General Chat

BIL came today and had lunch with me and we had a natter he's good at that. He has taken the make of the light bulb I want for a spare and he will see if he can buy it as they want to charge me postage of how much the thing cost in the first place.

Apart from him coming I went to the shop for my paper and scripts and they were'nt there so I only got nice ham and my paper and loaves.

I did have a little go on my new Tudor man and he now has the front of his jerkin thing. Just his boots to do and hair and hat and I think that one will be finished then I can finish the other man I started.

Quiet on here today.

Morning all,

Dull old morning here and its 11 degrees and pc says Rain Warning. I suppose thats better than Finland which is -10.

Just the shop to do today this morning and then the rest of the day is my own.

Back and hip really bad this morning I could hardly get out of bed today.

Mel, are you sure it has an F in the number. as far as I can tell bulbs now have an e number. I can't see that one on Amazon. What shape bulb is it? and what size?

Good morning all slept well last night right through from about 11 o'clock until 0515 then dozed. 10 degrees here, dry so far but rain forecast.
Off out this morning to various shops in retail centres near Cheltenham, so The Range, B&M, Matalan, and others then, hopefully lunch somewhere.

Sorry you both had bad nights Ann and G. I hope G's head is better now. I have never used a library pc but have seen people using them when I used to take mum to hte library in Holsworthy. That where I shall go now. Good you used the compressor pump for your tyre. You'll have to remember that now so poor hubby dos'nt hurt his knees.

I have been trying to find a light bulb on Amazon and I bought one befroe but so you think I can find it now? I bought a single one and now they all seem to be in packs of 4 and upwards.I kept the box and as I was'nt on an Amazon account I had to ay for delivery. I stillhave the box and its a replacement for my magnifer light oh bought me years ago. Its a daylight 40W 470 lumens F screw in. I kept the box so I would know what to ordered next time but i CAN'T SEE IT ON THERE NOW AND ITS SO LONG SINCE i BOUGHT FROM aMAZON i CAN'T LOOK BACK IN MY RECORDS OF PURCHASES. Sorry not typing that lot again.

Evening All,

We can join the non sleepers last night. OH woke with a bad head and neck ache and got up to take tablets and undusually, I ate too late and combined with my evening meds had an iffy tum, so sat up till around 4.00am. We both slept in very late so it was good I'd defrosted a pork casserole we had with some rice. We have both been tired and like zombies today so nothing I planned got done.

A bit more bad news on the warehouses. It is expected there will be in excess of 500 extra lorry movements a day, 7 days a week and 24 hours a day. This is next to an already congested motorway junction and retail park and we already get long queues waiting to access the motorway now. We have a letter from the home office from our MP with something else to comment on now to do with parole boards as we live close to where the Colin Pitchfork murders were.

I've blown my tyres up a bit more now and with the compressor pump which was much easier. The warning message has disappeared but not the blooming warning light! I looked online last night and others have had the same problem with some suggesting there may be a fix in the menu settings so when I go out tomorrow I'll have a look.

It's been mild here again today, with a short sunny spell but I think we are due another cold spell and maybe snow soon.

You had me going there Mel as I must have swapped my stamps for the bar coded ones about a year ago and hadn't considered the change of monarch since!.Then I remembered all my cash and notes have the Queen's head on too! lol. I think I might still have a few old Christmas stamps but we can use those. You are getting on with your new Tudor man. Does it get quicker once you have made the first one?

Your meal out was good then Vera and your lemon chicken meal at home sounds like a success. I never seem to follow a recipe exactly unless it is a cake and modify things with what I have at the time. Then it's remembering what you used if you do it again as you say.

You are certainly having a good tidy up in the garden AnnG. It will be very satisfying to see the changes and improvements in the summer. My Camellias make a mess with flower drop, but at least they are at the back of the border and the whole flower drops so is easier to gather up than rose petals. I have to decide whether to replace the one that died this year. It would be the prettiest one with striped flowers.

Mandy I first joined the library when I was 9 years old as a friend was already a member. I remember those little tickets and the slips from the books........also the fines if they were returned late. I stopped going for a few years before I retired as I didn't have much time for reading other than work stuff, then started again when I retired and would pop in to read their free newspapers and borrow books. We had a plastic card then and would pass our books under a beam. We didn't have the internet at home so I started doing FH using their PCs at first.

