General Chat

Hello everyone,

Clear blue sky here and need I say, very hoit.

Bridget when i was at school - a long time ago - we were there to learn.
We were taught English and Afrikaans and I have always thought it was a pity that we were not taught Xhosa which is the indigenous language spoken in this area. I played tennis at school, never learnt to swim, my father used to say I was the only one he knew who went to swimming and never got their costume wet! There is no discipline in our schools to-day, not allowed, and if learners , as they are now called, do not pass their exams they expect to be put through to the next standard anyway. To tell the truth our education system is a joke, if the teachers are not on strike the learners are. Sorry about the rant, it is just such a sad state of affairs, especially for those who want to learn.

A very sad thing this week was the murder of our Minister's cousin, he was killed in an armed robbery on his farm.

I will be remembering your friend, Mary and hope that her problem is sorted.

When I have finished at my computer I will be settling down to the crosswords from the Sunday paper, I always enjoy that.

Sorry I have nothing really exciting to write.



Val.

How delightful to hear from those we have missed on this thread. I have been in touch with one or two others as well so maybe they will also come back to let us know how they are.
Jenxx , welcome back, none of us seem to lead exciting fun packed lives but it is so uplifting learning about how people feel in their everyday life and as I know from recent experience the people who post here are kind, supportive, honest and uplifting. We share our thoughts and traumas as well as happy and momentous moments and as I have said before I equate this to the pen Pals that some of us may have had when we were younger.
I have had personal experience of the kindness of people on here who have assisted me through a very difficult and lonely time.
So now I look forward to seeing if anyone else comes back to us.

Do you all think we should have a theme each week or month which we could discuss, or do you have other suggestions. For example we used to write about the history of the places we live in etc....has anyone got and=y ideas or is there someone who would like to start the ball rolling.

Mary I shall add your friend to me quite moments each day and send a prayer hoping that you have good news soon.

I have to lock up now as we are going to have an early night, we have been out since 14.00hrs which is the longest period of time I have been out since I came home. I had a good time and only one or two slightly wobbly moments by OH noticed each time and helped me to settle again...a doctor friend has said I must not worry when this type of episode takes place so I will try to keep that in mind.

AnninGlos, setting up a blog...well this sounds very interesting and where do we find it?
Good night and positive thoughts to you all

Bridget

Bridget, it is a scrapbooking, card making and craft blog. Well I am hoping it will develop as more people send photos for it. Unfortunately at the moment nobody else is able to comment directly on the blog. But if somebody has somehting they want to say if they e mail it to me I will add it.

I will PM you the addy Bridget as you asked.

Good morning everyone, the sun is shining through my bedroom window and the trees are still so perhaps it is going to be a warm day. 21 degrees is the forecast so i am keeping my fingers crossed.

Val, it seems to me that the education systems across the world has changed beyond the recognition for most of us.
When I was in primary school we had to sit still on our chairs. We stood up when the teacher entered the room and again when they left. We also had to say according to the time of day "good morning /afternoon Sister Margaret, Miss Walker, and as the left we stood again and said "Thank you Sister Margaret etc. we had to be quiet and listen to what was being taught and then we would be asked questions at random and we had to stand up and give our answers. In maths we had to learn our tables, be able to add and subtract at a very early age and then move on to percentages logarithms etc.

Similarly we learnt to read with each child reading ou loud and we did the same with spellings.

We had to practice our hand writing and and were encouraged in everything we did. Now I am not saying that is the best teaching method because it is the only one I know from experience but as far as I can see we were better educated then and generally speaking had a greater respect for the teachers.

I never learnt to swim due to a an incident in the local swimming baths when a young lad mistaking me for my younger sister who is a brilliant swimmer , pulled me under the water. the life Guard on duty realized that I was panicking and came and rescued me. I still feel sorry for that lad as he really did make a mistake but he had such a telling off I am sure that he never did that prank again. Anyway I never went swimming after that until I lived by the sea,,,but still can't swim and even have my own pool now!!

