General Chat

Afternoon everyone.
Well its dry, calm but very brrrrr. However, I ventured outside this morning to plant 30 small spring bulbs I had bought ages ago and when i took them out of their netted bags, they were sprouting! So all planted in the large black tub that has been emptied of last years bedding plants so just perfect.

There are bluebells, miniature hyacinths and narcissi plus some others i'm not sure of their names, But the tub will look pretty if they all grow.

Grand clean up today and washing tablecloths etc. Actually got them out for an hour and dried them a bit before into the tumble. Fridge full of leftovers for tea but only 1 triangle of the caramel cheesecake left as that proved popular yesterday and 1/2 my berry crumble left.

I'm seeing on the SSE power track map, hundreds in Scotland without power . So hope Joan isn't one of them else she will be cold. There was loads of snow on the A9 south of Inverness and loads of cars etc stuck yesterday, was terrible.

Also was a lot of flooding in Scotland too!

Hope everyone is safe & well and keeping warm.

Florence in the hebrides

Good bits of news, Joan and Linda!
Good to know your buffet went well and was so much fun for everyone, Florence.

One of my neighbours' bins blew over today, too, and now there are clumps of sodden Christmas paper all over the place.

The lid of my compost bin blew away in a westerly gale last week. It would have been nice if today's easterly had blown it back again!
No such luck.

Linda, just seen your last post. Thank goodness squirrel is out and back where he belongs and def not in a wood burner!

Afternoon all.

Aw Joan just seen your post. How wonderful hubby will soon be nearer to you and you can then go and visit him <3

It has been an horrendous day with winds of 60-70 mph and torrential rain. when my visitors arrived at 12,30, we had to close the inner doors and then the loft trap blew open with the draught but friends son who is 6 ft 3 managed to sort it out.

They all enjoyed the buffet and tbh there's not a lot left but what is will do us for lunch tomorrow. We had a couple of general knowledge quiizzes that daughter organized and we all got a "booby" prize.
Was hilarious, one got a bauble of my tree, one got a toilet roll, some got a packet of biscuits etc it was all soo funny and we all laughed :-D :-D

So dishes all washed and away and now sitting as im feeling sore from all the standing in the morning and bending for the oven! Friends asked if this was going to now be a regular xmas buffet and they are coming next year :-D :-D :-D

You never know it may be!

neighbours bin had broken free and was blown down the back garden. he then had managed to retrieve it but I have seen it again against the fence and now its pitch black so who knows if it will still be there tomorrow.

AnnG, you got a good bargain there in the sale. Glad you are having a good time away.

ArgyllGran, I often call myself the wild Woman of the West as my hair is right down my back and i did cut it recently but it has grown already.

Linda, something tells me the squirrels days are numbered after reading Gwyns post sadly. but it cant remain where it is and has to go by whatever means.

Power didnt go off here but had all my xmas lights around and candles. However its still howling so every chance it could still go off. Glad Joan you got your power back.

Take care everyone out & about

Florence in the hebrides

Oh, that is good news about your husband Joan, especially as you will be able to go and see him regularly. I hope you are warmer now

Squirrel update, it is out. It went into the trap, so they took it outside and released it. My daughter looked into the legal side. It is fine to trap them and release them in situ. It is only illegal if you trap them then take them elsewhere and release them.

Hello again.
Well it's been a horrible day, high winds & absolutely chucking it, it is still very windy 7 still pouring down.
At 12-15 the power went off, it has been sooo cold in my house without the heating & even though I had 2 fleecy blankets & a duvet over & all around me I was cold.

We were told the power would probably be back on at around 10-30, that really upset me as I was already nithered, not sure how I would have coped if we had to wait till so late a time!

Thankfully the power came on at about 4-30, thank goodness, it's going to take a while for the house to heat up properly.

Good news regarding hubby, just before the power went off I got a call to say he was going to be transferred to the local Cottage hospital sometime this afternoon, I was very happy about that but the weather was & still is atrocious (sp) not the best of days to travel some distance.
Still waiting to here if he has got there yet !

Joan.

