General Chat

Hi Joan
Good to hear from you and all is well with you. Sorry about your daughter's finger but it could have been a lot worse!

All these little jobs dont seem to be important until something happens. But at least the glass is away now so no more accidents.

My new tumble drier made a surprise appearance this afternoon. The delivery was 6th Sep and the haulage firm said they would let me know the day before....famous last words here! Of they didn't and the 2 guys just wanted rid asap and were not very helpful.

I asked them to come to the back door as that is where the kitchen is and boy they gave me a dreadful look! I had hardly hobbled through to the back door to open it when there they were standing with it. Upon opening, they just plonked it down and away they went.

I was in a dreadful flap as you can imagine as i cannot go at 100mph anymore and tbh I shouldn't have to.

I then tel my friend who said she would buy the old one for her mil. It's only 3 years old so in good condition but my new one is bigger and has reverse action spin.

Finally unpacked it etc and friend is coming with hubby after tea to collect old one.

Thought I was in for a relaxing afternoon lol but glad its come as daughter away tomorrow and would have been harder on my own to sort out.

Decided on a pasta dish tonight and was tasty. Just chopped smoked salmon, sliced mushrooms, garlic, soy sauce and black pepper. Then added a tub of philly cheese and mixed with the pan of pasta. Mmmmn best dish i have made in awhile.

So with dishes done and put away, Im now resting until they come for the drier.

Have a nice evening peeps.

Florence in the hebrides

Good morning all, glad all is ok with you Joan.

To be honest this was more of a family and friends party than a wedding, being they were already married but, to me, it is great to make the effort to travel to see all the family together for once, with all the generations mixing and chatting and catching up. OK it cost those of us who live away from the area to stay in a hotel but we turned it into a mini break and it was fun. without this wedding we would not have caught up with relatives and friends of daughter's late husband, one couple even coming especially from Iceland.

Florence, can you give feedback on the delivery firm, that sounds most unhelpful. I am sure a few years ago when we had our tumble drier delivered, they even unwrapped it for us and took away the packing. Good that you have somebody to take the old one off your hands.

Afternoon folks, another beautiful warm ,sunny day here and by golly what a change.
I have been outside back and front twice for a wee walk around and spread some bird seeds over the bottom of the garden as the crows broke the feeders!!

Sadly Ann when they deliver here now, they are not obliged to take away the packing or indeed unpack it for you. I think they were having a bad day as i could see the van was full up with things but thats not an excuse for being unhelpful. Its not the first time Ann I have dealt with this company.

I once asked them for a quote to hire a van when I moved, they wanted a full infantry of everything going in the van.!!! FGS, I said really?? And the price was extortionate too. In the end I hired a Luton from another firm for £200 for the day.

My friend came last night and took the old dryer away and new one is working a treat although I only tested it as washing all out and drying well.

I had 2 disasters late last night and first thing today. God Im so clumsy.
I walked past the sofa to switch the lamp on last night and caught my little toe on the edge and it lifted the nail. By golly did that hurt and bled for ages. Nail still attached but will probably drop off. Then this morning, made a coffee, put that down and as I sat down, did i not stub the same toe of the leg of the table...I was actually crying with the pain, was horrendous. I actually thought I had broken my toe.

Its going purple so very bruised but think its ok. I also banged my calf on my huge ceramic pig in the hall and now have a lovely bruise there too.

I have never been so clumsy, not sure what's wrong with me except daughter said. I was trying to rush and that's something I really cant do so will have to slow down a bit.
Anyway the cash will pay for my grass cutting until the end of the season which is great.

Very quiet but tidy here now as daughter away until a week Friday.

Waiting on a few things from amazon which will give me a few jobs to do.

Sharing my sunshine with any of you who are without :-D :-D

Florence in the hebrides

Oh no Joan, thats very annoying re the bank. Where is the nearest branch after your usual one or Is there a post office near by that would take the coins off you? Also you could withdraw your daily limit from bank ATM and then next day withdraw at the PO etc although ,not sure how large amount you were wanting.

Yes the air def turned blue :-P :-P :-P

I had made a lovely pasta dish yesterday so had the leftovers tonight and was much tastier as always the 2nd day.

I hobbled outside for the last time and watered the pots with several jugs of water as cant manage the hose pipe very well on my own and I felt another disaster was looming so left well alone.
Still a very beautiful sunny evening, not a cloud in the sky :-D

Off to make a cuppa and then i'm relaxing with the tv. hoping Masterchef is on tonight or is it tom? Not sure. Im feeling my toe throbbing too so need to keep off it.

