General Chat

That brings back painful memories from about 30 years ago, Linda.
We were renovating an old house which only had a sort of makeshift scullery , and had to put in a proper kitchen.
While that was going on, we washed dishes in the basin in a downstairs loo - small and awkward.
Bigger items such as pans had to be carried upstairs to the bathroom and washed in the bath - such a nuisance!

Chilly, grey, and wet here today - in other words, no change.
The heating's still on, as are the fleece trousers and warm jumper.

On Tuesday I had an invasion of shrews.
At one point there were three of them running around the living room - lovely wee things, but not what I want in the house!
I caught them alive, and put them into my recycling bin which was due to be emptied the following day.
I trust they survived, and are now living new lives away from here.

Then later that evening another one appeared, which quickly joined its siblings.
There was also a dead one lying beside the back door step.

There haven't been any since, thank goodness, and there had never been any before - at least not indoors..

Well, it is going to be a glorious day, the sun is beating down already but according to the weather forecast, it will be raining again next week.

We are taking the car in this morning to get the air conditioning recharged. It definitely must have a leak because this is the third year in a row it has had to be done. Last year when it was recharged within a day it wasn’t working agin, so they had a second go, but said if that didn’t work, it must be a big leak. Thankfully it did work, but I am not hopeful for this year. Fingers crossed we don’t end up with a big bill

The kitchen man is still working away, this morning the man who makes the quartz worktops turned up. He is using large thin sheets of a polystyrene type substance to make the worktops, they then use these to cut the quartz. It will be five working days to make the real worktops, so until they are in, we can’t have the hob or any taps installed. Hopefully we will have get dishwasher running by tonight because we are now washing up in the bathroom .

I had to take my washing to my daughters yesterday because the unit which is going to hold the washer and dryer can’t go in until after the worktops are in, so she will probably have to do another load.

That sounds like a good day Florence.

I went and had my haircut this morning, but apart from a quick grocery shop, I just came back home. The kitchen fitter is still hard at it, but I want to be here to keep an eye on things. Yesterday he cut a hole in the top of the unit to fit the sink. He checked that I wanted the taps in the middle. While I was looking at it, I knew something was wrong, but couldn’t think what. After a few minutes, I realised that it was supposed to be a one and a half bowl sink and he was fitting a single one. That was the one for the utility room, they hadn’t sent the kitchen one. It is a good job that it was the top of the unit he was cutting, not the worktop. He got the correct sink and the cabinet handles which they hadn’t sent either. He hopes to have everything installed by the weekend, so I thought that meant it would be finished, but it won’t. We are having quartz worktops and the people coming to cut the template for them aren’t coming until Friday, then it will be five to ten days before the actual worktops arrive. That means the hob and taps won’t be fitted until then.
He has left the utility room sink in until tomorrow morning, so at least we have been able to wash up in there. The dishwasher will be back in action before he takes the sink out, or so he says, so we will be able to use that.
OH has finished painting the second bedroom this morning, but he managed to kick the paint tray over and get paint all over the carpet. He got a bucket of water to clean that up, then dropped the bucket on the landing, so there is a large patch on that carpet as well :-( It is a good job that we will be replacing all of the carpets soon. He just has the two small bedrooms to paint, then we can replace all the carpets.

Afternoon everyone looking in.
Gosh what a day!! So so windy. Opened the front door and whoosh....huge gust of wind. But its dry so far so always a bonus.

The plants I bought yesterday I have hidden behind some others until the wind dies down tomorrow and then shall go and pot them up but not today.

Tried on my new clothes and all ok except for the trousers as look like 3/4 length which I hate.

Anyway found some more trousers online in 4 different colours and they should be here on Monday, fingers crosses. If they are a bit too long, I have wonder web to take them up and not away until Thursday so will have a couple of days to sort that.

Hope all ok with everyone today. Joan, haven't seen you for sometime so hope you are keeping well.

Well ironing finished and now to hoover and then sit awhile with me coffee.

Florence in the hebrides

Eve all
had a lovely day out today as my friend picked me up and off we went to town.

Had a mooch in Bonmarche and a couple of other shops. picked up a couple of nice tops and a cardigan so was pleased with that.

Went to a restaurant for lunch and had "posh fish & chips" lol.

last stop was the garden centre where I bought several plants and couldnt resist 2 more rose plants, one a apricot, the other more pink so beautiful.