We saw that as well Gwyn. It must have come down the chimney, there is a cowl on, but it has gaps so obviously isn’t squirrel proof. Our next door neighbours just put in a wood burner. They took off the cowl which is the same as ours and put a much more solid looking one on.
The latest news is that the trap is inside the wood burner, but the squirrel is show no interest in it

Blowing wildly here, but it's dry.
Daughter is just back from meeting a friend and taking a walk near the coast. They checked to see where the tide was first, but it was far enough out so that the wind didn't blow spray at them. She said it wasn't too cold, just blustery.
I'm staying indoors ;-)
Joan, I hope hubby can be moved nearer home, so that you can then visit him. It's good that you can have a chat together though.
Aryllgran
I hope your cough gets better soon. Mine starts up if I go into different surrounding temperatures. The more one tries to stop coughing, the more the tickle develops :-|

I hope the squirrel situation is resolved soon, but sadly, I think it's days are numbered.....You are not allowed to cause suffering to an animal but......
(Copied from online......)
The grey squirrel is regarded as an invasive non-native species following its inclusion under Schedule 9 of the Wildlife and Country Act 1981. Under Schedule 9 of the WCA, it is illegal to release a grey squirrel into the wild, or allow one to escape, without a license granted by Natural England. This means if you trap one, you are obliged to humanely dispatch it.

The family will want to check where it got in too, to prevent another squirrel getting in.

Good afternoon all. Very wild wet and windy here today. We just drove out to local Curry’s for daughter to look at computers with her youngest son who works in IT. Then to Asda to replenish the food cupboard. The three youngsters eat well!,
Now the three of them have gone out and peace reigns for a while. I did manage to get a top in Asda reduced from £9 to £5.

Hope the squirrel problem is soon solved and that hubby soon gets his move to the local hospital Joan. I assume they are waiting for a bed to become vacant.

ArgG. Good that the cough seems to be better. Son in law
S daughter works in a care home, she was supposed to come over today to see us but two days ago she tested positive with Covid.

Very wet here too, and blowing a gale earlier, though it has died down now, thank goodness.
The wind was from the east, which is very unusual for us.

The cough seems to be improving slightly today - fingers crossed..
I'm glad it has coincided with this week, when there are absolutely no social events, and I can just cough at home without disturbing or infecting anyone else!

Next week I'll be going over to Edinburgh to attend a funeral, and I would have loved to fit in a haircut before then, but haven't been able to try to get an appointment because of the cough - and probably impossible at short notice at this time of year in any case.
I'll just have to go looking like the Wild Woman of the West!

The rain is horrendous here as well Joan, it has never stopped since last night. I went out early just to get weighed, 1.5lbs on :-( Not bad really given al, the naughty things and alcohol I have had over the last few days. The roads are incredibly flooded, even in places where it doesn’t normally gather.
I had to go out again to Tescos because we have no tins of chopped tomatoes and I need some for the dinner recipe tonight. It is the sort of thing which I normally have lots of, but I had been running down the stock of tins in preparation for moving and hadn’t realised that they had all gone.
Your buffet sounds good Florence, I hope you enjoy yourself. I am sure you will have lots of left overs to keep you going for the next few days :-D

If your hubby is grumbling Joan, he must be getting better. I hope he doesn’t have to wait too long for a move

I hope your cough gets better soon Argyll gran, the lack of sleep really wears you down.
The squirrel trap should be arriving today, but I haven’t heard anything yet

Good morning , though it is FAR from good.
The wind is terrible & a LOT of rain, the noise agianst the house & windows is dreadful.
It was still pitch black here at 8-15 this morning, never known it be so dark at that time.

I have just been talking to hubby & he seems to be ok, though he's getting nattery re moving to our local Cottage hospital, no news on that yet !
Ihave got a nice bit of steak cooking just now, when tender I am going to sit it on a bed of diced onions & gently fry so as to just soften the onions, I shall then have another go at peeling a spud for a few chips.
I only need a few chips & some peas to go with it.

My Florence you have been busy, I hope your power stays on at your house for your visitors, I am hoping ours doesn't go off but the weather is really bad just now.

Linda, I hope the children are on the mend, & that the squirrel has been caught !
The squirrel saga would really bother me.
Cheerio for now.

Joan.

Good morning to all.
Well def not a good day. Blowing a severe gale of 60-70 mph here and friends that are coming later have lost power several times.

But i got up before 8am and finished off cooking the crumble and baguettes etc so all the food is laid out ready to eat.

Argyllgran, yes, the coughing was awful when I had it and I hope it clears away from you soon, just so exhausting isnt it.

Oh dear Linda, the pesky squirrel, so hope someone can help. Cant the RSPCA come?

Spoke with dad last night and he's getting on ok. He loves the book my daughter bought him all about Eastleigh. it has bought back childhood memories of when he lived there. So glad we got it for him.

I got 3 books by Richard Osman, The Thursday club etc, Fancied something different but these books are set in & around where I used to live in Kent! So can't wait to read them end of the week.

Well time for shower and get dressed now before the guests arrive about 12.30.

