General Chat

Hi Diane.i am so sorry to hear this news ,as a vet from the first conflict in Aden,And the gulf in the late 1960s ,and having lost mates there for the same reasons ,plus having a grandson in that theatre only two years ago,i know too well how it feels,my heartfelt condolancies go out to you and the family members concered..
Still plenty of rain here Edith ,but ,thankfully a little warmer,at the moment.
Old Fred has his haggis in ,ready for the supper tonight ,made by Halls of Scotland this one has no animal meat ,or fat in at all ,so there you go all you veggie Scots out there ,no reason to let Rabbie Burns down anymore ,lol.
All i have to do this after noon is bring some tatties in from the garden ,and a neep and i'm ready to go.
Have to go and put the big sack of unused clothing out to be collected ,but i will be back later Fred.

Morning Has everyone left town?????

Where are you all.??

Edith

Hi Edith ,the joke was a corker he he,bet the cop had the mickey taken out of him something rotten when his mates saw it .
Yes ,i too have been wondering if anybody is still at home or wether they are all on an early holiday.
I reckon my weighbours have all hibernated overnight ,lol,i went out to clear the bit of snow we had overnight ,and noticed that there were no tyre tracks on the road at all ,this is snow ,no more than an inch high ,and everyone is cowering indoors .
I have no reason to go out but cleared the drive in case the wife needs to go to the hospital,never needed to do it yet ,but it's no good leaving the snow on the ramp inside the gates because the car can't get up without it being cleared.
The sun is out now though and the snow will melt pretty quickly once the temperature reaches 3 c,with any luck it will be gone by tonight.
Our first weeks holiday is booked ,at least we have the first week organized ,we are off to Carla Gran again on the 23 rd of April,so with any luck it will be quite warm by then,we may even get a bit of an extension to it ,once the sister in law sees her boss and makes sure the caravan is ready and well away from the centre of the park ,away from all the noise.
It will be a nice easy tea tonight i have made a nice chilli Mediteranean tomato sauce mix,shredded some chicken strips ,and will put the mix in some wraps with some spicy wedges on the side.
I reckon i will get a little corned beef oiut for tomorrow ,with some lamb cutlets ,along with some home made stuffing and roast veggieswith semolina tossed potatos and parsnip.
That sun is lovely through the glass of the patio door ,i fancy a bit of a snooze now ,after clearing the snow away lol.yeah ,can't resist pulling my chair nearer the window and closing my eyes ,he he ,catch you later peeps,Fred.

Hi everyone.. Been busy with visitors from Kiwi Land and then a big family bash so I am now buttered and ready for a rest..With John not able to do much it is up to me to entertain the visitors and do all the cooking etc.. So by the time they go I need a rest to recover..still it is lovely to see them and they are favourite cousins who have bought a big caravan and are going to spend 12 months touring OZ..what a life...

The weather here has been extremely humid and I hate humidity and heat so have had to sleep with the fan on most of the night..Am quite looking forward to winter...Thank goodness its not like your winters..

John has not been to good but today he improved a lot so here's hoping he will stay that way..

Fred Where is that place you mentioned you were going on holidays,,Is it the same place as you went last time with you caravan,,near the beach,,did your son buy another van,,gosh I am getting forgetful,,
How is the corned beef going..not sick of it yet..

Edith.. How are you ,, hope you are well...

Les.. Lovely pics of Ollie.. very regal looking cat..

Christine,, so pleased you complained and got some recompense..blooming well should have..good for you...

Hope all are well and keeping warm..will try and get back more often now I am back to normal...hee hee hee..whats normal..LOL..

Love Mary xxxxx

Hello Mary, Christine Fred and Les
At last some entries on our site. Your weather should be changing soon
Mary as we will be starting into Spring soon. Groundhog day tomorrow
and we will see what the critter says. Hee hee
We are bound to have 6 weeks of winter yet ,even if Mr. Groundhog says different.Christine Having fun with pics is great. I enjoy taking outdoor shots and then cropping etc. for effect.
Les, Oliver is georgous,love the color and he does have a regal look about him. God forbid he and Bella don't get along.Hee hee
Fred. busy as usual.I see. Much better than spending your days in a rocking chair!!!. Hope your weather clears up and you get to have a nice holiday. Have been drooling over the seed catalogue for this coming year
and will try some climbing toms and cucumbers as they don't need loads of room.
Jumping has started again so will say bye for now . Edith XXXX

