General Chat

Morning to all ,where Fred and Liz have both woken up with the sniffles [Bu***r],he he ,unusual for me but ,hey ,that's life.
We went out last night for another carvery ,to theTramway outside Fleetwood a very well known eatery in the area,and we had a really good meal,for £3-96.
I went in to Blackpool yesterday and went to T Mobile and cancelled the contract that had expired,and got a very good deal in it's place,even cheaper too.
I keep the dongle i am using now for use while away from home,like now,and i also get a T Mobile Phone with 50 minutes a month for calls to oz and N Z,100 minutes a month for the uk,100 texts a month ,free internet on it ,and free phone ,a touch screen,with the capability of use as a modem if ever needed,and insurance for both ,for £25 a month,cheaper by £2 than the contract for the dongle and computer ,result or what.?
We score with the caravan park Mary ,because the sister in law ,and her hubby work in the owners department ,and admin ,we get a special rate and a belting van each time we comedown,another result, he he.
Going back to South port before we go home Les,if the rain lets up ,and i will take the camera with us,it is a beutiful Place ,and we will visit it more often in future.
Glad to hear you are getting started out back too,,try the climbing French beans instead ,they are a lot nicer than the runners, and they are far more versatile.
Yep this radiation has turned up over here as well,but so far is only very low,with no heath risks so far,so i hope this stays the same for all of us.
Well ,time to go ,breakfast calls ,back later ,Fred.xxx

Hey Fred you guys take care of those sniffles. Yes if you get a chance a couple of pics would be great.
Mary sorry to hear about John. Ya know Norm's arms are ongoing painful and most mornings he is up before 6 as he cannot lay there any longer. We have done drugs, chiro and accupuncture....but nothing really fixes it. Old age can be a royal pain eh?
Did the weeding yesterday as the sun was shining and then Norm did a bit of digging so we are getting there. Glad we made the effort as it is raining today.
Well my Sympatico news page was full of great things this morning: a 30 cent a litre gas hike, George Bush bought a ranch in Alberta, Will and Kate bought a house in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia and plan on spending the summer there living like the rest of us peasants and the government is going to convert us back to imperial. Then the light went on....April Fools. Wow some really great articles tho, kudos to those who wrote them. I particularly liked the one about the northern US states adopting the Canadian dollar as their currency ..ha!ha!ha!
OK I am off to the wars. Have a great weekend.
Lesxx

Morning all ,if they come out to play that is ,lol.
Am i glad i wasn't under canvas last night,and early this morning Les',starting with a fierce wind and then,early this morning, a hell of a thunderstorm and torrential rain,so bad you couldn't rest with the rain bouncing off the 'van roof ,lol,couldn't hear yourself think.
Am i glad i decided against Bury this morning after seeing the forecast earlier in the week,when it rains in this area it dosn't do it by halves he he,plodging in the market with a cold isn't my idea of fun,but i bet Brenda is still going ,she is made of sterner stuff,that is ,as long as her ankle is a bit better.
Going to get dressed now ,and go up to the owners lounge for brekkie,saving myself cooking this morning ,lol.
Nearly 10 a m and still in jammys ,tut's,this will never do ,he he,Fredxxx

.

Morning, I too am in my jammies Fred. Mother nature pulled a good one on us yesterday as we woke up to snow !!!and again to-day more snow.
Will spend the day indoors and catchup on housework etc. Sure getting tired of this winter stuff. Last year at this time we had warm days and flowers peeking through the ground.
West of us there is a big threat of severe flooding because of all the snow so I guess we can't complain.
Yes, Mary found the car. The fox have been having an easy time lately they can run on top of the snow. They have a large snowbank at the side of the building and are using it as a slide, really fun to watch.
Les, did you get the one about large iceburgs in Lake Winnipeg? Whoever did the posting is very talented at getting the burgs looking like they were actually there.
Time to get on the job so bye for now. Edith XXXXXXX

