General Chat

Good evening dear Ladies. How are we all?

I fear dear Susan may well have fallen foul of the dreaded server, I myself had a bit of trouble a few days ago, and could not regale you all with my tales of derring do. However, a very naice young lady Miss Jax advised me what to do, I did it, and here I am. My thanks to her.

The part for the Old Soldiers and Sailors went off with a swing over the weekend, and a jolly good time was had by all.

Mrs Berry and dear little Holly were baking all last week, and excelled themselves. They were better than Delia and Nigella rolled into one. All manner of petit fives, cakes and trifles were adorning the table. The old folk tucked in, and were sated. I do so like to see a man with a healthy appetite, and there were certainly a few of them!

As you know Beatrice is a wizz on the old Joanna and she turned up with her sheet music tucked very neatly under her arm. She has such an ample boooosum that the music very nearly disappeared into her cleavage.

We all had a jolly sing-song, then charades, and even musical chairs. I was afraid that some of the elderly people were unstable on their tootsies but they all did very well. They all retired to their respective beds tired but happy.

Well dears, there is only one thing left to organise, and that is the dinner for my intimate friends. We are to dine on Saturday, Mr and Mrs Georgianna, Octavia and Beatrice will all be there, and we will think of dear Lavinia and raise a glass to her.

More wind on the way dears, and it is nothing to do with brussel sprouts!

Toodle
Auntie Petunia

How strange, the icons are ? ????????

I'm so glad the Christmas on television is not real Aunty, I was thinking that Nigella and Kirsty and Nigel et al were all having soooooo much more fun than one!!!

Your dear little nativity sounds fun. I do miss the Fruits in their nativity plays, the happy smiling faces and tears and tantrums??

I fear the gremlins have got Susan again. We must send out a search party at once or fly over for some winter sun?? ??. I wonder if these icons are working???

All is well this end of the A12 we are awaiting the wind

Tootle pip for now

Waving to Lesley and Susan and Patrishaaaaa

??????????

Well , at last. !!

I am frightfully fed up with trying to access this ruddy site..... I had to resort to going to bookface to try and glean what was happening.... Needless to say, I have changed my server and hey presto, I am back...

I would like a refund on the fees I have been paying whilst unable to use said site.. Ooh look, a little piggy just went flying by.

I am at work and currently not doing any work, I shall leave for now and try my luck again later.. If I do not return you can assume the gremlins are at work again.

Toodle,

Susan

Dear Ladies, what a time I have had getting on to our little thread, and me having sooo much to tell you, it was very distressing!

The nativity play went very well, Mary was perfect in her role, except when she dropped the baby, then lost her temper and threw it stage left. Joseph got the giggles and wet himself. The Angel Gabriel has a limp wing, and one of the shepherds insisted on bringing on a teddy instead of a toy lamb. But apart from that, wonderful, and there was not a dry eye in the house.

The Christmas Party for the Old Soldiers and Sailors is tomorrow afternoon. Mrs Berry and Holly have been baking all week, and we have found a recipe for non-alcoholic punch. So all is prepared and raring to go. We have a pianist coming in to play tunes from their era, so all is tickety boo. I shall report back.

I keep going on monkey brains and mendels peas dear Lesley.

I hope you are all well dears, and your Christmas preparations are all in hand. Never fret too much dears, the Christmas you see on the television is not real!

Pip Pip
Auntie Petunia

Im having a menopausal moment, its Susan who cannot get on the thread, Lesley is, as you know, here :-D :-D :-D :-D

Im up with the owl this morning ladies :-| I think it was out and about doing its rounds, terwit terwooing past our bedroom window :-| :-| :-|

lesley dear, I have been having a bit of trouble for the last couple of years keeping asleep. I wake up wide eyed and bushy tailed after a very uncomfotable night trying to get comfortable. Tis the bed Ladies, I am the princess and I fear there may be a whole plantation of peas in the matrice :-( :-0 :-( :-0 however my christmas has come early. The new bed is being delivered today :-D we tested them all in the shop, ( I kid you not) and found the perfect one and the perfect pillows. Unfortunatly it was not the perfect price but one cannot put a price on a good nights sleep.

I havnt been on the night shift for msny years. Early and late and middle shifts but not nights, my sleep patten is dire to say the least. I remember the last time I did a night. It was the night before and of, Princess Dianas funeral. FTE was indeed FTY then. FTY was but a twinkle in our eyes at the time so you can tell how many years ago that was.

