General Chat

*leaps up and down in excitement*
I know .... I know ,,,,!!! George & The Dragon was a TV show many years ago starring Peggy Mount and I think David Kossoff.

Good evening ladies, and invisible readers. Such a shame the gentlemen dropped out.

Petunia dear do beware of that red headed Major. Having said that, you might be "safe" as you are a tad too mature to let him father one of your children who would have to spend the rest of their life walking around looking the spitting image of him. Perhaps a few hours in the Major's company would not hurt you personally, although you have your reputation to consider and he could besmirch that. We are who we consort with.

I really do not know why you are in such high dudgeon over my sampler. You should never have snatched it from me to read - look at the bruises all over my poor dainty hands. The wording is quite innocuous, I vow - you read it upside down. If turned the right way around, the sampler states something completely different - and I must reiterate ..... it is "all in the mind". Anyway, I heard Octavia whisper it under her breath !!!

You will find Trudie Diddie and Anna very hard work. I heard tell that their own regal Mamas gave up and told their respective maids "you talk to the gel, I cant do a thing with her". Do be careful, dear - they could imprint their impropriety on you !!

Rises above the feeble excuses, I KNOW what I saw...............................

Good evening ladies, what a non-descript day it has been. Just a milk of magnesia sky all day. How very boring.

I am still whipping the gels into shape, and what delight they have been, such lovely young things are Trudie, Diddie and Anna. Such malleable things, I shall imprint my propriety into them if it is the last thing I do.

We are being taken to a Hotel in Park Lane, dontcha know, and after our din-dins, there will be music and dancing. I remember that last time I was there, I was in conversation with a certain Major with redhair, and was warned off. I am sure you will remember that Cherry dear, you said he was a bit of a bounder, and when we met again in Brighton, you told me to give him a flea in his ear.

I shall be organising the little ones next Tuesday, for, as your know tis St Georges Day. We will be taking them from school to church for a service of celebration, and then have a high tea, and fun and games. They will then have a commemorative mug to take home with them. I have designed the mug myself, and I must say I am very pleased with the results. It features George and the Dragon. The printer did phone me however, and ask if I wanted a 'proper knight and dragon' or a composite of Sid James and Peggy Mount. Whatever could he have meant?

Puzzles, but busy, always busy
Auntie Petunia

how kind you are with your reassurances Petunia dear, it is such a relief to know that I can continue residing in Motie Towers. I think you would miss me more than you think you would, were I to return home to CC World. Who else would bring you camomile tea in the evenings, after your friends have returned to their abodes and their husbands, after Pat rish aaaah has retired to her suite of rooms for the night.

I am surprised that you can hear me singing in the night, because I only whisper along to the personal CD player which makes no noise at all with the headphones plugged in. I have to sing myself to sleep doncha know, my dear late Papa used to sing me to sleep when I was a small child and one does get into habits.

Ah yes, the school chums I once knew, a long long time ago when God was a lad and before sliced bread. Well, we have not been school chums for many years now, and so it would not be fair to name names. But Nosebook and Fiends Reunited has been very informative ...... ;-) And this is why I locked my Nosebook account right down and wont network, and I never scribble on Walls.

I believe the Flying Scotsman does not run any longer, because there was some trouble with the kilt flapping in the breeze ....... :-D ;-)

You know, you really shouldnt read what other people stitch into their samplers. Especially as some words have two meanings and many spelling variants. I venture to suggest it is really a case of 'all in the mind' ..... but the devil made me do it :-D ;-)

Calm down dear, do not get your stays in a flap dear, of course I am not asking you to move out #thinks. goodness knows I have dropped enough hints, if you cannot take them, then you have a hide like an elephant# You know that this house is yours to live in rent free for as long as you like dear....................it is lovely to have someone who keeps me up all night with her warbling along to synchopated music of a dubious kind.

