with the back door open,lol.
Well today is the last of my carrots from the garden,and i only have three cabbages left too ,still i did pretty well out of what i had in,and there are still plenty of brussels,kale leeks to eat ,so ,i will be okat until the middle of next month.
Time to start on the tatties too,i only took a few out for the christmas lunch,and then put the lid back on the barrel.
Now is the time to start using them proper ,when last years old potato's become scarce.
I recieved the electric bill this morning ,wahey ,i owe british gas the princely sum of£3- 65p.not bad eeeeeh.he he.
I expect the gas bill in the next few days and i expect a different story lol.
You hang in there Sylvia ,and do as Edith says,sound advice from a very sensible lady,you know,we all understand and will be here whenever we are needed.
This new computer fregime is just what the doctor ordered,i can now dso the housework knowing i am clear to come on line as soon as i am finished.
Have to go outback this afternon to cheeck the seedlings ,the winter is expected to return at the weekend [bummer] so it's out with the straw again,not bad for protection and i can dig itinto the garden when i am finished with it.
Catch you later folks,fred.

Afternoon all, it is a lovely afternoon here today, mild and nice enough to have a "potter" about. Hope everyone is keeping well.
I wish the 1911 census had the North East on as I would love to find out where my "lot" where and what they were up to.
Hope you are well Sylvia, and Lesley hows your sewing coming on. Have you thought any more of the geneology service??
I agree with you Christine about that 13 year old boy becoming a father. What on earth is going on?? Where has all the pride and dignity gone from our kids, now it seems the more people they sleep with the more "street cred" they have, girls as well as boys.. Well I'm afraid it's time for some old fashioned values to come back... Thats my moan for the day...
Fred, you have done very well with your veggies haven't you. I really miss my allotment, just simply can't do it.. who knows maybe next year???
Take care everyone bye for now .

Morning all.. We have had some lovely rain but it is not falling in the bushfire ares..which is a shame..I wish we could send some down to them..as some of the fires are expected to increase with some hot weather due this weekend,,luckily enough it is not threatening any homes at the moment.

Fred Gosh you have done well with your vege patch,,You should write a book on how to grow your own veges and make a success of it...

Les.. Has some blighter been pinching your designs,,Patent them,,an sue em..How dare they...Love your wood stove.. it is so cosy and there is nothing like a fire to sit in front of and read,,used to love our wood fire when we used to live in New Plymouth in New Zealand..it got so cold over there under Mount Egmont that a good fire was needed..John on Brenda's thread lives there the lucky butter...Always love going back to visit..

Hope all are well and keeping warm,,Wont be sad when our summer is over and we head to the cooler weather,,It has been a very hot summer and a bit of cool will be nice...Thank goodness we don't get as cold as you lot..lowest of around 7c and up to 19c during the day,No frost or snow,,just luuuuvvvveeeerrrllyy...hee hee hee...

Have a nice weekend
Love Mary xxx

Hello Everyone. It is nice to know that you are thinking about me still and I'm sorry I don't get on here very often. The problem is, as soon as I start typing I think about Norman and then burst into tears and I can't see what I am doing.Sometimes I am fine but I think I am goingthrough a bad patch at the moment.
I haven't been able to see the grandchildren for a couple of weeks because they are all ill with bad colds and the two little ones have got a gastro bug now, which I don't want to catch, as it wouldn't be very good for me being on my own. I feel a bit isolated here with no neighbours to speak to but I am OK as long as I can get out in the car.
You are so clever Fred, growing all your vegies as you do. I planted 2 potatoes yesterday and I am wondering if they will come to anything. New potatoes were Norman's favourite but he didn't have much luck growing them.
It is 36C here today and a bit too hot for me to go to the cemetery so I might go tomorrow as it is supposed to be cooler then.
I must get myself some lunch now, so, see you later.
Love from Sylvia XX

nudge

Hello Everyone. Its strange that no one has posted since I did 3 days ago, I hope it is nothing to do with me!! I hope you are all well anyway. We are still having some very hot weather in WA. See you soon I hope.
Love Sylvia XX

