General Chat

You have indeed been AWOL Sue, but you have good reason. I hope things are on the up :-D

It is Wednesday morning and I slept in. OH has gone off to B&Q (DIY store) with a huge list of totally necessary, so he tells me, bits and pieces. It is 10% off day for pensioners today.

He was going to get them from an other outlet called Screwfix, but I made him check the stock availability on line before he set out. Good job I did as some of the things he wanted were out of stock. That was Monday and he has been wittering on about it since then, so I hope he can get everything he wants today.

He is busy using a hot air gun to scrape all the old varnish off the two garage doors. Over the years, it has built up and doesn't look good, so it is no good just adding another layer. It is very hard going, but it is keeping him busy.

I have another community drive this after noon. There is a big demand for the scheme and one of the drivers who seems to do it almost as a full time occupation is off for a month

Hello everyone - I've been AWOL :-(

Well as we are talking weather and food. It's sunny but still chilly here but the evenings are staying lighter longer. Summer is on the way :-)

We are having Pesto Gnocchi for tea tonight. Always a favourite.

Things have been a bit hectic here but is settling down hopefully. Life is never boring :-0

We get our butcher to cut the leg of lamb into 2 or 3 smaller pieces, and then freeze the extras.

It was cold roast lamb last night :-)

There is enough left over for me to have at least one lunch sandwich.

Tonight's dinner is a mix and match from the freezer .............. one serving of beef stew and one serving of a Greek chicken stew. Naturally, we forgot to take them out of the freezer before OH took me to physio, so they didn't come out until about 45 minutes ago, and I'm trying to thaw them in the oven at 375F ...................the chicken one is taking a long time to thaw :-(

But that is mine :-)


We also try to have fish at least once a week, usually Saturday ....... but then we also have fish when we go to the sushi restaurant on a Friday night :-)

and tonight will be Wed and we will be having lamb chops. We had a strange concoction for tea last night as we had had shepherds pie for a late lunch when we were at Pukekohe collecting library books that we had ordered.

If I buy a leg of lamb we end up with cold meat for about six nights. They sometimes have it on a special and it works out as a very cheap meal per night.

Of course then I go and buy expensive fish to have after that. We have fish at least once a week.

We always have cold roast on Mondays as well

I was very good and did lots of cleaning this morning, still lots to go though :-(

This afternoon it was delivering library books from the new library for the first time. It was in an old single story school, but it has moved to the other side of the town into a brand new building which has a community cafe and sheltered housing the library is on two floors, but there were very few books to choose from. They haven't finished unpacking and have been sent the wrong shelves, but even so they seem to have got rid of a huge proportion of the books

it's now dark before 8 pm here :-(

and we've just had our "usual" Monday evening winter meal ...... cold roast meat and Greek roast potatoes.


Winter is fast creeping up on us :-(

I just had a long chat with my sister, only half an hour which is very short for us.

It is pitch dark outside, although it is only 8.30pm, winter here we come :-D

the contact will mean everything to him ........ and means a lot to us as well.


so, very many thanks xxx

I used to be able to have a long chat with him, but it is difficult now. At least I can get the main news from his daughter before I have a mini chat with him. I can tell him all the news and listen to what he wants me to pass on to various people. He tires of talking very easily, so I am keeping it very short

Thank you, Linda

It is so worrying when you are a long way away and have a friend in trouble :-(

Well, my plan didn't work out I had to go into town this morning, I also called in the volunteers office, so I ended up taking an old lady shopping this afternoon

I spoke to Tecs daughter this afternoon, she said that he was a little bit better, but his speech is still muddled He was sitting out in the garden, but came in to speak to me. He spoke better, but only for a couple of minutes, then he had trouble again He couldn't find the words again

He has to wait two or three weeks until he can get any speech therapy locally. His daughter is arranging for social services to come in to do some jobs for him, so that hopefully he can live on his own again.