I appreciate your want to be discreet about your schoolchum dear, and I am sorry I even ventured to mention it. The price of cod is rising weekly dear, such is the fishing rights that dictate to the fishmonger Mr Haddock. And as we have discussed before dear, the length of a piece of string is only as long as it would be allowed to be, should it befall some catastrophe. Phew!!!!

I dont think we should speculate about fast gels dear. And as for asking if she goes like a train.......................well, I think most of the old boilers have been sent to the scrap yard years ago. Does the Flying Scotsman still run? Doodle it for me dear.

I am so pleased that you admired my delicate stitches dear. I was always admired for my herringbone stitch. One likes to have some accomplishments when one does not actually work. Perish the thought. I used to do the same with my bonnets, when the silk flowers looked 'tired' I always bought new trimmings to make it attractive again.

Now, come on dear, what are you hiding behind your back? Dont back into the corner dear, let me see. Come, come dear, you are not a child............................of a sampler................now what does it say?

Oh Cherry........................................................how COULD you?

Affronted
Auntie Petunia

As I have no contact with any of my old school friends Petunia dear, I cannot ask the lady in question if she has a spare room in her mansion but I suspect she might have several spare rooms. Why do you ask? were you thinking of moving out of Motie Towers?

oh ..... oh .... oh ....... ooooooooh - were you thinking of asking ME to move out of Motie Towers? Oh Petunia, surely not, dear. As you know dear I was well house trained by my dear lady Mama, I even wash my hands after checking my ears for potatoes. And I am sooooo settled in here. I have even come to a mutual understanding with Pat rish aaaaah. We avoid each other like the plague, and it works remarkably well.

So, what is the price of fish? Is it as long as a length of string?

Ah yes, fans. I dont use my fan to be coy. My fan is fanned to help me cope with those warmer moments which some of us ladies suffer from interminably and endlessly, and which I think are going to worsen now the milder days are here and only going to get hotter.

What is the speed of a fast gel? Does she do 10 mph, or does she go like a locomotive?

I must say, you are doing a very nice job of stitching those silk flowers onto your decolletage. One will never know you have a cleavage.

*hides sampler I was working on with blanket stitch*

Oh Susan, dear, I hope all is well now. I was in such a tizzy with my own arrangements I did not read your post properly. So sorry dear.

Who is this mysterious gel then dear Cherry? Is she a household name? Does she know the price of fish? Can she rent us a room in her mansion?

I have used the steamer for my face dear, it has freshened my complexion a little, but has not made the wrinkles disappear. It has however brought all the London dirt rushing to the surface, not a pretty sight. It is like the silt left behind when the tide goes out. I feel positively grimy now.

I feel the decolettage of the dress could do with a tidy up, so have been to my favourite haberdashers today, for some new silk flowers, I shall sew them on myself tonight, I have a dainty hand. Last time Pat-trish-aaaah did a piece of sewing for me, she used blanket stitch. So common!!!!

I am looking forward to taking my charges Anna, Trudie and Diddie to the Ball on Saturday. I remember when I was a gel, it was protocol to mark ones card with gentleman's names for the dances, I think that has all changed now. I also think the Language of the Fan has dropped from favour too. How coy we were then.

I am teaching the gels to flirt gently by looking delicately under their eyelashes, it bodes well not to be too forward. One does not like a fast gel. She is no better than she should be...............................

Looking for the pomade
Auntie Petunia

I'm so sorry Susan to hear of the nasty shock you've had today and I do hope that Pup pulls through 100%. Our pets are our children, albeit furry ones, and they will get themselves into all sorts of mischief, just like two-legged children. Dogs more so than cats. At least your quick thinking re the slug packaging meant that Pup got to the vets in time so well done you.

Ladies I found a way to solve an Idle Moment ......... not that I get many idle moments.

I was at school in the 19**s .... errrr ..... a very long time ago, with a classmate who was one of those children who doesnt have a mean bone in their body, I remember she was always very nice to me. Her parents moved and took her away from the school but I never forgot. I dare say she doesnt remember me because it turns out she's led a very interesting life.. She ran away from home when she got into her teens and this event made the national press. Ah yes, I remember eeet well !!

