General Chat

Irish Gaelic: "Dia dhuit ar maidin." (good morning)
This is one of the few bits of the Irish language that I can recall from the days I had to learn as a small child. My father was adamant that we had to learn this dying language and actually i rather enjoyed doing so. Somewhere tucked away in one of my boxes is the original book I had to learn from and possibly some of my efforts of writing as well!!l

Tess so many of the things you mention brought back amazing memories for me. I used to spend nearly a large chunk of my school holidays in Finglas Ireland from around 1954 onwards. Life was hard but the freedom to roam, going scrumping, helping to brush the floors help with the mangle, picking fruit and veg remain with me forever.
I look back and realise that at a difficult time for my parents, low wages .poor living conditions and war damage all around us I was a very lucky child. some holidays in Finglas and at other times with my maternal grandparents in Fingrinhoe Essex.
what a lovely surprise it is to have come on here this morning and see so many postings, just as it used to be,

we had a pleasant day yesterday, the sun came out , the temp went up to 20c and my mood went up as well! not that I have been feeling unhappy but we should be having good weather here at this time of the year.
we went out for Lunch Fish & chips, English style and there were about 35-40 people there , live music, a speech from the local branch of ;;;well actually I cannot recall what they are called but they raise funds for a few charities and thankfully this year they are donating a percentage to Help for Heroes so will be well used by them to help our lads and lasses in the forces.
Amazingly we sat at a table with people we had not met before and low and behold the lady and I had lived in the same places in the UK and at the same time but never met before. Now I am not talking about the Centre of London or any other large place but small country places where generally speaking everyone new everyone else except us!!! We talked and talked and exchanged email addresses so i am sure you can guess what I shall do in the next day or two.

Berona, I am sure that your entry about the workmen sounds very familiar to most of us.I hope that the work is done quite soon. You mention that you live in/on, never quite sure which word is correct. I have never lived on a complex although we did look at some here in Sppain before we bought our hose, The Houses were beautiful but generally on or connected to Golf Courses and as neither OH or I am into golf so really they were not for us.

If I haven't thanked everyone it isn't because I have forgotten BUT because I need a Coffee!! so bye bye for now, enjoy your day and I hope to be back later today.

07.35 Spain

Just for information which I thought may be of interest

The history of daylight saving time

In 1907 an Englishman, William Willett, campaigned to advance clocks by 80 minutes. He proposed four moves of 20 minutes at the beginning of the spring and summer months, and to return to Greenwich Mean Time in a similar manner in the autumn. The following year, the House of Commons rejected a Bill to advance the clocks by one hour during the spring and summer months.

Summer time was first defined in an Act of Parliament in 1916. The clocks were moved one hour ahead of GMT from the spring to the autumn.

During the Second World War, double summer time (two hours in advance of GMT) was introduced, lasting until July 1945.

Since the 1980s, all parts of western and central Europe have co-ordinated the date and the time of their clock changes.

I have just had an unexpected call from someone I got y=to know quite well when caring for his grandmother when I was last in the UK. I represented the home by going to the funeral and became quite close to the family.He is a fairly well known modern artist and when I learnt that he lives not far away from my home in Spain I told him and the family that if they were near bye to come and see me. yesterday I found myself thinking about his mother and lo and behold this morning I had a call from him.he is in Spain, has to go south for a few days and is coming for coffee on Monday!

I am really pleased because they are a delightful family.

12.35hrs Spain


Bridget

Hello, 13.30 here, a warm. windy day.

Penny the computer bits and pieces are for a computer my daughtyer is building for a customer. She has a workshop attached to our house and runs a small business , computer sales, repairs, upgrades etc. She started this about 10 years ago after she was retrenched and could not find employment. Prior to opening the business she did a technicians course. Unfortunately she does not repair laptops - too specialised she says- so the set-up she has for me is working well I
shall stick to it for now. I managed to find a light fitting must now get the
electrician in next week to do the fitting as I want the light moved.

Thanks for the piece on housework Tess, makes interesting reading.

Berona that is so familiar about workmen, thy must be the same all over.
Well done Bridget on coming third!.

Paid are usual Saturday visit to our friends and then went out for something to eat , am now home and feeling thoroughly lazy so will settle down with the Saturday paper and the crossword.

