General Chat

Morning Ladies,

CC, I was going to say I did know the Towers are virtual but then Petunia's post has told us it is not :-D.....

Petunia, your table sounds lovely and your meal delicious. I lurve sprouts but we cannot get them at this time of the year - obviously :-(. I am the only one in our house who eats them, though the puppy probably would.

Speaking of the puppy, she jumped out of the car window while the vehicle was moving, albeit slowly.... If she was a cat she would be one life down. Luckily for her, she was ok. Had a bemused look on her face as if to say, how did that happen :-S.

Teresa, glad to hear fruit is well. I did see an item on our news of one ship whose total passengers had gone down with the virus. Perish the thought, holiday from hell I should think.

Last night we had the most amazing sunset, I took a photo and will see if I can upload it. Our weekend weather was perfect. So hot in fact on Saturday, I thought I was going to expire whilst mowing the lawns... It was after 4pm as well. Today it is showery :-(.

Hello Lesley, I am orf over the hill today to visit my papa for his birthday - and to sneak in a bit of Christmas shopping. Our drive is only just over an hour, at this time of year though, we are beseiged with roadworks.......

Better get on with my day,

OOh, CC, my OH recorded the Mr Stewart Christmas concert for me :-). Fruit is under instruction to buy me the cd for Christmas ;-).

Its a small world Lesley :-D I go to the Dentist round the corner near thebus park. i belive that the one situated in the Town near the chip shop is moving across the road to the old co op building :-)

Thank you all for enquries about FTE and the nasty bug virus. Her vessel is free from all that nastyness. i will he mail you all tomorrow or the next day to update you all on progress ;-)

Cherry dear i have had many a visit to the sorting office collecting bumper size kits of lego from Santa in the past :-| Thankfully nowadays the packets are light and saves wear and tear on my arms :-D Ah bless the little owls, underneath all the feather and fluff sits a tiny litle bird.

Your dinner sounds yumpshious Aunty. I love sprouts and yorkies :-D :-D :-D :-D

Belated birthday greatings to your Male Fruit Susan, not so near to Christmas to miss out on a good old celebration.

My Sister and I are going see a two tribute bands tonight not far from where I live. I will give you a couple of clues, one was known as the Thin White Duke and the other looks like a little sparkling pixi :-D I will return in the next day or so with an update.

Tootling orff now

Teresa

a good and sunny morning from CC-World. Yesterday morning started out just like this ... and ending up in torrential rain over part of Hertfordshire, at least, where I was.

Thanks for asking ladies, my funny throat didnt develop beyond "funny", I had a slight sense of one-sided soreness and ear ache in one ear suggesting I'd picked up a virus very mildly but it seems to have cleared as "there is nothing there" now.

Yesterday, we drove all the way to Hatfield House. Elizabeth Tudor was not sitting beneath her tree to welcome me, but it didnt matter as I'd only gone for the Antiques & Collectors Fair. I found some bargains. And, I did something I have never done in my life before. I stroked the backs of two owls. Their feathers were so soft to the touch. After we got there, the rain started pouring down but we'd had enough time to look around, so we came back home and put the kettle on.

It seems that Royal Mail sorting offices are hiring White Van Men to deliver some packages and parcels, because something I had ordered from He-Bay was left on the doorstep after the bell had been frantically rung first thing in the morning. I didnt hear the doorbell because I was wearing my headphones catching up with some TV from the night before, but MFH the GOG heard the bell. I'd noticed him on the landing shrugging into his dressing gown and going downstairs, then a few minutes later he walked into the back room where I was watching TV and told me he'd heard the doorbell but when he got downstairs there was no one there except a man with a white van some many yards away. The man saw him, MFH said, got into the van, drove forward a few yards, stopped, mouthed something at him, then drove away. Later on, I had to go to the sorting office to collect a package which had the postman had tried to deliver on the Friday, and as I stepped out of the house I saw my parcel sitting on the step, in open view for anyone to steal. The GOG had assumed that man was "mouthing off at him", I'd suggested perhaps he was apologising for ringing the wrong doorbell. And all the time he was indicating to the GOG that there was a parcel on the step. MFH cannot see beyond the end of his nose unless it has four tyres and a steering wheel and races around Nurburgring. Having said that - if White Van Man was delivering for Royal Mail, he should have waited for the door to be opened, not dumped and run.

Whilst visiting the sorting office, I nipped into the charity shop that was selling Whimsies for £2.99, and purchased another five. I left one on the shelf for Mr Manners, not wishing to be greedy. In fact, the one I didnt buy was one I already had and it was damaged in such a way I couldnt have reconditioned it.