First yard sale-ing of the year today. I promised myself I would not buy much as we are desperately trying to downsize so that we can move to a smaller place. However I did buy a set of pyrex measuring jugs, brand new and mine are all "milky" so I guess that was an OK purchase.
Sunny today but chilly also, so no yard work for me.
Edith I was chatting to Kathy in Clagary and she says that they now have about three feet of snow in the back yard and by this time last year they had already cut the grass. Do you have a link to the icebergs...maybe I will just google it.
Fred you guys need to get home and get tucked up in that cosy house of yours and get over the sniffles. Getting a cold is miserable but somehow it is always worse when you are away from your own bed??? hmm! wonder why that it.
Another culinary first last night. We never, ever eat at McD's but I fancied a fillet-a-fish sandwich....so made them from scratch. They were so yummy. I used low fat breaded haddock. I had low fat cheddar on mine and Norm had asiago, his new favourite cheese!! We had that with home made pea soup, vegetarian style which I also whipped up...LOL. If I ever win the lottery I am going to hire my own personal chef to come and cook at least 3/4 times a week for me. Would not want to give up the job completely as I do like to cook....but some days....oh! the luxury it would be!
That's me for today.
Lesxx

We are now home again ,after a nice holiday ,really needed,and feel a lot better for it despite the colds ,which are proving hard to get rid of.
We never did get back to Southport ,the weather being too bad to venture that far without the car,but we intend returning again ,for another week in June so i hope to get some good pics then.
I hope Brenda in Manchester is okay ,she wasn't too well when i called her at the end of last week ,a bad ankle and a cold together ,and when i saw the news this morning as i was clearing up in the van before we left ,there was a large water main burst on the Manchunian way leading to flooding in the city centre and many roads ,and by all accounts ,a few gardens as well,soi hope Brendas is okay after her hubby got off to such a good start on it.
Even starting off to come home ,the weather wasn't too good ,heavy rain ,high wind ,and tons of spray off the motorway,so we did well ,reaching home in a little under three hours.
Catch you all later ,time to go and unpack before i start the tea ,jackets again ,of course ,lol.
Fred.xxxx

Hi everyone.. Hope you are all well or on the improve if not..Especially Fred and Liz..
Our weather has been lovely and cool and we have had some lovely showers so my pots are all doing well and look really good..my basil is going mad. and my lemon tree is shooting so am very happy about that..Got lots of chillies in the freezer and love to put them in my hamburgers when making them..gives them a right zing..LOL
Glad you had a nice holiday Fred and got home safe and sound..despite the colds and sniffles..Les you must get out there and get those veg in the garden,,Go easy on poor Normie as we don't want to do damage to him..LOL..Edith you are really spoiling those foxes..not only feed them but give them something to play with also. Hope the car is ok when it looses its coat,,is it hard to start after being buried in snow for so long..
Fred,,What is a good veg to plant in autumn, for a winter veg crop..do carrots do well in winter..or leeks perhaps,,have to have something that produces more in a small space..cabbages are to big..want to go and buy some long pots to go against the wall and grow something I can eat in them..LOL...then I will plant tommys in the spring..
Well better go and do some of the dreaded as my housekeeping fairy has gone on strike,,,PMSL,,

