General Chat

I hadnt realised Mrs Berry lived in a shoe, Petunia dear. I ran out of fingers and toes trying to count all those children .............

are your feet clean Susan? can I borrow your tootsies please? Glad to hear you had a great time - sorry I couldnt make it to your Christmas bbq on the beach, but my broomstick was grounded by NorAd.

So it was the Scottish Play that Beatrice was trying to recite, dear Petunia? What an accent. What improvisation. Well, perhaps for next Christmas you could buy her a cauldron, and if she manages to cast a spell she may well get the recitation correct.

Dont worry about the spilled wine and the red cushions Petunia dear - give me enough time, and enough red wine, and I will match up the shading perfectly :-D :-D :-D

BTW dear, please dont leave that little crank handle on the sofa - I really dont need such a surprise when I sit down.

Hogging the fire dear? I think you were confusing me with the Ghost of Christmas Past. I was seated in the arm chair in the corner by the door, trying to keep warm, well wrapped up in a white shroud, ready for Mr Paul Bearer.

CC

Again Christmas has past :-( a marvellous one it was to :-D even though it has left me feeling mmmmmmmmmmmm what's the word I'm looking for:-S cream crackered I think is apt.

7 adults and 1 babe was enough for me Susan how on earth did you cope with 32 people and 4 dogs :-S............what breed of dog is your grand pup with a jaw like Jaws?

Theresa I hope you survived the festivities and the floods :-D............ when you speak to FTE again please wish her a VERY Happy New Year from me x

My goodness such Christmas goings on at The Towers

Red wine is fine when you dine
On the settee I would draw the line

A walking stick used as a disguise
To much hard stuff will lead to a demise

Auntie Petunia you have a new phone
Crank it up for a Smokey ring tone

CC I hope you weren't sitting in a breeze
That really would not help your knees

:-D :-D :-D

Susan you are naughty ;-) but nice :-D :-D :-D

twas not a breeze Lesley dear, more like a flippin' draught
which blew through all the cracks, up, down, fore, and aft.
this is the problem with houses so old,
and if I may make so bold
the problems would be sorted by some double glazing.
which installed correctly can be really amazing.
as it doesnt just keep out draughts, but noises too.
I mean, who wants to hear jet planes all night the noo.

But, Motie Towers is protected by a preservation order
which extends all the way to the herbaceous border.
So how does one tell Petunia to replace the old glass.
One might just as well be talking up the brick wall.

:-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D

Have I ever introduced you ladies to my spouse?
His name is Noah.
Noah Tall.
he thinks he does, anyroad. ;-)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ merrily waves to one and all, even if I did really have a sober Christmas (as opposed to a "merry" one, LOL).

CC

Morning all,

CC, your OH might be related to someone I know..... A right Noah Tall :-D.

Well our weather hasn't improved, haven't seen the sun since the 25th. I read there was a small earthquake in NZ again.... There is another tropical cyclone building in the Pacific, may or may not hit NZ. Don't you just love Summer :-P.

OH and I are off to the big smoke today for a night. We are staying in a nice hotel and will have a meal out. Like we really need more food but hey ho!!.

My male fruit is going home today, he purchased a few dvd's of Mrs Brown's Boys which we have been watching. Must say we did have a few chuckles. Did you know it is recorded in Scotland?....

Better get on, OH wants a cooked breakfast and is about to attempt to cook :-D......

Toodle pip
Susan

Good evening gels.

What is all this poetry floating about. Are we being inspired by the ghost of good Will Shakeatalefeather? All this rhyming, and sonnet making. You are truly inspirational gels. You must have certificates gathering dust in drawers depicting you Grammar and Literature. Very impressive!!!!

I must say I cannot warm to Mrs Brown, dear Upsidedown Susan. He reminds me too much of Old Mother Riley. He was a man dressed as a lady who had his wife play his daughter too. I like a more gentle humour myself. I do like Father Ted.

It is STILL raining here. We are just putting the finishing touches for the Ark. I think Pat-trish-aaaaah is making some kind of roller arrangement to move it from the back to the front of the house. If the rain keeps on araining, we shall sail away quite easily.

Cherry dear, can I leave it to you to dispose of the remnants of the turkey dear? I think there are a few stray cats wandering around. Also that pork could do with being lost too. I did think of taking it to the Mission, but there is no enough to go around. And I do think it is rather degrading to fight over a wishbone............

