General Chat

What a promising start to a Sunday morning up here ,not too bright yet ,but dry and not chilly as the mornings have been here for the last week or so.
I hope my son will come back early from the camping trip in his new fold down caravan.the quick look i got of it ,looks promising ,a few odd things needing doing to it ,but it looks to be solid and well built,and at £400 ,i think he has scored.
He had one like this a few years ago ,but this one is more modern ,and when folded down looks just like a largish trailer with a tarp' cover .
Everything is built in ,cooker ,beds ,two ,and a bunk ,,benches to sit on and cupboard space,and a heater.
He reckons to get a new awning for it as soon as possible ,where he can sleep in the warm weather to keep cool ,sounds good. :-D.
At last things are cooking in the garden ,even the late cabbage are doing really well ,and all three types of beans are past the flower stage mainly and have beans on :-).
I have been looking at a Marshall seed list online and have selected a pack of special seeds ,all the brassica being mildew resistant ,and club root hardy.a new type of cauli' for the smaller garden ,large heads but upright habit leaves. a new Brussel that is a heavy cropper,Calabrese ,again ,new ,and a good side head ,followed by side shoots,and two sorts of cabbage ,one early ,and one very late,a good selection that should do me for two years ,for under £10,not at all bad.
I also noticed a perpetual spinach that is good for full season use ,good for going into gnocchi dishes ,and stir fry's so i think i will get one of those packets as well.
I would like to get those little jobs done this afternoon ,lol,if need be ,i can do the alarm on the door myself [once i can get these old ,stiff bones down onto the floor] ;-).but getting into the loft to do the coaxial cable for the free view is well beyond me ,i can't go crawling along the loft space any more he he,so i will have to wait for that ,until he shows his face.
Sounds like you and John are slowing down too Brenda ,oh what a gay day ,to realise you issss gettin' old ,lol :-0h well ,we can still dream can't we?.
Steak and kidney with a twist for dinner today,no crust on top ,in the way of pastry ,but we are trying a herby dumpling instead.along with the usual roast tatties ,shallots ,parsnips,and some cabbage ,out of the garden.
Catch you later all,have a nice Sunday ,Fred,Liz And Pussy tat :-Dxx

Hi Folks sorry to be missing for a few days ,Have been catching up on some things that I left while watching the Olympics,like Fred has said about slowing down,jobs that took an hour now take a half day!!
Weather still good on the whole ,this monring was great but its gone and started raining again now. Good jobs I got the washing in before lunch,
Have to go out now have an errand,.Take care Brenda

Morning Brenda ,and Dorothy ,who may be looking in even if she can't get on to add to the thread .
Well ,i took note of the forecast yesterday ,and set too yesterday morning and fixed up the flood barrier across the back of the house,the Patio door is now protected in case of deluge ,and i have an extra 6 inches of protection fixed in place ,which i can finish off in minutes in case it's ever needed,and have the back door barrier ready too ,just in case the dreaded flood comes.
Got it finished before i had to go to the hospital to have my eye scan ,which was fine so i was told ,with no change in the last 12 months ,good news for both of us ,as my eyes are needed more than ever these days ,without the car ,we are now house bound ,we neither of us can walk the half mile to the nearest bus stop,now that the council in it's wisdom cancelled the little phone as you need it service for the infirm ,and pensioners :-(.,if we ,the said pensioners cancelled our rates paayments ,they ,the council would be most upset :-P.
The worst of last nights deluge up here missed us last night again thank goodness,we only got hit the once a few weeks ago ,while the rest of the town copped a packet every time ,good for us ,but not so good for the other areas.
I have a fella coming out on Friday morning to fit a free view hi gain aireal into the loft which he has agreed to bring down the cable to the bedroom walk in cupboard ,fit a splitter to the skirting board and run the cable through the wall to the back of our T V,great as we have a lousy reception owing to a set top digi anntenna at the minute.
The best thing is ,i can punch a hole from the far end of the cupboard ,through the wall at skirting board level into the other main [guest] bedroom and run a second cable along the board to the other T V ,so we have free view in both bedrooms.
The old antenna is still fitted up ,and runs down to the T V in our lounge so we can get free view down there if we ever need it.
Watch out over there in Manchester all of you ,i see the government have succumbed to greed yet again and given the new franchise to first rail ,to run the west coast rail links ,despite the company failing ,and pulling out of the east coast franchise ,it bodes ill for you all ,rising prices ,a poorer service,and a more accident prone system within 6 years,our government has NOT learned by it's mistakes in the last 20 years ,and all it saw was ,wow ,a bigger pay out for us ,and getting a company that will be unable to deliver half of what it has promised
Have to do a shoot now and get my feet done at the clinic ,catch you all later ,Fred :-.D xx