Love Mary xxx

Evening Mary.if by loooong pots he he ,you mean troughs [5 inches by 2 feet ,by six inches deep] there is plenty you can grow in them,such as double rows ,one Pak Choi [chinese cabbage] in one row ,and stump rooted carrot in the other.
We use four of these troughs,with a six week wait between sowings,and the cabbage grows so fast ,you can replant three times while the carrots mature,running two troughs in tandom ,you have veggies over a longish period ,taking up very little space.
The other two troughs you can use for things like herbs ,and perpetual onions.even welsh onions which grow over the full year.
My little patch is well away ,i have the brussel and beetroot in ,and have the other compost on standby for the rest of the season.
Our Mint in the little green trough has survived over the severe winter,and is shooting well already,as has the chives that i put in between the fence and greenhouse for the winter.
Our plum tree is covered in blossom ,so i have high hopes for this year,Fred can already smell the plum ,rhubarb,and apple crumbles ,lol,even the rhubarb confined in it's bucket is doing very well,and the Asparugus is showing through ,yum.
The missus has been told off ,forgetting her glasses wjhile out shopping is one thing ,he he ,but buying cjhicken steaks instead of breasts is another.grrrrr.
There i was intent on making stuffed breasts with chive philly in bacon blankets,to go with lovely new potatoes tossed in butter ,cabbage,asparugus spears and diced carrot,who has had to join the steaks together with cocktail sticks so that i could get the cheese in,and who has had to struggle to get the blankets round the breasts without spearing me fingers ,huh ,women [tuts] he he.
The pak choi Mary steam well ,go in stir fry and can be cooked ai a saucepan as boiled cabbage ,and grow big enough to do two of you for meal.
Well,i has done well today ,my housework done ,an hour in the chalet,and the tea cooked as well as a good hour being lazy in the sun,time now for a drink ,and then the washing up before watering the chalet seedlings ,and Asparugus shoots.
Catch you later peeps ,Fred.xxx,P/s still toying with the idea of two dwarf peach trees instead of lemon yum yum.

Monday night we went to Nanaimo to see Herman's Hermits....what a memory rush. He was very good, great music..but somehow as he strutted back and forth across the stage he reminded me of Ken Dodd!!! LOL
We had a few flakes of snow here yesterday - yuk! Today they are calling for sun but who would know. In any event it is still far too cold this year to do anything in the garden.
I taught my first genealogy class of the spring last night. First time we have run thiscourse at night time and I had 9 folks there so quite pleased. They seem to be a good bunch, certainly more interested and lively than the last lot.
Made a butter chicken tuesday night and did the unthinkable thing of putting onions, peppers and tomatoes in it. It was really good and the veggies cooked in the sauce were amazing...might do that again altho it is quite high in fat much more so than making a tikka masala.
Another earthquake in Japan and a larger one in Mexico...what is this world doing. Protesting the abuse by us lot probably.
Off to cut and sew today plus get my new glasses...busy day.
More later. Lesxx

Have my new glasses and I am almost as blind as a bat when I sit and look at my computer screen. Tomorrow I shall have to go back and get this looked at I guess.
Today I am going briefly to a memorial for a husband of a friend of mine from my working days. Then Normie and I are going to look at a couple of class C motor homes. Both of them are older but I think we will be able to toot around in them OK. We are planning on selling the house and downsizing so that we will be free to travel a bit while we still can. The kids want us to live closer and dau says that even if we were back in Nanaimo it would be better, so we shall see. So to plant a garden or not?? Haven't figured that out yet.
Raining today. Last night I was awake most of the night listening to a loud drip,drip, I even dreamt about it. So Normie went out thinking it was our downspout but no! of all things next door they have a leak from their gutter and it was dripping on a coke can...grr!! All that noise from a lowly coke can!!
More later.
Lesxx

Good Sunday morning to you all,
At last we have rain and it is making the snow disappear quickly.!!!
Can't wait to get out and start my balcony garden. Tried all the types of greenhouses Fred but none are allowed according to the housing manager. Would love to plant poisin ivy where he could walk through it.
Will make the best of it and do as much as I can indoors or go to the next town and get the plants. There is a great nursery there and the prices are not too steep.
Made a pot of beef barley soup yesterday and will make a few deliveries to-day. Turned out very tasty too.
Time to got busy so bye for now. Edith XXXXXXXX