I went to see a choir last week. You may know of them Auntie, they are called The CK gospel choir and were very good, uplifting and enjoyable. Have a google and if you get a chance go and see them :)

Lesley has been unable to get on to the genes thread, is anyone any idea how she can access it? They are all well.

We are all nearly prepared for Christmas, a good nights sleep and I will be ready to party, whats going on at "The Towers" Aunty P :0)


Orf now for the third cup of tea

teresa

:-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-) :-D :-)

Good Evening One and All

Susan dear I will be free from June the 20th :-D you must let me know what N.Z wine it is you like and I will get the cellar stocked up ;-)

Auntie Petunia please do tell me your secret for vitality :-S

Street lights being turned off Teresa :-S we don't have any to turn on :-D

Lesley x

Good evening ladies, and those who silently peep!

We must have all been very, very busy to let out dear little thread lapse so.

I have been organising the Orphanage Natavity Play. All those little waifs and strays were so excited to be in a performance organised by my good self. I do believe they were offered encouragement by the bribe of fizzy drinks and minced pies, but who cares when I have my pick of children to be utterly adorable in my production.

All the major players have been picked, and one dear little golden haired child is to be the Angel Gabriel. What a shame she has a cold and keeps cuffing her nose and wiping it down her white gown! However, a good biological powder will remove the crusted stains!

We have any amount of donkeys, goats, cows and asses. We have towns people, and assorted domestic animals. In short, I have found everyone a part of play for fear of upsetting the little darlings.

Those not in the play, are in the choir. I must say it brings a tear to my glass eye when they all sing together. There is nothing more pleasurable than seeing a dear little child singing their heart out.

I shall report back when the actual performance is to take place. I shall of course be playing the piano and prompting at the same time. Don't say that I am not adept at multitasking!

I trust we are all well dears. Not too cold for you all.

Ah yes dear Lesley, a cardboard box is far more interesting than the actual gift. Its only natural.

Take care dears
Pip Pip
Auntie Petunia

Hello lovely ladies.

I hope you are all prepared for the festive season..........I'm not :-(

Crikey Teresa I thought you must be working nights when I saw the time of your posting :-0 I haven't tried the newly refurbished tea rooms, craft centre and yes it is an ale house too :-S

Auntie Petunia I'm sure you will look perfect in your black attire, add a few sparkly bits so you outshine the other blackbirds :-D

Oh Susan E is like a pig in muck when she has a cardboard box to play with :-D

Lesley x

Good evening dear ladies, are we battening down the hatches.

I hear that Essex and all of the east side is under sufferance. I can remember seeing some archive fillum of Canvey Island under water!

The One Show showed lots of people filling up sandbags to stop the water. And then the reporter asked them what they were doing!!!!! I was waiting for someone to say they were icing cakes. What a silly sausage!

I have been very busy of late dears, I am sorry to have been neglecting you all. But my good works take up a great deal of my time in the festive season.

I received a message from dear Cherry the other day. Unfortunately I have not been able to access my he-mails as the server has gawn down! Give the hamster a cabbage leaf or whatever to get the thing started again.

I hope your Christmas goes peacefully dear Susan, tis always hard the first one after losing a loved one. My dear Mama's birthday was on 20th December and it upsets me still to think of her on her birthday. However, tis a little while now since she left us, longer still for Papa, and of course I can now laugh at the little things we did as a family.

I am orft to a soiree tomorrow night, and am still debating about what to wear. I favour all black ensemble, but then again so do most of the other ladies, so we will look like a gathering of blackbirds!

Toodle Pip All. Keep warm, and keep safe in the storm that is abrewing!