Morning all from a milder Newcastle over te pond where the snow has all melted ,and i have a two day window to get in the garden and start tidying up before the snow returns.
I need to buy myself a pair of wellies to get the roses cut back ,and do a bit of bucket clearing,and start getting the tatties out of the bins.
Had an email from a cousin in aus; this morning,it seems that i have a new cousin many times removed ,born Australia day,named Michael ,over 9 pounds born and quite a big lad.possibly a future rugby union player by the sound of things,lol
Hi to Edith,i reckon i will be doing fewer tom;s in the greenhouse this year but more bush variety in some of the buckets,the amount of tomatoes you can grow from one of these buckets is amazing.
The extra space in the greenhouse will be used to grow herbs and chillie peppers and the like ,anything eatable ,lol
Hi Mary .you see ,your chalet is already getting busy already with plenty of room for the time being.
The door curtain arrived yesterday ,and got hung straight up.and i noticed when i came down this morning ,the hall was a lot warmer ,result.all i need now is new draught proofing round the front door frame to finish it off.
We will see very shortly how we fared this last two months with the heating bills over this very cold snap we had the gas .electricity meter reader yesterday,who turned out to be a snotty nosed little waster,fresh from college who thought he knew it all.
Very abrupt and rude to say the least who said i was breaking the law ,having no vents in the doors for fumes from the boiler.
I pointed out that vents in doors were not legally required for condenser boilers which had the vents built in to tjhe outside wall ,and that he goes back to college and took a refresher course,by now i wasn't impressed and decided to keep an eye on him as he read the meters ,which is just as well since he couldn't read them properly,and i landed up giving HIM the right readings.
The cheeky sod then asked me how i knew how to do that ,and i told him it was from reading gas ,petrol,diesel ,electric meters in powerhouses in the forces long before he was even born,i do hope i never see him at my door again because i will chase him,and british gas will be getting a flea in the ear ,lol
Glad you enjoyed your company Mary,but i'm suprised you never got an offer to do a little cooking for you ,cor put me up for a fortnight and i will do ALL the cooking for you he he.
The corned beef is going down well thanks ,and now i have found a site on the net who sell the salt ,plus the impliments for making sausages at home ,i will be having a bash at that as well sitting in a rocking chair Edith ,i should co co.lol.that day i will be either dead ,or in an old persons home,and not before ,i have too much to do ,and lovin; every minute he he ,i flogged my guts out all my life working for the state ,and now i'm retired ,this is MY time.
Time to go peeps ,shopping has to be done today and the snow has started two days early ,i'm off while i can get out of the drive ,he he ,catch you later all,Fred.

Hi everyone..We have showers which is so good.. It has made the days cooler but the humidity is still high..Roll on winter..

Fred.. I am going to have a go at growing things in a pot this year..Some toms would be great..only trouble we dont have a place where it gets sun all day..only the back patio that gets afternoon sun for a few hours..Still will have a go..

Edith.. Do you get much sun on your patio..if not how is growing things in limited sun going there..

Les...How are the terrible two going,,made peace yet..LOL...

Well have a pile of ironing to do,,the maid has gone on strike. so its up to me..LOL

Have a lovely day /night

Love Mary xxx

Morning all you over the pond,and everywhere else too,from newcastle upon tyne ,in the not so frozen north of England [for a change.
Hey Mary ,you go for your pots lass ,and remember ,at the end of the season ,any unripened toms can be wrapped in newspaper where they will ripen pretty quickly.
I would suggest a bush variety though ,so that the wind ,if it gets strong will not blow the pot over and damage the plant ,besides ,a bush variety will give you a lot more fruit per plant.,i would think that two bushes would keep you in fruit pretty well,and in the temperatures you get ,you should have a pretty good change of loads of cucumbers from a pot too,a good all female variety will do the trick.,and ypou can even use a little washing up water once in a while to keep the bugs away.
We are going out to the Metro centre later this morning lol,i need to get out of the house for a few hours for a rest he he ,spring cleaning and decorading are taking their toll and i feel i'm getting brush happy.
Am i glad now that in ordering the new Nissan for June i made the right choice ,i soooooo nearly went Toyota [ouch] ,but i would have gone for the new Skoda 4x4 if i had seen it in time ,looking a bit like a land cruiser, tough looking and economical ,i'm sure it will catch on over in aus' based on the running gear ,chassis and diesel engine of V W.it looks like being a winner.
That's about it for now ,i must sit down with pen and paper to work out how to go on with the garden this season,there is so much to do to get ready ,buckets to clean out and filling to mix ,the chalet to clear out ,borders ditto ,and roses to prune ,and i MUST get the new birds nesting box put up ,or it will be too late [again].
Catch you all later Fred.

Morning I just sent a post but it dissappeared.
As the whole site is jumping about I will say Hi and Bye and try again later.
Please stay well. Edith

Seems to be OK at the mo, Edith. Hope everyone is well. I am submerged in my Darbons again. I have tried to create a character and a life for the great grandfather of one of my British Home Children.....an interesting feat.

I promised myself in the Fall that after xmas I would devote myself daily to genealogy until it came time to dig in the garden. So I work away at that and it does somewhat "fill" my head. However the weather here has been balmy and I notice that some of my neighbours are already pruning and digging....so must contemplate that on the next sunny day.