Florence in the hebrides

Oh dear Florence, you have been in the wars, I hope your nail doesn’t come off.

Last time we bought a large electrical device, it was a washing machine. I got it from ao.com because of their service options They just charge £25 to unpack the washer, connect it to the water supply and take all the packaging away. We paid extra for them to take the old washer out and take it away. It was great because we didn’t have to do a thing. I have had several things from them and the service has always been excellent

I have had another quiet day on my own. I did lots more cleaning and I made time to go out for a litter pick. Tomorrow, I am going to go and have my hair cut. I order some things from M&S for store collection, so I will get them as well. I find it best to order the things rather than just going to the store and finding that they don’t have the size I need.

Afternoon all
We are blessed with yet another warm, sunny day. Put a small wash on as there is only me and its out on the line.
Joan my toe is still sore and the nail moves a little. I cannot bear to touch it so heaven help if i knock it again as I shall be using unrepeatable words lol

Feeling a bit lost today and just dont know what to do. Went through my wardrobe and the cupboard and found a few things for the charity shop and thats about it. Not in a writing mood today, so no book stuff.

I would so love to be able to go down to the beach(5 mins in a car) and breathe in the sea air and have a paddle. That would be good for my feet. But sadly I have noone to take me :-(

Dad had his cataract operation cancelled yesterday for the 2nd time, due to the air con not working in the theatre so hes not happy as you can imagine.

Even the main road outside my house seems quiet today lol and its normally always busy so where is everyone i wonder!

What a pain , 15 miles to the nearest bank!

Off to make a sandwich for lunch and think it will be a jacket potato with tinned salmon, salad for tea.

Florence in the hebrides

It certainly is a beautiful day, Florence! A bit of summer at last, with a rare chance to wear summer clothes.

I've been washing and/or airing all the spare bedroom bedding, while I have the chance to hang it outside, as I have visitors coming in a couple of weeks' time.

Our nearest bank is 20 miles away, although a mobile bank does come to the village hall carpark for 15 minutes once per week.
Thank goodness for online banking (though no use for cash transactions) , and for the Post Office - "only" 7 miles away.

My bank is only a five minute walk away, in the town square, but Incant remember the last time I went in as I do everything on line. I hardly use cash these days as everywhere takes cards. There are plenty of cash machines around if I need one. I had to use cash today when I got my hair cut as they don’t take cards. I have had those notes in my purse for ages.

Same here, Linda - re hardly ever using cash now.
I have notes in my purse which have been there since before the pandemic! Yes, honestly!

Linda, make sure none of those notes are the old paper ones, because after the end of September they will no longer be legal tender.

Afternoon peeps
Well it started off again as another bright sunny & warm day. There is a cooler breeze building and clouds are forming. The forecast for the weekend is gales and rain!! The first storm for the season will be Antoni lol I was reading the names for the whole alphabet and B is for....Betty :-D :-D Made me smile that.

Been very busy sorting out the post for mum as brother was away and he had collected a heap of mail which was then whattsapped to me. Got a bit upset with one letter as it was demanding the full balance of her gas Bill etc but we had paid it beg of Aug.
I tel this company for an explanation and they apologized and said payment crossed with their letter but I will have to open Br Gas account until the property is sold. Anyway its only the gas boiler so no heating required yet so minimal usage.
What upset me more is that this company is a debt collector!!! My dear mum never owed a penny to anyone and everything was paid by d/d through the bank so always up to date.
The thought of a bailiffs coming to the flat really stressed me out. The letter was badly worded and I told the chap exactly that. All sorted eventually but oh my. :-S

Joan, my dad has the same card for his pension and draws it all out in cash but he has a bank account which he pays some cash in to cover his electricity bills etc but he has a card for that too. Do you not have a card or a bank account for your bills?

I do know a few places where they dont take cash anymore after lockdown. Handling money is dirty and so full of germs. I remember from my days as a banking officer how my hands were filthy and was always washing them several times a day after handling cash.

Can't make up my mind for tea later. I do have left over salad but feel I need something hot today and more substantial, just cant decode what.
Joan hope you enjoy your hotdogs.
What I do need now is a cuppa so off to make coffee and find a biscuit too. Then its back to sorting out the mail.

Florence in the hebrides

Joan. I may be wrong but it sounds as though you have a debit card. If that is the case, and you shop in a supermarket, you can use your card to pay the bill and get "cashback" at the same time. There is virtually no chance of your card being hacked there.

