General Chat

HI Bridget we live in Zeals which is not far from Mere. We have only lived here for 11 months before that lived in Southampton.

Jackie

Evening ladies, later than ever today, dont know where today has gone, hope you have all had a good one.
Another lovely day here, cant quite believe it, the weekend and no rain!!!
Well have done nothing out of the ordinary today, bit of shopping and thats about it. Forgot to say I had a fun evening yesterday, went to my friends grand-daughters school, the teachers did a performance in aid of Red Nose Day it was very funny. Hope you all enjoy the rest of the weekend. Take care Penny

Good morning Penny,

So we are the two early birds! It is 02.30 here in Spain and I am sitting in the dining area having a fruit juice because I cannot sleep! Just having a fruit juice and then will go back to bed.
.pleased to read that the weather has been fine and long may it continue.
You say that you have done nothing out of the ordinary yet you have been shopping,so did you buy something you had not intended too, or forget something you really wanted?
Your evening out sounds great fun and what a splendid idea the teachers had, here in my part of of Spaini did not hear or see anything unusual happening but then maybe it was in the local schools or town
Hall.

Well have finished my fruit juice so going to try to have some more sleep.
Bye for now enjoy your day

Hello eveyone, it is 7.40a.m. here. Another bright, sunny day to-day. Although the sea was quite calm earlier this morning it was quite noisy.

Hope your cold is on the mend Bridget, now I think I am getting one, sore throat and stuffy nose. Anyway I am a firm believer in Iodised throat lozenges so that is what I am sucking for my throat, I think they work much better than the very expensive lozenges.

I am not going to church to-day. We are having our Harvest Festival - everyone brings along fruit, vegetables and also non-perishable items which are displayed in the front of the church. After the service the things are donated to charity - this year it has been decided to give the gifts to Hospice, an Old Age Home and a project for street childlren.

My daughter made quite a large dish of Bobotie for us last night, it was really very nice, as there was so much I sent some to our friends and they were so pleased to have it - saves cooking!

I am going in now for my first cup of tea of the day., it is so lovely that I will sit outside to drin k it. I only have one cup of coffee every day and that is first thing in the morning after that it's tea.

That's all for now.


Val.

Val, we also have sunshine today, and yesterday afternoon was glorious. Just sitting in the sun always cheers me. Thevsea is very calm this morning and in the sunshinebthe sea is glistening. I can hear one or two birds chirping away but cannot see them.

I think that your decision to give your Harvest Festival goods in a different way sounds very sound to me and I am sure that the recipients will be thanking the church andvall the contributors.

Bobotie? Have you put this on the culinary site and can you explain what this is please, I love the sound of the name.

Well I am still in bed, very lazy, and still feel unwell. Awake a lot during the night. Coughing and splttering and poor OH also has it as well.

Hope you enjoynyour day


From Bridget in sunny Spain where the time is 07.52hrs.

After saying we don't get much rain here, it rained all night - light, but steady - then a few showers during the day. I can't remember how long it is since I saw so much rain all at one time!

Bridget - the transcribing I do for FreeBMD is something anyone can do. We download images from the handwritten or typed index pages of the registers and copy them into a form, then upload them back to FreeBMD and also to our co-ordinator who might be in any country in the world. Mine is in Canada. We work at our own pace in our own time.....I did do it for Ancestry, but I was still paying my membership fee and didn't receive the discount I was promised - so changed over when someone on this Chat board pointed out that FreeBMD is registered as a charity and nobody is making money out of my voluntary work, and the information is free to all viewers.

As for your query about certificates from Oz in the 1800's - There were no white people here prior to 1788 and from then to the mid-century, records are sketchy, although if you know the name of the ship on which they travelled, or in which state they settled, there may be ways of obtaining information, and there are prison records too. After the mid-century, there should be records in each state and certificates are available - although not cheap. Last year, I obtained a copy of my gr/grandparents' marriage certificate from 1867. It was $37.
Please let me know if I can help you further with this and I'll see what I can do.

Berona

Thanks for your message, and I will look again at those who went out to austrailia and had such hard times. It made me cry when I learnt that some of the children died so young and food etc was so scarce.

I am in the process of trying to file everything in the right family name and with relatives details as well. What a muddle I get into! How I appreciate the secretary I used to have and now I can see why she used to be a little cross from time to time...only joking about theclast bit, she was a wonderful secretary!