The other day, I was in one of my "I wonder what happened to ....." moods and in an idle moment I googled her name and to my surprise I found the picture of her that was splashed over the newspapers, as well as pictures of an older her, and a couple of features about her life. It seems she became a minor celebrity, got on Top Of The Pops a few times, and inspired a songwriter to pen a hit number about her, I know the song well but when it was first in the charts I didnt know it had been written with this girl in mind.

And someone else I was at school with (we were friends from age 8, for about 7 years) married a man who did very well for himself, he started a business which became successful and which they eventually sold for a fancy profit, and they now live in a mansion which is situated in a private road. Its amazing what you can find out about people, when you poke around the internet. Then again - some people say far too much about themselves on social networking sites.

I've no plans to contact either of these people, I'm not in their league. But my idle moment has solved two "I wonder what happened to ....." cases. And its another two notches for my Claims To Fame belt .... :-D :-D :-D ;-) ;-) ;-)

Petunia dear I could not believe my eyes ..... I was assisting Mr Simon Templar earlier during his attempts to outwit some very bad men and bamboozle the police, when I saw a lady who could have been your twin sister, she was a headmistress at a gels school somewhere in Switzerland, she looked like you, she sounded like you, she even had your mannerisms and tendency to say things like chop chop. The only thing she didnt have was your pince nez, and Pat rish aaaaaah.

I remember the paternal aunt of Anna Macassar. She was known to one and all as Auntie Macassar.

I must say, steaming your outfit with Teresa's steamer has taken out all the wrinkles and creases. Do you think this would work on my aged crumpled wrinkled birthday suit?

Oh me, oh my, what a mixed day yesterday was :-S,

It was my fruits birthday, as she had an out of town job, I took a day off work and went with her for a days outing. We had a nice luncheon and did a bit off shopping. Got home around 4pm, terrible wet weather here by the by, to find pup had got out of theirs, visited ours. Managed to get into our bin and find a few scraps. I found the evidence in our garden along with slug bait packaging..... Fruit and her OH took the pup to the Vets. They sedated pup and managed to get her to throw up, apparently quite a volume (good sign), she was kept in overnight with the Vet telling fruit there were no guarantees re pups survival :-D... Many tears were shed as you can imagine... The Vet rang fruit later last night to say he was happier with the pup and she should be ok, OMG, the relief.
Fruit has another trip out of town today but will visit her baby very soon. Hopefully pup can come home this afternoon if well enough....
The pellets were in my gardening trug which was in the carport...... Said trug will be given a new home toute suite...

I cannot fathom how one would cope losing a child, nearly losing a much loved pet is bad enough.

Not such a nice birthday for my fruit. Today is one year since pup was adopted from the rescue centre..... A second homecoming today hopefully :-).

Needless to say, today can only be a better day than yesterday. I am hoping to go with a friend to a nearby towns Floral Art show. I need to finish work on time or early ;-).

Back another day, hope you are all well?.


a very relieved Susan :-)

In my dear little Alice Blue Gown, la la la la.......................

Thank you dear, I shall take your compliment in the spirit in which it was given...................grudgingly!!!!

Thank you dears for your support, I shall be supervising three gels, indeed Trudie Windows, Anna Macasser and Diddie Doooet. Strong high spirited gels, with chins the size of dear Brucie, and teeth in need of orthodontics. But they are well connected and are Old Money. So they will not be short of admirers. So to speak.

Susan dear, never plan........................things always go wrong when you plan.

Cherry dear, I shall keep an eye on that wall, it is certainly starting to bow. I shall get the oddjob man to bung a couple of rawplugs into the wall. I dont want the lathe and plaster to come poking through.

Teresa, just console yourself that you only have another, ooooooh, 10 or so years before you get your fruits well and truly off your hands.

Now, I shall be posting a new avatar soon dears, to give you an idea of what I shall be wearing, I am posing with Tweetie Pie.

