General Chat

Lesley, I've heard of St Osyth, I know "a lion" was on the loose there earlier this year, only it was a big puddy tat really. But I had already heard of St Osyth, through watching a show in the series Haunted Britain (or similar title). The show went to St Osyth, to investigate the old gaol house which is now a private house only no one wants to live there because of the hauntings. I think they said its called The Cage now but I could be remembering wrongly. If its true The Cage is haunted, I'd like to send my GOG there to spend two nights on the premises ....... I dont have to worry about his hair turning white, it already is.

I would like to try out my Creation on the beach at Walton on the Naze but am not sure my legs will carry me down the concrete staircase, let alone back up it. I once found a "pebble" at Walton/Naze and thought it looked like a fossil shark tooth. MFH said it wasnt, so I gave that "pebble" away. At a later date, watching a fossil show, they produced a sharks tooth, and I had been right. Well, I usually am right, so I dont know why I bother to listen to the GOG.

Housework - if you never do any, after the first five years the extra dust doesnt show.

Glad to hear the little one is coming along nicely :-)

CC

Petunia dear, if your lottery ticket comes up trumps, I will naturally expect at least 20% commission. I suppose I could ask for 40% dear, but I am not greedy.

I also never bite anyone - not until I know them better :-)

I wondered where you had disappeared to yesterday, I returned to Motie Towers to find no sign of you, and Mrs Berry in the kitchen merrily singing "I Love The Sound Of Breaking Glass". I suspect I am being wrongly blamed for some of the chips and cracks in the crockery and glassware.

I am so pleased to hear you enjoyed your afternoon with Lovely Rita. Does she work as a meter maid dear? You had a very busy, and I hope interesting, week, dear. I sincerely hope your hangover is wearing off.

Have you checked out that Closed Order that Juana is joining yet? I think it is a scam. And have you decided to give permission for Pat rish aaaaah to go and work at the North Pole? it really will do the gel some good. She will appreciate you, and her home comforts, all the more.

CC

Well you learn something new everyday CC :-) haunted houses in St Osyth's :-S

My mama and youngest sis often had short breaks in Walton on the Naze and they did find sharks teeth which I inherited :-S I will have to hunt them out, the last time I was there at the Naze end there were several people sifting through the sand and using a magnifying glass to look at their finds :-S being nosey as I am I asked what they were looking for and was told amber :-0 now if I had inherited amber I would have been delighted :-D but sharks teeth :-|

well, you see, Lesley, I like collecting interesting pretty pebbles and fossils, after all I have become one ... a fossil I mean, not a pebble. I found a stone in the backyard that looks remarkably like a fossilised snail shell. Also, over the years, I've dug up some strangely shaped stones that look like extremely old bones; one day I will take them to the museum in case its the remains of a small dinosaur.. My Oldest Offspring, while on a school trip to Wales, found a small piece of fossilised wood, which is now in my backyard, and it looks like stone.

Yesterday, we discovered a cluster of antiques and collectors units in the far north of Hertfordshire, near the border with Essex, and I had a very pleasant couple of hours rooting around the assorted items of interest. I found a chunk of carnelian crystals for a very reasonable price so I bought it, to add to my little collection of small crystals in a cabinet in the dinette. The GOG found some paperweights being sold for a reasonable price, he lives in a world of his own, I left him to pay for his purchases while I had another mooch around and when I returned to the cash desk he was about to proffer his credit card, I pointed out a sign on the wall that read "3% surcharge on credit cards". I asked him if he'd seen that. No, he said. I got my cash card out. If I hadnt walked back when I had ....... Thank goodness that I have my feet firmly planted on the ground and watch what is going on around me.

Have you seen Petunia or Teresa? I expect Petunia is orft out doing her Good Works again, she never seems to sit down for a minute. I'm just a tad concerned because it looks like her bed wasnt slept in. And Teresa must also be doing her own good works where people are not allowed to get sick for fear it would cost the government some money.

CC

I nearly forgot ... yes Lesley, according to the TV show Haunted Britain (with Michaela Strachan) there is a property in St Osyth which if I remember correctly is now known as The Cage, but was once a gaolhouse, and it is allegedly so haunted that no one will stop in it. The lady interviewed in the show is the current owner, and she had to move out. At the time of the filming, she said she still has a mortgage on the property, so was renting it out, and none of her tenants would stay very long either.

*watches Lesley rush to buy a train ticket to St Osyth........* :-D

CC

Hello CC I too have been known to bring stones and rocks home :-) but my favorite by far is drift wood, I have some pieces in the garden that I have bought back from Canada :-D naughty I know ;-)

I googled The Cage and it was a Medieval Prison, the lady owner has apparently started to offer ghost tours to help pay the mortgage.

