General Chat

Tra la la la la, tra la la la la. Traaaa laaaa, laaaaa, laaaaaa! Well dears did you recognise it as the aria from Madame Butterfly? No? Shame on you all. Tutty tut.

Oh Teresa dear, I could do with a bit of warmth dear. Please do ask your fruit to bring a little sunshine into our lives. I know she brings it into yours naturally, but a little tossed our way would be wonderful.

Oooooh do you know I had forgotton all about the Christmas Tree. I must get Pat-trish-aaaah to get it out of the attic, before she beetled orft to the North Pole, to be one of Santas' little helpers. Little helpers! Little indeed! I think she is kidding the troops! Scoffs!!!!!!

Lesley, are you any good with the knitting needles dear? If you are we can work in tandem for the New Arrival HRH. I can find a whole bag of needles in all sizes, just let me know what you want to knit and I will send you a pair down the cyber hatch.

Cherry dear, as much as I appreciate it, please leave the hoovering to Pat-trish-aaah she may be a lummox of a gel, but at least she does not bash the display cabinet with the Dresden china in it every time she swings the hoover around. The china figures are looking like the walking wounded dear, I have had to prop one of the shepherds' head onto its shoulders with a matchstick. Think of my insurance premiums dear...........................please.

Of course we will be going to the Christening...............we went to the Wedding did we not? I think we should be considering what to buy as a gift soonest. If it is to be bespoke, we need to get our order in now.

Now..............................what do you think of the new haircut gels? Seeing as I am to be singing at the Albert Hall, I thought I should spruce myself up a bit. It is a long time since I have had an Eton Bob, and I think it suits me very well. Dont you think so gels? Go on, say you do like it.

I must say it looks very cosy in the Parlour tonight. Pat-trish-aaaah has just discovered scented candles and has a row of them along the sideboard, rowed along the mantlepiece and another row on the gramaphone.

Lovely I can hear you thinking, but they are all different fragrances as she could not decide what to buy.................she bought one of each. It certainly is very.............smelly. It smells like a concubines boudoir. Whatever that is. I remember an uncle always using that expression. Which in my ignorance, at such a young age, I always thought a concubine was a porcupine.................never mind! Sighs. Was I ever that young?

If Cherry is sniffing out food, then so am I. I wonder what is on offer?

Sitting at the dining table like Desperate Dan
Auntie Petunia

Good Evening.

Crawling onto the thread after a days shopping 30 miles south of home, myself two fruits and baby E ventured out into the cold to do more seasonal shopping and visit the recently opened Primark, again the girls shopped whilst I just dropped :-( I don't think I'm very good at shopping with others, I never seem to buy anything apart from lunch for everyone :-S

E is doing really well thank you, were off to the special hospital again a week today, I have booked the train tickets in advance and they have gone up £1 on Octobers prices :-0 I thought rail fares didn't go up until January :-S

Can you remember how bad that road was last year Theresa? it seemed to go weeks without being gritted properly :-|

CC I would much prefer to get the car washed by a fireman rather than an ambulance driver ;-)

I do hope Auntie isn't suffering from knitters cramp :-( therefor unable to type :-D

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~to Susan :-)

Sorry Auntie Petunia I didn't see you sneak past me :-S

I am a dab hand knitting and have needles in most sizes.................................any spare wool would be gratefully received though :-D

Oooo Lesley, there is a emporium of the very name you mention in Cambridge. I try and avoids those shops like the plague but the one is Cambridge is very nice and laid out in a pleasant way :-D. FTE said it was one of the better ones she had visited and I think she has made her way round them all in a 70 mile vicinity :-D

Baby E is starting young with the shopping trips, keep up the good work, she will be dragging you in to the toy shops before you know it :0)

I do remember that road near you Lesley, I think it was last year when we had to bypass it on more than one occasion. I have been driving backwards and forwards up and down that road to paid toil since 1989 and before that on the number 88 bus over the years. i don't remember it being that bad back then.