Hi fred and anyone else who gets to look in.
Hope all your flood averting efforts work fred,
sound like you are not taking any chances.
Also hope the new ariel etc helps with your Tv veiwing
always assuming the TV will improve as it seems to be a bit stagnent at the minute,
Think I have picked up an ear infection ,my ear has been painful for a couple of days and I have been a bit dizzy a few times today even when sitting down,so I phoned for an appointment at the doctors for tomorrow,but have to phone at 8.30 tomorrow to try and get one of the emergancy appointments.!!!
Hope your foot appointment went ok Fred and I was pleased about your eyes.,Like you said they are very importment.
Better get going have a few emails to catch up on and need to check the internet for a new boiler.!! HAve agood weekend what ever you are all doing
Take care Brenda xx

Morning Brenda ,John ,and Dorothy,back to normal here this morning after clearing up and putting all the stuff back in cupboards after the Freeview antenna and cabling were put in yesterday.I actually persuaded him to put a splitter in the said cupboard and put the cable into the other bedroom to save me the bother so we have freeview in both bedrooms now .
The old antenna in the loft that is wired to the lounge is that old ,that it can't even be used for free view,but the lad said ,as we are now an existing customer ,he will come back any time we ask ,fit a new antenna ,connect it to the existing cable ,and take the old antenna away for us for £50 ,which i may very well do in the near future.
At least ,when Liz has an off day ,she has the tv and dvd upstairs which can be turned on and off without getting out of bed ,and her kindle ,cor ,i don't half look after her ,he he ;-).
We had that Gnochie dish yesterday for dinner [potato ones] done with sweated spinach ,chopped up bacon pieces,onion and cherry tomatoes [from the greenhouse]result ,a lovely dinner ,stand alone ,nothing needed to go with it,and will be having that again ,and soon .
There are a few other Gnockie types to try as well ,cheese and bacon ones ,veggie ones,stinky cheese ones [yum] and a few others ,so ,plenty of variety. :-)
still raining here at the mo' but it is supposed to be dry later ,and pretty warm ,so the boss is going to set the washing away when she gets up ,and i will give her a hand to hang it out later AFTER i have trimmed the lawn ,i reminded her that I am the gaffer in the garden :-P.
Things have finally come together out there ,nearly everything is ready to use ,cabbage ,all three types of beans ,the onions are now showing signs of ripening,and even the carrot and turnip are starting to thicken at the root,as the late summer ,such as it is ,gets to work.
Won't be too long before the plums are ready too ,yum and plum crumbles are in the freezer for winter days,and we may get a few figs next season the way the tree is growing ,lol,we already have shoots coming away at the base ,hmmmmmm ,it may be a case of moving it out front to where the olive tree is at the moment,and keeping the olive tree in back,where i can fleece it easier if needs be.
Liz is at the hospital on Monday for her consultation ,and i have told her not to expect miracles ,at least she is still pretty mobile compared to a lot of people on genes ,who are far worse off ,and having to use oxygen for a couple of hours a day will not make her housebound in any way at all,time for het to worry is when i can't look after her any more,and not before.
Yep ,you get to the doc's Brenda ,ear infection dosn't sound much ,but if left too long can lead to deafness ,and as you say dizzy spells ,but worst of all is the effects on your balance ,which can lead to a fall ,no good for anyone at any age :-(.
Time to take the boss her cuppa up ,catch you later troops,Fred ,Liz and the pussy cat xx :-D