CC just a thought do you think Auntie Petunia, Susan and Teresa could have absconded to the warmer climate of the Caribbean :-D

No Lesley, not the Caribbean. The jungle :-S Patrishaaaa is there causing all manner of problems. I nipped over after the Devils Football game. The Spirit of the Docker had entered my dear Husband but it must have worked. His encouragement to the dear boys won :-D :-D :-D.

Anyway back to Pat rish aaaaaa, she has been boycotting the trials but last night ate all manner of innerspring and outers so to speak. I will leave Aunty to fill you in by the power of the blueberry. I have to be back tonight to get the sausage casserole on for tea. I will just nip into the tardis to get back :-D

Teresa

.........................................................................................................


Here I am back :-D


All I can say is tut tut and tutty tut. What is to be done with Pat rish aaaaa. I can only think that wearing a bikini style swimsuit is a little much at her age. Has she never heard of decorum :-S


Teresa

Morning girls - said the farmer to his cows :-S,

Oops, hello one and all.

CC, I did wonder if Petunia was your visitor and am very pleased to learn it was she. Not bad for 94 is she ;-). So pleased you had a lovely time. It would be quite loverly if we could all meet one day - if and when my 'boat' comes in, I shall be winging my way back to your shores.... Probably with my OH in tow :-).

Now I don't collect fossils, but I do have a wonderful little bit of driftwood that I dug up on a beach some years ago. It is exactly the shape of a dolphin - believe it or not. I love it, it is quite smooth, sanded by the sand I guess.
My male fruit has a piece of china, which was recovered from a wreck. I have the typed manuscript of the ship and her details - somewhere :-D.

Fruit and I have this morning done the Christmas draw for the families..... A little bit of 'rigging' was required to make the draw fair and satisfactory - to us :-D. Time to start shopping, we have a $ limit, every one gets a token present under the tree. I wonder who gets to dress uo as Santa??. Not me that is for sure.

Do you know, well of course you don't, but we had a frost this morning :-| :-|. Tis only two weeks until the official start of Summer fgs... It was a tad chilly around my lugholes this morning while out on our walk.... Yesterday we were a little unnerved twice - one fruit cake of a fellow, walking towards us muttering all sorts of rubbish and then two random dogs running freely in the park we walk through.. We gave them an extra wide berth. I have been bitten by a random dog in the past and have no wish to be any canines meal ever again....

Time to get on with my day, the sun is out which makes a pleasant change.

Toodle pip
Susan

Lesley I have a friend living in Canada, who sent me a little pebble once, in a package with other items. Thats kept in the house. I've kept some large branches from pruning jobs, if the branches were an interesting shape, and positioned them strategically around the garden, partly for "natural artwork", and partly to deter cats from digging.

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Teresa, you are back! The power of the blueberry - last night I made a blueberry and grape crumble, and with some healthy bio yogurt it went down a treat. No added sugar, or preservatives or other edible poisons. I would love to join you for sausage casserole but the decent sausages contain too much fat these days, and low fat sausages taste like ... I dont care to repeat the word!! ;-) :-D

I despair of Pat rish aaaaah, I really do. At this rate, daer Petunia will be nipping over to the jungle to control everyone and everything, as she always does, in her usual imperturbable and inimitable way. That will teach 'em!!! :-D :-D

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Susan I am delighted to confirm that Petunia is remarkable for 94. She rather reminds me of Miss Marple, except that she doesnt knit. She will be solving murder mysteries yet.

Ah you too collect driftwood. I once knew someone who took a photograph of a piece of wood in a wood, it was a most interesting shape, in fact it resembled a wooden snake. As I said to Lesley - natural artwork.

Well if I was you, I wouldnt worry so much about dressing up as Santa, I'd worry more about who is going to be the Fairy perched at the top of the tree. I believe it can be most uncomfortable by the time Twelfth Night comes around.

Talking of Santa, tonight when OH got home from work we went to Harlow and visited a Homebase store there. Their Christmas display included a Santa about 3 foot high, and every time someone walked past he started singing seasonal ditties. Needless to say, I just had to keep walking past ..... The motion sensor was in his belt.

Goodness, that was an unseasonal bit of frost for you people down under. Weather like that makes me wonder where the Global Warming went .....

ciao for now
CC

Morning/eveningbCherryband Susan.