Steaming my ensemble with Teresa's steamer. Thank you dear.
Auntie Petunia

Petunia dear may I say that you look an absolute picture in that wonderful outfit you have donned for the deb ball.

[*thinks* The Scream by Edvard Munch comes to mind]

no one else in the world looks as you look today. There is no doubt about it, all eyes will be on you as you make your entrance.

Did you ever imagine years ago when you were a giddy young gel that you would end your days as a chaperone? but who exactly are you chaperoning? I trust its not the (dis)Honorable Trudy Windowes, that gel has a voice like breaking glass and a reputation to go (and then some).

Well I managed to squeeze those two new Whimsies into the cabinet, but it wont hold any more I fear. Dont worry about the weight, dear, the wall isnt bulging out, just take no notice of the drop-down of the ceiling or the slight lowering of the floorboards in that corner.

Now, do stop pinching your cheeks dear, or people will think you are wearing rouge. Try dabbing a little beetroot juice on your lips. And get some ash out of the grate to darken your eyelashes with. But leave the bella donna alone, it might brighten the whites of your eyes in the short term but does no good in the long term. And when you attend the ball, if the evening is warm I recommend gravy browning on your legs should you run out of stockings.


Teresa dear, as your Fruit and his Friends have no scooters of their own, please can I send those brats and their toy scooters over to you? It sounds as though you have more patience than I do these days. When I got home from the supermarket I decided to leave my car parked right at the front edge, to make it harder for them. Of course this means I must go outside before bedtime to pull the car right back for the night. Sigh.

good evening ladies, oh what a day. Nothing turned out as planned, because something came up and I had to drop all to deal with that something. Such is life, and life never runs smoothly in Chez CC. *tuts*

Today I saw a young family in the supermarket - papa, mama, baby being carried by papa, and a little girl holding papa's hand; mama was running up and down the aisles frantically calling the name of another child over and over, because said child had got separated from her parents. I felt so sorry for the young couple, and I knew how frightened they would have felt having been in that situation myself once at a museum, but there was nothing I could do to help. When I joined the queue at the checkout, further along in another queue I saw the family, and mama had found the missing child.

Yesterday I rescued a butterfly from the garage, releasing it into the fresh air of the garden. It was a peacock, and we dont see so many of those these days so I felt very pleased with myself.



Lesley I had a few who liked to vary their given names, either switching names around, or changing the spelling of the original name. And all in one family. No wonder I am so good at disinformation when filling out those marketing questionnaires that come with the paperwork one has to complete to activate a warrantee !!! :-D

Hallo ladies, the sun is out and sky is blue, summer must be here :-D

The steam cleaner we borrowed is notthe one you mentioned Lesley, there were mixed reviews when I looked on the web sites. We do srub with an old brush Cerry dear but your potent mix sounds like it may do the trick ;-)

The Fruits do not have scooters but just spend hours over the feild playing the devils football so really I cant complain, lots of fresh air etc etc :-D

May I ask a delicate question Aunty, have you been supervising proceedings in your neck of the woods so to speak or concentrating on the debs ball instead. I may be a chaparone with you, i can warn the gals from the dangers of gentleman walkers ;-)

Orff now to do unpaid toil chores

Back tomorrow

Teresa :-D

Get down a big portmanteau from the top of the wardrobe, opens it and gets out a ballgown, a fascinator and a dorothy bag in blue/pink shot silk.

I have been invited to a Debs delight dears at one of those posh hotels on Park Lane. One does like to keep up appearances, and I am sure if I have my stays laced very tightly I can get into this dress. I have until Saturday to starve myself into it. One used to go there to 'come out', Now I am officially a chaperone, it does make one feel, very, very old. No military two-step for me I fancy.

Teresa dear you have been busy scooting around all over the place. Madam Toosods as Papa used to call it. Have not been there in years. One last went when the gauntlet was laid down to spend the night in the Chamber of Horrors. One believes the princely sum of £100 would be the prize for braving it.