Morning Fred,Liz,Dorothy and John (and anyone else looking in)
Did not get an appointment for the doctors on Friday,,but my ear was a lot better,will see if I have any problems over the weekend then phone if i do.
Busy day yesterday,had a haircut and then went for some shopping to stock up the freezer.
Had to get a new one in the week the hinge snapped on the lid of the old one so the lid was all out of kilter and we had to weigh it down to be sure it was closed properly.Mind you we have had it for well over fifteen years so we did not do bad.
We went out to my nephews 30th birthday party last night ,it was great to see the rest of the family,But the room was so warm ,!!!!
I have already got the washer going and will be doing a second lot later ,hope the blue sky we have now does not go grey and we stay dry so it dries on the line,
Well Fred you never cease to amazeme with your work load ,I feel tiered just reading about what you have been up to.!!
Hope Liz is ok at her check up tomorrow,I have two weeks now til I go for the injection in my spine which will(I HOPE) stop th epain in my leg and I can walk and shop as normal!!! .
David is of to the match today!! first of the season,so things are back to normal,according to him and John.!!!
Take care ,Brenda

Morning to all out there ,wherever you may be .
Got off to a great start this morning ,and got the front garden hedge border cleared of weed ,and then did the big rockery circle for good measure ,lol,sat and had coffee.on the patio and then dead headed the roses front and back ,and finished off todays gardening by trimming the tomatoes of the dead leaves and fed them and the trees.
All done now ,all the rubbish in the garden waste bin ,so weather wise it can now please it's bessy ,he he. ;-).
I take it you are having a Cortrisone injection Brenda ? hope it works okay for you,i have put mine off until i can get no pain relief with tablets,which i hope will do a long while yet :-).
Thank goodness we have the freeview up and running ,football is the one sport i hate ,loads of grown up ,over paid men kicking a blown up piece of leather around for a living ,and the odd few clubs with plenty of cash ,trying to BUY the championship with ego bound players ,which is no way fair competition to other clubs who cannot afford the likes of Rooney and the like. :-|.
Was it industry run this way ,it would be classed as unfair competition,and at least now ,i have plenty of footie free channels.
You should have tried E Bay Brenda ,and got a new hinge for the freezer for a couple of quid , and saved the money for something else,can't see any point in buying a new freezer while the old motor is fine.bit late now though ,lol.
Next time you go to the market ,do me a good turn ,buy a Lancashire Cheese Pie ,and describe the taste of it to me as you bite into it ,by 'eck ,i could kill for the taste of one of those right now ,nothing remotely like that up here ,mores the pity.
Having a tattie and mince pie for dinner today ,with a medley of green stuff out of the garden ,the likes of cabbage ,beans ,Turnip and Calabreese.and a posh small tea this evening bits of chicken done in a K F C style coating,a few cheese straws,and a little cheese and onion flan. :-D ..oh ,and our first strawberries from the garden with whipped [low fat ] cream.
Going out to the kitchen to check on the dinner ,catch you later guys.Fred hissy And Liz xx :-D

Morning all,its a bit grey here this morning,but it is dry,it might brighten up like it did yesterday,hope so .have washing to put out later..
Have a errand or two to do later ,so thats two reasons I need it to be dry.
I am not sure its a cortisone injection Fred ,its to help the nerve that is "trapped" and causing the pain its not the arthritis.The medication I am on is not doing whjat they had hoped it would do,
They injection might not work either ,.and it might mean an op to sort out where the nerve is trapped,But that will be a long while of .
Better get on with putting the washing out and my errands done.Takes me a while now to do things.
Take care Brenda

