General Chat

Thank you for your card Mandy which arrived today.

I hope you got your hair cut AnnG and didn’t get soaked.

It’s been wet, gloomy and miserable today. Currently the iPad is telling me there is heavy rain, it’s windy and, although it’s 5 degrees, it only feels like 1 degree. Just the sort of weather to fit with a visit to the dentist. I was in the chair for over an hour. The treatment wasn’t too painful but my jaw really ached from keeping my mouth open for so long. It’s fine now. OH came with me so we could go shopping afterwards and I know he dozed off in the waiting room. I just hope he wasn’t snoring.

Our dentist is in a different town so I had a couple of different shops to visit and managed to almost finish the Christmas shopping so I was pleased about that. I’m hoping to wrap and post some of it tomorrow.

Going backwards we had a good day yesterday. It was very cold but there were beautiful blue skies and sunshine all day. We had a couple of hours in Swaffham and wandered off to take a look at the church. The architecture and woodwork was lovely but an added bonus was that they were having their Christmas Tree Festival so we had all the decorated trees to admire as well. Some people had an early dinner but we didn’t want that much so I had a scone and OH a sausage roll.

We got to Holkham at 1.45 but our time to see the decorations was 3.15 so we visited the very nice, and very pricey, gift shop where I got dil some gloves. Then we both had a snack in the cafe and after that we went to another room for a complimentary mince pie and glass of Prosecco. Now it was time to go in

Words don’t really do justice to all the decorated rooms. Last time we went we could only look over the gallery into the chapel. This year they had a complete visual light display with a religious Christmas theme and you could sit quietly and watch it right through. It probably took about 15 minutes. OH’s camera had the gremlins in it yesterday but he took a lot of pictures on his phone. If he gets around to downloading them I will send a few round but they don’t really do justice to the display. We had a good run back and got home about 8 pm

Did you get your hair done Anng?

I have been fiddling with my polyclay plating up turkeys and veg and mushrooms.

Jut missed the library so followed it up to Shebbear and got my new books there. The last lot I had were not the usual things I like but today there were lots. We only have it twice more and they are stopping the mobile in February so any books taken then have to go back to Torrington.

Vera, Mandy and Gwyn thank you for your cards they all arrived in the same post.

Morning all,

Dull and dreary here this morning too and not so cold as it has been it 8 degrees here too and really cloudy enough for me to have to put the ;light on if it gets any worse.

Ever since the new keyboard arrived Iv'e had no trouble with the old one. Do you think it knows its going to be replaced? or has the gremlin gone?...............

Iv'e a few more cards to do today and pressies to wrap and chickens and wild birds to feed so that will keep me busy for a while.

Hope it is ok for your walk to the hairdressers Anng take a warm scraf and brolly just incase.

good morning all, grey and dreary here again this morning but 8 degrees not cold at all. kept waking up again last night but probably got enough sleep in the end. Hoping the weather is not as bad as forecast as I have to walk to the hairdresser, not looking forward to that. because the last appointment was messed up/rebooked for the same reason (weather) it is only three weeks since I had it cut last so if the weather gets really bad I will cancel. (I have checked with them and they say that is fine if I have to,)

That doesn’t make sense Mel does it. Although I guess it is so you get hooked and then pay to see it. Sneaky!

I don’t seem to have done much today but I am too tired to do anything more. I changed the bed and washed the bedding. Had my friend for a coffee and chat for an hour, then did my monthly bank accounts for November and sorted the Tesco order for Friday. Finally I have sorted all Inara’s presents onto the dining room table and will wrap them tomorrow.

It seems its not available on iplayer ( The Doll Factory) not even on the pc. How silly. Why advertise it if you can't see it.

Morning Anng and all,

It was very frosty here last night before bed and its still there this morning but the sun is up although its very low in the sky this time of the year. Its 3 degrees here at the moment and pc says cloudy so the sun won't last long I fear.

Had an email from my cousin in Ohio this morning and I hav'nt written to her for ages so was really glad to hear from her. I don't know if she passed away anyone of her children would let me know not having met any of them. She's 86.

Vera glad the meds were ok this month after the trouble you had last time. It sounds like you had a wonderful weekend with lots of laughs and cuddles.