Im feeling quite tired now so hoping I get a full nights sleep..

Good morning from a chilly but sunny Yorkshire.

I plan another lazy day while work is going on all around me. OH is decorating the second bedroom and the kitchen fitter is putting the new cabinets in. He has had to dismantle the corner unit to get it through the doors. He does seem to be very diligent though, taking time to make a good job of things. He isn’t happy with the pipes under the sink for instance because they stick out too far and are a real mess, so he is going to renew them. It is really nice to see things starting to come together

Ah yes they do fade I forgot that

I have deleted loads so have reduced the number by quite a bit.

I ordered a bulk of a dozen USB sticks for £39.99 Each USB has 32 GB of space which is plenty for me. So after sorting into folders, I have now tf some files onto different sticks. One for all fam pics of last 5 years but sorted into various things like holidays, xmas etc so easy enough to locate.

Another has all stuff pertaining to Lawyer and all things legal re the flat plus all of mums bills, docs etc.

Tf those files reduced what's held enormously as many of the pics are what sil sends every time they go away which is several times a year!! I get literally 100's from her even though I asked her not to send so many plus videos but still they keep coming.

I may buy an external hard drive. I had one before years ago and it would be a good idea to have that as a 2nd back up. I have bought a new PC but not going to install yet until i have cleaned up this one.

The reason being is I have Windows 10 and its only 3 years old if that but after Oct 2025, Windows 10 will no longer be supported so I have bought a Windows 11 Pro so that should last a few years lol

I did scan some old pics but some didn't scan well especially the black & white so I took a pic with my phone and then downloaded it and the result is a better picture..
This process is lengthy if you have a lot but one way of preserving them..

Just waiting on daughter coming home with a chicken supper, naughty but nice yummy :-D

Thanks for reminding me, Linda!
I have now just scanned a few very faded photos of my children, dating from 1977, before they become completely invisible.

I managed to improve them slightly by editing brightness, exposure, etc.

No but they can fade Ann, the photos of my son as a toddler have really changed colour. I keep meaning to scan them, but have never got round to it

Linda but a USB is better than nothing. I have not had one fail yet. I can't think what it is called but a lot of my photos are saved on a large external hard disc. I do also have about 50 CDs with older photos on them. And actually My PC will take CDs but I have not tried to download and save them. They are mainly just snaps. The trouble with technology is that is obliterates itself as it changes. One thing about film photos in albums barring fire etc they can't be deleted.

It’s really old here as well Florence.I put the electric fire on to get the lounge warm.
The kitchen fitter has put the new chipboard floor down in preparation before the cabinets coming in. The plasterer turned up this morning and he has just about finished all of the walls, so we are entering the phase of making it better rather than taking it apart.
The new doors to replace the ones OH took back are coming on Thursday and the bathroom suppliers emailed this morning to say they have all the things we ordered for the en-suite in stock. They are going to keep it until next week when the kitchen will be finished. The en-suite is not going in until the second week in July, but at least we will have al the things here.

I hope you have got your photos backed up in online storage Florence. Over the years, I have had two laptops fail and usb sticks are not a safe way of storing things as they fail regularly. I always had my own online storage, but my daughter has a family plan which gives them one terabyte of storage, so I now have my own secure folder as part of that. My folder is password protected, so they can’t get into it unless I give them access.

florence. Do you have all those photos backed up somewhere else?
The reason I ask is that not so long ago my PC which is on windows 10 and Firefox did some kind of update, decided I had too many files and deleted a lot of my photos from my pictures. Luckily I had most of the important ones backed up on USBs, but I did lose a few. I haven't needed them so haven't checked but they may be backed up on Cloud. I think it was to do with Dropbox, they wanted money to expand my Dropbox so when I refused they reduced my files.

I used to have one of the big catalogues for a while but got fed up when I kept forgetting to take a cheque and payment slip down to the bank ( a car ride from the tiny hamlet I lived in).

As a kid the Dupont man would come calling - presumably Mum had bought something on tick but I have no idea what.

Afternoon all

Its still like blooming winter. I'm so cold I put the heating on yesterday a couldnt warm up. The grass cutters came today but as the grass hasn't grown in 2 weeks, they left it and will come back in another 2 weeks to inspect it.

Upshot is that saved ne a few pounds.

I used to get a wee catalogue from Lands End years ago but havent seen one in years. Think it was quite pricey and never ordered anything.

