General Chat

Hello all

Sorry Ive not been around for a couple of day's, I hope everyone is well:))
Woke up this morning to the best sunrise, a great big orange sun, magnificent!!!

They were saying in the newspapers the other day that our fire season is going to be very bad again this year, so I'm going to start to get organized early with packing up a few precious things that cant be replaced. If we have to leave in a hurry, I wont have much time to spare because there is just the one road out.
I live on the edge of a National park, which is currently tinder dry, so it wouldn't take much for it to go off. Is all it would take is for some, thoughtless silly person to be careless:((

All your dog stories made me so sad, brought a tear to my eye!!
We once had a red Kelpie called Ben, he would have been about 14 years old. One morning my young son went outside to play with Ben, the poor old boy had gone in his sleep. My son, was yelling "wake up Benny", wake up!! He came running in to me and said" Mum, Benny wont wake up"
Suffice to say, we had a lot of tears from everyone in our home that day:((

Enough doom and gloom, sorry!!!!
Life's too short!!!

Have a great day all:)))

Carole xx

Good morning to all you lovely people. I trust you are all well.

Re Disabled people....

I was very poorly once and spent quite some time on Life support in ICU. When I eventually (after 3 months) was able to leave the Hospital for the day...My Brother took me out,in a Wheelchair, as I was still unable to walk far. He took me to the shops and a Cafe for a Cup of tea ect. but every where I went people spoke to me in a Loud and very precise manner as if I were unable to understand or hear them. I found it very patronising and told them in No uncertain terms too. lol
I had never realised before how some people look at disabled people. It made me think......
I hope you all have a good day with whatever you are doing xxxx

Good morning everyone.

I wasn’t hiding from your jokes yesterday Allan, it is just that yesterday was my busy day with mum. It was so humid and as well as all the usual tasks, I had to change her library books, so I was pretty bushed (see I speak the lingo) last night.

Mum always kept the house clean and tidy, so now that she is unable to do the bulk of the housework herself, I do it for her. I have been doing the cleaning for about five years now. When she was first ill, dad would the hoovering etc, but when he got cancer, I took over. At first it was difficult to get her to accept that she needed help, she used to get upset because she thought that I was implying that the house was dirty. It wasn’t, but it would have been if I hadn’t taken over. Now she is just grateful that she doesn’t have to tackle it all on her own. She still does things herself during the week, so together we keep the place lovely and clean as it always was.

When I go round delivering Meals on Wheels or library books, I go into homes where it is obvious that the person has just given on housework because they are too ill. At least I can give my mum some dignity in her last years and she is happy because when any one comes to see her, she isn’t ashamed of her home. That may seem odd, but when you have taken pride in your house all your life, it must be awful to see things slide.

That set me thinking about how people live. I was brought up in a clean and tidy environment, so that is how I am as an adult. My home is tidy and organised as well. There are no huge piles of things anywhere and I generally know where things are. A bit like my computer as well, everything is in folders and sub folders, all organised so I can find things.

That makes me sound as if I have some sort of compulsive disorder, but I don’t. My house is a comfy home and all are welcome. When my children were small, we had a play room where all manner of messy activities were always on the go.
Even now, any one with small children in tow are welcome, At one time, I used to run a play group, so can always conjure up ideas to keep them happy, a mess can soon be cleared up.

I hated going to see my OH’s brother and his wife. They had no children and everything was immaculate, I felt as if I daren’t move. If we had a meal, they would immediately jump up and fastidiously wash and dry the dishes, put everything away and just about deep clean the kitchen. As we had a long journey to see them, so limited time there, I didn’t understand why the dishes couldn’t be done later. Once we had the children, it was dreadful taking them because small children can’t sit still for a couple of hours while polite chat takes place.

I was then thinking about my siblings. As we were all brought up in the same way, you would think that we would be the same as adults, but far from it., they both live in a chaotic environment. Their houses are, how can I put it – filthy. They are always flapping about wondering where the latest thing they desperately need is. They expend huge amounts of energy in moving huge piles of papers/books/clothes etc from one place to the other. They are always going to sort the chaos out and clean the house, but they are just sooo busy you know! I just bite my lip and look on thinking, if you just sorted things out and got yourself organised, you would have so many more hours in the day, you wouldn’t be in a constant last minute panic and your blood pressure wouldn’t be sky high.