Friday afternoon we went shopping in Harlow, and I suggested we treat ourselves to a meal at a certain Carvery we have been to before. Our eating experience has resulted in me leaving condemnatory Feedback on their webpage. One was not amused. This isnt the first time we've had a problem at this Carvery, and their service used to be very good but standards have slipped considerably in the last few months.

Yes Teresa I heard about the Norovirus on the P&O ships, and hope your FTE does not catch any nasty lurgies. I wouldnt wish that on anyone.

Hello Lesley I hope the lovely infant is well, and that you are all in the pink.

Petunia dear, I do not take funny pills. My pills have never once told me a joke or made me laugh. Harridan? Well, you said that, dear, not me, dear. I naturally assumed that Mrs Berry would be with us all over the Christmas break, as she spends so much time in the kitchen of Motie Towers I forget she has a home of her own to go to. In fact, I think Mrs Berry herself has forgotten she has a home of her own to go to. Were you aware she has turned the spare room in the West Wing into a bedsit for herself? a virtual Housekeepers Room to be sure.

I'm feeling a tad chilly inbetween my Warm Moments, so I am borrowing the blankets from the pigs and curling up with the cat.

CC

Good evening dear Ladies....................

Coughs and splutters at Cherry's comments..................Motie Towers is virtual...........the dining room is virtual..................and the dining table is virtual.
What funny pills has she been taking? Where does she think she has been living for the last six months? Tut, tut, tutty, tut. And then............tut again!

The table will be set thus. A snow white linen tablecloth, with a red runner down the middle. Three scented candles along the centre, in red glass holders.

The best canteen of cutlery will be brought out and set. We shall be eating Aberdeen Angus beef, with roast potatoes, sprouts, peas and carrots. Yorkshire puds, gravy and pigs in blankets, and stuffing balls. We will be having the Christmas pud with the orange in the middle and cream. We shall have sherry while the dinner is being cooked, and sparkling white wine to wash down the food. It may not be to everyones taste, but that is how we like it.

I do hope you are all tickety boo and keeping well. I fear that I may be overdoing it a little on my rounds of good deeds, as I am a little fatigued. I shall dose myself on vitamin C so that I shall not succumb to colds.

You should have popped in for afternoon tea Lesley when you were in London. You will always be welcome.

Teresa dear, I do hope your fruit is keeping well away from the Norvo and Knox virus. It is not anyones idea of fun.

Cherry dear, please do not expect me to invite Mrs Berry to sit with us. Not because I do not mix socially with hired help, but because I fully expect Mrs Berry to be with her family. What sort of harridan do you think I am to make Mrs Berry forsake her kin for us? She can prepare it all, and leave instructions for Pat-trish-aaaah to carry out.

Take care dears, and keep warm.

Auntie Petunia

Good Evening Ladies.

CC I hope your funny feeling throat didn't get any worse and that you are now well.

Turkey for us Susan with all the usual trimmings, roast potatoes, brussel sprouts, parsnips, pigs in blankets etc

I thought about FTE when heard about the sickness outbreaks on the P and O cruise liners, I hope she's okay, Theresa my eldest fruits partners sister is a dental nurse in the High St of your home town.

Auntie Petunia I trust all is well with you and that you are not still plum tuckered out.

Tuesday went well in London, cricky was it cold though, Thursday I drove to Eastbourne for lunch with MOG aunt and cousins, never again it took me two and a half hours to get there and over three and a half hours to get home, he can go next time cos I'm NOT. :-\

What a naughty dentist Cherry, ours wears a mask which is clear plastic and covers nose and mouth. I too had an exposed bit above three toothsome. My dentist filled them but I fear one did not take to the covering so well :-(

I do hope you are feeling a bit better. There's bugs aboard the fleet of ships which FTE works for. I have sent her my wealth of medical advice. If only people would wash their hands :-|


Hallo to Susan and will be back soon

Teresa :-)

dont worry Susan - I'm only virtually setting dear Petunia's virtual dinner table. Motie Towers is like the TV set for Doctor Who's Tardis - nothing is real. Didnt you know - as you walk away from it, the Towers disappears.

I hadnt heard about the cyclone in Samoa, how awful, and as with any tragedy its bad enough any time of the year but more poignant at Christmas. I had nightmares about the Boxing Day tsunami for a while, and I wasnt even there, I only watched it on the news. I "feel" for other people far too much.

Happy Birthday to your son, and I hope he's enjoying a good one.