Auntie Petunia

The spellchecker thingy isnt working, either that or im writing gobledegook :-S :-S :-)

sorry about that.

time for bed Zebedeeeee zzzzzzzzz :-)

Hallo Susan, thoughts are with you at the moment. The "first" Christmas is very hard without a parent. Hold all the happy times in your thoughts, it sometimes helps and eases the pain. Xxx it would have been my Mums birthday today. She would have been 86. Eight years have passed but I still consider if "her birthday" same as I do on my Dads. I can now smike at the happy times and ignor the rest. It works better that way for me. :-)

Ladies you may well wonder why I am up at such an hour. Our street lights have not yet been turned on yet either! We went to see a beat combo last night. A naice youngish man called Bruce Foxton and his fellow players. They were called After The Jam, and of course played the whole of All Mod Cons. Yes Auntie, the Bruce Foxton who really did not appear to have aged one bit. He is still as thin as he was and has a whole head of hair. I must say the group were brilliant. OH and I never had the pleasure of seeing the original three lads play together but last night was as near as possible. Do have a google ladies. The encour of Eton Rifels was just epic :-D :-D :-D
It was like going back in time to my yoof. ;-)

we are orf later in the week to see a Gospel choir, they are London based but playing locally. I love a good Gospel choir but have never had the chance to see one sign live before.

Its soooooo handy having FTE back to "sit" with FTY :-D :-D :-D we can go out and about without the worry that FTY is ok, not that he is unable to stay for an evening himself (at that age I had a regular baby sitting job with deal babies) but times are different nowadays doncha think?

I had the flu jab yesterday. Tis encoursaged in our place of pId toil, I have a sore arm
:-( FTE had to have one at sea. Tis compulsory there for all staff. My Sister works in a place of paid toil where she needs to have the flu jab as well, we are sharing sore arm stories ;-)

well I dont know where Auntie is. Maybe lorst in a mountain o outside house light decorations ;-) ;-) ;-)

Waving to lesley who may be sampling the delights ofthe newly refurbished local inn.


orf back to bed now

Teresa zzzzzzzzzzz

Hello Ladies and peeps,

How did it get to be December already.... the last few months have whizzed by :-(. So now we are heading to the silly season, OH and I are the hosts again for the whole fam damily... It will be strange to be missing MIL and Papa - but the day shall arrive and we will make the best of it.
I am a little brain dead (be very careful what you are thinking ladies) in regards to choosing gifts to buy for the family... I have nailed a few but am struggling. I have decided SiL will get a wheelbarrow..I wonder how good he is at pretending to be delighted :-D. His 1st Christmas as an official SiL.....

We have the male fruits birthday on the 12th, celebrations to be on the 14th. It a '0' birthday so I imagine there will be much revelry :-S.

Teresa, I hope you have managed to squeeze all FTE's bits and bobs in. A word of warning, when the fruits eventually leave home for good, they manage to leave 'many' belongings at home :-P.... I am not ruthless enough to have a good clear out.. Good luck to your OH in his new venture. :-).

Petunia, as Teresa says, your avatar must surely be Mrs Berry?. It couldn't possibly be you. If it is you, I shall be a little shocked. You have always looked so much younger than your years. Unless of course that fancy pants face cream you were all speaking of has, err, been a mistake?????
I hope your good works have been appreciated by all?.

~~~~ to Lesley, have you chosen a gift for your little grandbaby?. Can you get away with a cardboard box or pot lid and wooden spoon?...

I did see on the funny sight f...b..k, pictures of London lights, Oxford Street etc, so pretty :-).We have nothing of the like here in my little neck of the world. Oh well.
Speaking of lights, Teresa, your councillors need a kick up the :-D, saving power indeed... Grinches, every one of them :-P..

I have this afternoon, mowed the lawns.. I certainly felt it. I have had a restorative glass of vino :-). My OH isn't due home til 8pm - surprisingly I am not hungry- yet.
I went to one of our supermarkets this afternoon to purchase a boneless Turkey for Christmas. Said bird was advertised in this weeks catalogue..... Does the store stock said bird?... NO, they don't.... They will endeavour to get one in from another store.... False advertising?..

I shall not mention the Rugby League final..... :-P. I could have predicted the result before the game started :-(... Oh dear..

I had better get a wriggle on and think about cooking our dinner.
Have a lovely day, keep warm and safe.

Toodle,

Auntie dear, The man in the white van is on his way with all the storage items, please do not be scared at the mask the fruit got from Venice, the fruit thought it was a good idea at the time but it is a little sinister looking so is in the van as well. I have a fridgedoor with the magnets of the world on the door. The Fruit could not locate one in Papa new guineeee but never mind.

Im just writing the mountains of Christmas cards, tis a yearly chore and pleasure at the same time. ;-)

my goodness your lights are very bright, do keep them on all year round dear. Our local council have decided to economise and turn all the street lights orf between midnight and 5am. It does make it difficult when one has to vist the smallest room at night and all is pitch black. Tuttty tut tut.

our town lights were also switched on last night by the local Mayor and co. They look very pretty :-D

I wonder who will leave ghe dancing tonight? I have a feeling the wrong decision will be made again. Tutttttyyyyy tut tut tut.

Auntie dear where did your photographic image go????? It seems to have been rep, aced by a little old lady. I did not realise Mrs Berry was that old :-S :-S

yours running for cover


Teresa :-D

Waving to Lesley and Susan ??????????

Good evening dears, please excuse my tardiness in not giving you good grace to tell you all about my activities of late.

I see that dear Teresa is having problems with space. Do send a lorry down to me dear, I have tons of space to spare. I charge very reasonable rates! How lovely it will be when your fruit comes home, with souvenirs of her exploits. African masks, hula hula skirts, castanets, cornettos and the like!

At Christmas there is so much for me to do! The local 'lights' are being turned on, and of course they have asked me to do the honours. So, as they were so charming, I shall of course oblige. I did hear someone mutter something about not being able to get that naice Ms Thompson, but I would have to do, but of course I rose above it, and smiled graciously. I shall wear the fur-coat tomorrow I think and to hang with the consequences. I do not like to get cold.