Unfortunately he cant write or use the internet as he cant sort the words out. I will keep in touch with his daughter by phone

I told him all the news and he sent his regards to everyone as normal

It was warm here yesterday, i had to go and change out of the long sleeved top I had on. The weather forecast for the week looks good, not massively hot, but 20 was mentioned one day, which will do nicely.

I have set myself the task of deep cleaning a room every day, I did start early and did the lounge on Saturday, I am already running out of enthusiasm :-(

I'm back for another year ................. paid my sub yesterday :-)



Talking to the daughter earlier today (Sunday) ..............

Her:- it was really hot here today

Me:- It's really cooled down here

Her:- It was 32C on the patio this afternoon

Me:- We've got out the winter duvet, and I've got my spring/fall warmer nighties out

Her:- oh, that's quite the change

Me:- Dad changed over all his shirts to the long-sleeved ones yesterday, and I've just got out all my lighter-weight winter turtleneck sweaters.



All summer long, she's been complaining about how cold it was on her side, and I've been complaining how hot it was on our side


It really does seem here as if we have moved into Fall about 3 weeks early ............. I wonder if that's because spring started about 3-4 weeks early????????????

I am glad that your daughter has recovered enough to dance again Persie, even if she had to take it easy

Got it all wrong, the three of them had been in Tauranga since late Thursday. They had a dance, song writing and painting workshop for Friday and Saturday. I did ask my daughter how she was at dancing now since it has taken her a fair while to get back to work after hitting her head when falling at dancing. She said she took the workshop and she did start to slip one part but was okay.

Evan was not very forthcoming but he did say he did a lot of dancing. There was a group of them that stayed at someone's house. Maia and the Son-in-law looked after the animal menagerie. Poor Kayli the dog, got so excited with all this packing of the car and then cried when she didn't get to go too.

Linda ................

We don't get to do holiday or any other kind of baby sitting, thank heavens!!

............ it takes a minimum of 8 hours by plane, 6 days by train or 10 days by car for us to get over there

The other grandparents also don't do any more than taking him for 1 or 2 nights at their own convenience, as they live over 1 hour away from about April to November, and then down in Florida in the winter.

They have to do what we had to do, and what most parents over here have to do .............. use out-of-school care before and after school and during the summer.

Night night Persie, you deserve a nice sleep after a busy day

Goodness how time passes Sylvia, I hope he had a lovely time at school. You too can now join the ranks of grandparents covering school holidays.

Eve went back on Thursday, she was in the reception class last year which sounds the same as your kindergarten, that is for ages 4 to 5. She is now in year one, she only has to get to year thirteen, so we still have lots more holiday cover to do. They can leave after year eleven, but that would be before A levels, so she won't be doing that.

It is dry, but windy outside, we will be off to the market soon. I am going to award myself a lazy weekend, before I set about the house. I am itching to give it a deep clean, I haven't had time to do that for ages.

I am cream crackered, keep falling asleep and it is not even 9pm. We got up early because a friend was coming down to Huntly to look at a property for his son to invest in. He rang later to tell us the house was not ready for him to look at. He wanted OH to look at it with him. This is the second Saturday in a row we have thought we might see him.

I was vine cutting after we got back from coffee and cake at the pub here.

Tomorrow we are meeting up with my daughter and Evan and Anya for lunch in Cambridge. Evan and Anya have to go dancing in Tauranga in the morning. It is father's day tomorrow. We will be looking at a property first, before meeting up with them.

Nice to see you Amanda, though I do see you on the other side keeping an eye on Diane.

Night night. :-\

we've had a turn around in the weather here ..... it has been much cooler since the rains arrived last weekend.

We have the winter duvet on the bed, and I even changed my summer nightie for a slightly warmer one on Wednesday :-(

This afternoon is sunny, but only about 17/18C

Of course, this is a Stat Holiday Weekend .......... Labour Day on Monday ............. so the forecast if for clouds, showers and chilly :-(


Our grandson started school yesterday (Thursday) in all day Kindergarten, which they call Primary Class. He was really excited to be going to Big School, and apparently showed no apprehension or tears :-)

Our schools here don't go back until next Tuesday, the day after Labour Day, as usual.