Talking of Christmas we were driving through one of the villages on Saturday evening on the way home from MILs

The house was bedecked inside and out with festivals lights and other Christmas cheer. A little early I feel but it looked very pretty :-D

I wonder where Aunty is, I do hope she isn't eating grubs and stuff in the jungle

Teresa :-(

most strange - dear Petunia's bed hasnt been slept in for another night. Do you suppose she has gone to the North Pole to check if that vacancy is suitable for Pat rish aaaah? Should we put out an All Points Bulletin, do you think?

CC

We could try that for starters CC :-) if that fails maybe we should arrange a search party...............................................................................when the weather gets better :-D :-D :-D


I hope you are well Auntie Petunia <3
Lesley

Susan I thought our colonial friend was practising his yoga :-D :-D :-D

Right Ladies, time to start looking for Auntie, now if two of us nip over to the jungle and two go to the ice Hotel maybe we might find her. :-D



Oooooerrrr I have just had a thought. You don't think Aunty has been at the elderflower cordial do you?

Teresa

I do hope that dear Petunia didnt take a chill as a result of her journey last Thursday. I believe that George rolled down the windows of the Rolls Royce, and Francine had forgotten to pack the tartan blanket, so Petunia's carefully coiffeured hair was disturbed by the fiercely cold wind that blew into the car.

CC

Good hafternoon ladies,

Petunia, hoping all is well with you and we will see you back soon <3.

Lesley, I thought Elderflower cordial was alcohol free :-D... Surely it is?. I love it but it is sooo expensive here, why, wine is cheaper :-\. Yoga???, I thought that was a 'delicate' exercise..... Some of those funnies are pushing their luck me thinks.

My OH and I are away for the weekend and the forecast is for fine days, hoo ruddy ray !! . Tis our wedding anniversary, we don't do presents and I have forgotten to buy a card. Now, do I rush to the shops and purchase a card for OH in case he has one for me and gets peeved if I don't reciprocate , he has in the past 'forgotten' to buy a card for moi :-(. We don't do Valentines day either, don't we sound like a couple of real romantics :-D.

No doubt you have seen on the news, that our Volcano Tongariro has erupted again, after a silence of 100 years or so. We live quite a way north so possibly won't get any ash fallout. Another gentle reminder to get our non existant survival kit together... I have the best of intentions but never manage to get 'it' together :-S.

We have had the most glorious day today, my garden is looking a right picture presently. Brings a smile to my dial. :-). Tis nearly bbq weather, not that we are regular bbq ers. Not quite sure why that is. A bbq cooked here never seems to taste as good as when it is cooked by some else, that is probably true of most meals...

Enough, time to cook our dinner - which hopefully will taste like Beef Stroganoff as the recipe calls it....


Have a lovely day ladies and peeps,
Susan

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY !!!!! to Missus Susan-nz and Mister Susan.

Buy a card, Susan, and if your OH has forgotten ..... he's in the doghouse, and not yourself :-D :-D

Still no sign of dear Petunia? Her bed hasn't been slept in again. Mrs Berry, Trickie Woo, and Mr Kipling-Cake are getting exceedingly worried.

After two days of rain, the sun is shining this morning. The cat went out at 5 am; GOG went to work at 7.30 pm, having let the cat back in, and I was "nodding" in front of a TV show I'd recorded last night when I awoke to the noxious aroma of Litter Tray and the cat then jumped on my bed. I couldn't live with that aroma all day, so I've had to clean the tray instead of leaving it to the GOG as I normally do, cos he hasn't got a permanent bad back and I have. And I had to push the vacuum cleaner around as she left a trail of litter on exiting the tray. The air freshener has been liberally sprayed around as well.

What I cannot understand is ....... why didnt she "go" while she was out of the house, she had two and a half hours ........... :-S :-S

Somebody somewhere is doing some work, I can hear banging. I suppose I had better get my buns into gear and find some work to do as well, such is the life of a (supposedly) Retiree. I swear, I am just as busy as when I went out to paid work - I fill the hours, anyway.

You all have a nice day and stay well and warm

CC

just a quick comment on the Doomsday Preppers, this seems to have started in the US and spread globally; there are a lot of TV shows about what folk are doing to prepare themselves. There are so many variants of disaster.

When the Gulf War was raging, I took a lesson from WW2 and very quietly stocked up on soap powder, toilet rolls, toothpaste, and bars of soap. We didnt know how long that war would last, and these items are usually among the first to be rationed. I still have most of the bars of soap. I did the same again for Year 2K .... minus the soap. And we are all still here.

I'm not panicking. I'm not panickING ... I'm not PANICKING ..... I'm NOT PANICKING.
*leaves Motie Towers screaming in panic ...............*

CC