Bella and Ollie now manage to have a few peaceful moments each day, sniff noses and even sit with me together. Last night Ollie crept onto the bed in the middle of the night and snuggled up....firt time...pretty nice.

I have not sewed any aprons since the Fall. I am pretty discouraged as are many of the artisans here in town. We certainly did not get the "traffic" or sales at the xmas shows and most of us have lots of stock......oh well....devine inspiration will strike soon I think.....hope!!! In the mean time the gals that organize the spring fair have decided not to hold one this year. They asked me if I wanted to....but nah!! too much effort in an already busy life!!

I had an email from a several times removed cousin who I have never met and who is moving to Vancouver Island. So Normie and I went into Parksville and had lunch with them. It was good fun altho Norm gets a bit bogged down with genealogical chat. Anyway we will be pleased to see them when they move here.

And talking of Vancouver Island, at the moment you need identification to get off our island re: the Olympics and security...I mean we all look like terrorists!! . I sure hope everyone enjoys watching the sports. Just know that here in BC we will be paying for this for years to come mainly thru a lack of monies into education and health care...and that my lovelies is my rant for today.. Be well and be happy
Lesxx

Hi all... Glad to see you are slowly getting out of winter..so that will mean we are slowly getting into it..not that it makes to much difference to us here..we are still getting hot weather but the humidity has been bad this year..Don't mind the heat but hate the humidity...roll on winter...hee hee hee,,
Les Glad to hear that Olly and Bella are coming to some sort of truce and are at least acknowledging each other...LOL..Butter about the aprons though..do you have a market somewhere you can sell them..Stay home for the Olympics,,you get a much better view and its a lot warmer..LOL..

Edith..What do you grow on your balcony..and is it successful..

Fred.. So glad we dinny buy a Toyota to.. Very happy with my Hyundai i30..You just redecorated the house ..Why are you doing it again..Take a year off and you and Liz enjoy yourselves..

Christine.. Hope you are well and sounds like you are having fun with the photos..

Got to babysit tonight so better go and get some dinner ready early..Stay well all and keep warm..

Love Mary xx

Morning all, Hope some of you watched the Olympics opener.
I really enjoyed the Northern Lights and the BIG bear. The problem at the end was too bad but the torch was lit, so turned out O.K
What are your thoughts Les?
Mary, I plant mostly flowers on the balcony but do have all the herbs and toms. Will try cucumbers this year as I have a wall for them to climb up.
Put up a trellis last year and just let a vine climb it but this year will try the veg.
Fred you seem to be getting our cold weather. We have been quite balmy and not a lot of snow. My down coat was only out of the closet twice and I usually wear it all winter.!!!! Not complaining tho' as it can still get bad.
Hope this finds everyone well. Time for breakfast. Edith XXXXXX

nudge

Just a quickie...hope all are well. Sorry Edith I am not watching the Olympics at all....not my thing.
We had a gloriously sunny day yesterday. Norm and I dug compost into our veggie garden...pretty muddy out there, had moon boots at the end but it was good to get that done.
Chatted to one of my BHC cousins in Ontario...interesting chat about our crazy rellies.
Going to make gallons of tomato soup for the freezer today....since my doc got on my case about salt I have been missing my cans of soup....so I guess I will make my own, salt free. Life!!
Take care.
Lesxx

Here we go again peoples ,lol,i added .or tried to ,yesterday with a longish missive,after i had finished doing my factory restore of my acer laptop.
I was feeling very chuffed and proud of myself and wasn't concentrating and hit the wrong button ,reply instead of submit ,oh bu***r ,i was so miffed i quit altogether he he.
Hi Mary ,i am so slow these days that i do one or two rooms a year so it takes four years to do the full house,gone are the halicon days where i could do a whole house and then do the outside too,besides ,there is now a biggish garden to see to.
The best thing i ever did was put in full double glazing the year we moved in ,and got the pointing done as well ,so ,no more painting out side apart from the down pipes from the guttering ,and the shed which only needs done once every three years.
We are off to Blackpool in April ,the first weeks holiday,and i am toying with the idea of going to Cornwall for two weeks in the fall,giving the new battle wagon a try out long distance [for us anyway].
Well done Les' way to go ,far in advance of us [again] he he ,we have loads of four year compost t o use in the veggie patch ,and a good load of chicken ,and horse pooh,as well ,the onions ,leek and brassica should grow a treat.
Plenty of herbs you can put into soup instead of salt,i use quite a bit of celery, or celery salt in my soups ,they add a new dimension to the taste ,and take the place of the dreaded white stuff.
We have a couple of food firms over here doing reduced sugar and salt products ,soups baked beans and the like,which are only 4 pence dearer than the normal recipes,but i know there are many firms doing this who take the water ,charging much more for putting less ingredients in ,they should be ashamed of themselves..
Still drooling over my seed books Edith ,i notice quite a few new brassica seeds here now ,all club root resistent,and others tolerant to mildew ,makes things lot's easier to grow.
Try your cucumbers Edith choosing an all female variety which you will only need one plant of [they are self pollinating ],all you will need to do is feed it every few days and remove the odd ,if you get any,male flowers to prevent any sour fruits.
Another few months Les ,and you will find your two furry chums will be best buddies and may even pine if seperated .
I am off now ,dinner to get out to thaw ,i cheated today and got a boxed chinese meal to do the two of use ,sweet and sour chicken and chicken curry,from Morrisons,adding four duck spring rolls to the menu,all in all it cost us £4 and it makes such a change at having to cook,
Catch you later all[making sure he hits the right button this time ],Fred.