I put my card string up last night and have 7 cards on it so far. I also put the flowers over the backdoor but I am still not sure if I can be bothered to put the tree up this year again.

Enjoy your coffee with your friend this morning Anng andshe will be so pleased to see your lovely village scene.

Mandy I went to watch The Doll Factory on iplayer last night and it was'nt on there so will have to look again today and yes I too have it on Friday at 8pm and it says three so where did episode two go???

good morning all. 0 degrees here at the moment. The temperature does seem to be fluctuating a lot lately. I think there might be a light frost out there. I am not going anywhere today. do have a friend calling in for a quick chat and coffee this morning though. Mainly she wants to see the cottages.

Mandy that was a nasty occurrence when you were in town. After what we read in the paper it must have been very scary for a while.

Vera, that sounds like a lovely weekend for you and some of your family. so pleased the food worked out well too.
Pleased to hear that you got your meds OK this time.

Enjoy the trip today, it sounds like a nice destination.

Isn't it a shame that around this time so much happens and then in January...... nothing? One of our U3a groups always has their Christmas meal in January for that reason.

I didn't have a good night last night. No reason, just couldn't get to sleep and stay there, kept waking and lying there. so a bit blury eyed this morning. Although I have got the bedding in the wash.

Gosh Mandy, what a to-do at Boots. Anything unpleasant and unexpected like that can leave you feeling quite shaky so try and put it out of your mind now.

I didn't have a very good night but got going fairly quickly this morning. I wrapped presents for OH's great-nieces and found a suitable box for them and off we went to town to post them. There was a great long queue at the PO in town so I was there for ages. The parcel didn't weigh very much but was too big to go as a small parcel. Even sending it by the cheapest possible way it still cost nearly £6 which all adds to the cost of the present. Then I picked up my meds which were all ready for me; no problems this time, thank goodness. Next it was the bank and then some bits and pieces OH wanted before getting back here at about 12 o'clock.

I shoved a couple more sheets and pillow cases in the washing machine, then I just had time to shower and wash my hair, wrap my Secret Santa present and sort out my contribution to the food before I had to leave for the Ladies Club which started at 1.30. It was a pleasant afternoon with mulled wine, tea and coffee and lots of lovely finger food. My present from the Secret Santa was a very heavy black tin containing a black fragranced candle. The fragrance is apparently "sea salt and leather" which is interesting to say the least.

Well, to the weekend.........I think I said that one granddaughter was able to come as well but had to drive from Edinburgh to her brother in Yorkshire and then they came on to us so didn't arrive as early as originally planned. My daughter and her partner came as well on Friday and we all had a lovely, relaxed meal together. There was lots of laughter and much wine drunk. Although daughter's partner is very seriously ill, he was feeling OK so was able to join us and was on good form. In spite of his problems he hasn't lost his sense of humour which was lovely to see. The stifado was a great success and turned out better than I could have hoped. There wasn't a spoonful left and daughter wants the recipe.

We didn't do very much at all for the rest of the weekend, except for a cold, foggy walk by the river on Saturday. There was lots of talking and laughing accompanied by music from old vinyl records and cassette tapes of ours that grandson found in a cupboard and they all enjoyed. We had a good Turkish take-away on Saturday night and they all enjoyed that as well. They left Sunday afternoon to spend the night with their Dad, our ex. son-in-law before travelling home on Monday.

Needless to say, the baby was the centre of attention the whole weekend. She's a delight to be with, a very contented little mite, and she's really beginning to take note of what's going on around her. She's also starting to smile a lot now and, of course, I got plenty of cuddles :-D

Tomorrow we are going with a group to Holkham Hall in Norfolk to see their Christmas lights and decorations. We'll stop for a couple of hours at Swaffham (I think) so we can have a wander around and get some lunch . We went to the same place last year and it was impressive with all the public rooms decorated and music playing.

Thursday I have to go to the dentist to have a bit of work done so might try and do a bit more Christmas shopping while I'm out. Our dentist is in a different town so there are one or two different shops to look around, though some of the shops have sadly closed down.

On Friday I am supposed to be going to Snape Maltings with the Ladies Club. We are getting there early enough for a good look around and some lunch before going to a 4 o'clock performance of a show in the concert hall there. I would like to go but I have had to cry off as I must have a bit of free time to catch up on all the things I haven't been managing to do lately. I knew the coach was full but there were still a few people who wanted to go so my ticket won't be wasted. Someone else can use it and enjoy it.