I was employed a) becausebi was a qualified nurse and b) because am an outside of the box thinker, but sometimes so is all of my paperwork!,!,

Wow the certs are not cheap is almost an understatement,

Must go as one of my dogs is barking too much,

Bye

Bridget - check out the site www.bdm.nsw.gov.au and select family history and it will show you how to order and the cost. They seem to have re-hashed it since I ordered. As I said - they are not cheap!

Hi all, late as usual. Well we have not had such a good day today, the part of England where I am anyway, but brighter is promised for the rest of the week. Well got cracking today and made some cards, finished some knitting, and even managed a little housework. Quite pleased with myself!!
Val was going to ask the same question as Bridget, what is Bobotie? sounds lovely.
Well folks will say goodnight, it's getting on for 12.30am and I'm going to have an early night am really tired and have quite a busy week, this week.
Take care all. Penny

Berona, Thanks for the info I will have a look at the site

.Penny. You seem to have had a busy day, with knitting, making cards and doing some house work. I do not do any knotting these days but I o enjoy embroidery, and am thinking about doing some Cross Stitch which I used to do some years ago.

I had a good day yesterday, managed to finish all oak furniture and all he doors throughout the house so should not have to oil them again until next year, The reward is that it all looks quite splendid.

Just as I thought that this retched cough had gone away at 04,10 this morning it reared its ugly head again!! Hence me sitting here catching up on my emails and looking on here.

Tonight is our Film night when friends come around and we watch two films and have an interval just like the old days of going to the cinema. We even have Ice cream or Ice lollies and a drink but not usually he orange juice we drank at the cinema! Last week we also had Pop Corn!

Have to go and take some more cough mixture as hacking away again so will say bye bye for now and has anyone got remedies for coughs. I hate going to the Drs, for a cough. I am not a smoker and know it is simply part of this retched cold!

06.15 Spain

Good morning all, it is 9.25 a.m. here, sunny and windy, so the washing should dry nicely.

Today is a Public Holiday, it is Human Rights Day, although a lot of businesses are open.

The back-light on my laptop screen gave up the ghost yesterday and I believe it is very expensive to repair. So I am using my husband's computer to-day and shall continue to do so until I decide what I should do about mine.

Bobotie is a traditional Cape Malay dish, made with beef mince, it is a spicy, slightly sweet dish with a light curry flavour. It is usually served with yellow rice known as "Funeral Rice" in the Cape as it was traditionally served in Cape Malay homes at gatherings such as funerals. Cape Malays were brought in as slaves in the 17th century.

Penny you certainly were a busy little bee. Hope you cold is better soon Bridget.



Val.

My problem has ben solved temporarily, my daughter has connected an LED Moniitor and a keyboard to my laptop so I can use it. I will have to get used to this keyboard as it is so different. Much better than using my husband's computer!


Val.

Val I found a recipe for this and have posted it on my Culinary thread. We are going to try this either tonight or tomorrow.

So pleased to hear that your computer is now working albeit it with a different keyboard. There is nothing the same as your own comp is there?! I become very cross when OH uses mine even though I know I have nothing to hide.

I am beginning to wonder if this cold is ever going to leave me, It is going but oooh so slowly. However have been told that there is/has been a nasty bug going around and so a lot of people are in the same boat as me. I am not the best patient in the world, it must be because of my nursing days.
Strange weather here today. the sun is up there somewhere as we can see it now and again but the sky is that pale unintersting blue/grey colour and there is a slight breeze. Some gardens around us are being looked after and someone is using an electric saw but I cannot see which place it is.
Jet & Joe have been out had a run around and come back in doors. I am not sure if it is age creeping up or simply that they have become much quieter than they used to be. Jet was 7 in December and Joe was 7 in Januar,. we were wondering last night what the general life span of a Cocker Spaniel is? Must see if I can find out on the interent.

Well film night tonight and already two couples have called to make sure that all is well so obviously a success at least during the out of season months, if you know what I mean.

Must go now so will look in again later

10.32hrs in Spain

Sorry I should have posted the recipe, just another senior moment! I hope you will enjoy it, it's not a very strong curry flavour, I don't like things too hot.

Have a lovely time to-night.