Enjoy the rest of the day.



Val.

Good morning from what looks like being another pleasant Autumn day here in Oz. I suppose everyone is heading for bed after losing an hour! We go back an hour next weekend.

Yes, the workmen came back early on Saturday morning and worked until almost dark (which is 7pm DST at the moment) and finished the job - fourteen villas and townhouses. (ten single-storey villas and four 2-storey townhouses).
We are not bothered by fires here and trees have gradually disappeared to make way for these complexes, but this was the first time the gutters were cleaned in the four years that the complex has been here, so a certain amount on "gunk" had collected in them.

Everything was very quiet on these boards at the weekend. I suppose the Brits were taking advantage of the brighter weather and working in their gardens.

Good morning, 7.08 here.
I was up at 5.30 a.m. SA time, it was still quite dark, there was an orange patch on the horizon as the sun was just beginning to rise. I sat in the lounge to have my coffee and as it got lighter I looked out of the window and could see the sea was quite calm. There were a couple of flashes of lightning. My first load of washing is hanging on the line.

To-day I must be off to the bank and then go along to pay my annual subscription for the Sunday newspaper otherwise I will not have any crosswords on Sunday!



Val.

I thought that I had posted here earlier today but obviously not. Lovely to hear from Berona and Val.


Berona
Very pleased to hear that your workmen came back and that they have finished all they needed to do. Very pleased that you are not in the area where the dreadful fires have been. We do not seem to hear anything now about what has happened to all those who lost their home etc. I often think about them and wonder how they are managing.
You are quite right the boards do tend to be rather quiet whereas when I was an at Home mum, many years ago I would have been on here at weekends, no school runs to do, no taking part in Cricket meets etc

Valerie
Obviously you are similar to me, in so far as I thoroughly enjoy that quiet time of the day when I can look across the sea, and often watch the sunrise, and the amazing colours in the sky.
I have managed to get all my washing and have even ironed that which needs Ironing and it is all now in the right place.
Hope that you have managed to get your Sunday Newspaper subscription so you can continue withe the paper and your crosswords.

I was delighted when the son of a lady I cared for in the UK came to see OH and myself today. He has a house about 50mins from where we live and he was on his way south to see someone about a painting they have commissioned. We had a lovely chat and OH got along with him very well so he is visiting us again later in the year when we have promised to show him around the castle etc.

Well we are having Curry tonight so I must check that everything is simmering nicely

Bye for now

18.50hrs Spain

Good morning everyone. lots to write about today so will be be back later
have a good day everyone

09.15hrs Spain

Hello, 11.30 a.m. here. Have had problems with the internet again to-day, the cable is "down" again, it seems to be "down" more than anything else!

Quite a nice day to-day.

My great-niece has completed her degree and will be graduating next weekend. Her parents have asked us to attend the graduation ceremony with them and we are hoping to be able to do so. She and her brother are my brother's grandchildren but have been like our own. This year she is doing her Honours.

I am still waiting for the electrician to come and put in the new light fitting, somehow when we need a job done we are never first on the list!

Iam now off to the Mall to see if I cvan find a nice blouse to wear next weekend, hopefully I will be lucky.

Till next time.



Val.

Hi All

Hope you are all ok. It seems ages since I added to this thread. Finally arrived back from UK on Friday having had to extend my visit by 3 days due to my mom being poorly and not safe to leave on her own. I went to Cornwall thinking I would have some quality time with my mom but in fact I ended up as a nurse - probably not that good either. I had the NHS running around in circles - out of hours doctor, locum doctor and even the district nurse - not to mention the receptionists and doctors at the surgery. My mom is still not right but she did tell me yesterday she got dressed for the first time in weeks.

The weather in Cornwall was much better than here in Spain - hubby told me it was rather dull, windy and wet - yet the sun was shining in Bodmin.

Saw my two sons and daughter in law which was good, also my neice came over one day and we managed to escape and had lunch out. Youngest son was very good he picked me up from airport and took me down to Cornwall then when my plans changed had to change his days off so he could pick me up and take me to Bristol airport for my return journey. It is amazing how your children grow up and end up looking after you!!

By the time I landed at Alicante airport I was shattered - not slept much the night before and when my flight was announced I had to walk for what seemed like miles to gate no. 13 - carrying my hand luggage which although not that heavy it has made my right hand inflammed so I have had to take my rings off - I feel naked !!!