Lesley dear, I hope you are better dear. Susan, I have yet to suggest something for the party, give me time dear, I will ponder it further.

Cherry dear, I forbid you to buy another Whimsie dear, that display cabinet is nearly coming out of the wall with the weight.

Now. Do I look as fetching as Scarlett O'Hara? I think I might just so.

Pinching my cheeks to bring colour to them................
Auntie Petunia

Good Afternoon from a gloriously sunny day in my corner of Essex.

Auntie Petunia dear one does understand dear that one has staff to do chores so one has free time to do as one pleases :-D we however dear must ensure that the said staff have all the correct tools to work with ;-)

Silverette was in the habit of changing her name CC :-S perhaps she wasn't very good at playing cards and got herself into debt hence changing her name to evade the debt collectors :-D

Susan could I suggest laser clay shooting for your fruits party, it is great fun and anyone can take part from the age of 10, a friend of ours had this for one of his parties mind the men did get VERY competitive.

Teresa I have been looking at buying a Karcher steam cleaner, is this the make of your friends that you are not impressed with.?

Lesley x

good afternoon ladies :-D

Perhaps Georgianna should consider having a Boston Tea Party ........ !! :-D

is there any more Earl Grey in the pot, please? Oh I see we are using the Mappin & Webb silver service today. Of course, it's Sunday. Sugar lumps too, my goodness; are we entertaining horses later on dear?

, I wondered why you were back from Church so early Petunia dear, I dont normally see you at this time of day, mainly because I am rarely out of bed before 11 am on a Sunday, one needs one's rest doncha know. This morning I graced an antiques fayre with my presence, where I found a pretty little Wade vase, and two Wade whimsies in excellent condition, I dont know how I am going to squeeze the whimsies into the cabinet but they were a bargain at £1 each.

You are so fortunate, not being raised to live a life of drudgery and unpaid toil unlike myself. I am now so "conditioned" to a life of drudgery and toil that if I didnt toil I wouldnt know what else to do with myself - apart from visit antiques and collectors fayres and centres ;-)

oh look my cup is empty ..... ah well, I shall go and find something to do to keep me gainfully occupied until dinner time. The devil makes work for idle hands etc etc ad infinitum et al. :-) :-) :-)

Good morning Ladies,

I am fascinating by the tales of cleaning dears, something that is totally alien to me. All these strange names Fillet Bank and Splash, I presume they are proprietary cleaners.....................I leave all that up to Pat-trish-aaaaah as you well know. But nevertheless it has been fascinating indeed.

We had an early church visit today dears, and I am back to have a naice cuppa, we have still to find a permanent organist, Beatrice is doing a sterling job, but she does not want to take the position, as it will 'restrict' her. I dont know what she does on some Sundays but she is not always here.

Georgianna made a strange confession today. She supervises the shopping and always buys 4lb of sugar and a 1lb of loose leaf tea, regardless of whether she needs it or not. So.....................she now has a cupboard full of tea and sugar, and will probably not live long enough to enjoy it all. She is wondering what to do with it all. Stop buying it, I would have thought, but no, it is like a compulsion to her, probably something to do with the War........................no wonder she had so many nylons....................tuts.

Sitting down with a dainty cup of Earl Grey.
Auntie Petunia

I took my offspring to Mdme Tussauds once Teresa. The queue was sooo long for Mdme T that we decided to visit the Planetarium instead and when I got there I discovered (to my delight) that we could access Tussauds via an interconnecting door, for the appropriate fee of course.

Unless your FTE can delay her return to Blighty until the high summer, she will certainly feel the cold ......... with goosebumps on.

I do hope it is not your FTY who has been lurking around on my sidewalk with scooters, committing trespass into my frontyard. I suspect these tykes were told by their parents to go play somewhere else.