Evening Folks,had areally nice afternoon,after a bit of a dreary start.Got washing out and dried again,so I am a happy bunny.Hope everyone else is ok .
The weather is not supposed to be good for the bank holiday,not that we had anything planned,but its a shame for the ones who have.
Take care Brenda

Evening Folks,had areally nice afternoon,after a bit of a dreary start.Got washing out and dried again,so I am a happy bunny.Hope everyone else is ok .
The weather is not supposed to be good for the bank holiday,not that we had anything planned,but its a shame for the ones who have.
Take care Brenda

Morning all.its sunny and dry at the moment ,but that can change in an instant.I am out later with an old friend and hope the weather stays dry at least.
Might get up to Bury Market tomorrow ,if the weather is dry.
Hope you are all ok
Take care brenda

Hi Brenda,Dorothy and anyone else who looks in ,well ,what a waste of time ,the hospital seems to be at cross purposes with the consultant ,HE asked for an assesment as to wether oxygen was required in the house for a couple of hours morning or evening ,while the person who came out was asking if we thought oxygen was needed on visits OUTSIDE the house ,like walking outside ,shopping what ever .
Needless to say i asked the lady how she thought we did the shopping and went to the bank if we couldn't manage without it ?.
So ,we have now sorted out another review at the hospital for managing around the house and what ever,but after this ,i won't hold my breath.
:-(.
The cauli' cheese and Macaroni cheese went down very well ,and what's left is in the fridge for another meal [not tomorrow],shopping day and Fish and chips yum.
Well Brenda ,don't fancy our chances of an al fresco meal on the patio this coming weekend,he he ,looks like we are back into autumn already :-S.
Pity about the nerve ,and the injection and tablets not working Brenda ,still ,onward and upwards they say.
Catch you later peeps ,Fred & Liz.xx

I have not seen this thread before, well not that I can remember!
Can anyone join in?
I wonder if anyone who has put a recipe on here would be kind enough to add them to my Culinary Thread, they would be most welcome.

Bridget in Spain where it is 36 in the shade !!!!!

Evening all.well did not get to Bury Fred,got up klater than we thought and the parking is not easy after a certain time ,so leaving it till next weeke now.
Hope its not to autumn like this weekend I know a few people doing BBqs not that I am going to them,
Hello Spanish eyes Fred is the one with the reciepes ,our mouths water every time he puts anything on here. send us some sunshine please!! Nice to hear from you.
Hope you all have a good weekend.Brenda

Evening all.well did not get to Bury Fred,got up klater than we thought and the parking is not easy after a certain time ,so leaving it till next weeke now.
Hope its not to autumn like this weekend I know a few people doing BBqs not that I am going to them,
Hello Spanish eyes Fred is the one with the reciepes ,our mouths water every time he puts anything on here. send us some sunshine please!! Nice to hear from you.
Hope you all have a good weekend.Brenda

Had a fairly good day today ,went to the Library and met up with some friends and had a catch up over lunch,very nice and layed back.Came home and watched some tv,and then made a lovely tea .grilled steak and toms with mushrooms and onions and did a sweet potato baked in the oven(,which I was not keen on)
Weather was warm but grey and this afternoon we have had plenty of rain.Looks like they may be right abouta washout bank holiday.!!
Hope everyone is ok and enjoys the bank holiday weekend whatever they do. Take care Brenda.