Yes, the date 12/12/12 was rather unique and it wont be repeated for 100 years. 12/12/(21)12 so I wont be around to see that one. Unless I am reincarnated, which I do not wish to be; perish the thought.

Well, I cant have too much lemon in boiled water, I dont get on with anything acidic, am blaming it on the Fibromyalgia. All I can do is pray. Its a difficult situation - dentists fuss about patients because of AIDS and other illnesses, so they wear gloves; but they dont seem to care about the patients catching their germs. I have a very weak immune system (defo down to the FM) and if I'd known he was sick, I might have left it for a week, but I didnt know until I walked into his treatment room, and I could hardly walk right out again. That would have been rude, given that he'd fitted me in at such short notice.

I just bought a bargain on He-Bay, at least I hope it will be a bargain. 100 sterling silver hook wires, to use with my jewellery making cos I worked out how to make earrings using hook wires. I have paid, with fingers crossed, but the Listing said each hook wire was hallmarked, and "silver tone" would not be. The jewellers charge me £3 or £4 for one pair of proper silver hook wires.

Silver tone is all very well, and so far I've had to use the silver tone hook wires because it was all I could get in Hobbycraft, but not everyone can cope with silver tone. It never occurred to me to look on E Bay before.

Oh dear ..... my throat is starting to feel "funny". I am not pleased, so close to Christmas, and I cant take anti biotics or any pharmaceutical med any more because I cant cope with the side effects.

CC

Oooh, CC, naughty Dentist not wearing a mask... I went to the Optometrist some time back. He did volunteer that he wasn't feeling the best, so I made a decision to go back another day... Didn't want his lurgy.. I hope you don't get sick, lots of lemon drinks maybe??

Your Christmas table sounds rather posh. I use silver cutlery but I don't measure the distance to the edge of the table, thats what you get for growing up in the Colonies :-D. We are having a Kiwiana themed table as we have visitors from Australia. I am quite looking forward to decorating the gazebo/tent we use. No doubt there will be a bit of ribbing between the Kiwi's and Aussie's. We have not met two of our guests before. Mi casa, su casa and all that jazz ;-).

Teresa, lucky FTE . It will be nice for her to catch up with her friend. Friends of ours have their youngest son working on a super yacht, it all sounds very glamorous I must say... How the other half live :-S.

Petunia, you are an example to us all with your never ending good works. I did drop some newly purchased toys off to the local Radio Station to put under their tree. They and the Sallies distribute the toys to those in need. <3.

My male fruit had a birthday this week, 12/12/12 :-). Last triple digit date of the century so I am told. We have four more family birthdays before Christmas Day :-(.

I have a new telephone, gulp, a touch screen jobby. Oh dear, technology and I are not the best of friends...... I have google maps so I need never get lost again ;-).

My thoughts go out to those poor people in Samoa who have been subject to a terrible cyclone, Fiji is forecast to get hit too.. Not such a happy Christmas for those affected....

Better get of me chuff and on with my day. Tis Friday again, hooray !!

Toodle pip
Susan

Aha, there you are Teresa, I didnt see you sneak in. It must be the same Mars Bar, and you werent at school in East London or Norf London .............

My Whimsies are mating in the night I think, because every few days some more appear in the cabinet. Especially after I have been scouting around the charity shops.

Oh ... systems. Did your FTY never suggest any remedies, when he went searching on the internet for the cause of your symptoms?

Yes that young man had an official card on a string around his neck, but these cards and tags can be very easily forged and they look very authentic. The scammer supposedly collecting for the Hospice had one of those ID tags.

Motie Towers on Christmas Day will be ringing to the exuberant voices of Moi, Georgianna, Octavia, Beatrice, and also the ghost of Lavinia I think. I think dear Petunia will unbend a little to allow Mrs Berry to join us at the table.

Of course, I shall be setting the table, with a fine Nottingham Lace table cloth over a red undercloth (red, to symbolise Christmas). I will be scouring the river bank for holly and other wild flowers to decorate the "fall" of the lace as it trails down to the carpet. I will also be making a centrepiece using holly and ivy and mistletoe with berries, and some pyracantha for the red berries to add a splash of colour.

The best silver will be used, precisely placed just like they do at Claridges. Soup spoons for the soup, small knives and forks for the first course, bigger knives and forks for the main course, pudding spoons and forks for the pudding course, all suitably positioned and one inch in from the edge of the table. And of course there are the cheese knives to be fitted in, for when we have cheese and grapes with the apres-dinner coffee. I shall be folding some damask napkins, a la Mrs Beaton; much of her advice is still valid even in the 21st century. I will get the best crystal glassware out, and the silver-plated place mats, not forgetting the crackers and paper hats. Have I forgotten anything??