Evening everyone,Very late today ,but i have had a very busy weekend ,making hay while the sun shined ,he he.
I now have 6 of 9 Asparugus plants through and am looking forward to the first meal of the year off them within two years.
The first barrel of tatties is now out,and the compost is in three large bags awaiting moving across to the other barrel behind the shed next to the concrete base,where it will be easier to service them in wet weather.
This of course means i have two biggish gaps in the garden,needing 2 dwarf trees or bushes to fill them,ideas anyone?.
The Broad Beans are in ,the Cucumber in the Greenhouse have been planted,and the Courgettes are in their buckets under the kitchen window.
No sign of the tomatoes as yet ,but if they don't show within the next week ,i will replant them ,just in case.
The new phone i got with the dongle contract is one of these android ones ,all touch screen ,beutiful ,and phones throughout the uk with no trouble,but try as i might ,i cannot get into Oz despite the phone card for that country,so ,i am going to go to the Metro centre tomorrow for a like card for Canada and while i am there ,they can configure it for me,weeeell,he he ,that's what they get paid for [evil chuckle],so Mary ,i havn't forgotten you ,i will get there in the end.
Time to go and get my tea ,be back tomorrow,Fred.xxxx P/s good luck with the hunt for the R/V Les and the downsizing .back nearer the kids seems a good idea..xxx

Afternoon all ,Here again,garden done for the day due to the weather slipping back and letting in rain showers,B ***er ,lol.not to worry though ,i got my phone sorted in the town this morning ,and now have 120 minutes a month for Australasia/New Zealand,& Canada /america,so i am now set up.
I got my first mid season cabbage seed this so i have now enough sowing to do to keep me busy for a few days ,rain or no rain.
Hey ,glad to hear you have gotten Coast Edith we enjoyed it very much ,and now have the two series ,and are watching series 3 on the goggle box now .
I will be phoning Mary in the morning around 8 am ,which means it will be the afternoon over there ,i have to watch the times until i get used to the time difference ,he he ,i don't want to be phoning while she is counting Joey's jumping fences ,lol.
Tea tonight is a salad with a jacket tattie on the side ,and tomorrows dinner is alreaady sorted ,it comprising ,steak mince ,home grown red onions ,and the first of our barrel tatties ,which by the way are very tasty.
Hissy is feeling the spring weather rather a lot ,charging up and down the garden ,jumping out on me ,and swiping at my legs from hiding ,little bu***r ,bless her she is a real joy,and does a great job of keeping the cabbage butterflies away ,as well as the flying rats [pigeons] .
Off to prepare tea now ,but will be around most of the day tomorrow ,as we have the new phones coming ,half way through the contract freebies,but okay for spares,lol.
Catch you all tomorrow ,Fredxxxx

Hi everyone... Well did I get a surprise..phone rang and a VERY refined voice said,,Hullo its Fred here...I was completely bamboozled as to who this Fred was with this refined English voice..then the penny dropped and I was so glad to hear Freds voice after all these years..he didn't sound at all like I imagined he would ...thought he would have a strong accent like a Yorkshire man but a little different from coming from a different county. But it was a lovely surprise and I appreciate it..Now I have chatted to Les .Edith. and now Fred..aren't I a lucky bunny..
Sorry couldn't chat for long though as I was in the middle of cooking dinner(tea) and John has not been at all good lately..had to take him to the docs yesterday and more tests to come.
Glad you are getting the garden sorted Fred and hope all you Canucks are getting some warm weather at last..
Take care and will try and get back soon..

Love Mary xxx

Morning all. Mary I wish it would warm up for good.Two days ago we had pouring rain and it was washing the snow away, well guess what??
Now the weather guy says "more snow". Another arctic front coming at us so off we go again uuggghh.
Gonna build me an igloo and stay there!!!
Supposed to go on a bus trip after Easter so sure hope it clears up by then. Don't really care to travel in snow any more.
Glad you and Fred enjoyed Chloe's pic, she is a very "regal" cat and let's you know it. She races up and down the long hallway in the apt. building and then sits and looks around as much as to say "were you watching???
Can't sleep tonite so here I is at 4 in the morning, hoping to get tired enough to head back to bed. Maybe have some toast and get breakfast out of the way too hee hee.
Be back soon, Edith XXXXXXXXX

