General Chat

It seems parking at hospitals is a world wide problem. So are long waits for appointments. One delay and the whole day is thrown off.

I hope the day was better for you.

Aghh, the appointment took ages, then it took me twenty minutes to get out of the car park before I could take him home, so in all, I was away from home for five hours. Typical that it was such a lovely day as well. I have to take someone to the fertility clinic in the same hospital tomorrow afternoon. last time I took the same couple, their appointment lasted two and a half hours, so I am not looking forward to tomorrow either.

I am now at the hospital doing the first of three community drives this week. This old chap insisted on being picked up far too early, so we were half an hour early for his appointment. Now there is a delay so there will be a 90 minute wait :-(

Your Mother's Day sounded fun Sylvia but it could have been a bbq in the rain. We have lots of power cuts here, I hate putting all the flashing clocks right.

The fires have been dreadful, but it sounds like they are more under control now thank goodness. I think it said that 20% of the town had gone, that is so sad for the people who have lost their homes.

Sounds like a very busy weekend - no wonder you are exhausted. I hope you enjoyed it.

Thank you for passing on our birthday wishes :-)

I am here Sue.

We had a very nice weekend, although it was hard work.

My sister had hired the local Brownie hut for the party. It used to be the village school, but has been converted so that it has a large hall, excellent kitchen, leaders bedroom downstairs and two bunk rooms upstairs where lots of little Brownies can sleep. It is very well equipped and has lots of play stuff as well.

We went down on Friday and were staying in the house. Her daughter and granddaughter were there as well, plus one of his sons who lives in France now. My sister had managed to keep the sons arrival secret ,so while she went off "to meet the caterers" we kept him occupied, he had a real surprise when she came back with his son. Another couple were staying in their campervan in the grounds, so I made a huge Lasagne with side dishes and took it all down with me,so she needn't prepare anything.

Just as well because apart fom the party arrangements, she had hosted 22 ladies for a plant exchange the previous evening. An annual event which just clashed with the party this year.

Another family group of eight arrived late evening, but they had already eaten thank goodness, they were all sleeping at the hall, but it was late before they went down there.

On Saturday morning, the ladies all went to the hall to set up the tables and put decorations up before the caterers arrived. Once they had delivered everything, they left, but we managed to get everything done before the fifty guests arrived at 12.30pm.Some of the food needed to be put in the oven and then onto serving platters.there was a lot to do during the meal, plus all the washing up, so two of her oldest friends and me acted as staff. It all went extremely well and lots of alcohol was consumed.

It was about five pm before the last local guests left. All the family who had arrived from far flung places then went back to the house and made an evening of it. We took the spare food with us to feed everyone.

On Sunday morning the hall had to be cleared up and left ship shape, so I was very tired by the time I got back home last night, it was worth it though.

I did pass on your birthday wishes to him Sue.

Must rush next door to play with the twins, I will catch up with everything else later on.

Well that was an ....er....interesting Mothers Day, Sylvia :-D

My day was nice. Son in Hobart rang in the morning and Aiden rang from his Mum's too. Quiet for the rest of the day and then family over for dinner. Just as I like it :-D

Raining here and definitely a chill in the air.

Where are you, Linda....you know I worry :-|

The power was off from about 11:30 am to 5:15 pm .............. just under 6 hours.

The fridge freezer was not opened, the standing freezer in the basement was open for a couple of minutes while OH got the lamb out.

The fridge was opened 4 or 5 times for 1 or 2 minutes a time ......... but we don't have many spoilables in there.

I think we're OK ...... even the ice cream in the fridge freezer had not softened when I got it out after dinner.

I think we're fine ............... they usually say 48 hours for a full freezer, 24 hours if it is half-full. Both the fridge freezer (below the fridge) and the big freezer are about 90% full.

The time for a fridge is about 4 hours according to most experts ......... but I still think we're OK. I'll smell my cold meat tomorrow before I make my lunch sandwich!