CC

It's also allegedly true that Donovan tried to climb the curtains, wearing just his birthday suit, when he was visited by police officers and sniffer dogs. What interesting times we have lived through, Petunia dear.

*hobbles slowly and painfully into Motie Towers*
good afternoon my dear friends, I hope everyone is well and warm.

Yoohoo to all our readers, pop in and join the fun at Motie Towers. We dont bite - not until we know you better :-D

Yes Petunia dear I was referring to Mary Ann the convent girl. I heard the story at my school in Norf London, MFH's brother in law heard the same story at his school in East London, and now you say you heard the same story ..... and you did not attend my schook or BIL's school. So, yes indeed, it has gone down in folklore. I was hoping you would be able to tell me if it was true or not, as you are the fount of all knowledge and wisdom.

I often see charities collecting outside Tesbury's where I live, and I have to assume they are genuine and asked permission to harrass impoverished shoppers with rattling money cans. There are always security men wandering around, keeping an eye on things. Sigh, doesnt stop the shoplifters though, and of course we innocent shoppers pay the price for that.

I've been watching You've Been Scammed on BBC1 of a morning. At least, I dont watch it in the mornings, I am too busy. I watch it on iPlayer later on in the day if I can stay awake. It's frightening really what these scammers dream up to extract money from unsuspecting people with a bit of boodle in the bank.

*sinks painfully into armchair and drops walking sticks on the carpet*
My bad back woke me again in the night, at about 3 am. As if this was not bad enough, I've had toothache for several days so took my gnashers to the dentist since they couldnt go on their own. The dentist decided the pain is caused by receding gums, exposing the dentine which is soft so anything hot and cold reacts on the nerves beneath the dentine. He coated the receding area with something and told me not to eat or drink for 15 minutes. I had various errands to run so it was about an hour before I got home, and made some lunch ...... and guess what ..... I still have toothache. And the dentist has a cold, and now I am fretting he may have infected moi, because he didnt wear a mask. I may be a pensioner but I still have to pay, because I dont receive the relevant benefits, only my state pension. *grump grump*. I am left feeling I have paid to catch a cold, and all for nothing.

Petunia dear, if you are delivering parcels of goodies to the old folk, where is my parcel of goodies? I'm one of the old folk, and I have a bus pass to prove it.

Now ..... I wonder what Mrs Berry is cooking for us tonight. Whatever it is, at least it wont be something from the Lotus Blossom takeway. That sum crumb dung should have been taken away. It rather reminded me of Pink Slime ............

CC

Hallo Ladies :-D

Well Susan our Christmas nosh will be at MILs this year. It's the first time she has done Xmas dinner on the day so it will be a nice change. It will be turkey, roast and mashed potatoes, parsnips stuffing and veg. Maybe little sausages and bacon as well.


Boxing Day will be at paid toil, my Sister, who is in a similar form of paid toil as I will also be working. FTE will also be at toil although she will be on a beach in Barbados. FTE is meeting with a fellow fruit from school who is also sailing on the seven seas. Their ships will be in on the same day so they will have a bit of Boxing Day together :-

The whimsies are such dear little things. I have visions of them all gazing out of your cabinet Cherry dear :-D Now I once heard a story about a mars bar which really could not be repeated in polite company either :-0

I am a tad grumpy today :-| I don't really know why but I am. It must be the M word making me like it. My system is here there and everywhere :-S :-S :-S

We also had a cold caller from the very place you mention Cherry. The young man did have his official tag around his neck. I did buy some dusters but only because I really did need them. I think I may have paid a bit over the odds so to speak!

Auntie I'm so glad that you are out doing good works. An epilator for Pat rish aaaaa?? The mind boggles :-D. Is she out and about with Father Christmas yet?

Who is at Motie Towers for the festive season, Cherry of course and Mrs Berry I hope. Tis a shame you do not want the cook who has the mouth of a Docker. I think he may be a nice Gentleman Walker in a rough and rugged kind of way ;-)
Young Jamie means well bless him, very enthusiastic like a Labrador pup. Miss Nigelllllllaaaaa makes me laugh she has her head in the clouds poor thing.

Anyway orff now to do what needs doing. Is it today that Lesley and her Fruit and baby E goes to the special hospital with the Christmas tree?


Teresa :-D

A good chilly morning to you dear Ladies.