I have been crafting today after tidying up a bit and BIL did'nt come today so perhaps tomorrow. Iv'e been working my new Tudor man, just need to get the front of his jacket thing on and then the back and do him some boots and hair and a hat and a belt and purse and perhaps a bag, not sure yet.

Its 10 degrees now and we have had sunshine for quite a lot of the day but it feels cold out there now.

I don'r seem to have done much this morning. I have done a coloured wash, or rather the machine has and dried one load the drier is going with the second lot.
it is 12 degrees here with a breeze. I have just spent 40 minutes down the garden cutting back some more of the dead rose branches. I think the drastic cut I had done was a bit of a shock to its system. It is about 30 years old so has done well and last year it was enormous and covered with flowers. But being a rambler it is a short lived flower season and when they drop they make such a mess. It is sprouting leaves so hopefully there will be flowers on it this year but fewer than before.
Jake is supposed to be taking down the old wooden trellis which is above the rustic trellace as it is broken and looks scruffy. I have managed to cut out a lot of the dead, last years clematis so that will make it easier for them when they come.

It's apparently 12 degrees and cloudy with a moderate breeze but I've just been outside to pick a few bay leaves and the "moderate breeze" is a bitter cold wind so it doesn't feel anywhere near 12 degrees. There's a mass of daffodils out now so that cheered me up on a grey day.

I don't know where my head was yesterday when we went for coffee. We meet in a Starbucks above Sainsbury's so I usually buy a few bits in the shop on my way out. Somehow I managed to forget eggs, onions and some lamb I wanted so I've got to go out again today. I'll probably go right into town as I've got other odd bits and pieces I want sometime so I'll try and get those as well.

Our lemon and garlic chicken tray bake was good although we were hardly aware of the garlic and there were 6 cloves crushed into it. It was very lemony. I knew it was a success when OH said "You can make this again". As I adapted the recipe from one online I must try and remember what I did and write it out before I forget.

I've prepared a big beef stew/casserole that will do tonight and tomorrow. It's just waiting for some onions and I've done a bit of general tidying up but I'm not in the mood for much today. Like AnnG, I managed about 5 hours sleep last night, sleeping from midnight till 1 am and then from 4 am till 8 so not too bad.

I'm now going to have a quick sandwich and cuppa and get to the shops.

Morning all,

Still a cloudy morning and its 10 degrees and gloomy. There's one deer up the garden wondering whether to go into the top garden or not.

Wonder if BIL will come this weekend? Better have a c;lear up I think of my craft stuff as its all over the table.

You lead a busy life Anng.

Good morning all, back down to 7 degrees here now, heat wave finished then!! :-D

Took ages to get to sleep last night eventually had about 5 hours so not too bad.

Nothing planned for today. It looks quite bright so maybe a potter in the garden. I have to be careful as where I am getting rid of rose dead wood is where the 'trip hazard' to be re-done by Jake is. I caught my foot on it twice yesterday.
I realised that, even if Jake is suddenly fit I can't possibly fit him in this coming week as I have appointments and meetings on every day except Monday.

Mel she has time to send them off it was extended from January.

Oh dear Vera,m was your meal a bit too heavy the reason for a sleepless night? Although with me there never seems an answer as to why. I had a half good half not so good night and was up early.

Nice to have a good number of friends for your coffee meet.

It seems like we were lucky with the weather and temperature. Here.

The day started a bit grey and gloomy but then the sun came out and it really warmed up. It got to 15 degrees here this afternoon though it is starting to cool down a bit now.

I had a dreadful night again. In the end I got up and sat downstairs reading, eventually going back up to bed at around 6 am This meant I didn't get up till 9.15 which is late for me so I've been "on the drag" all day.

Were the snowdrops looking pretty when you had your walk Gwyn? It sounds as though it was a bit squelchy if you needed your wellies. The snowdrops we bought at Anglesey Abbey look as though they are doing well and all my February Gold daffs in a bed are about to burst into flower. I have later daffs in pots but they won't be blooming for a few weeks yet.