Still everyone is different and chooses to live life in a different way, so endeth this morning’s missive

Linda

Good morning Posh, good to see you,
I know what you mean about the disabled people as I have to take mum everywhere in her wheel chair.
Having said that,she refuses to wear her hearing aid,so people do have to shout at her. She can understand me because I have a deep voice, but any one with a higher pitch,she can't make out at all. She spends her time saying, "What did he say, tell him to speak up". So I have to translate it at a much increased volume. She likes going out for a pub lunch on our day together,but it is embarrassing when we are holding what should be a private chat at full volume,surrounded by strangers.

Good morning/evening:))

Carole it's nice to see you again. Hope you are well. How we love our dogs - when we lose them we've lost a family member. Were you in the bush-fire area last summer? I think it's a good idea to be prepared.

Hi, Posh:)) I have a 3 y.o. grand-daughter who has Downs' Syndrome. She is healthy and she is as clever as her twin brother. However Down's is obvious in her features and so my daughter often gets sympathetic looks from other people when she is out with the children. She was described by an acquaintence of mine as "the little Downs' girl". I told her very smartly that she is my grand-daughter who just happens to have Downs. We also get people telling us that people with Downs' are very happy loving people. Well she is happy and loving - and stubborn and throws typical 3 y.o. tantrums and get irritable when she's tired or hungry and fights with her brothers. Sounds pretty normal to me:)) I'll get off my soap box now. Sorry folks.

The weather has been funny today. One minute warm and sunny - next minute cold and overcast. Hoping for a good day tomorrow as we have some outside work to do.

Hope our Pommie friends have a good morning and a good evening to our Aussie mates.

Sue xx

Linda, sorry you must have posted when I was typing. Does your mother say in a loud piercing voice - "ooh that lady could do with losing a bit of weight" or "He looks a lot older than his girlfriend - I bet he's got a bit of money". My mum does:))

Sue xx

Sue, you must have met my mum lol.

I have just struggled back from the allotment with a really heavy bag of produce. It is very windy and the large cooking apples were starting to fall off the cordon tree,so I have picked them. I am now going to the kitchen to make a large batch of apple chutney. Anyone got any spare jars???

Your grand daughter sounds lovely and a typical little girl.

Linda I just read your post again - I was thinking about it while cooking tea. My father was so distressed that he couldn't concentrate on reading or doing crosswords when the dementia started taking hold. However he never worried about anything around the house being neglected. Mum, my brother and my OH did the heavy work in the garden and eventually hired a man to mow the lawns. Dad never seemed to notice anyone taking over his work. My mother on the other hand would be terribly upset if she could no longer do her housework as she too keeps a clean and tidy house. So I can see that I will be doing that for her in years to come. I'm a neat and clean housekeeper as is my sister. My brother and sister in law are clean around the house but they are the untidiest people. The whole family have an incredible number of possessions and constantly buy cupboards and bookcases to store them. As a result their home is crammed with furniture. But it's a comfortable house and their boys' friends are always welcome as are the family. As you say everyone lives their lives differently.

Sue xx

Sorry to not answer you Sue, but I did go to make a large vat of chutney. I have just had to shower and wash my hair before I leave for the tourist office. If I hadn't there would have been a very strange aroma of vinegar all afternoon.Typically now I have to go out, the heavens have opened. That means that the shop will be full of people sheltering from the rain, pretending to look at the leaflets, a bit like care in the community really.

Just time for a quick spot of lunch and then I am off,so have a good rest of day/sleep

Linda

I have a relative who told me how 'fussy' her daughter is because she irons and folds all of the family's underwear. When I said that I don't iron underwear, I just fold it and put it away in the drawers, she was shocked to know that I bothered to fold it and said "I just put it in the drawers".

I have to say that her home is always neat and clean and she says that her OH helps with hanging out and bringing in washing; vacuum cleaning and washing floors, and does all the cooking. Very Good!. However, I stayed with them later and found out why the place is so tidy. When I tried to open any drawer, it was stuck because it was jam-packed with articles which has been 'shoved' in it and if you tried to open any cupboard door - kitchen, bathroom, bedroom or linen cupboard - you had to stand back or the avalanche would hit you!!

