General Chat

Quizzing dears, wizzing, not quizzing :-S :-S :-S :-S


Teresa

Cherry dear I think I told you of the time Mr Mcshane filmed in the little town where I live. 'twas many years ago when FTE was but a small fruit in her pushchair. Love joy it was :-D

No, I dont remember Teresa. you probably did tell me but it must have been a while back. Thinking about it, he was a rather delicious "bit of rough" in his younger days :-D Yes I know it was just the characters he played. More recently he played a malicious monk-cum-politician with aspirations, the character was called Waleran but for the moment the name of the TV show escapes me except it was scripted from a Ken Follett book. About the building of a cathedral, and set in the days of the conflict between the Empress Matilda, named rightful queen by her father King Henry 1st, and her cousin Stephen who stole her throne. Eventually Stephen agreed that Matilda's son could inherit the throne, over the head of Prince Eustace the son of Stephen. Matilda's son became Henry 2nd and he married Eleanor of Aquitaine, who was as strong a woman as her mother in law.

The book might have been Pillars Of The Earth. There was a novel of that title, but whether its the story of the building of the cathedral is another matter. I've read so many novels, after a few years things start to blur together.:-S :-S :-S :-S

CC

Clonks onto thread with two bandaged feet and two crutches akimbo.

Dear oh dear, how do I manage to get myself into these scrapes. Thank goodness I have a long dress to cover the bandages when I set about to sing for Albert Hall. Tutty tut!!!!!!

Thank you dear Teresa for the tea and sympathy.

Do you know, when I arrived home there was no fire at all. It had gawn out, the Parlour was freezing. I think Cherry dear did not want to go down to the outhouse to collect a few logs and threw a few of the books from the Library onto the fire. Thank goodness it was not the First Editions, otherwise we would have to had words.

We really are the walking wounded here. I have bandaged feet, Pat-trish-aaaaah has a collar on her neck for the whiplash, and Cherry dear has her poorly back. We do not have a fully working body between the three of us.

I hope that Mrs Berry does not succumb to any ailments for we would starve!!!!

We have just phoned the Lotus Blossom and had ordered a Chinese Takeaway. I just got the Set Meal for 6, so obviously those with a healthy appetite could get stuck in.

I fear they have mentioned the S-Word for Wednesday. I have set the shovels by the front door, and a supply of salt, so hopefully we will not be S-in.

Ah yes, Mr Ian does give me a little flutter dear. He is indeed a bit of rough, but a nice bit of rough I am sure you will agree.

Waiting for the grub to arrive and changing into my kimono!

Auntie Petunia

Chinese food on a Sunday Petunia dear? As you know, I always love sinking my false teeth into a pair of prawn balls but ... on a Sunday? Whatever happened to the traditional Sunday roast? Lamb or chicken would have suited me, served with roast potatoes, green beans and carrots, and lashings of gravy. Not forgetting the Yorkshire pud.

That kimono doesnt hide your bandaged feet dear.

And it is far too cold to go down the garden path to the outhouse to collect more logs for the fire. The books I threw on the fire were some old telephone directories. You should have more faith in me, my dear Petunia. I have a great deal of respect for your beautiful hard-cover book collection. Apart from the book that has lots of pictures of people in strange positions. I dont understand that, at all.

Yes indeed, Pat rish aaaaah's neck. My back. Your feet. And Mrs Berry said she had a headache, before throwing the empty bottle of cooking sherry in the glass recycling box.

Ah that sounds like the doorbell. If you could send Pat rish aaaaah to answer the door, I shall put the porcelain plates and sweet n sour sauce on the table.

Oh dear ....... the sweet n sour sauce is literally on the table, I spilled it.

CC

Ah Cherry dear, did you find my Yoga book? Where was it dear? I know I put it somewhere safe, so safe I could not find it.

Yes please do get out the crockery and cutlery. The second best set should suffice.

