General Chat

Hope you enjoy your holiday Brenda, our weather at the moment looks set to be pretty cold and nasty so a good time to (hopefully) enjoy a break from it. There seems to be some nasty germs going round at the moment - so many people have sore throats or colds.
Fred, my laptop has been used as a backup for some work my son and grandson have doing - working on a website g.son is designing for some one - with rather specific requirements. All done now - and they are not going to use it again!!!
As usual you seem to have been keeping very busy with your garden, I had a good supply of courgettes, beans, tomatoes, and salad stuff - but cabbages fell prey to caterpillars and snails - all ruined but my sprouts and broccoli are doing well. Kept my neighbours well supplied with cucumbers as they did very well indeed this year and I have a good supply of chillies. Getting a bit harder these days, have to do things in small doses - old age is getting the better of me at times now - well it's having a good try but I don't let it win too often. :-P

Take care
Love
Kathleen

Hi everyone,sorry I missed your birthday Fred glad you had a good time,think Dorothy would like the snow !!
Glad all your work is coming together.
We are almost ready for the holiday sits just the packing now.!!
will be thinking about you and I should be able to get on a computer over there and get on here to say hello.
Take care
Brenda xx

Got news for you Brenda ,heeeer heeeer,bad news comes in 4s lol,the old pest is back [me]
Shame about the bro in law losing his job ,just before Christmas too. my son looks to be losing his as well ,and him a chef / fish fryer,and that is supposed to be a safe sort of trade ,cor ,again ,i am glad i am retired ,and don't have to worry about that anymore.
yes ,nice to see you back Kathleen.don't know exactly what you mean about hijack ,wether that means your account being hacked ,or someone in the household snaffling your 'puter , but either way ,a good few people on genes can show you how to make your computer hijack free ,and a few members can even talk you through how to do that online :-).
The stairlift is in ,working fine ,and as it turns out ,the little shoe rack we have at the bottom of the stairs is fine ,and dosn't need to be moved at all.job done ,lol,all we need in now is the new french doors and windows,hopefully in the next few weeks,and then of course the removal of the bath ,and the fitting of the new wet room,and floor level shower. :-D.
Had a brill' birthday,made even more special after the good wishes of so many people on genes ,i didn't know i had so many friends on here ,and made so much more special after it started to snow as we came out of Morrisons. :-D :-D.
Have a lovely holiday Brenda ,after your last few weeks ,you really need to relax ,so ,have a smashing week ;-) and enjoy the better weather over there ,safe journey,and blessings to all ,Fred.xxx

Hi Kathleen,lovely to hear from you again.
There is usually only Fred and myself on here these days and then not so often.
John from New Zealand pops on when he can/
I am doing alright at the moment ,have had some trouble with my leg and have been having physio which is helping..
Going on holiday at weekend ,which we are looking forward too.
Have had a week of bad news my friends dad died suddenly at weekend,
my brother in law was made redundant and my niece was on holiday in Tenerife,and her baby daughter was taken to hospital with pneumonia ,!! thankfully she is a lot better and came home on Sunday Hope that's three when they say bad news comes in threes.. !!!!!
The weather has not been as bad as we had thought but we have a chance of snow in the next few days
Need to get on with the ironing
Hope you are all well and stay warm Take car e
Brenda x

Hello Fred , Brenda and anyone else who may be looking - I am back and this time hopefully will be able to retain my use of what is supposed to by MY laptop . It has been hi-jacked a few times and the result has been that all my settings have been messed up - or perhaps it really is me - that is what they tell me anyway.
As it is rather late this will be brief - just really want to say Happy Birthday Fred, hope you are keeping well Brenda. and see you sometime tomorrow (well later today I suppose).
Love
Kathleen :-)

Hello Fred , Brenda and anyone else who may be looking - I am back and this time hopefully will be able to retain my use of what is supposed to by MY laptop . It has been hi-jacked a few times and the result has been that all my settings have been messed up - or perhaps it really is me - that is what they tell me anyway.
As it is rather late this will be brief - just really want to say Happy Birthday Fred, hope you are keeping well Brenda. and see you sometime tomorrow (well later today I suppose).
Love
Kathleen :-)