Hope everyone else safe and ok. Joan hope you and hubby are ok?

Florence in the hebrides

That's a serious feast, Florence!

I always like leftovers. Today I've had carrots , roast potatoes, and pigs in blankets, all leftovers reheated with gravy.

Not that I've been very hungry, with this cough. As you know only too well, a cough can be exhausting, and I'm sore with the effort.
I've had enough of it now, and really need a less disrupted night's sleep.

But yes, the rain stopped, thank goodness, and most of today was sunny , though cold.

I hope everyone else who's unwell is reasonably OK - Florence's dad, Joan's husband, Esme and Eve.
How's the squirrel? Can't the RSPCA help?

Afternoon everyone.

Well i hope you enjoyed your xmas feast yesterday. Daughter and I had a lovely dinner and was too full for the pudding lol.

Today we have been busy prepping for the lunch buffet tomorrow at 12.30 for 7 of us.

I have made tuna pasta with sweetcorn, potato salad with spring onions etc Cheese & pineapple, sausages on sticks, sour dough crusty baguettes, plus ham, dips, Indian selection, homemade coleslaw too. sausage and cheese rolls, pizza, snacks.

For desert there is a mixed berry fruit crumble topped with granola, peanut butter caramel cheesecake and ice cream for those that just want something plain.

Should be something for everyone lol and if not too bad! noone ever goes hungry in this house and there will be left overs for tomorrow for me. Out left over turkey, i bagged and put in the freezer for another day. i didnt over do on veg etc so there wasnt any leftovers there.

Joan, hope you enjoyed your dinner and managed to watch the tv.

I enjoyed call the Midwife followed by Eastenders.

Linda, the squirrel seems to have made itself at home but it needs to go back into the wild. I hope someone on FB can help you.

Sorry the girls are not well and hope you dont catch the bug. My brother was ill last night several times and now nephew is coughing and so is his wife! Also my son has a flu virus which has flawed him and he hasnt managed to eat anything for 2 days :-(

So it seems, bugs are everywhere. i had my fair share 3 weeks ago with a chest infection.

So as my legs were aching with all the standing since morning, Im now sitting awhile with a well earned coffee. Just the cheesecake to make.

AnnG, glad you are enjoying time with your family and you had a lovely xmas dinner. Sprout mousse eh? new one on me but it sounded quite nice.

Just Ginnie, hope you and hubby enjoyed your day. Glad he is getting on ok with his knee and making good progress.

Argyll Gran, finally stopped raining and the wind died down yesterday but now at 3 degrees today, its brrr and the wind sadly is picking up again as i think another gale coming tomorrow....whats new up here lol Glad you had a good day too.

Well better crack on as want to finish in the kitchen and clear up before it gets dark.

take care all

Florence in the hebrides

Good morning, here is your squirrel update. It is still in residence in the log burner :-(
It is eating and drinking and sounds cross. They have appealed on the local Facebook groups to see if there are any wildlife people locally who would help. If not, they will have to wait for the trap to arrive tomorrow and see if that works. If it doesn’t the latest thinking is to try and construct some sort of tunnel from sheets to try and guide it towards the front door. There is a door from the lounge into a porch, then a door to the outside. If it can sense the light it might head in that direction . The problem is that one of the doors opens the wrong way, so blocking the light. If it got out into the lounge, it would be a disaster as there are skylights to attract it upwards and it is going to be covered in soot. Once it got into the beams they would never get it down

The others have gone for a nice walk, but I have drawn the short straw and have to stay behind. Eve is too ill to go and Esme wanted to stay here as well. She wanted grandma to stay and play. Luckily she had gone for a lie down to watch her iPad, so I am getting a rest. She is starting to cough as well, so probably has Eves bug :-(

We are heading home this afternoon with our son. He is going to stay with us until Thursday.We are coming back here for New Year. While we are enjoying ourselves,it will be nice to get back to normal. - I think I must be getting old

Good morning all. Hope everyone enjoyed their Christmas Day.
Joan I am sure the actual cooking of the meal helped to normalise the day a bit and I hope that you enjoyed eating it.
Our meal was cooked by youngest grandson with a bit of help from his wife who made sprout mousse which was very light and different and very nice.

Merry Christmas everyone, hope you are all having a lovely day

Best Wishes to you all

Duncan

Happy Christmas, all!


Pouring with rain here, and I have a horrible cough, but it's been a good day with family company.

And plenty of leftovers for the Christmas sandwich!

Good for you, Joan - I hope you enjoyed your meal, and that your husband will be moved soon.