Only a few more days until the end of the year dears. Where has this year gawn?
We are all a year older, and hopefully wiser. We are certainly all a little poorer, what with the rising price of EVERYTHING, and of course Christmas.

I hope you have not hammered the plastic too much over the last few weeks dear.

Remember, Mr McCawber had the right idea, do not let your outgoings exceed your income. Here endeth the first lesson!!!!

Goodnight dears, keep warm and dry.

Auntie Petunia

Mr McCawber is a great friend of mine Auntie and I do listen to his lesson on a daily basis :-D

You all sound as if you had wonderful Christmas festivities Ladies. FTE phoned a couple of times on Christmas Day. It was a little strange without her but we could see photos on the medium of FTYs Facebook page. The merry crew looked very merry indeed :-D I have sent your new year greetings thank you Lesley :-D FTE often wondered what I was chuckling about when visiting Motie Towers :-D

Cherry dear, all this talk of Mr Paul Bearer, tutty tut. Isn't he the friend of Miss Ribble. A nasty couple of villains and no mistake :-| :-| :-|

Send them home at once dear :-D

Aunty, what a full house you had. I do hope you have survived the festivities :-D
FTY, OH and I visited the metropolis yesterday. We were educating our Brains at the science museum and had a root march to Harrods dear. On route we passed the plinth. Has Pat rish aaa been fashioning a rocking horse with a Cupid or something on it???? I thought you paid a fortune for her to attend woodwork lessons. Well I would demand your money back Auntie ;-)

Harrods was a little busy but we entertained ourselves in the pet department. Is that where you buy Trickies little outfits :-D :-D :-D £50 for a tiny little dress for a dawg. Oh how we laughed. OH was full of laughter and made many observations regarding the garments :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D

Orff now but back later


Teresa

Susan can you send a cooked breakfast down the cyber hatch please, it sounds yummy :-D

Oh Susan Mrs Brown's Boys is my favourite TV programme I find it so funny :-D I have tears of laughter steaming down my face whenever I watch it :-D my MOG bought me a DVD for Christmas it's called Mrs Brown's Boys Too Rude For TV :-0

Theresa I would want a dog as well for £50 :-D

Auntie Petunia I say to our fruits if you earn a £1 only spend 90p........................................ do they listen :-|

Sending some draught excluder and thermal unmentionables to CC. x

*mumbles through mouth full of food*
good afternoon everyone, I didnt expect y'all to catch me out eating. I only eat once a day - starting with breakfast and finishing with a midnight feast.

Dont fret Petunia dear, the turkey remains are in safe hands, and I guarantee there will be none left by midnight; you know what they say about feeding Gremlins. I will make sure the pork goes to a very good home as well. And it wont be the cat's home either :-D

The turkey carcass can be used to make soup. *burp* Waste not, want not.

Yes I had to reply to dear Lesley in kind, we poets of a feather must stick together. But I can (and do) write some serious verse when I put my mind to it. Alas, there is no one left who wants to hear me recite my work any more.

I once had a Poetry certificate sent me by one of the Vanity Press, as a "prize" for submitting a good poem for inclusion in their anthology. I then learned I would be required to purchase a copy of said anthology (and pay for it in advance) before they'd agree to actually include my work. They asked me to send more poems, but they didnt publish any of my work in the end, because the additional poem I submitted was a diatribe in rhyme on the antics of the Vanity Press. I tried to laminate the certificate but unfortunately something went wrong and it got damaged, and I couldnt replace it. I shouldve scanned it into the computer first, I realised with hindsight.

*thinks* I see someone received the entire works of William Shakespeare for Christmas ....... *sniffs*

Ah yes, the Passing of Time.
The older we are, the more years we have to compare each passing year with, and this is why time seems to go so very fast once we pass 40. And of course, it was a lifetime ago when I passed 40 and started rolling over the hill, and that downhill slide keeps going faster.

Susan I hadnt heard of another earthquake in NZ, I do hope no one has been hurt and that any damage is minimal.

It is very windy and wet here ... and in my backyard the rain is pouring down in a force 50 gale - or so it seems. I had to go into the garage to get some bread out of the freezer, and the noise of the wind had to be heard to be believed.*shivers*

I never fancied Mrs Browns Boys, so havent seen it. I didnt watch Father Ted either. Not really my kind of humour, but I find I dont have a great deal of time to watch TV anyway, these days.