So I did make maybe a gallon and half of tomato soup. All the toms and the veggies filled my stock pot to the top. I simmered it for 2 hours so that even the tomato skins were pretty much gone, then I used my stick blender, strained it and hey presto....yummy soup. Fred I did at the end put in one teaspoon of salt and 3 teaspoons of sugar....nice soup. Norm made about a gallon of spagetti sauce...the freezer is looking a bit full!!
The rain has held off for another day....soon I will really be able to dig in the garden. I want to dig up the flower beds this spring, thin the perennials and then replant. Sounds like a lot of work, doesn't it!!!
For those in Canada "Who do you think you are" airs on NBC on March 5th. I figured that it would be about 5 ish pacific time, maybe check that out. *Eight episodes, the first is Sarah Jessica Parker and I believe that they uncover that she has a witch from Salem in her family....should be good.
And the latest on my two "kids". They manage to go nose to nose now without fighting altho Ollie is a tease and Bella is always up for the challenge. Ollie likes to get up at about 4 am each night and perch on the headboard of our bed, looking out the window. So Bella gets up too, on the bed and soon it's hide and seek in the covers, Norm is snoring, I am awake....and four days later...bloody exhausted!! Love 'em!!
Later Lesxx

Morning all, Will try again to send a post without the jumping text!!!
Les, sounds like you two had a great time making all the soup etc. now you can sit back and enjoy!!!
I didn't watch all the Olympics only the opening and did enjoy that.
Do you get Ancestors in the Attic Les? They have a lot of Canadians on it and the fellow that does the research is a regular jack ---but entertaining
See Fred may be travelling to Plymouth, my husbands family were from there and I thiink there are still some of them in that area.
Looking forward to the growing season but will have to wait a bit more.
I start out every year with big ideas for my balcony and then run out of room!!!
Happy to hear "the kids" are getting along better Les but the bed antics
would get to me as well. The site is jumping again so it's bye for now Edith XXX

Edith when is Ancestors in the Attic on?? Haven't seen it advertised here at all.
Last night Bella had to get up for a potty call...most unusual. Well of course that woke up his lordship and it was high jinks again. They did finally fall asleep and I slept until about 8....so a bit better!!
Yesterday Norm and I went to Nanaimo for the day. We went to look at some new houses for sale and were pleasnatly impressed until suddenly on the way home we realised that our kitchen is about as big as the kitchen, dining area, and living room in these houses. We don't mind small bedrooms but we love to cook so need out kitchen space. However it has made us think a bit about the next few years and where we might like to be. I think we have given up on the Mainland...just too expensive.
Sunny again today so tomorrow it will likely be dry enough to start digging. So today I will enjoy my genealogy and then tomorrow....the spade!!
Lesxx
PS. Go to www.bcspiritbear.com and you will be able to see our famous kermodie bear in hibernation. He moves around and is really very cute.

Good Evening Everyone,

The weather is still beautiful here - supposed to get up to the forties during the week but I never trust the weather bureau.
Mary - the only problem I have with 40 deg. days is all these Aussies wanting their air-cons fixed the day before they break down!!
Cousin Edith I hope you are well and Les I'll go and have a look at your bear.

Best Wishes to All

Ian

Hey Christine, Ollie now lays on his back, fully stretched in front of Bella. Bella, silly dog, has to stick her nose on his belly and the fight is on. Today I saw Ollie charging sideways across the kitchen floor after Bella's tail...such fun.
Our WDYTYA is an American version and the first person on is Sarah Jessica Parker. I will report back after I have seen it.
Interesting your comments on the Olympics...most folks here in BC wish that we had not won the bid. They have already cut back our health care and restricted the use of MRI machines plus a new "harmonised" tax which will result in things costing more. Oh! and the security aspect. Remember I live on Vancouver Island quite aways from the Olympic hullabaloo but we have security planes droning over head every night. I will be glad when its over!!
Sunny again today...had really bad insomnia last night so have put the gardening on hold until tomorrow.
Hey! where is everyone???
Catcha all later. Lesxx