I came to the conclusion that she is very good at what she does - dusting!

G'Day everyone,

As a mere male, some might consider it inappropriate for me to comment on housekeeping, but as I have been allowed to share my house with my OH, and as I am responsible for making most of the mess while renovating this house, and always share the clearing up, fighting the dust etc, I'm going to comment anyway.

The subject made me think of my two grandmothers - now long gone.
My maternal grandmother had a beautiful house, always immaculate, everything in it's place always. A cleaning lady came in twice a week, while grandmother pursued her interests. She was a magistrate, Commisioner for Girl Guides, something posh in the Red Cross, and President of the local WI.
When as a boy I would stay with her I was never allowed at the table to eat without wearing a tie and a jacket. Table manners were strictly observed. I was not allowed to play or get mucky doing anything. Shoes had always to be removed when entering the house, and some chairs I was not even allowed to sit on.
Although I loved her, she never once gave me a hug, or a kiss. I never once received a birthday card, or any kind of gift.

My paternal grandmother was quite the reverse, she didn't care what you did. She had raised 13 children - didn't have time to have ever had any interests outside the home. I was allowed to play outside, and get mucky if I wanted.
Hers was a happy, relaxed house, full of love and laughter. Not very tidy, and would not be voted the cleanest house in town.
I loved both my grandmothers, but I know who had got her priorities right.

Regards
Tec

Good morning/evening my friends:))

Tec, that's a good story and I could "see" your grandmothers and their homes. I remember complaining to my mother one day about toys lying all over the house. She told me not to complain because one day there would be no toys around the house and I would miss them. Well that wasn't totally accurate. I was just getting used to no kid's stuff when the grandkids arrived. Now we have toys again - but I'm not complaining.

My father was very fussy about the garden and I remember getting quite annoyed when the children were young because he would get irritated if they went near any planted areas. By the time my children came along the back garden had very little lawn for them to run around on. My mum was a little fussy when the grandchildren were in the house but not too bad. My in-laws loved having the children around the house and they allowed the kids to do whatever they liked - within reason. They picked flowers from my FIL's beautiful garden and he never worried about it. Nana always had sweets for them and when they were older my two eldest were allowed to sit on the floor and touch some of the ornaments in the china cabinet. Each one had a story woven around it and they would sit for ages telling each other the stories they had heard. My youngest missed out on that as he was only a baby when she passed away. Although my children loved all their grandparents they were more comfortable with my in-laws. However my daughter spends time with my mum and they have a very good relationship.

I love both my parents but I was very close to my father. I spent a lot of time with him when he was ill and I was devastated when he died. I'm now closer to my mother than I ever was. I never heard her say "I love you" when we were growing up but she says it often now and hugs more than she did when we were young. I think she's always felt that way but found it hard to show us. Both my parents were always very quiet and reserved people. It was a shock when I met my OH"s family. They are loud, gregarious people although my OH is quiet. They argue a lot and love a lot. There's always lots of hugs and the children in the family are in no doubt they are well loved. That wasn't how my siblings and I were brought up although we have no doubt our parents loved us. Not having any other family here we tended to rely on each other a great deal. When we grew up, married and had our own families my parents found social events difficult - particularly my mother. They weren't used to large gatherings and my mother would sit quietly while my father would speak only to people they knew. OH's family thought they were snobbish and I would get a little annoyed with them for "not trying". As a family we are very close to the children, grandchildren and each other - as is my brother and his wife and family. However my other brother has nothing to do with us and my sister has little time for the family since she divorced and remarried and unfortunately that includes her children and grandsons.

Well that was very in depth for early morning:)) The sun is shining and we have some outside work to do before going off to the shops to find a birthday present for my grandson who is 5 on Sunday.

Sue xx

Goodmorning/evening to you all

The stories of domestic foibles have caused me to have a good hard look at our house!

My OH is into quilting and whilst she has her own room with a sewing machine, over-locker, work bench etc some books reside on the dinning table...together with the remnants of my assignment which i finished a couple of weeks ago. As there is now just the two of us the table is used as an extension to whatever will not fit in our cluttered workrooms.

