General Chat

Just a few lines to let folks know we have reached as far as darkest Oxfordshire ,despite loads of roadworks and the odd breakdown,lol,though ,not me thankfully.
We had a good breakfast at Wooley Edge on the way which wasn't bad at all ,and got to the camp at around 12 -30p m.
By the time we had done a little shopping at Wotton Basset , was knackered ,and had a short snooze before i made the tea [stir fry],must admit ,i ain't getting any younger ,and will be having an early night.
Must go now ,yawn ,be back tomorrow, Fred

hi well fred liz and brenda all away I hope that all the holidays go well and will look forward to any postings that fred does from cornwall, to bring you up to date with my goings on had an echo cardio gram at the hospital yesterday and am on the monitor for the next 48hrs so we will see what all that shows, weather wise we had a bad storm last evening and all through the night the lightening and thunder at 2am was spectacular the whole bedroom was lit up, this morning on the news it showed snow in calgary my sister is at a memorial sevice for her husbands aunt in british columbia but will be driving back to calgary to-day she will not be pleased to see snow so early in sept, but again in clagary the sun could be out to-morrow and with it high temps funny wether out there, Ian is back at school and the first 2 days of lindys new class went well, not up to much to-day being all wired up so will do some reading enjoy the holidays by for now dorothy

Hi Dorothy from a sunny Wiltshire where Fred Spent an hour on the puter this morning watching the Starlings in the Elderberry tree next door munching on the berries for their breakfast while i had mine ,lol,there must have been nearly a hundred of them bending the branches ,and ,cor what a noise they were making ,he he.
This sort of thing is a miss to me ,being born and bred no more than fifty miles to the east of here in Wycombe ,but the missus, being brought up in Tyneside ,couldn't understand why this sight still brings a lump to the old throat,i am unashamed to admit ,although i love my adopted home ,i miss the countryside a lot.
The grandson ,being off nightshift this morning went straight to bed,so we piddled off to Chippenham this a m ,and spent most off the day there,first to have brekkie down by the river ,then a sea tin the sun watching the water birds in the river ,us sat on the bank,watching the Moorhen,Ducks Swans,coots,two Gulls,[Terns,i think] and a few hangers on i think ,on the bank ,pigeons ,all being fed by the youngsters in wheelchairs ,throwing bread into the water,lol,even the minnows joining in ,catching the sinking crumbs missed by the birds,we spent a very enjoyable half hour there watching the fun ,before going shopping.
We brought five d v d discs that we can have a play with in Cornwall when the weather is bad ,transferring the the dvd mini disc video i9nfo to the proper dvd discs that we can watch when we get home,and make use of windows media to do the transfer [i hope] but i have other burning media ,such as Nero i can use if i land in trouble.
The grandson,getting bored ,being left on the camp ,most of his workmates ,moving to other camps as they start to run Lyneham down ,is complaining that there will be few aircraft for him to see to and will have little to fill his time ,so we will be coming back down here for two weeks in June next year,,to keep him company for a while,and in the meantime ,i hope to persuade him to come up to Newcastle for Christmas.
Have to go now ,time to start dinner ,mince ,,dumplings,roast tatties,carrots,cabbage and calabrese,before he goes back on shift,and
besides ,the wife want's her hour on the computer.
Catch you later all,Fred.

thurs eve 8-30pm well fred you and liz will be tuckedup asleep as I write this I so enjoyed your update re the birds and the other wild life it is true so many things remain special to us from our childhood and the places that we grew up in, even after over 50 years over here so many sights and smells remind me of home and the lump in the throat gets bigger as I remember things, like the smells of the air around holcombe hill the special green of the grass that is england to me the lovely gardens even the ones that are so tiny but full of every kind of flower, the smell of malt vinagar which means fish and chips in a newspaper I could go on and on, it sounds like you are having a great trip, took the monitor back to the hospital this am we have had a couple of days of rain and the leaves are turning red so the fall colours will soon be a wonderful sight. just getting ready for the season opener of grays anatomy to be follwed by a new episode of law and order uk love that show bye for now dorothy ps I will be having a good cup of coffee and a mars bar as I watch I decided I needed a treat !!!!

good saturday moring to all the ones on holiday and to anyone else who tunes in fred I was thinking about you yesterday as I wandered around one of the local grocery chains as they had some good sales on, turkeys at 97c ents a pound they were utility birds but nice and plump and lots of local veg all ready for thanksgiving week-end in 2 weeks, to-day I am going to go and have a look at some of the local farmers markets about an hour from me along the highway and see what I can find, I have chopped and froze multi coloured peppers for the winter and have some celery and leeks ready to chop and freeze to add to sauces and soups etc. heading for the special brain test on tuesday in downtown toronto and one must not be late or you miss the apt, and there is a fine of 400 dollars not payed by the insurance as traffice is bad on the way to toronto during rush hour I believe that andrew and I will leave about 8 for the 11 apt we can always have breakfast once we get there looking forward to more news from you and brenda re the holidays bye for now dorothy