Profound apolozies Sylvia and Edith,i have been loading my new laptop for the past two days ,and got finished last night ,so ,i am back.
I had it up and running on the basic programmes last week but i wanted to make it fully portable lol,and thats when the fun started.
Try as i might i couldn,t load the dongle for vodaphone in.it kept telling me it couldn't find the device grrrrrr ,there it was ,stuck in the usb port shining like a great carbuncle but would it pick up the radio signal from the transmitter ? would it' eck..
Fred kept trying and trying ,gettin' morre pi**** off as time went by,and then it dawned on me that something hadn't loaded properly when i did the programming ,and this was blocking my attempts to get my vodaphone mobile connection to work.
I starrted to go back through the programmes i had loaded ,and found the bother was with windows office 2007,i hadn't configured it properly [silly old duffer]
Anyway.i got it sorted and now my lappy will work on wi fi ,AND mobile internet ,wahay,this means i can go on the net in a rowboat in the middle of a lake if i want [thinks,i could do that in summer ,and fish at the same time hmmmmmm.].
I did manage to get to the docs yesterday for my diabetic review,and found that my sugar levels had come down quite a bit since the last visit ,so all my attempts to be a good boy seem to be working.
I am due at the hospital next month to have my eyes checked to see if they are still disease free,i want to see if i can get my glasses done cheaper through their clinic because i want a pait of the ones that react to sunlight and darken up as to the amount of sun,far better for driving.
I also have to apply for my ten year licence to drive ,good job i kept that spare photo from my passport photos lol that's saved me a few pennies.
Seems to be all paying out this next month he he ,what with a dental check too,oh well ,i may as well get my gnashers on top linr too ready for the B B q season ,which won't be long now.
Spare a thought for those poor people in oz folks ,who look to be under threat yet again as the weather conditions look to be going back to last month ,and everything will again be tinder dry,waiting for a thunderstorm strike ,or some loony to get cracking with the matches again.
Lets all hope and pray that it doesn't come to that again,all our buddies were lucky last time ,and no one of them got hurt although some of them lost belongings and property.
Fred is already planning his veggies for this next season,lol,the tomatoes are in,set away on the kitchen windowsill in their little minature greenhouse.
I have bought some hollow crown parsnip seeds to go in the big square tub in early april,and the big sack of dried manure is ready to go into the pots as i clear them out.
With the way the prices are going up in the shops ,i will have to mount a shotgun guard on them this autumn,i will have to make a tiny shotgun for Hissy lol,she spends most ot the day out back anyway ,so i may as well put her to work he he .
Off to do some housework now .take care all ,and enjoy your week. Fred.

Welcome back Fred, Happy you got your new toy up and running.

Still winter over here but not as cold. Maybe only wishful thinking but I

I was sure I could smell spring.

Still into the soup and stew here but like you am looking forward to the

B.B.Q season.

About time we heard from Mary , Veronica, Teresa, and Les hmmm.

Let's hear from you. Stay well all. Edith XXXXX

Busy time right now. I have four possible venues coming up and need to be at the machine...lots!! Have created a couple more designs that I am quite happy with...photos to come sometime.
It feels like spring yesterday and today. We had lots of loverly soft rain....washed away all the grit. However I see now that I lost a lot of shrubs in the snow and icy temps. so will have to either pull them out or cut back and hope for the best. Other stuff is coming up nicely.
Fred I think you should start a gardening diary for the rest of us....email and tell us what to and when so that we can have veggies like yours....all those in favour say yes!!! So should I have started my toms by now...I don't think I can even get seeds here yet???
Sylvia, little chick, don't you worry. We want you on here all the time, weepy or smiley...don't matter....just be on here. You can keep us all together as it has been a bit tough all round of late and we need a prod every so often!
That's me gang...off to the salt mine!!
Lesxx

Hi Everyone,

I'm still here, just very busy with a lot of things. I am on temporary layoff from my job until the snow goes, you can't sell perennials in the winter, lol. I should be back at work the first week of April.

In the meantime, we are busy doing some decorating and odd jobs to prepare our house for sale. We have finally decided to sell it as it is far too big for the two of us. Angie moved out in December and I am sure even though she is planning to go to New Zealand later this year she probably won't move home again. House prices are definitely less than they were this time last year but I guess it is all relative as even though we will get less it will cost us less to buy another. We still will have made about $300,000 profit in the 15 years we have lived here. I think we may look at having a bungalow this time. Maybe two bedrooms up and another in the basement, really like the idea of a walkout too so that you can access the garden from the basement as well as the main floor.

We had Michael and Stephanie visiting this last week, nice to have them here for a while. She now has the heavy studying time before exams in early April. She has already started to apply for her articling for next spring. They have the choice of several places including Vancouver Island so watch out Les I love the Island and if they are there I may come calling. That is assuming you haven't gone back to the mainland by then.

I have been helping a fellow from Essex trace his family who moved to Calgary in 1914 and have managed to get all the way to the 2007 phone book, then nothing. There is the possibility that the daughter of this family has died or gone into a nursing home as she would be 78 now but there is no obituary to be found. I found her daughter in Arizona so the fellow I am helping is going to write to her. This family has not been heard of since they emigrated and there are still living cousins etc so it would be nice to reunite them. Like you Les, I have thought about doing genealogy for a career, just not sure how to start. Maybe we should do it together!!

By the way, for those of you with google maps my postal code is T2X 3A9. My house is actually the one on the right side corner of the street that leads into the close behind it. Angies car is parked at the side of the house.

Lots of new snow today so I best get shoveling.

Teresa