I usually do that, because I am a bit wary of ATMs since one of them swallowed my card and didn't spit it out again!! Fortunately the premises were open at the time, so I was able to get it back - but it was quite a palaver!

Good morning peeps
Well its clouding over and the storm clouds are gathering for the gale tomorrow. So the sky looks very heavy but the garden and plants need the rain as the grass is quite bare in places.
Not sure what I shall be up to today but have a little ironing so will get that out of the way and then see.
I may get my friends family tree out and do some work on that later as i havent done any work on it for a few weeks now and that will keep me busy til teatime!

Hope everyone else has a good day.

Linda, how is your sister getting on with her treatment, is she nearly finished of it?

Florence in the hebrides

Joan -
I hope your savings account is giving you a good rate of interest.

No savings (or other) account is keeping up with inflation, but the higher the interest the better, as every penny counts.

At least you have a bank.

Many years ago our local building society was closed and they transferred us to the next one. Which, as the crow flies, was quite close. However, without a car you needed to get a bus or train to the big town and then bus out to that branch. If you took the train you then had to walk past the town branch to get to the bus stop :-S

The reason my dad deals with everything in cash is so the bank can't see where he spends his money lol :-D :-D

That’s ridiculous. Someone needs to explain that when a map makes place look close they are actually miles apart.

When our bank branch closed it was the same bus or train into train, then one had to join an enormous queue which meant you could easily miss the bus as the times were odd. Then you’d eventually get home to find the bank had already called to ask how they had done. One a good bus day times you could be out for an hour and a half on a bad bus day times you could be out for another hour or two.
After some very strong words from OH they stopped asking.

It is quite warm here, but overcast.

Yesterday I decided to give away a little tykes climbing tower cum slide. Esme is too big for it now and it has just been cluttering up the patio. I put it on the local free Facebook group, knowing that it would be snapped up instantly as I could easily have sold it if I had wanted to . Within five minutes, I had two people wanting it, the first wanted me to deliver it, - not a chance. The second one was so keen, that they wanted to come straight away. OH had to take it apart and it was starting to rain, but he managed it. By the time the poor chap arrived it was like a tropical rainstorm. He was absolutely drenched by the time he got it all in his car.

We are on our own for the weekend. OH came home on Friday, but my daughter and the girls are not back until tomorrow. School starts for both of them on Tuesday, so at least I will have my days back

Afternoon peeps from a very wet & windy village! After all the beautiful sunshine we had all week, Mr sun seems to have taken the day off lol. So back to our usual.

However, it is supposed to be sunny again all next week and 18-19 degrees so 1 day of rain as you say Joan will give the garden a well needed soaking. Hope you enjoy your Sunday dinner later sounds tasty.

I ordered a new super king size duvet cover as I was browsing and couldn't resist this at the great price. I bought a single one for one of my nieces for xmas too so thats 1 off the list already lol.

So washed that yesterday to get the creases out and soften it and then stripped my bed off and put the new one on. Gosh, I was very hot & bothered after doing that, took the life out of me!

Tomorrow I have a friend whom I haven't seen for over a month or more so have made a light fruit cake. I just had a small piece although it was still warm, but was jolly tasty.

I now have my duvet and pillowcases in the washing machine hoping I can get them out to dry tomorrow and save on the dryer.

So I am bushed now so sitting down awhile to recharge me batteries. A lot of work done for a Sunday hehe.

Linda, that was good you sold the tower but unfortunate the heavens opened!

Joan, enjoy looking around the shops tomorrow. What sort do you have nearby you, anything good?

I'm gonna put my legs up now as left ankle looks like an elephants foot as been on me feet a bit too long.

Enjoy the rest of your Sunday peeps

Florence in the hebrides

Good afternoon folks.
Well after a very wet and windy early morning, the skies cleared and we are back to a lovely sunny, warm afternoon. My grass cutters came a bit later after the rain stopped but all looking neat & tidy now.

My friend came about 10.15 and we sat with coffee and my fruit cake. Had so much to catch up on and before we knew it, it was 12 and she had to go!

Had some lovely flowers both from my neighbour on Saturday and also from my friend today. The flowers have now brightened up the kitchen. I do like having flowers around all the time.

Just making a pan of carrot & orange soup for my tea with crusty rolls later. Just took a notion to make it. It is a nice day but kinda Autumnal feel...hence the soup lol

Popped out to put out my blue recycling bin ready for tomorrows collection seeing as its dry and not windy so all my chores done and time to relax...just keep an eye on me soup.

Hope everyone else's Monday is going well

Florence in the hebrides