~~~~~~ to you all, my good wishes to you and yours.

Settling down for the dancing on very soon.

Pip Pip
Auntie Petunia

Leggo dear leggo not loggo :-D :-D it time for tiffin now with a shot of medicinal somthing,

Yours fighting through toot

teresa

Coooooooeeeeeeeee, is anybody there............................................................

Helllllllppppppppppppp, we need some more space for FTEs stuff, for someone who lived in a very small space on the high seas there appears to be an awful lot of things which have come back. Auntie may we decant in the purple room? I need somewhere to put several boxes of star wars loggo (fully made up in large boxes) lotsof charity/sales stuff of FTEs and a pile of Iironing, at least until I get my witsxabout me :-S :-S :-S

yours eyeying up next doors emptyish shed

teresa.



ooh Lesley, I have just driven by the old inn/ new tearooms/ pub. FTY who is now much taller than FTE thought that a sign said it sold beers as well. I will have a google and report back :-D

Oh Ladies, I am still here.

Tis been a little frantic, thankyou Susan for your missive, I did reply:)

Now then back to all the news of the moment. OH has gorn self employed. Tis allgoing ok at the present time. FTE will be back this week. I do need a small skip dears, we seem to have stored rather a lot in the Fruits room! I think she will be bringing more back than was taken. The Fruit will be job hunting. A life on the seas is on hold for a while, a wonderful experience and all that but ambition is twitching away.

FTY has an offer at the establisment which Lesley knows of. Goodness where does the time go, A levels in September. It will be round as quick as a wink.

The Devils football still continues, tis a little better now the team win most weeks!!!!! Not like the old days when each game resulted n a loss. The Mamas and Grandmamas and various family members still gather and watch between watching bits of the game :) I have thermals on top of my thermals. We are looking foward to FTE encouraging them on. She has a good range of bellowing. :-D :-D

I have been doing good works at FTYs establishment for fund raising and working hard at toil and unpaid toil. :-D :-D :-D

Lesley I noticed that the Inn near you is definately going to be tea rooms and a craft shop by the looks of it. I will have to sample the hospitality when its open :-D

I have been watching the jungle, I feelthat dear little Joey is a nicer person than I thought. He tries so hard to please bless him :-S I was a little confused with the dancing, why was that bloke who played rugby voted out????????? He isnt the best but not the worse :-S :-S :-S :-S

Now Auntie dear, how are you and all at Motie Towers? How are the festive festivites going? I am day orf on Christmas day, yipeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee, I must think about gift shopping, I will wait until FTE gets back and we see how much storeage we have. :-| :-| :-|

well im orf now to do the ironing. I have mucked out the houseand its sparkling now :-D

Yours looking for the ironing fairy

Teresa

Hello dears, I hope you are all warmer than I! Tis positively freezing here.

Our Susan likes a nice New Zealand wine, something like Oyster Bay? I cannot remember the name, but it is available over here at upmarket supermarkets. We can push the boat out, and buy her a tipple.................or two. That is to say, you can dears, I shall stick to the elderflower cordial.

Keep well and warm dears, tis nearly exactly a month until Christmas!