12 noon. SA time

Val, your recipe sounds lovely. Must try it sometime, though I must admit I am not very adventurous with food, or with much else come to think of it!!!
Glad your daughter managed to sort out your computer, even if it is only temporary. Have to get my son in law to sort mine.
Bridget, sorry to hear you are not too well still, remedy for your cough Vicks vapour rub or similar decongestant rub. Put it on the soles of your feet when you go to bed at night. Sounds strange, but it works !!! Hope your film evening went well.
Well thats me for today, take care all. Penny

Hello all, 7.25am. here, another sunny day, with a bit of a breeze.

Penny, my mother used to rub vicks or something called Puma Balm I think on the soles of our feet when we were children - that was many years ago! I used to do the same for my daughter when she was small. It does work. You should really give it try Bridget.

I have just finished my ironing - sheets are not my strong point they always seem to look worse when I have finished.

I shall be phoning for a quote on the repair of my computer to-day, hope I don't collapse from shock when I hear the price.

To-day I am making pies for lunch , am using bought pastry though.

One of our local supermarkets has introduced a scheme whereby shoppers get one point for every rand they spend and once 1000 points have been accumulated they can be exchanged for cash to do shopping, I haven't heard what 1000 points are worth in monetary terms yet, I shall find out when I do my weekly shopping.

That's all for the time being.


Val.

Good morning everyone and thanks for the updates from Val and Penny.

Val we had the Bobotie last night and thoroughly enjoyed it. It was a nice change for us as we bith enjoy fairly hot foods but the change was good and my husban sadi he would like to have it again..I explained that it from one of the ladies I "chat" to each day and he sends his thanks. Praise indeed.
So any more recipies Val.?
I have also decided to buy some ready mad pastry and see what it is like, most people tell me it is very good. I haven't got so far as to even think what we shall have today..I think we will try to use up the remaining fresh veg, and anything that is in the fridge!!! We hate wasting food and try very hard not to.

I am one of those sad people who really enjoy ironing. I first learny to iron when my grandmother was looking after me for a holiday and she used the old fashion irons that stood on a hot fire stove to wardm up, I had the smallest size iron and did all the hankies, I was so proud to help Grandma. Then when I had mey children when they had their afternoon nap I used to do the ironong whilst listening to a programme on the Radio called Woman's Hour. It used to discuss various subjects and then half way through a chapetre ot two of a book would be read or a short story would be on instead. How I loved those times, they kept me sane asa working mum with her own business and husband mostly abroad with work committments.

Penny I do have some Vick so I am going to try this and my sister in the UK has said that she thinks that my eye problem is a blocked duct as I descibed exactly how her eye had been sometime last year. She was told by her doctot to have some hot water and add a tiny amount of a well known baby shampoo to bathe her eye and it worked, so off I go to undo our baby case, (for the grandchildren!!
I hasten to say) and try this as it is quite uncomfortable. There is no sign of infection or a sty so that is good news.

Today is very cloudy, and quite dull, the weather forecast for the next 3 days is for more rain!! Oh well at least we are warm and comfortable and can keep oour selves occupied.

Bye for now

Bridget

09.52 Spain

OOOPs APOLOGIES to Jackie, I meant to mention you as well and as I pressed the submit button I realised that I had not said good morning to you. So Good Morning Jackie!

Are you enjoying living in Zeals? I know it reasonably well from the time I used to be able to visis the area but now I am in Spain it is almost impossible to go there as bye the time I have seen my family I have to come home.
Do write on here and let us know how you are getting along in Zeals, what your intererests are etc, we always welcome new people.
Enjoy your day
Bridget

Good morning everyone. It is a bit grey today but not cold sow e are hoping to get some gardening done.

Hello Jackie, hope you are settling in your new home. My 'home' where I grew up was Fareham, so not so far from Southampton. Daughter now lives near Winchester and Grandson in Swaythling.

Anninglos. My army son is based near to Winchester and in May he will be having his wedding Blessed in the church The Hospital of the Cross, I looked it up and the history of it is amazing. Last year he and his wife were married in Winchester Registry Office and then walked through the town to the hotel were we had a small beautiful reception. They married because they were offered a house on the base.

My cold seems to be improving, so maybe it is the vick remedy working already.

OOH the sun has just come out for the first time today, we are supposed to have rain all day but so far has been boring weather but no rain so seeing the sun is a good sign

14.10hrs Spain