I do like layout new haircut Auntie, I always think a bob is very fetching especially when the hair is such a nice colour. I do think purple becomes you, just like Dame Edna :-D
May I ask Auntie, who is the Lady by your Christmas tree? Is it Pat rish aaaa with a mob cap over her rollers? Oh yes of course she is to be Santas little helper and she is bedecked out ready for the orffff :-D :-D :-D :-D

We have had some snow today Ladies but it is gone now :-D I was to do some sending of cards etc etc but could not face traipsing around sliding about. I have been doing housework and tidying instead. Orfff to feed FTY now


Teresa

Cheeeeerrrrrry, are you there?

I fear you may have frozen to the spot somewhere. Here, catch this medicinal hot milky toddy and thermal lined designer bin bag. It will help warm your cockles a little :-D :-D :-D

FTE will bring the sunshine home in April :-D

Teresa

Susan dear where are you? It's very cold can you send a warm blast over please :-D


Teresa

By the way ladies I sent a communication and photo of the weather to FTE today. She communicated back via the blooberry and said she was "we'll jel" :-S :-S :-S

a chilly good evening everyone ..... brrrrr ..... can you hear my bones cracking from the cold? I can.

Oh Petunia dear, was that the aria from Madame Butterfly. Goodness me. Perhaps you should try the Humming Chorus.

I shall not be doing any knitting for the new arrival (or, arrivals ..... it could be twins !!) I feel there are enough knits out there .......

I mean, knitters.

I hope your Christmas tree in the attic has not turned into a multi storey spiders web. Did you wrap it up securely after last Christmas? But, I am delighted you have agreed to let Pat rish aaaah go to the North Pole and be one of Santa's helpers. Believe me, it will be the making of the gel. Dwarves are not just lawn ornaments, you know.,

As it happens, I thought I had been very careful around the Dresden china cabinet. But your vacuum cleaner has a mind of its own and it is uncontrollable. Just like Pat rish aaaah, when you are not here and I have to ask her to do something in your absence.

Yerrsssss I wondered what was different about you today. I see you have been to Maison de Coiffeur in the High Street. Monsieur Chevaux sure knows how to shingle. You look extremely .... unique, dear. Yes. Unique. There is not another head of hair like yours in the world at the moment.

I shall go and stand upwind of those candles, which are really joss sticks, and quite overpowering .....

CC

Hello Lesley I hope you are warmer than I feel, this weather is quite punishing isnt it. Dear Petunia even threw another piece of coal on to the fire.

*thinks*
oh dear, another one with a Fireman fetish. Its the uniforms and their very long hoses, isnt it.

I'm pleased to hear that E is doing well, and do give her a hug and a peck on the cheek from her Auntie CC

CC

Thank you for the Toddy and the Thermal Bin Bag Teresa, I have drunk one and am wearing the other, do you think it suits me?

I hope you still have the rope I supplied last winter, to help you navigate your way to and from your place of work. Perhaps now is the time to get it out, and give it an overhaul to check it still works.

Has FTY caught up with that required school reading yet? I know ..... do hens have teeth.

We had snow this morning, but by the middle of the day the sun was shining again and much of the snow melted. No doubt it will return. One knows when one has become old (as opposed to getting old) when one experiences a shudder of horror at seeing snow first thing in the morning.

CC

Hallo Cherry, I'm so glad you like the bin bag, it suits you very well :-D. I may run up a couple of onesies for you and Auntie, you will be warm as toast or as warm as FTE in Greece :-D

Yes I still have the rope you kindly supplied last year. It's doubled up as a washing line during the summer but I will retrieve it when I return to paid toil. I also have Lesley who will kindly throw a bit of grit on her portion of the road :-D :-D :-D

Thankfully FTY finished the compulsory book on Sunday. He tutted and moaned his way through it and tutted some more. I don't know where he gets that from ;-)

Settling down know to watch Supersized Earth. It's been a good mini series, very interesting and informative and holds FTYs attention :-D

Tootle pip for now

Teresa :-D

Pooh,yuck, josh sticks :-| :-| :-| they were all the rage when I was a student living with other students away from home. They were very overpowering and were only masked by the smell of that other overpowering perfume called Poison. Do they still make it or did it fade away with shoulder pads and power dressing in the 1980s


Teresa

Good very chilly evening dear Ladies. What a horrid night it is. As black as your hat and freezing fog. I am not amused at all.