Mother's Day here today ......... and a bit of different one for us. We don't do anything special now ..... as OH says "I'm not his mother!!" BUT ...............

Our power went out at 11:30 am this morning (Sunday) ....... we had high winds overnight, and we obviously had a very short power outage at some point as 3 of the clocks in the house (2 radio alarms and the microwave) were flashing when I woke up this morning, but other clocks (including the oven one) were all working OK. That was very strange, because usually they all go out. The strangest was that we have 2 radio alarms on the same fuse circuit .......... one went out, the other was working.

I heard on the radio that 2,000 homes were without power in our area as a tree had been blown down on to power lines.

Then ours went out ........ first estimate of getting it back was 4:00 pm. So we went ahead with our plans for dinner ........ got the lamb roast out of the freezer to thaw. We reconsidered when it was still off at 4:30 pm, and decided to BBQ, charcoal bbq, first time this season ......... meant OH had to find everything in the basement, using only a torch to see (only have small windows down there).

Then to the store to buy fresh meat to bbq, and get fire starters.

The power was back on when we entered the house at about 5:15 pm ........... but only just back because my computer was still in its turning on phase. I'd been using it when the power went off, but fortunately had just saved everything.

We had a lovely dinner of BBQ'd pork chops and salad ........... roast lambs, nugget potatoes and veggies tomorrow night :-D


It was the phone that got us ............. we don't have cell phones. The phone I have upstairs is a mobile on a base, and we have a landline still connected in the basement.

The mobile of course was useless. OH brought the landline phone upstairs and plugged it into the one and only phone jack upstairs ...... in the bedroom. The cord wasn't long enough to reach this room ..................

Daughter phoned and said the phone rang 12 times before OH finally heard it and answered. She was wondering what was wrong ............ no answer, didn't go to the answer machine, and "Mum knew she'd be calling".

It's Mother's Day here and "she'd promised" :-D

Sue .......

so sorry to hear about your friend. She must be really worried, but you're quite right ...... her family don't need another person to worry about. And, to be honest, there would be nowhere for her to stay if she did manage to get over to Alberta. Every hotel, motel, etc etc is full as communities try to help over 88,000 people plus all the media and "helpers" who have flocked in to those communities. Thank heavens that none of those are getting into areas where they could obstruct the work of the firefighters. It's going to be many weeks before most of them get back to Fort Mac.

BTW ............... the police are finding people who stayed in Fort Mac because they "didn't believe they were in danger". So far, we've been told about a family of 5 (3 young children) and an elderly man and his dog. They've been moved out.


My daughter is way on the other side of the country, in the Maritimes, and they are in the currently lowest risk zone in the whole country ................ moderate! Thank you for wondering about her.

I wasn't worried because I knew you aren't near the fires but I did wonder about your daughter and family, Sylvia. I have an elderly fiend whose son and his family have lost their home. Although they are all safe my friend is devastated by the news. She is not well enough to travel and I would think her family don't need another person to worry about.

Ongoing lovely weather although it's quickly cooling down.

Mothers Day on Sunday here too.

Hi everyone

Linda ........... enjoy your weekend away. Thank you for the news re Tec. I'm glad the antibiotics are working.


We're having lovely weather here. Gave in, and now have my summer clothes out of storage .......... don't usually do it this early, but then we don't often get 25C temperatures in April and early May!

The fires in Alberta are terrible, and there are more in northeastern BC that are causing great concern .......... one has just crossed into Alberta, and BC fire fighters will continue to fight it in that province. Firefighters don't usually cross provincial borders unless they have been specifically asked to do so ....... but the Albertans have their hands full with Fort McMurray.

That's not to say that BC fire people are not busy .......... we have so many fires in this province that we couldn't lend people to help out there.