Give me Morecambe & Wise any day!
oh dear, I am giving my age away :-S
but they were such brilliantly funny men
I can watch their reruns again and again :-)

After Ernie Wise died, one of the cartoonists (I think it was Jac) ran a very clever cartoon in a daily paper. He'd drawn a stage, with a poster reading "Together Again - Morecambe & Wise", and there were lots of Angels queueing for tickets.

Teresa, so there you are. I am so pleased your Place Of Toil let you out for a little while. I'm pleased to hear that your FTE had a good time on board ship during the Festivities. So a Merry Time was had by all? Well, they are young, good luck to 'em, I say. As long as they stay safe :-)

Fear not, Mr Paul Bearer has not arrived yet, and I have no time for Miss Ribble. I want to have some fun first, before I let Miss Ribble thru the door.

*tuts* another one who has acquired the complete works of Mr Shakespeare. As long as it is not much ado about nothing. Did you realise, that we speak of Shakespearean times, and Dickensian times, and these are the only two authors I am aware of whose names have been entrenched into our collective consciousness as a Descriptive Noun.
I mean, we never speak of Bronte times, or Austen times, or Hardy times ..... only "hard times"

~~~~~~~ to Lesley, thank you for the thermals and draught excluder dear, but they are not controlling the wind ....... perhaps a bottle of best brandy could be spared, next time ??? :-) ;-)

I hope Baby had lots of fun rockin' around the Christmas tree. Of course, you do realise that all the expensive gifts she was given will be discarded - and she will only want to play with the cardboard boxes. You must see changes in her every day now.

Dear Ladies,

I am soooo pleased that you have been with, and had contact with your Fruits. The whole meaning of Christmas is Family. Be they near or far, they are always in our thoughts. And that is the way it should be.

Teresa dear, why did you not pop in for Afternoon Tea? Tutty tut, dear. A mere bus ride away from Arrods, and you would have been walking up the drive, past the half-buried car, and you would have been generously entertained with Mrs Berry's finest. Never mind dear, next time!!!!

Cherry dear, you have done me proud with disposing of the tit-bits of food that were left. How ingenious of you to eat them, I would never have thought of that!!!!

Lesley, I hope Little One enjoyed her Christmas. Christmas is for children whatever their age.

What a good thing we all enjoy different humour too. Or else, we would all be watching the same boring programmes all the time. I do love M and W. too. I cannot take to that shock humour from that Scottish person though. I think he tries to hard to be clever. I use the word humour in its widest sense.

Upsidedown Susan, I hope you are well, we too have heard of shock waves in your neck of the woods. There is something strange happening in that corner of the world. Tsunami's, earthquakes, tremors etc. I do hope it calms down very soon.

In the meantime here, it has been raining again. The Ark has moved a few inches toward the drive, so if we get a rush of water...............we will be orft.

Have a safe and dry evening ladies.

Pip Pip
Auntie Petunia

*clattering pots and pans in the kitchen*
The turkey carcass soup will be ready in two days time Petunia dear, I'm boiling lots of water, with pearl barley, onions, carrots, and potatoes; and stirring in cornflour for the thickening, and a drop of apple juice for flavour, and as soon as everything is pulped down nicely I will add more water, and herbs and spices, until it looks like something resembling Campbells Condensed.

You will have to hold off the launching of the Ark for a few days, dear, because I cant leave the pans on the hob unattended.

Dont worry I will clean the kitchen up, as I go, we wouldnt want Mrs Berry to walk in on this mess would we. That is best white flour on the floor, by the way; I didnt tread snow in. Dont take any notice of the blackened wooden spoons, they should scrub up all right with some bleach and elbow grease, Pat rish aaaah can sort that out when she returns from the North Pole. Speaking of which - she is overdue now isnt she? Just when does that gel get home?

Oh - you look quite horrified, dear. What do you mean - I should have peeled the potatoes first ??

Good morning Ladies, there is a strange smell coming from the scullery, it smells of boiling bones. Surely we do not have Hannibal camping out downstairs?

As you know Cherry dear, I do not sully my hands with the preparation of vegetables. That is for others to do. I only use my hands for the necessities of life, and then cream then, and ensconce them in while cotton gloves at night. That is why I have the hands of a young gel, while the rest of me heads south!!!!

I heard the door slam in the early hours dears, so I assume Pat-trish-aaaaah is back. She gallumped up the stairs, and threw her suitcase across the room, and took off her boots and let them drop onto the floor. Either that, or she has managed to sneak an elephant into her room. All is quiet now, except for the sound of snoring. No doubt she will emerge later in the day.......................