How sad to hear that the presidents cousin was murdered during a robbery, are guns used a lot.?
AnninGlos, I am intrigued by your craft, so I will have a look, I have never really tried craft work, embroidery and knitting used to be enjoyable but I ahve not done either of these for a while but did find
a tablecloth which I had started to embroider when spring cleaning the house last week so i have resurrected it and will try to finish it.

I am being very lazy this morning and OH brought me a very welcome cup of tea a few minutes ago so I am going to drink it now before it gets cold.
Have a great day everyone

Bridget

Good mornig,

It was the cousin
of the minister of our church Bridget. Unfortunately armed robberies are a daily occurence in this country and sadly farmers are easy targets.

I was thrown into a swimming when I was about 12 years old scared me half to death. We have also had swimming pools, we don't have one now, but I used to stay in the shallow end much to the amusement of my friends.

Had a pleasant surprise this morning when my niece and her husband poipped in for a short while, they were returning home having been away for the weekend.

I have just baked a rasin loaf so will go and sample it and have a cup of tea.

Take care.

Val.

Val hope that you enjoyed the visit by your niece and her husband and that they shared and enjoyed the raisin loaf.
This evening we had 6 people here all watching a film which we shall discuss tomorrow, we have decided to have a film review once a fortnight and this was the first trial. I will tell you more later today.
I am off to bed now so Goodnight and happy dreams to everyone.

Bridget

It is a very misty morning here so there will be another hot day ahead.

I have just seen on Sky News the devastation in Christchurch caused by the erarthquake. My thoughts and prayers go out to all those affected. According to the news there are still people trapped under rubble, I do hope they are rescued safely. Thinking also of all those involved in the rescue operations.

Have a safe day.



Val.

Good morning everyone.
I am sure that all of you will be aware of the terrible devastation which has taken place in Christchurch NZ and will be sending your own messages but as the founder of this thread I do not think that anyone would object when I say
"from the bottom of our hearts and minds we send everyone in NZ and particularly to those living in or who have family / friends living in and around Christchurch a deepest sympathy if you have people close to you who have died and our positive thoughts and prayers to everyone else.
Nature still cannot be completely controlled, and is at times, very cruel.

God Bless you all on this very sad day.

Bridget

nudge from bridget

I have just had a look at some pictures of the earthquake damage on a link on Facebook, scary stuff.

I have just seen some of the devastation on Sky News. It is almost beyond belief when one lives in a country that has only had some 5.3 Quakes which mostly brought down trees etc and then they are unusual if not rare.

Sympathy does not seem enough and one wonders sometimes about the value of prayer but nevertheless this is really the only thing I can offer.

so tonight at around 11pm European time I shall dedicate about 10 minutes simply contemplating about this tragedy and offering prayers and positive thoughts for the people who have survived.

If anyone would like to join me about the same time that would be wonderful.

Bridget

nudge

Hello Everyone. It is the 1st time I have posted on this thread though I have just spent the last couple of hours reading your postings which I have found sometimes found sad and sometimes funny (in a good way). Unfortunately in my family the end of 2010 and beginning of 2011 has not been a very good time. OH took ill on 18th December and was rushed into hospital (the weather here in this part of the UK was the worst it had been for the last 100 years!!) My OH had contracted pancreatitis caused by gall stones. He came out of hospital on 8th February 2011 after having a very rough ride of it. Oh he also contracted pneumonia whilst he was in hospital. On 2nd January I was told that my husband might not make it through the night, (his breathing was very shallow and he was unconcious.). They took him into intensive care and he was on a life support machine for 10 days or so. But the upside is that at least he is still here and he now takes each day as it comes. I have also watched in dismay the pictures coming out of NZ showing the damage the earthquake has done and my heart and thoughts go out to the people in Christchurch.

I am now actively looking for another job as during the turmoil of my husbands illness I was also made redundant.

Hope everyone is ok and hopefully I will post again soon if I can find this thread again lol.