Our local council got very busy turning off all the street lights at night to save money, regardless of the personal safety of the residents whose business takes them out and about during the dark hours ..... nurses on call, night shift workers etc. Mind you the council suddenly found the money to display the Christmas lights in the main shopping areas during the last festive season. I am still trying to work out the logic of their decision ....... the festive lights were pretty, but the logic was hypocritical.

Ahem - I dont think you would want me entertaining certain Church people. I am known for sending them away with a large flea in their collective ear. I dont have the time or inclination to discuss such matters with these people. My daughter could entertain them for you - with a large snake around her neck :-D She used to have an albino corn snake. Until it escaped ....... ! ;-)

The adverts for the steam cleaners, the hand held and lightweight upright models, are very convincing. I bought a hand held one, then when I read the instructions I learned that the appliance has to be kept upright, which was no good for the job I wanted it to do which involved slanting the appliance to get at all that needed cleaning, so its never been used. We have an upright Vax for the carpets, which is very good.

I wipe my bathroom tiles and grouting every day to stop condensation turning black - but this is not 100% effective. A week or two back, I wiped a mix of Cillit Bang and bleach all over the tiles and grouting, and left it. Next day I wiped the "mixture" off and there is a definite improvement. I've now invested in a new Flash product that contains bleach, to see if it makes this chore any easier.

Do you use an old toothbrush on the grouting?

Hallo one and all

Here is a potted history so far thus of the last few weeks.

We have been to Downe House, Chartwell House, The houses of Parliament and Madam Tausards.

FTY and his fellow fruits have taken over FTE and her fellow fruits role, and through the long long long Easter holidays are lurking about here like nomads with nowhere to go.

FTE has been sailing about in the sun and was last heard of mooching about the pryamids and complaining that it was not as hot as it had been earlier in her travels :-S In four weeks time she will really have cause to moan about the weather :-D :-D FTE will be home for a short stay and then back on her travels. Dont worry Lesley I have been given some time off from paid toil. Our leader at work is very good like that :-D

Susan your Fruits look lovely in the photos as you all do :-D

Lesley when I first came to our hilly town 20 years ago you could furnish a house from top to bottom, do almost all the Birthday/xmas/gift/ shopping, have a good night out and go to a cinema buy all clothing for every age range and we even had an electrical store in town. Sadly due to BDC and high rents shops went out of town. I drive the seven miles now to the next county to get most of what I need. Its such a shame but all the local council think of is their floral displays which are very pretty but not that good for trade. Mind you a major supermarket has been trying to get here for years but finally admitted defeat. This supermarket is everywhere so its not a bad thing. It would put the remaining shops out of buisness if it got here!

I do hope you had a good session in church Auntie. We had some Church people a knocking at the door this morning. I could have done with Cherry to entertain them ;-) I was very nice to them however and we discussed the state of the world and cell saver salvage and other medical matters which I had not heard about but googled and it was very interesting. Dunno if we have it but its very cutting edge technology.

We have pyrex Cherry dear. Its been knocking about for years and still going strong :-)

I did borrow one of those steam cleaners from a friend to clean our shower and OH had a go today. My friend was not impressed with it nor was OH and I. Nothing a bit of mould and mildue spray couldnt fix in the end. The steam cleaner will be going back into her shed :-|

I am hithering orff now for another srub of my grout.

See you later and hopefully normal service will resume next week

btw I saw some Essex gals this morning but they were in Suffolk. The orange hue glinted in the sun :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D


Teresa

I expect that your Silverette was playing cards with my Gt Aunt Hettie for a few years Lesley. Hettie was remarkably elusive too, was known to be various ages, and turned her nose up at her East London background when she married well.

Pretty name that, Silverette :-)


Sorry Petunia but these brown casserole dishes will not be gracing your table on Sunday, I plan to keep them all to myself :-D Actually - I have been labouring under a misapprehension all of these years. Turns out they are not brown Pyrex ..... they are Arcopal !! from France. C'est la vie.


Stop working so hard Teresa, you will wear yourself down to skin and bone !