When my children were young, we had Littlewoods, Grattan and the likes and so did my mum. was the only way back then we afforded anything new. I do have clothes I wear indoors but would never wear to town, old favs but they are comfy.

So far I have only 3 roses in bloom and really they are only buds. Such a poor show so far and I blame that on the cold weather we have had. Plants need the sun and its in very short supply up here so far this summer!

I finally finished sorting over 3000 photos this weekend into various folders on the PC and all the documents are also sorted into folders. Phew! it has taken me a few weeks as just spent an hour here & there doing it.

So now its all up to date, I will keep it that way and any pics sent to me on my phone, I shall sort as i go along as couldnt face doing this again anytime soon.

Part of the problem was my own as twice I have tf everything from mobile to PC but didnt delete afterwards. Result is there were many doubles and triples of things grrr. lesson learnt anyway.

Not much on here today, just usual chores etc.

Florence in the hebrides

Isn’t it odd how we all have nice new clothes, but prefer our old things which in my case are usually past their best. :-)

OH as set off for a two hour drive to take the double doors and frame back which were the wrong size. The joiner was most apologetic and has offered to go halves with us on the money we have lost. I was telling my sister about it and she said that he should pay the whole lot as he told us to order the wrong thing in the first place. I suppose she is right, but he could just walk away from the problem, so getting half the money back is better than nothing. We have ordered some more doors from a different firm, so are just waiting to find out when they are coming.

Yesterday we stayed at my daughters to watch the football, so it was dark when we got home. When we came in, we realised that the lounge, dining room and kitchen lights wouldn’t work, but the other downstairs lights all came on. We assumed that it was something the kitchen fitter had done as he had been rewiring the kitchen, but he was perplexed. He had to spend a good hour checking all the light fittings before he discovered that there was a loose connection in the ceiling light in the utility room. Why that had come loose goodness knows, perhaps just vibration from us walking in the bathroom above it, but thankfully all is well now. He was just about to ring his electrician who checks off the work which he has done. That would have landed us with another bill, so thankfully that has been avoided.

Strange I had never heard of them. Maybe they were mainly 'up North'.
In the 60s I used to buy a lot from catalogues such as Gratton, Littlewoods etc and pay monthly for items. My Mother didn't believe in this, she wouldn't touch Hire Purchase ever. she said, when I bought a pair of gloves like that, 'those gloves will be worn out before you have paid for them!'

Yes it is hard for her, although it is 10 years since he died now and she is remarried. Also all three boys are married/divorced and have their own children. She was in her 50s when he died. It must be really hard for young people widowed when their children are young. Having not only their own grief to deal with but that of their children as well.

that sounds like a nice walk Linda, not that I could cope with it now but even five years ago I could have done it.

Lands End is still online in the UK.
Items have to be returned, at purchaser's expense, within 90 days of purchase.

I remember that when they started in the 1960s they did advertise a lifetime guarantee and no-quibble returns for clothing items.
I expect they found it too expensive to maintain.

I still have a couple of pairs of fleece trousers which I bought from them many (30 ?) years ago, and which are still going strong, although I only wear them around the house these days, as they are now a bit baggy in the knees.
They're so cosy. I live in fleece trousers in winter - and often much of the rest of the year too! I have several newer pairs from other makers, but still like the old Lands End ones.

Lands End started in 1963 Ann. I think they used to have their own shops, but then seemed to change to be concessions in other stores. They have a factory outlet site in Rutland, but are mainly on line now I have bought quite a lot from them over the years, but not recently because I like to try things on.
Father’s Day must be difficult for your daughter Ann. At our age, we don’t expect to have our fathers around but being widowed young must be especially difficult.

We went out for lunch with the family, we then went for a long walk in a local nature reserve which is a gorge with a river in the bottom. I was very pleased that I was able to do all the very steep uphill sections with no bother. I hate going down steep slopes though , I feel very unsteady, so hold OH’s hand. The back of my left knee is really aching this morning, but my right knee which is the one where I tore the Anterior Cruciate Ligament is fine Esme has a very large all terrain buggy which was provided by a charity, it cost over 2K. Stupid price, but as soon as you are talking about disability aids, the prices rocket. She normally uses her wheelchair but the buggy is excellent for rough outdoor spaces and is easy to push.

Land’s End was around some years ago. I think they had shops.
I never bought from them as friends had, let’s say, problems with their bank accounts after on line shopping.