I have thrown more than a few logs on the fire Cherry dear. Keep on moaning dear, and your CD collection from the South American River will follow them dear. I hear they make a merry flame. Do you still listen to Dickie Valentine dear, or Malcolm Roberts? My Mama wanted to put Malcolm into her pocket and take him home. She said she wanted to Mother him. She would go gooey watching him on Sunday Night at the London Palladium.

Teresa dear, I am not so sure about the Onesie dear. How would I, erm, visit the little girls room? Do they have an escape hatch dear? One that allows for ventilation? How strange is that your Fruit, who is lovely and warm, should be jealous of a bit of snow? She can have my fair share that is for sure.

Lesley, we shall a friendly knitting competition to make suitable outfits for the little Royal. Rail fares are a mystery dear. One price one day, another day, all different. Do they make up a number, divide it by two and multiply it by four and then recount that number to their customers? The Peter Pan hospital will be bedecked in Christmas decorations by the time you have your next appointment, so Baby E will have something pretty to look at.

I do not have joss-sticks dears, but I did purchase a Glass vase, with perfumed essence in it, and wooden spills coming out of the top. It is supposed to fragrance the room, but you can only smell it once the door has been closed at night. So now I have a decorative vase about 4 inches high, with perfumed liquid and sticks for the princely sum of £20!!!! Did they see me coming?

Burning the fronts of my legs
Auntie Petunia

Auntie I don't know if onsies have a ventilation shaft or escape route :-S

Maybe a tenna would suffice for emergencies :-D

Don't sit too near the fire dear. My dearest Mama used to say that one would get mottled legs :-(

Teresa

A Good Late Evening/Night Ladies.

You will have to give me good warning if you want me to grit the said road Theresa as I live about a mile from there, it wont be a problem I will just harness the huskies to the sled and mush mush off we will go :-D

Auntie Petunia I am more of a c-l-i-c-k-e-t-y c-l-a-c-k knitter rather than clickety clack clickety clack super fast knitter ..........................................do you remember who won the race :-)
The last time we traveled to the special hospital there were three of us not including E I think there will be the same this time..............................I paid the fare, E's mama paid for lunch and our youngest fruit kept her hands her pockets.......................................................................trying to keep the moths warm I think ;-) the trouble is our youngest is generous to fault when she has pennies in her pocket and I fear some people will always take advantage of this :-|
Oh dear Auntie don't you know E always has something pretty to look at when shes with me :-D

CC, Theresa will need the rope so I can tow her up the hills in the not so flat part of snowy Essex................................on second thoughts lose the rope Theresa we will call the fire brigade for assistance :-D

Susan please don't tell me you are sunning yourself in your newly designed garden :-| I will be so jealous ;-) as we are freeeeeeeeeeeeeezing here in the UK :-(

Good upside down evening,

I am far from sunning myself today. Mother nature has been a right old b...h today.

A tornado has swept through parts of Auckland leaving three dead and seven injured, some seriously. We are very far south of the city and we got heavy rains, thunder and lightening. We got off lightly by comparison... I do feel for the families of the deceased, so near to Christmas always seems so much crueler.
Lots of people are in shelters tonight, their houses uninhabitable.
It is very warm and muggy, but no sun :-P.

Your avatar looks so pretty Teresa - from one who doesn't get snow in her garden, perhaps a dusting once every twenty years or so. Imagine FTE being jealous ;-). She has forgotten how cold it can be perhaps?

I have put up our Christmas tree this evening, I must say, with a lot less enthusiasm than usual... I collect Santa's and seemed to have accumulated a great many :-D. The ones I am not so keen on (gifts) get stuck at the back of the tree ;-). The lights are twinkling away quite merrily.
I have yet to wrap any gifts. We are away overnight on Saturday and I am loathe to leave presents on display..... Call me paranoid - yep I am....

I have suggested to my fruit she might like to buy me the new Rod Stewart Christmas CD - for Christmas :-). I can hardly wait, I am still rather partial to a bit of Rod. :-D.