We do do the pots after eating on most days but sometimes leave them until the following day.

the only two jobs that get done on a regular basis are the ironing and the vacuuming.

We are domestic servants to three cats, all of whom are currently moulting, and if their favourite chairs (ie every chair in the house) are not vacuumed regularly we get such a disdainful look from them which seems to say "If we could open our own tins, you two would be out of here"

Linda, changing the subject, I was mentioning to my OH about some of your posts relating to allotments and we were both trying to remember the size of them. In order to preserve domestic bliss(?) in this household, do you know the size of your allotment?

Good morning Allan. Your house sounds like a home where two people are comfortable and surrounded by things that are a part of your lives. I do like a clean and tidy house but I'm not fanatical. We eat late and don't always do the dishes until morning - although I'll tidy up. Now that OH is retired he helps more around the house and we both work in the garden. He likes to cook so he takes that over on occasion - and I let him:)) I'm not possessive in the kitchen!! I do scrapbooking and quilting and it's not always practical to move everything away when I've finished. We all like reading so there is always books, magazines and newspapers around. The grandchildren have a toy box and their mum encourages them to tidy up before they go home. They're getting good at that. The only thing I really really dislike is ironing piling up. I can get very irritable about a full ironing basket:))

Sue xx

SueMaid,
That was a very graphic description of your family. My mothers family were very reserved in every respect. They were not "mixers" and tended to keep themselves to themselves. They had a very strict upbringing, and I think they were socially deprived in that they were never allowed to mix. My mother carried this reserve with her throughout her life, and I often felt that there was another person inside her, who yearned to "break out".
Fathers family were different, they mixed with everyone, and were very social. Maybe because they were a large family. I have often wondered how my parents ever got together, because they were so different. They do say that opposites attract - but I think they both respected each others. attitudes.
I was very interested in the earlier posts re disabled people and attitudes.
I ran an organisation elswhere for many years that catered solely for the recreational and social needs of disabled children. That entailed fighting Local Authorities into providing suitable fascilities for those children. Some of them are still in contact with me.

Tec.

Goodmorning SueMaid,

I know what you mean about the ironing building up!

I do the ironing, mainly because these days it's my business shirts that require it, but I also iron the pillowcases and doona covers. Many people look askance when I admit to doing the ironing but it goes back a long way to when I was in the Army Reserve in the UK.

I wouldn't let my mother touch my uniform!

And later, after I married my OH was either working or looking after the two children and we just naturally shared the various domestic duties.

Fortunately I have always enjoyed cooking. I prefer one pot type dishes but can rustle up a roast if needs be.

Allan

Good evening to you, Tec

Aren't families funny: I have often wondered how my Mum and Dad got together as there did not seem much in common with their respective parents

Funnily enough, my children have never queried how we met!

I think that they just assume we were alloted names out of some celestial hat

lol

Allan

Hello Allan,
Sounds like you live in domestic bliss - I like the sound of your cats, where is the point in retaining human staff if you can't put them to good use.
In this house it's usually me that leaves stuff hanging about.
Occassionally, OH will pick something up and say "Is this yours?"

Who elses would it be, there's only the two of us.
What she really means is "When are you going to put this away"

Tec.

Tec, my daughter sources excellent facilities to help should there be any issues with our grand-daughter. She does very well and she is who she is because of the work my daughter does with her. My daughter encouraged her to walk by not carrying her around the house. If she wanted to get around with the boys then she had to walk - and she did. We have an organisation here that does a great deal of work with children with special needs. Our girl will start speech therapy shortly now she's turned 3 and there are physiotherapists there as well giving my daughter tips on how to get her moving. She was provided with play equipment for the garden that the boys can also use and she can now climb ladders, swing herself and jump on a small low trampoline. She runs rings around the boys:))

Sue xx

Ah, Tec, the famous female doublespeak!!

I am also asked the bl**ding obvious!

As for the cats, as I have said elsewhere, they are not even ours. Two belong to my daughter and the third belongs to my son.

When OH goes on about the cost of vet bills or cat food, I suggest that all the bills be sent to their respective addresses.....it's nice not having the OH talk to me for a few days!

It gives my ears a rest

lol

Allan