Evening all,got back from my holiday last night but was too tired to get on here to see what emails etc I had waiting.Could not get online while away the place I usually use was not open ,apparently the owner was sick.I did not want to use another as I get abit iffy about them.
We had a really good time but alot of things had changed and not for the better so even though we are going in December we are thinking of going somewhere else next year.
Hope all your tests went well and you have some good news Dorothy,sounds like the family are all back in their school routines.
Hope fre is continuing to have a good trip,he gets sbout that man.
Have caught up with my emails etc tonight and spent the day washing as it is raining the spare room and dining room look like chinese laundries!! tring to dry stuff can go in the drier.Having a bath and early night tonight a lot of errands to do in the morning and my spanish class in the afternoon.A Brenda

hi brenda glad to hear you arrived back safe and sound but it sounds like you were a little disappointed in the changes you saw, rain well it has rained for several days over here and at the moment it is quite foggy out of my window but I think it is because it was cold early on and is now warming up, had the special test on tuesday it took us over 2hrs to drive to toronto it was quite the interesting test and then I had to see another specialist after he will pull all the results to-gether and send them on to the specialist I see on the 13th of oct , I am finding that the tiredness is increasing and my head does not feel great all the time but what can you do. anne is having the 2nd eye done to-day actually it is probably done as it is 2pm your time as I write this so I will call her later after tea time to see how it all went, hope your spanish lesson went well, guess fred is enjoying his holiday I am sure he will have lots to tell us when he gets home, bye for now dorothy

Fred IS enjoying his holiday ,but am having trouble getting on the internet via my dongle grrrrrr.
Anyway ,the weather is going to be lousy tomorrow and we will be staying in ,so i will have all day to sort something out,so by till then ,Fred.

Hi Dorothy,glad you got the tests done and seem to be on the final stretch of finding out what is the matter with you,Hope anne had her eye done ok and is on the mend,we did not like all the changes we saw on holiday,some more than others ,we will see how it is when we go back in december,but we all agreed it was not like we are used to.
the Spanish lesson was good,its a bit slow as we have to listen to tapes and the repeet things and all of us have a turn which takes time,i do have the book and the cd which i can use at home so will have to findmyself a few twenty minute slots to go over what we did today. The tutor says twenty minutes is enougth ,but if you want to do two slots one in the morning and one in the aftrenoon /evening that would be better than a full hour each day as that way you retain more!! weather a lot nicer today should have left the washing til today 1.nEED TO PUT THE VEGS ON FOR TEA,SEE YOU TOMORROW,BRENDA

Afternoon to all,while i can get on here ,lol,the connection isn't the best in the world, but it beats a message in a bottle ,or a carrier pigeon.
Lovely place as this is ,we won't be back this way,too hilly for Liz ,but we are enjoying the towns and beaches,and are glad we came while still able to get around at all.
The car is doing well ,with plenty of punch on the hills ,despite it's supercharger,turbo, being only 1500cc,it brought us all the way down via Oxford,and has run us around all week too ,going out every day since arrival using 8 gallons since filling up on the Thursday night before departure.
The weather is being kind to us ,raining heavily only yesterday and this morning,otherwise plenty of sun,and warmth.
We have both been naughty having an Oggie for tea the first day here,followed by a cream tea the following day,mmmmmm,he he.
In Padstow i even found a bakery still making the [what they now call] a miners pasty,meat one end and fruit the other,double yum ,lol,this despite the bakery in St evil saying no bakery made it any more,and the nearest you could buy was the traditional Cornish pasty.
These are NOT for the faint hearted mind ,so big that when the wife and i brought ours it was big enough to do the two of us.
I will have to inform the local bakery at Fleetwood Brenda that what they make ,supposedly genuine Pasties ,are a poor imitation both in size ,and taste,so they should be calling theirs Lancashire pasties.
Hope to be back on after coming back in,but am posting this now ,before it goes walkabout,hoping that Dorothy gets the good news she is hoping for.
Have a good weekend all ,in case my dongle goes pear shaped again,Fred.

evening all,glad you and Liz are enjoying your holiday fred sounds like you have covered some miles lad.I have not been in that bakery in Cleveleys for ages but can understand what you mean.
had to go and help my sister today ,she had a fall and is very bruised and walking is difficult at the minuteso did a bit of shopping for her and got soaked in the process!! Still she has done things for me in the past.
Enjoy the rest of your holiday fred and hope dorothy is ok. Brenda

was out and about yesterday as it was a really nice day ,but today the rain has returned .I have to go out later to my sisters to drop something of and pick up my Avon stuff from my neice.Hope it is dry tomorrow as I am out to lunch with the girls for one of their birthdays,have been looking forward to it for weeks. .
Hope Dorothy is ok as she has not been on for a few days ,will email her tomorrow if she doesn't send a message today. Hope you and Liz are ok Fred,are you back home yet?
Have loads of ironing to do before I go out as I will be doing the dinner when I get back.
Take care enjoy the day.Brenda

Off to Lands end and Penscance tomorrow Brenda,lol,back to Oxford Friday and home on Saturday,still for days of food tasting and piccie taking to say no too,he he,Fred.