I landed in the new terminal at Alicante which seems to be much better than the old one. Even car parking is much easier. Hubby then took me out for a meal - it was great to see him.

Well I have ironing to do so must be off.

Take care and enjoy the rest of your day

Love Mary xx

Just a quick visit before I get myself something to eat.
Will try to come back later today (or tomorrw) to talk about my mums housework experiences.

Tess

Oops, sorry but the day simply flew by because....I went in the garden and stayed there in the sunshine forvaround 4 hours, then had to finish the house work, prepare our evening meal, check my bank card as it was refused a few days ago, could find nothing amiss, so took out some money!

Then went to a bar for about half an hour as OH wanted a beer whilst out . We came homecaround an hourvago and OH is now watching football England v Ghana, so takingbthis opportunity to say hello and goodbye

Will be back tomorrow



22.10 hrs Spain

Sorry, brain is too jumbled to write about my mothers experiences tonight.

So will shortly be off to bed.

22.33 in UK

Tess

Hi all, just to say I'm still around have had a few very busy days. Hope you are all well, been thinking of you even though I have'nt been on line. Must go to bed now another busy one t omorrow. Take care all. Penny

Hello all, 13.32 here. The day started out very cloudy and cool with a heavy mist over the sea, but it turned out very hot although there is a breeze.

i don't sleep very well so I listen to the radio quite a lot during the night, in the early hours this morning I heard this and thought it worth repeating - Don't look down on anyone unless you are helping them up.

Look after yourselves.


Val.

A good one to remember Val thank you.

A very grey day here and the washing is back to drying indoors. Had to doa load to get it all cleared before going to tenerife. got a 'to do' list as long as my arm but slowly getting through it. At least the garden is up to scratch. OH is off playing golf so have had the morning to myself to get jobs done.

OOPs so sorry not to have posted yet, the morning flew past and then we had to pick up some friends and we went to a restaurant in Benicarlo, there were 24 of us and we had a great time, talking about anything and everything, met a lot of people who were so very kind in their comments about me being home permanently,

I had forgotten how kind many of them are. Good food, we had 4 courses, wine if we wanted it, plenty of soft drinks and water and good coffee.

We dropped our friends back at there house and arrived home about 20 minutes ago.
Jet and Joe have gone for a walk, which means they have gone to the top of our road and are sniffing around the unused part of the mountain only about 500 yards away and as t is a cul-de-sac very very little traffic. In fact some days we do not have any traffic at all.
They have just returned home as I was writing!!

Oh falling asleep now whilst watching the cricket, and I have to go and bring in the washing I did this morning.

Val, that is a good piece of advice that you have posted, if only we all keep to it.!
Captain Pugwash you do sound very busy, find a few minutes now and again during the day for yourself.

AnninGlos, Off to Tenerife...when do you go and for how long?I have never been there, you must let us know what you enjoy about you visit.

I think I may have a nab now so may be on here again this evening

17.07 hrs Spain

14.30 here on a cloudy day. I had just hung my washing on the line this morning when down came a shower of rain, I'm not complaining because I am only to grateful to have a few drops of rain, hasn't lasted unfortunately.

I hope that as you are quiet it means you are busy and not that you are not well.

I had a pleasant surprise last night when two people contacted me on this site., one from Soputhampton is connected to my family but sadly the other one is not. I have tried numerous times to make contact with various people but seldom do they follow up.

I googled Tenerife to see where you will be going Ann. When are you off?

Val.

Another busy and rather tiring day.

Willbe back tomorrow.

Tess

Hi all, hope you are all well. Very early on here tonight (for me that is!!). Just thought I would drop in for 5 mins.Hectic week and am very tired so am off to my bed. Night all, take care Penny

Well good morning to you all. We seem to be so busy with our lives that we do not have much spare time. Perhaps we should all try to write something each week,and we could change the heading to BBs Weekly Diary? Now if you agree please let me know asap and could someone tell me how to change the heading.

Well the life of a retiree is certainly not boring! We are out at lunch today to celebrate a chaps 81st birthday....what on earth do we buy, oh yes another bottle of wine methinks

Take care everyone


10.15 hrs Spain