Morning Edith and Mary,nice to see you again ,even if it was because you couldn't sleep [welcome to the club i joined at birth, he he] i sometimes sleep in the spare room when i am restless ,because i get a tongue lashing off she who must be obeyed ,lol,because i keep waking her up,no joke i supposed when it could be up to 8 times a night.
Blast ,i have been sussed,he he coming from a middle class family brought up in and around London,i never got to sound like either set of grandparents ,scot's or Irish ,and even after over 40 years up north ,don't sound like a geordie[how dare you Mary ,Yorkshire indeed humph] actually i have trouble making myself understood up here in Newcastle ,and down south too ,all very confusing to me ,he he.
I have taken four oven bottom muffins out for the dinner,they make lovely buns for burgers when toasted,or ,as i am doing today ,turn them into mini pizzas ,cutting them up the middle ,toasting the insides lightly ,spreading tomato purree on them ,and covering them with caramallised ,chopped onion.finely chopped ham grated cheese ,more ham and them more cheese,before banging them under a grill for 60 seconds.
Don't know yet what i am doing for tea because the missus hasn't made up her mind [as usual] but what ever it is ,part of the veggies will be buttered /steamed Asparagus it now being producing ,yum
Been out front this morning with a hoe ,watering can ,and fork,i had a darned good session in and under the ground cover rose hedging ,removing an unwanted crop of those 'orrible things called Dandilions and grass clumps ,which are now in the compost bin ,and then planted the two perrenial bushes ,where the tattie bin was ,and ,oh ,tore out a present left by my friend ,the resident Blackbird ,lol,two blackberry seeds that had rooted ,one thing i DON'T need in the front hedging.
I put the first of the Cabbage seeds in pots in the greenhouse yesterday ,and put those replacement tomato seeds in ,just in case ,if i don't need them,,i will give them to the son ,in Howdon,now he has the back yard fence repaired and the yard cleaned out,he has room for a few tomatoes in buckets ,and a long trough for herbs when the missus has grown them ,they are her part of the gardening ,and i touch those at my peril. he he ,i lift and fill the heavy pots for her ,and that's it.
Sorry to hear that John isn't too good again old friend ,and i can't help but wonder if his immune system is faulty leaving him open to all and everything going around.
Hopefully the doc's will stumble onto something that will help him,and in the meantime i'm sure people besides me and liz will be praying for him,at least for the pain not to be so severe.
Off to do the dinner now ,take care all.Fred.
P/s Hope Les is okay ,or is she busy looking for Two new homes ,one being mobile ,hope she finds both soon so they can get resettled.

I am sewing Fred, not looking this week. We did see two 24 foot motor homes on Sunday but both of them had ceiling leaks and we don't want to be bothered trying to put in new ceilings etc.....so nada at the mo.
Yesterday I made a bride's apron, all bridal lace and satin, bit of a pig to sew but it is rather fabulous. I spent the moring sewing pearls onto the bodice, Ollie was quite keen to help and we had lace and pearls all over the place. I finally shut him out of the room....he was not happy!!
Today is class two in my current genealogy course. I could see last week my students were on overload so will have to over view what I told them.
I wrote a letter to the mayor and council about the lack of tsunami/evacuation plans for our city. At the council meeting the fire chief agreed with me and so yesterday I was interviewed by the local paper and am in there this morning. I think that city hall will not be lest pleased with what I had to say....but, hey!, if it gets the job done, well then its good, right?
OK off to sew. More later.
Lesxx