Scams indeed! A young man was collecting for Africa outside our local Sainsbugs, very worthy, until he was arrested because he was collecting for a charity much nearer home. His own!!!!!

Mars bars dear? I have seen the advert reminds me of dear Father Thadius and the rest of his merry men. Are you talking about that dear little convent gel, Mary-Ann by some slight chance? Has gawn down in folklore, but is it true?

Out and about today dears, to deliver food parcels to our local elderly folk. We do not think of it as charity. More a kind gesture. Lots of goodies.

I may be back later dears, if I am not too plum tuckered out!

Pip Pip
Auntie Petunia

I forgot to tell you ladies - yesterday the doorbell rang and so I went to open the front door. A young man told me he had just been released from a Young Offenders Institution. I told him that I was sorry for his troubles but we didnt want cold callers here, and pointed to the wall sign which is a big red circle with "We do not need" cold calling categories eg Double Glazing, New Kitchens, etc. He apologized and went on his way.

Now, I may be wrong about this but I was under the impression that anyone being released from Young Offenders institutions had the support of welfare workers and social workers, ergo there should be no need for these people to go out knocking door2door. I was left thinking that someone is running a yet another scam. There are enough of them ...... a few years back someone posed as a fund raiser for a certain Hospice, and later on there was a headline in the local newspaper that this was a scam. What a good job I never part with money at the door.

CC

hello Susan, I hope you are all well today, and how are the wedding plans coming along? And what has the puppy been up to - or into - today?

All my knick knacks are behind glass, and MFH is not allowed to touch anything. He just makes the cabinets!! I found another three Whimsies today, in a charity shop, just costing £2.99 each, which is a reasonable price to pay for them, although I prefer to pay exactly £2 which is the price I paid at a collectors fair I went to recently.

I've never eaten pumpkin so I wouldnt know if we roast it or not. TBH I only ever see pumpkins in the shops in time for Halloween, sold to have frightening faces carved into the skin .. rind ...

Yep, there is an advert running on the TV, where a group of monks start bell ringing, then someone has a Mars bar, and they all start swinging on the bellropes. The original Mars bar adverts were a little more dignified, and the slogan then was "a Mars a day helps you work rest and play".

I know another story about the Mars Bar, but cannot repeat it here ;-) :-D

CC

Campanologists 'swinging' around the belfrey :-D. I did not know that is the name for a jolly old bellringer...

CC, your knick knacks sound like they will need dusting or do you keep them in a cabinet away from the perils of the air??

Turkey, Petunia :-), I lurve Turkey, Christmas dinner aint quite right without a slab of turkey on my plate. However hot the day, never fear, a roast will appear. Accompanied of course by taties, pumpkin, kumara and several hot veg, along with a few salads.. Is it true, you folk don't roast pumpkin?. I hope not, tis so sweet when roasted. I however am balking at the price of a whole pumpkin in my local supermarket. $15.00....., they are taking the mick I think.

I spent a good part of my morning on the web, trying to procure tickets to Man U in Sydney next July. I was unsuccessful :-(. My male fruit wanted to take his Grandfather ( a Mancunian), tis 60 years since Papa has seen Man U play. If anyone has an inside ear to the team, please sing out ;-). Would have been a lovely 'boys' trip...

I have been wrapping Christmas presents this afternoon. What a bore of a chore. Especially when nothing I wrap is for 'moi' :-(. Perhaps I haven't been good enough. C'est la vie....
I still have more presents to buy and am running out of ideas and steam.. All suggestions gratefully accepted. :-D.

We are gorging ourselves on lovely fresh summer berries, delicious !!. Next week the prices of the berries will multiply as our greedy shopkeepers 'cash in' so to speak. Not a thing we can do about it, save growing our own - that will never happen. Though I hear Pumpkins are easy to grow, any fool can do it :-0.

Prey tell, what will be on your celebration tables on the 25th ?. I am curious to know. :-)., We always have a Boxing Day bbq brekkie - wet or fine. The men get to cook, hurrah ;-).

Time to think about our dinner and perhaps even cook it,

Toodle pip ladies and peeps.

Susan

*preens* well thank you for the compliment Petunia dear, not that I would ever compare my appearance to your elegant olde-worlde style. With your kimono and your bandaged feet, I think you would do wonderfully as one of the Three Little Maids From School, its the way you walk.

I would be very wary of providing beer barrels for the old gentleman in the Sailors and Soldiers home. Beer is only "rented". They wont have the benefit of the beer for very long.