Hi all.well Fred make the most of your food tasting I will be doing some today when I go to lunch at the Brazillian Restarunt we are going to its really good Lots of salad and veggies a nd BBQ meat and chicken no chips or fancy cakes just lots of friut and a BBQ pine apple to have as desert.!! Very healthy which I need after the holidays,its diestville here with a vegaence. Take care and enjoy it Fred . Hope to see you in Bury shortly.
Where are you Dorothy willgetting worried am sending an email
Brenda

hi well itis tuesday morning and I have just spent 15minutes bring you all up to date and lost it again when I went to post it so will try again bye dorothy

ok I see that made it onto the board so here goes I replied to brenda's e-mail so she know I am alive and somewhat ok, this week-end is thanksgiving so it is the time for turkey dinners and people dashing up the highways to see the fall colours that are unbelieve and closing up the summer cottages for the winter. the family will be gathering at the cottage mine and all of lindy's I have decided not to go this year as I am not great around crowds at the moment and there could be up to 15-20 people at the table. the stores are full of local fall veg and I have put some in the freezer ie. chopped multi coloured peppers, celery and leeks great in stews etc. worked my way through a big basket of tomato's even eating some like an apple's. I have even chopped some onions and put them in small freezer bags just to toss them in . a friend of mine even freeze's mushrooms but I have not done that. going to pick up some of the squash for when chris comes I cut the acorn squash in half get rid of the seeds and then fill the both sides with brown sugar and maple syrup and cook them in the micro wave for about 20-mins the kids love that. the spaghetti squash is fun to cook as well. hey fred who knew that i could be creative with the cooking ! it will be good to see what he has to tell us about his holiday looking foreward to that, just heard on the bbc. that norman wisdom had died he was great to watch. and also that tesco is doing well on the business report. so enjoyed the final of the ryder cup it was great well it is time to bring in the rest of the balcony stuff ie. all the solar lights did the chairs the other day, hope you enjoyed your lunch brenda it sounded like it had a great menue bye for now dorothy

evening troops,here i issss again,fresh back from Boscastle and Tintagel of King Arthur fame,,we were lucky to find a coastal rescue vehicle making spare cash for their coffers by running a service up and down the cliff path for people who couldn't manage the walk so we got down to the castle entrance and got some good pic's,after all.
Boscastle was so busy we couldn't find anywhere to park so we are going back tomorrow ,parking the car in Town and taking the bus instead,but we did glimpse the damage caused by the floods two years ago and the town still isn't yet back to normal ,but is getting there.
Well done with the squash Dorothy,sounds nice,and if i can find a way to substitute the sugar ,i will give it a go.
Hope you enjoy the Brazil meal Brenda,sounds a bit of all right,see you tomorrow peeps,Fred

Evening all,nice to see that you got back on the boards ok Dorothy,you sound pretty organised with the veggies as welli do somr veggies for the frezzer ,especially if they are a good buy.
The Brazillian meal was good Fred ,but don;t think all my friends liked it as much as we did . It is a bit dear but ok occsionally for birthdays etc
Have to start doing my christmas cakes in the next few weeks ,if they are to be done by my holiday in December so I can ice them when I get back,
Not doing as many this year I am doing square tins and then cutting them in half ,as they all said they took them ages to eat!!
John managed to get out on the golf course today and enjoyed it.,mind you it was good weather
Enjoy the rest of your holiday Fred,sounds great.you must have some great photos.
Gpoing to watch CSI MIAMI now ,be back tomorrow.Brenda

hi all,just a quick message to say I will not be here for a day or two have a busy couple of days ,doing some babysitting after my spanish class tomorrow and out for the day with my sister on friday,take care all of you Brenda

goodmorning I have been up since 6am as the cat(simon) who never made any noise when his brother was a live has developed quite a voice or should I say a roar and howl when he wants something and it is so croaky after not being used for years, but the view from my window is wonderful the sun is shining and the tree's are alive with shades of red and orange , brenda hope you enjoy yourself for the next 2 days and it sounds like fred and liz are having a good time. going over to spend the morning at my son's(with laundry in tow love that big machine) and andrew and I need to have a talk updating some things re my health and decisions in case of problems, ie. no artificial machines etc I know that sounds morbid but he has the power of attourney over my health so every now and then we get t0gether and keep things fresh. you need that if ever things go wrong so that the hospitals don't take over. and organ donation. this will be a busy week-end in town with the long week-end but it looks like the long range forcast is good so folks should get the cottages closed and what ever work need doing. andrew has put the swimming pool to rest for the winter and all the summer furniture away, but keeps the bar-b-que handy for his winter cooking the deck has a roof so cooking in the winter is ok.the deck/patio runs the width of the back of the house .spoke to my sister yesterday she arrives next wednesday its a 4hr flight she arrives at 3-40 so should get to me by 5-45 if the shuttle does not have to many other passengers to make stops for. well time to get ready and head over to andrews bye for now dorothy