I think we can let Pat-trish-aaaaah eat with us tonight, although I dread to think how she will manage with her neck in that brace.

come on now dear, get to the door and open up for the nice delivery man. No dear, stop batting your eyes at him, you will not get an extra prawn cracker for doing that. No neither will you get a fortune cookie. I can tell you your fortune right here, right now. No dear dont cry, you will make the crackers go soft. Come in dear, the draught from that door is raw.

Right, are we sitting comfortably. Then we will begin.

AP

*shocked*
Petunia dear, please tell your grand daughter that when I suggested we have a cheeky little Italian red, to go with the Chinese take away, I did not mean Alfonzo from the local Trattoria. I meant a bottle of vino.

That gel gets excited all too easily ........... a month with Santa Claus in the North Pole will do her a world of good and calm her down.

*burp* *hic*
pardon me, for sounding rude,
it was not me, it was my food.
:-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D

CC

Ladies Ladies, it would appear standards are slipping and that really will not do. Do you remember all the Lady like ways you taught me, all the hard work in silencing the Docker and teaching me which spoon goes with what. Tutty tut tut tut. :-|

Now you are having a Friday night meal on a Sunday. You should have joined us for good pork sausages, mash Yorkshire puds and two kinds of veg. Following on was strawberry tart, whipped and aerosol cream, Scozz's little Xmas puds and much wine and Irish cream tipple. Not quaite a Sunday roast but I was cooking but good enough for I do not have hired help :-(

I will return once you have got the taste of MSG out of your mouths

Teresa

my standards are not slipping, Teresa. You cannot blame me for the fact that dear Petunia ordered a takeaway on a Sunday night. She had no choice. You know the dear lady does not do her own cooking, and unfortunately Mrs Berry had partaken of too much cooking sherry and was in no fit state to do any cooking.

If I had known what was on offer at your abode, I would have been up the A12 like a shot.

The takeaway went down very well in the end. Alas, we ended up with two cheeky little Italian reds - because Alfonzo from the Trattoria turned up wearing a Santa Suit (for Pat rish aaaah's benefit of course), and dear Petunia sacrified a bottle of red wine from her wine cellar that we are not supposed to know about !!! :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D

CC

Needs must when the devil......................something!!!! Please do not think badly of me ladies, but when I am in dire straights, I have to do, what I have to do.

My poor little tootsies and throbbing, and the skin is peeling. They are itching like billyo and I cannot scratch them.

I thought I did a stirling job by ordering in food for dinner. Do you know somewhere they serves meat and two veg on a Sunday night? If so...................do tell.

I think I entertained the two little Italian men very well. With my kimono on, and the chinese grub on offer, my throat was lubricated enough for me to give them a song. I sang Three Little Girls from the Mikado. Or as Pat-trish-aaaah calls it, The Mick-a-doooooo from the Oily Cart! Tutty tut.

Then Alfonzo responded with When Santa Got Stuck down the Chimney. His friend sang, Papa Piccolino. Pat-trish-aaaah sang Santa Baby, and Cherry dear gave her rendition of One Fine Day from Madame Butterfly.

So you see, food, education, entertainment and genial company, who could ask for more?

I see the snow will not be coming our way, and in some respects I am glad. The snow people last time around were positively pornographic. Someone placed snow balls around and about, and we were treated to Adam and Eve. The John Lewis advert it was not!!!!!!

I am orft to look for Christmas presents again tomorrow. Now what do you give the lady who has everything? And while I am at it, I will get Pat-trish-aaaaah an epilator. The stubble has to go.

Busily writing lists
Auntie Petunia

please dont mention Alfonso's friend, Petunia dear. Didnt you see how he tried to get me in the corner. Like "Baby", nobody puts me in the corner. His suggestions were most unwelcome.

Aha I have just heard that Call The Midwife will be on BBC TV on Christmas Day. I have all four books, an excellent read. I shall be looking forward to that show.

Have you paid your TV licence Petunia? I would hate for your TV to be confiscated, just as I am settling down to watch the Queens Speech and Doctor Who ..........

Claridges awaits .......

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

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

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

*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

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

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

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

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

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