Mandy, I couldn't survive without the library. I read all the time and couldn't afford to buy all the books I get through in a year. However I seldom go into the library. I use the Libby app. You do need a library card but once you register it everything works just the same as the physical library but remotely. Books are downloaded to my iPad to read. It does mean I can use the library at times convenient to me and not have to go when the actual building is open.

We enjoyed our visit to the fish place in town last night. We got there about 6.15 pm and it was a good job we went early as it was very busy by 7 pm. OH had a large cod with chips and salad and it really was large. It was hanging over the edge of the plate. I had my favourite there which is grilled salmon and it comes with mixed, pan-fried vegetables and a choice of baby potatoes, mash, chips or salad. I had baby potatoes. My salmon was also a large piece and the veg comes in generous helpings too. We had a glass of wine each and were too full up for desserts or even coffee.

This morning we had our usual Thursday coffee with the group - 7 of us today and this afternoon I've washed some cushion covers and paid some bills and prepared tonight's meal. I found a nice sounding recipe for lemon and garlic chicken tray bake which I've adapted to suit the ingredients I had to hand. I hope it tastes as good as it sounds. I'd better go and put the oven on to heat up as I don't want to eat too late tonight.

Here's hoping for a better night for me and a good night for all of you.

No need for SIL to throw the stamps away, as they can be exchanged FREE via the swop system and might represent a lot of money. You send them FREE too.
They send you one for one regardless of what the cost was, when you bought them.
ie. If you send 20 non barcode stamps, they will send 20 valid stamps even though the cost to actually purchase them would be different.

Yes stamps need a bar code unless they are special issue pictorial ones, eg. Christmas stamps, then these can be still used still without the bar code.

Our new stamps, received by the swop service all bear the Queen's head, but also have a bar code.

The suns gone here today and it has rained but now its clouded over and its 12 degrees and saying heavy rain in about an hour.

So let me get this right....stamps with the queens head on and the bar code can be used but not stamps without the bar code?

The July date was last year and then the 6 months on the top.

I have rung my SIL whose sister sent the card as I don't have her phone number. The SIL I did ring told mne she has a lot of the stamps without the bar code on them so will throw those away.

I thought it was warm out when I went in to town. It is 17 degrees here. I have had to open a window to let some air in. We also have full sun and blue sky. :-)

You can certainly use stamps with the Queen's head on BUT they must also have the bar code.
Just this week, my daughter received back stamps from the Post Office which had been swapped in their exchange service.
All the new stamps received have the Queen's head plus bar code.
Envelopes to send off stamps for swapping can be obtained free at Post Office counters.
Daughter had many £ worth as she had taken Martin Lewis' advice to beat the price increase :-0

I had a Christmas card with a non valid stamp on it, but it was just delivered with the rest of my post.
Perhaps the posties couldn't be bothered with the hassle then...... :-S

Mel

Can you still use stamps with the Queen on?

No, the deadline for using stamps with the Queen’s image on them was 31 July, rendering non-barcoded stamps invalid.

Don’t worry though, because you can get them swapped for new ones, for free.

The initial deadline was 31 January but Royal Mail gave six months’ leeway to allow customers time to adjust to the new rules.

Iv'e got it its a card from my SIL and there's a 2nd class large stamp on it so why have I had to pay 2.50 . OOOOO I have just realised it has a stamp with the queens head on it !!!!!!! Stamp no longer valid for postage. Well I did'nt know that. I shall now have to look at the stamps I have in stock.

Morning all,

No sun here just lots of cloud not cold though its 13 degrees and could get to 16 degrees today .
Oh just got a bit brighter so the suns trying its best to peep through.
We were going shopping but have decided to go tomorrow now .
I can't remember the last time I went in our library, probably when I went in to get the covid tests , I was given a temporary card years ago and I never used it or applied for a new card .
I can remember going with mum and picking my books you handed your books in and there was all the little envelope cards with the tickets in from the books in a great big round tray and she would spin it round to find your tickets I think I was allowed three books and I'd always look for the Enid Blyton ones first ,then it was over to the desk were they stamped your book

Morning girls,

At the mo I have sunshine allbeit a bit waterery looking ang grey clouds out the front and the temp is 14 degrees, certainly a heatwave.

Angela rang this morning to remind me its the last day of our mobile library so to get all my books together. We shall have to go to either Holsworthy or Torrington and if we are late with our books we will have to pay a fine.