As it is the year end, I decided to have a sort out. I took the best china and a little burner for the portable kettle, and locked myself into my room. I must have tea to hand whilst I am sorting and disposing.

I found, well actually it wasn't lost, a large box of photographs, what a joy to sort through them all. Joy tinged with sadness too, as I sorted the photographs of dear Mama and Papa when we lived in India. I did not realise what a grand house we lived in................quite a mansion. My dear Nanny too, what a pretty lady she was.....so feminine. I still dont know why she left in such a hurry.....................

Then my photos of my youth. A few photographs of dear Patrick, even though he was a wrong un I cannot throw them away. He was so handsome in his uniform. No wonder he was the cream of society, with all the debs throwing themselves at him.

As you know I spent a few years in Spain after Patrick went missing, and I have posted it as my new avatar. Do you like it dears? Does it show me in a new light? I was once young and pretty dears. Not the distinguished person you see standing in front of you now.

We are going to a later Service today dears, the 11am. Mrs Ponsonby a new addition to the Womens Institute will be doing the flowers today. She is relatively young in comparison to the rest of us. Her husband is the new Verger, so she should have some experience in flower arranging, as they have moved here from Oxford. He is also the organist, since poor old Mr Bush retired. He could no longer move around his organ with ease, and pulling of the stops had become a chore for him.

Apparently we are to be treated to the Entrance of the Queen of Sheba as we take our seats this morning. I shall report back..................new arrivals are so tiresome, talking about new brooms, and updating...............Tutty tut.

Hmmmmmm, still smells of a nasty nature coming from the scullery, I shall make my excuses and leave...............hopefully by the time I return someone would have opened the windows.

Toodle
Auntie Petunia

*looks out of scullery window*

oh my goodness, is that Petunia I see disappearing up the area steps? What on earth is she wearing - that style went out of style before God was a lad. She has clearly been up in the loft again, disturbing the dust and rummaging through the old trunks.
*tutty tut* Fancy going to church dressed like that.

Ah well, back to the cauldron, and I shall take Pat rish aaaah a pot of tea shortly, with the hope she doesnt throw one of her boots at me.

CC, would you mind if I pass on the 'soup'...... Thankyou !!

Golly gosh, tis the 31st already. Well I never. I hope 2013 has all good things in store for us all. Another year older, hopefully wiser too, though I won't count me chickens just yet :-D.

Petunia, I hope the service you attended was to your liking?. I must confess to not being a 'goer' :-(. I do try to be good and do no ill to my fellow man , or woman, come to that. Though I must say, whilst OH and I were visiting your shores, we were both much enamoured with the beautiful churches we saw.
Here we have quite a few old ( ??, by a young countries standard) wooden churches. They are rather lovely, most often quite small, though not always.

I am back to work today for a bit before we rush off to the beach for a couple of days.

To all, I wish you a very Happy New Year, have fun and be good :-).

Susan

*sends a pointed glance at dear Susan*
you have taken the trouble to drop in dear, so I insist you have a portion of soup dear. There is freshly baked bread to go with it, dont worry about the mud stains on the crust, that is only where the next door's dog dragged the loaf into the garden.

It's still 30th December here. For a few more hours. I really will be another year older next month - 21 again, for the umpteenth time.

Yes Britain does have some lovely churches, many built by the Normans and still standing. The architecture is quite remarkable, in all of the churches and cathedrals.

Enjoy your hours on the beach and catch a good tan for me :-)
CC

Send some soup down the cyber hatch please Cherry dear, I will take it to paid toil tomorrow :-D

Gosh Auntie, you do look a little different in your photograph. In my day we went dancing in a different attire but it was the 1980s and 1990s :-D :-D :-D :-D

Poor Mr Bush, he must have been a little arthritic in his hands :-S :-S :-S

Enjoy your celebrations Susan, you of course will be celebrating a little earlier, Aunty dear I will be unable to visit the Towers this evening for I am on an early shift at paid toil tomorrow so will tucked up long before the midnight hour. It does save awaking with a muzzy head on the first of the month and allows the bright young things at toil time to go out and celebrate :-)

Lesley the coast is clear along the hills and dales to paid toil, the road is much dryer thanks to you siphoning the water into the fields for me :-D :-D :-D

Sending warm good new wishes to you all and DET who visits in spirit from time to time :-D

Orfff now to get a supply of pot noodles to send to FTE :-S :-S :-S :-S poor thing must be missing home comforts on the seven seas :-D


Teresa