Campanologists? I hope they arent the crew who swing around on the belfry ropes eating Mars bars!!

I hope the freezing fog does not reach my part of north east London. But at least the pussy is safe in the house and curled up warm and cosy for the night. She also would not appreciate an ice pick to help dislodge her from the little holes she goes out to dig.

I have turned two of the radiators up, but the temperature continues to go down.

Speaking of He-Bay - I have just been there, we must have passed each other in the ether. I made an offer of £8.50 on a mug being sold for £9.95, and my offer was accepted. And I have purchased 11 more Whimsies (as a job lot) for £10.99. All plus postage of course, sigh. The mug is to become part of a dinner service which I own, and which has become a collectors item cos there aint no more being made, not for the last 20-odd years. And its cheaper in the long term, to buy oddments, to keep my dinner service intact, than to start again buying a complete new dinner service.

Did I mention the damaged Wade Westie I bought from the junk shop, and the damaged Wade Cockatoo I bought in a job lot from Sawbridgeworth? Someone has these two items on sale via He-Bay, asking in excess of £20 for each item; of course these He-Bay ones are in good condition.

I paid £1.50 for the Westie, and the breakdown price of the Cockatoo was £1.25. A little care and attention with a metal nail file, a green marker pen, and some superglue, and these two items both stand proud in the display cabinet and one would never know (from a distance) that they were "reconditioned" items.

Considering how long I have had my little Wade collection, I often look at He Bay to see how the values are rising. Whoever could have imagined these little ornaments would become soooo Collectable. At this rate, when I kick the bucket, I will be able to pay for my funeral from the He-Bay sale proceeds of my Whimsies *dreams on*.

I am now orf for a Tango in Halifax. Have you noticed how Derek Jacobi and Dame Judi Dench are starting to look like brother and sister? or is it my imagination.

CC

Good evening Ladies,

Has order resumed yet? I am appreciative of your offer dear Teresa, but there is no way I would let those Gruesome Twosome Gordon and Jamie over my threshold. One is definitely a Dockerlike person, and the other is too chirrupy for my liking.

As for the Lady Niggly, I will not have someone prettier than myself in the house. Ooooh present company excepted Cherry dear.

I rather fancy that nice Delia woman to come and make dinner for us. She is of a homely position, and generally stands no nonsense.

I have decided to order a turkey after all, one never knows when Company will drop in. I have also placed an order for four for the Old Soldiers and Sailors Home. I think a proper turkey, rather than the Twizzlers that were suggested is for suitable for Refined Old Gentlemen. They deserve better in their remaining years. I have also ordered a few beer barrels for them. Do you think that would be suitable dears? Plus I have been silver-surfing and found lots of little knick-knacks to be put into stockings for them. I believe the site is called Hee-Bay and they have a great array of goodies.

I shall get Pat-trish-aaaaah to make an excursion from her North Pole run to go and drop the stockings off. I only wish I could be there on Christmas morning to see their eyes well up with tears of gratitute. But of course I shall be helping down the Church for morning service.

We are having a group of campanologists to entertain us. To be honest, they are not what I originally thought they were. One likes to be broadminded and all that, so I was very relieved to discover they are bell ringers!

Oooooh my! There is a freezing fog coming down and the whole of the drive is covered in white frost. I dont think I shall let Trickey-Woo out there tonight. She might freeze her btm to the path. And I dont think an ice pick would be a suitable implement to dislodge her.

Deciding to hibernate for the night. Keep well and warm dears.

AP

Teresa dear, thank you for the offer of a few gentlemen. But, you mention Nigella. Surely she isnt a gentleman? Or is it the same principle as Dagenham now being in East London (instead of Essex), or Hounslow in West London (instead of Middlesex).

The way the boundary lines are changing, we shall soon be speaking knowledgeably about the Greater London Borough of Glasgow :-D

*rubs hands with glee* Now - when do the gentlemen arrive? and were they trained at Claridges? Nothing but the best for dear Petunia.

Brrrrr isnt it a chilly evening - again. Which warm climate is your FTE gracing today?

CC

Goodness me, what ever is going on at Motie Towers ??????

I am going to send a few gentlemen to you. They will be able to cook and serve at table until Mrs Berry is herself again. There is a chappy who has something of several spirits of the Docker about him, but good looking in a rugged sort of way. I'm sure he can knock up a nice dish or two for you. His mate that young cheeky Essex boy may assist if you are lucky. I'm sure miss Nigelllea will serve at table for you.


Yours orff to peal the sprouts


Teresa