What about those silly ozzie dj's, harrasing the nursing staff at Kate's orsepiddle....
Oh dear, I imagine, one is not amused. :-D. You know which one ;-).
Golly, Kate can not afford to lose any weight, poor gal. Welcome to pregnancy :-D.
I did suffer but nothing like this poor gal.

I shall not bother to knit an offering for the royal baby.... I am sure you ladies are much more profficient at knitting than I.. Perhaps I could send a Buzzy Bee toy. Doolde them, most Kiwi babies are given a Buzzy Bee toy, though I bet they are now made in China...

Time to check on my dinner.

Have a lovely day, keep warm.

Susan

Hallo Susan, I'm sorry to hear about the tornado and the poor people who Lost their lives, were injured and lost their homes. It makes us count our blessings and we should not grump about a bit of bad or inconvienant weather.

Ah good old Rod. I treated myself to his Christmas CD. It was on offer in a well known supermarket here for £9.00 and very festive it is as well. :-D. Our tree will go up the weekend after this one. We have had the tree for many years since FTE was a very small fruit. Every year we hum and har about getting a new one but it looks ok so when it's up :-D

FTE won't be envious of the snow when she is in Barbados on Boxing day :-D I had a list of things to put into her goodie box which we send for her to collect when she is in port here. This box includes

Jammy Dodgers
Peanut butter
Plastic knifes and spoons :-S
Chocolate milk and white
The Davinci code
Skips crips
The Love Actually DVD
And some stawberry sweets

Obviously missing home comforts ;-)

I will doodle the Buzzy bees. They sound sweet. Those DJs sound sweet. I have to say those DJs were silly but even more silly was the Nurse who gave out confidential information over the phone. It doesn't matter who phones. You never ever ever give out info.

Ah Lesley the Hill, the idea is not to stop and hope no one turns left to the village with the nice garden centre in it. This way you hopefully will get to the top unscathed :-D. My friend was in the Fire Service and still has friends who are serving. We can get them to give us a tow :-D :-D :-D

Ooh Ladies, Scozz has a thread on how to make some yummy little Christmas puds. Have a look on the thread. I'm going to have a go at making them :-D


Teresa

Good morning all.................

Thank you Teresa dear, I shall get Mrs Berry to take a look at the pudding mixes.
One never sullies ones hands as you know.

I shall be back later. Good evening to dear Upsidedown Susan.

Pip Pip
Auntie Petunia

brrrrrrrrrr *shivers* not only am I wearing the thermal lined bin bag outfit, Teresa, I am also wearing a Onesie underneath it (suitably snipped for ventilation and "personal visits").

At any rate, Petunia wont notice what I am wearing, she has been impervious to everything these last few days except practising her scales and arias. Between you and me, she doesnt seem to care that I am either roasting my legs if I sit too close to the fire, or freezing my toes off if I move away from the warmth.

Even Pat rish aaaaah has shown me some sneaking sympathy, which is remarkable given how that gel seems to detest me for some strange reason. Anyone would think I had displaced her, in her grandmother's affections. *sniffs* Hell will freeze over first.

Oh - hell has frozen over, I just looked out of the window.

Never mind I expect that FTY will "grow into" books, just like he had to grow into his school uniform. MFH tells me that the new intake each September still turn up wearing uniform clothing that they will grow into. Eventually. In a way, it is reassuring to know that some things do not change.

I dont know if Poison is still available but I do remember seeing it for sale, back in the day. You could google to see if its still being made.

Oh dear - now its two of you who are obsessed with Firemen. It must be the hoses.

When I was Sweet Sixteen, I was working in a shoe shop as a Saturday Girl, which also employed a girl from my school class. She used to hang out of the upstairs window, gazing at the firemen as the station backed onto the shop. One of the firemen waited outside the shop one day and as the girl left, he chatted her up and they started dating. She repeated a story one day which I cannot possibly repeat here, but it involved a chicken and a colleague who was disliked by all the firemen who worked with him. ;-) ;-) :-D :-D

CC