Good morning and welcome to our thread,we hope that you will stay with us and contribute to our thread. What a patient person you must be to have read through all the entries which cover such a wide spectrum of information, stories etc.
As the founder of this thread I am always excited when someone joins us and we all try to make the new member very welcome.

So sorry to read about the rather traumatic time you have had with your husband being so ill, but delighted that he is recovering and and back home.

I am fortunate never to have been made redundant and can therefore only imagine how that must have been a shock. What line of employment are you now looking for and do you want full time or part time,of course not knowing where you live in the UK i do not know what work may be available.?

I also have watched some of the news about the tragedy in Christchurch New Zealand, and am shocked at the devastation and the thought of possibly hundreds of people still being trapped but alive, one feels so helpless and sometimes i feel as if we are intruding on so many peoples lives and then the next moment i think that maybe they will be aware that we are simply trying to come to learn about how devastating such an event is.

I shall send you a personal message so that you know how to find us easily and I look forward to your next posting, I shall be looking out for you.

Thinking of you and your husband, wishing you success in your quest for new work and looking forward to your reply.

Bridget

Goodmorning and welcome Jacqueline, look forward to seeing you on here in the future. Sorry to see that you have been through such a rough time but hope that now your husband is back home he continues to make good progress. I also hope that your will be successful in finding employment.

The news this morning from Christchurch is really sad with hundreds of people still missing. There is nothing one can do against the forces of nature which can be so cruel.

The new house which is being built across the street seems to be nearing completion. There are so many big sliding doors and windows that it will be a full time job keeping them clean! It's not a house I would like as I'm sure it is gloing to be like living in a fish bowl! Just as well we all have different tastes.

Nothing special doing here to-day.

Take care.

Val.

good morning all
hello Jacqueline so pleased your Hubby is on the mend ((((hug)))
nothing much going on at the moment weather dreadful
went shopping yesterday to look for a pair of cream sandals (dressy ones )
no luck half the shops still had winter sales on and the other half said "We are waiting for spring stock to come in "
fingers crossed I can get them in Manchester on the weekend. we are travelling to Daughters on Friday as we are flying from Manchester Airport on Monday so spending a few days with the grandchildren
well off to sort out the packing see you all later
Jenxx

Hello and thank you all for your kind welcomes. it is raining here this morning, very dull and grey. Oh did not have a very good night thought I may have to call doctor out but OH said no,he now seems to have a phobia about going into hospital. He is a little better this morning. Is now asleep. Had a call from an employment agency in respect of a job, seems to be up my street so they are putting forward my cv, lets hope something comes from it. All my children live over 100 miles away and later this year we have decided to move closer to them as we have realised we are too far away for when something like a serious illness happens. Am looking forward to that. Not a lot else going on this way today. Going to try and have a sleep myself to catch up. Will look in later. Take care everyone.

I am sorry everyone but today I have been very busy and now I am just very tired so i do not have much energy to add on here,.
I am sure that a good nights sleep will revive me and I will look in again tomorrow morning.

hello everyone late today.

Welcome to the thread Jacqheline, you did have a bad end to 2010 and start to 2011, I hope things will continue to improve for your husband's health and your employment.

Bridget, hope you get a good nights sleep.

Jen hope you have a nice holiday wherever you are going (I have probably missed that bit.)

Val, can't bear to think of all those windows to clean.

Although it was still dark at 5.30 a.m. the birds were awake and twittering. The sun is not shining, perhaps it will be a cloudy day. Hung out a load of washing so hope it dries.

Ann, my thoughts exactly about all those windows, especially living at the sea, I think it will be a permanent job !

Bridget, hope you had a good rest last night and feel refreshed this morning.

I have been trying to find Workhouse Records I have had a look at the Workhouse site and also the National Archives, but no luck, well I will just keep going. I have spent so much time at the computer searching lately I sometimes felt quite guilty, and then I think I am retired now so why not.

Have a good all.



Val.