The latest news (just hearing it on the radio) is that the Alaska Highway has been closed in north-eastern BC, and 1000 people are under mandatory evacuation orders. That's caused by a separate fire from the one that has crossed into western Alberta.

It's bad, and likely to get even worse .......... there are bone dry conditions, and high temperatures, causing high to extreme fire risks in all the provinces west of Ontario, and moderate to high conditions from Ontario east to New Brunswick.

El Nino once again :-(


But don't worry about me ................. we're on the coast in the southern part of BC, nowhere near the extreme danger areas.

There are a few members of GR in BC and Alberta ....... but none, I think, in the danger areas.


We buried our friend's ashes with her husband's yesterday afternoon. Just 4 people there, a glorious sunny day, we were very quiet but had a few laughs. Nothing "service-y" about it, as she had forbidden that!


Sunday is Mother's Day over here :-)




Take care

Please pass on our birthday wishes to your BIL and of course our regards to your sister. I remember our stay in their lovely home.

Have a nice time <3

I am just getting my summer clothes and sandals out :-D

We are off to stay with my sister and her husband for the weekend, the one's you stayed with. It is his 70th birthday,so she has organised a surprise party for him. Or it was a surprise until he found out midweeek.

Linda - I'm pleased to hear Tec is feeling much better and enjoying the sunshine. Thanks for that.

We have had a few days of glorious sunny autumn days but it appears we are about to leap into winter. I have put the winter doona on the bed and I'm starting to bring out the winter woolies.

Hope all is well with everyone <3

I spoke to Tec today and he is fine. He has had some more anti biotics and is feeling much better. As I suspected, he has been enjoying the sun in his garden and had not noticed the message on his phone.

It is a lovely day here. I went to vote this morning, we only have the vote for the Police Commissioner, not any councillors this time.The turn out is incredibly low so the poor people in the polling station were glad of having someone to chat to.

Thanks for that, Sylvia - I will pass that on to my son.

I do hope Tec was out enjoying his garden - I can just see him sitting out in the sunshine.

Yes it's all very difficult but I'm sure it will all work out. No problem getting a three month visitors waiver but any longer than that is more complex.

Hope Tec is OK


Linda ........... it's easier for us to visit the US, as long as we have a Canadian passport and a name that is not like one on the no-fly list :-)

But it's hard for even a Canadian to get permission to live in the US, even if they have obtained a job.

It is, of course, also hard for an immigrant to get permission to live in Canada ............. all jobs have to be advertised here first, and proof provided by the employer that there is no Canadian eligible for the position before someone can be hired from overseas.

I used to be on a site called British Expats, and the Canadian part of the site was full of complaints from people about how long it was taking for them to get permission to immigrate ............... most of them did not have jobs, or employers were not willing to spend the $1000 + necessary to prove the immigrant was the one and only person qualified for the job.

I just got fed up with all the complaints from Brits who had succeeded in immigrating here that "it's not like home", "the food's not the same", "I can't buy x, y or z" .................. I mean, what do you expect when you move to another country????

I did, however, see some good advice being given to potential immigrants.


Sue ........

......... your son might want to go on that site, and see what people are saying about emigrating to the US from elsewhere. It might give him an idea of how long it might take.

http://britishexpats.com/forum/

He can look and read posts without signing up, but has to join if he wants to post or ask questions.



Mind you, if I am to believe the British press, it is hard for legitimate immigrants to get into the UK, even if they are married to or plan to marry a British citizen :-D . Something to do with the Brit having to have an annual income of more than a certain amount.

I sometimes wonder if even we could return to live in the UK after reading some of the stories!!

I tried to ring him this afternoon Sue, but there was no answer. It was a lovely day,so he was probably in the garden. I will try again tomorrow.

Even visiting the USA is hard now Sylvia, you have to fill in a huge form beforehand and pay for it of course

unfortunately .............. it's always complicated entering the US if you want to be considered anything other than a visitor.

I hope it does not take them too long to complete all the paper work. xxxx