Hi Peeps ,just back from the doctors ,yeah ,i promised the wife that i would take her like it or not if she didn't make an appointment herself ,and won another round ,she phoned this morning at 8 am ,and we were at the surgery by 9 -40 .
The missus got a right roasting from the doctor who said she had left it far too long again ,and she should listen to me more ,because for some reason ,i have a better idea as to when the usual antibiotics are not workingand she needs stronger med's.
I was talking to Brenda's sister this morning ,the one who lives in Vancouver [Dorothy] and she says that at last the snow is melting there and trhe ice on the big lake is melting so i hope that means that you other canucks are getting nearer decent weather too.
Yes ,getting a caravan ,or R V isn't as simple as a lot of people think,Les' and Paying out good money means being very picky as to what you buy,too many sharks around for my liking,and roofs are a Bu***r to mend properly ,i remember it well ,he he.
The new phone works well,and i have plenty of talk time a month ,£5 for 120 minutes to Canada and £5 for 60 minutes to Australia ,as well as unlimited texts to anywhere,full internet ,and roaming access.
We found a nice little B B Q this morning for £10,metal.six inches deep by 18 inches square ,which has folding legs and a folding lid ,ideal for the holidays for easy carriage in the car boot,and a nice two seat ,table in the middle patio set made of hardwood ,ideal for out the back ,to go with the seats and round table we already have,this completes the garden furniture for when we have company.
Have to go back to Asda tomorrow morning to pick up the 12 spare buckets for next year ,free, to pick up and will go into the shed until needed.
Have a nice soup for tea out of the freezer,nice ,quick and easy ,just the thing to go with my short French stick,yum.
Off for now ,for a lay down seeing as i was up at two again this morning ,He He ,catch you later all ,Fred.xxx

Dunno where she is in Vancouver, Fred, but there has not been any snow on the ground for a couple of months except that it did snow yesterday. And I am not sure where the frozen lakes are either??? a bit odd unless she is way up in the mountains. All our surrounding mountains here are white today altho it only rained in town, in fact it did more than rain. It was like a monsoon and blurry cold!!
The temperatures are lower again today and so Norm has gone off to find some wood. We had already used up everything we had and thought we would be OK because it was spring and all that....wrong!!
Now the latest story is that at Simon Fraser Uni, on Burnaby mountain, Lower Mainland Vancouver, they are testing for radioactivity and yesterday said that the rain water at the moment is well above the safe level. Now I have no idea what that means but if that is true then here in Alberni we must be swimming in iodine given the amount of rain that fell yesterday!!
Edith I sometimes have chronic insomnia and it is not helped by a large orange furry thing that likes to sleep on my pillow with me. He gets quite miffed if I don't welcome him with open arms and he doesn't care if it is 2 or 3 in the morning!!
House cleaning today....grr!
Keep well everyone. Lesxx
PS. have to ammend this....Norm says it was snowing here this morning when he got up at about 6.45....yuk!!

Sorry about the mistake Les' ,i checked back and Dorothy was talking about a friend up north ,not Vancouver[smacks wrist].
Bit of a bummer about the shortage of wood,but don't forget ,it isnt just old Britain who have had a severe winter ,but over the ponds too ,including the states,and it will probably be a little milder this coming winter ,and you can always allow some extra ,just in case,though that dosn't help you much at the minute.
I havn't heard of raised radiation levels over here yet ,but no doubt it won't be long now,heck ,Wales isn't back to normal after Chernoble yet and now the sheep meat will be unusable yet again,my welsh bretheren will NOT be amused.even more so if the sheep start to glow in the dark.
I note that people in the states are complaining about 6 year old children being frisked at airports ,maybe they think that pushers won't conceal drugs on children because they respect children and won't use them for these purposes ,HELLO, smell the coffee people ,these scum bags will use anything to get contraband through customs,stop the customs people from searching minors ,? i think not.
Hope the raised radiation levels don't mean possibly ruined fishing in your lakes Les,what a shame that will be ,and all those people with fish farms unable to earn a living.
I have always said that we should never have stopped coal mining and kept all the coal fired generators to make electricity,it's much better now ,with proper filters on top of the chimneys ,and far safer on the environment,and think of all the extra jobs it would create,thousands of miners jobs ,railway jobs ,and other jobs connected to both industries,ban nuclear power ,and save the planet.[off the soap box now] lol.
The wife has just this minute sorted us a mid week stay in Carla gran,For under £200 for a four night stay,beutiful, and already a chance to try my portable B B Q out he he.
Might just try this Irish clan thingy on genes to see what it's all about ,but ,anyway it's time i was away for now ,catch you all later,Fred.xxx