I must now quickly do a couple of emails before I leave the computer for the night. I hope you all have a good night's sleep tonight.

I meant to record that Mel ,I now looked in the TV book and episode 3 is on Friday at eight on channel. 5

Gosh Mandy that must have been quite frightening.

I started putting some decs up this afternoon but then my arm hurt as I had a bit of a scrape wwith the new scraper BIL bought to clear the sides of the driveway.

Why is it that they put the first episode or a series on the tv and then the rest of it on a channel you have to pay for each month? I fancied seeing The Doll Facory on channel 5 but the rest is on Paramount +.

Evening all,

It's been a funny old day the weather has been really dreary again and we've had a couple of showers too but it hasn't been as cold today.

I went to boots this morning to have my flu jab ,I filled in my form and sat down and all of a sudden there was a lot of shouting at the front of the shop ,the chap beside me shot up and ran to help ,I thought someone had collapsed or something ,the girls in boots were shouting get out get out ,a young chap was trying to shop lift and I suppose the girls recognise him, they said your not taking anything and he said you try and stop me , the next minute he flung the door open shouting and swearing and stormed out .
It was a bit scary as you never know if they have a knife or anything ,the chap who helped said I would have thumped him but then I'd be the one in trouble .
Anyway I then had my jab and did a bit more Christmas shopping .

Thanks Ann for the lovely card its smashing. :-D <3 :-D <3 :-D <3

Morning all,

Its 7 degrees here this morning and the pc says temps to rise by Thursday. Now sometimes in the winter if the temp rises we get snow. I hope not as people will be wanting to still go out to get presents.

Vera take it easy you have had a very exciting weekend with you lovely company. Have a rest the washing will still be there tomorrow when you may feel more like doing it. Can't wait to hear all about it and the lovely little one.

I need to write a few more cards and do up some presents today and its shopping day and I have ordered a bit more than usual as I am doing a hamper for BIL and SIL. Mainly for him he likes his savory chees biscuits and diet coke. As he lives in digs over his working days in the week I though it would be something he could take with him when he stays with his friend.

good morning all. 5 degrees here and murky. Chiropodist today. Hopefully I will BBL. Vera, visitors are lovely but the aftermath is so tiring as we get older. Hope your day goes well and I look forward to hearing about the weekend.

I've just come on to say I'm here after a lovely weekend. I'm too tired to write much now but I have managed to read the weekend posts. It's been a busy day, first changing all the bedding and towels used at the weekend and doing some of the washing, though I still have some of the bedding and towels to do. I also managed to get the rest of my Christmas cards written and most of them posted. I kept a few aside that needed a letter included and I have done those tonight. Then I had a delivery from Sainsbury's. There was nothing missing and no subs. It took me a little while to put everything away and divide packs of things up for the freezer and also cook our dinner.

Tomorrow is also going to be busy as I have to wrap a couple of presents and get them posted and also get my script. I hope I don't have the problems I had last time. Then in the afternoon it's the Ladies Club Christmas tea and Secret Santa but I will try to come online at some point and tell you about the weekend.

AnnG and Mel, thank you for the pictures. The advent ring looks perfect Mel. Ann, when you said about putting out your cottages I imagined one or two, not a whole Alpine village. It looks very festive.

Lovely photos Anng so much to look at on the table display .
I have a smaller tree up this year ,I do like the bigger tree but I have to move my chair forward to get it in the corner and this smaller tree is narrower but just as tall and it can stand to one side of the chair .
I do have a small tree in the Conservatory on the side cupboard as it makes it more christmasy and that's where we have our Christmas lunch .

When I went I to Roys they had some Newbury fruits in a box we always use to have those at christmas so I bought a box .

Nice to get out Mel.

It has rained non stop all day here and I have had the lights on all day.

I have put my little tree up and I am quite pleased with it this year. Plenty big enough for me. I really ought to look at getting rid of some of the larger decorations. They are all in separate boxes so not in the way. I suppose I keep them in case I decide to get a bigger tree.

I just went to change my solar lights from one window to another and there were 11 at least female pheasent running down past the bedroom window.