Hi all ,back at last after trying to add a post yesterday and losing the lot as i hit the add button ,lol,sounds familiar don't it? :-|.
Yep ,the sweet potato is an aquired taste and i do add a couple to the pot at a LATE stage to the roasting tin ,otherwise they go all squidgy and 'orrible he he ,i tend to peel mine in a stir fry or curry and dice them up [nice that way],but scrub them and just slice in half for a roasting tin to stop them going to mush . ;-).
Had another dinner of roast in foil Marrow today ,weeeeeell ,at £60-p from Morrison's i couldn't leave it there ,could i .?
This time i made up a packet rice again, and used some bacon ,red onion from the garden sweated together in the wok,added a few herbs ,salt and pepper,[ground,mixed the rice and this together ,cleaned out the marrow and filled the cavities with the mix.
1 hour in the oven along with a couple of roasties ,with two shallots ,the veggies in the steamer ,and wallah,one nice Sunday dinner.
Been a nice day here ,bit i expect it will be back to rain tomorrow .lol,been watching our daft cat chasing the butterflies [cabbage white] in the back garden ,which i don't mind ,saves the spraying against the little critters he he.
All systems go now out there ,oodles of three kinds of bean to blanch and put down in the freezer ,cabbage now ready to come out,the first of the pickings of young turnip ,teased out of the troughs to leave the others room to fatten up,the young ones just scrubbed ,cooked whole [steamed] and stuck on the plate with lashings of butter [belting taste ] and ooooh ,so fresh ;-).
The onions are all out ,and are laying on the soil to start drying out,and every thing else is coming on well ,even me plums [on the tree] are starting to ripen.lovely victoria's ,crumbles coming up ,yum.
Pity you arn't a bit closer Brenda ,i have tomatoes and cucumber coming out of my ears so to speak ,and i think i will be making loads of stir frys to use them up ,along with the Pak Choi which are growing very quickly :-).
Crumpets tonight for tea ,along with nibbles from the freezer to make some much needed space for these veggies . :-D.
catch you later all,Fred, Hissy ,[tummy full of extra meat from the garden] ,and Liz ,playing games on her puter ,my turn for the meals today.xxx :-D

Hi All,having a nice lazy Sunday here,have got some washing on the line,which should be dry and can be brought in soon.
Did a nice peice of brisket for Sunday dinner,love the gravy from that. and there is some for tomorrow,so will not have to do much then,.
Should have done some ironing today but was enjoying the book I got from the library yesterday with a cup of coffee,so it will have to wait.
When are youin LIverpool again Fred?
David is at the match there today.
Going out to my mates later for a coffe and a chat ,seems its the only way just lately we can catch up/
Take care and enjoy the bank holiday
Brenda

Morning Brenda ,back in Liverpool on the 16th September ,stopping off at Southport on the way down to have our dinner in the Highlander ,before carrying on down to the Hotel.
See we up here are back to normal ,lol, 16c outside at 9-45 am ,dull ,with a few spots of rain already ,don't even think we are going to get an Indian summer this year [sniff] :-(.
Heard from Dorothy yesterday 30c plus out there ,lucky person ,and i sulked in the kitchen for an hour this morning blanching beans for the freezer ,having to sit at the kitchen table instead of the patio ,it was so chilly out there , :-0.
The pussy cat is in the sulks too ,lol,i wouldn't sit out there with her for my cuppa this morning ,so ,head in the air she flounced off back upstairs to bed ,he he ,Lord alone knows what i will do with her this coming winter ,she will be in the sulks for four months at least.
Stir fry for tea this evening ,with the first of the Pack Choi ,i put in just 6 weeks ago,and it dosn't look like the Apache spring onions will be far behind either .
Heard from Marshall's too to say my seeds were in the post ,so i should ,with any luck ,have them by Wednesday.
Going to do a little dusting now and after that apart from meals,i am doin' nowt,but play on the puter,and watch a couple of films :-).
Catch you all later ,Fred & Liz :-D xx

Hi Fred and anyone else looking in,wet and cold,really miserable here today ,but its a bank holiday so what do we expect???
It will soon be time for your visit to Liverpool Fred and I hope you enjoy your dinner on the way.!!
Have done a bit aof a tidy up in the bathroom,cleaned the floor ,tided the bedroom and photocopied some items for my sister,now having a wander round a few things on tinternet.just few home made wedges to be made for tea later to go with the cold brisket from yesterday and we wuill have some peas and sweetcorn as well.Ww should have a visit from one of my neices and family later which will be nice.But looking at the weather they might prefer to stay nice and cosy in their own place !! don't blame them/Think its time for morning coffee.
Take care Brenda