Hello Fred , Brenda and anyone else who may be looking - I am back and this time hopefully will be able to retain my use of what is supposed to by MY laptop . It has been hi-jacked a few times and the result has been that all my settings have been messed up - or perhaps it really is me - that is what they tell me anyway.
As it is rather late this will be brief - just really want to say Happy Birthday Fred, hope you are keeping well Brenda. and see you sometime tomorrow (well later today I suppose).
Love
Kathleen :-)seems to have tripled will try to delete

Morning to Brenda ,and anyone else who happens by,from a veeeeeeery windy Newcastle lol,been blowing a storm all night ,and has just this last half half hour started to drop a tad ,and i have just come back in doors ,after re tying the barrels ,but a different way.
Everything else out there has survived okay ,but two of the fruit trees look a little bedraggled to put it mildly,with the fig tree blushing after loosing all it's leaves overnight ,and is now butt naked ,he he :-).
Got the firm sorted out about the heating servicing ,after telling them that if they wern't out this next week ,i would not only complain to the gas regulatory body ,but they would also loose my custom waiting four weeks for service is unacceptable ,.got a phone call back within ten minutes to say the engineer would be here tomorrow morning :-|.
Yes ,pleased with the way things are going Brenda,we may have to wait until the new year to have the inside work done ,but at least ,we should have the windows and doors done by early December ,so the house should be nice and snug for Christmas,with no draughts coming in we won't know ourselves ,lol.
The email i sent to you via the net ,i sent to Dorothy as well ,but it bounced yet again ,it would seem she is having server trouble yet again,so pehaps ,if you phone her ,you could let her know that all is okay here ,and that i will try to email again mid week,we hasn't forgotten her ,lol.
time to go now ,and see to dinner ,now't posh ,a jacket tattie ,some meat out of the freezer and a small side salad,and for tea ,a mac' cheese ,and for the boss [the two legged one] a cauli ' cheese,yum.
Catch you later Fred. :-D xxx

Just a quick reply before I head back up to bed, been there once at just gone ten had a read for a while and just could not settle. So came down here had a hot drink and a little surfing on the lap top ..
Hope you get to the bank ok Fred and also enjoy the fruits of your labour with the apples.
You cook your chicken like we do ,making sure its all cooked.
Got two hospital appointments this week so had my wings clipped a bit ,but if John is not golfing tomorrow and will drop me of after the hospital ,depending how long I am there !!! I might get to see my mates for lunch ,
Weather was not bad here on Monday when you see what happened in other places.
Eyes are going now so I had better get back up stairs before they go altogether and I fall as sleep down here ,it has been known ,but I wouldn't want to drop the lap top like I did the book I was reading last time !!!
Take care ,hugs Brenda x

morning to Brenda ,John ,and anyone else who might look in :-).
Managed to get the garden battened down yesterday ,even the water barrels and their stands to prevent them flying about ,like they did the last time the October winds caught them ,lol,but the wind has only started picking up a little here ,and i hope it won't be as strong as it was earlier in the month.
I also got the apples picked this morning ,just in time i reckon ,as one had been blown off overnight and landed on top of one of the gas bottles,he he ,a little bruised but not too badly.
This is the first year the apples have been as they should be,and i had forgotten what type they were ,but i did have an inkling ,which turned to surity after i bit into the bruised one [my excuse ,and i am sticking to it ]they are Jonagold ,veeeeeery tasty ,yum,and i reckon some pies and crumbles are on the menu ,one thing is for sure ,no sugar will be needed at all.
We were hoping to get to the shops today for mini statements for the council people to peruse when they come ,but the darling son ordered a gas fire to be delivered here because he is on holiday grrrrrrr, the fire is well overdue and we can't really go anywhere until it arrives and is signed for,but if it dosn't arrive today ,we are doing the bank run in the morning ,and stuff his ruddy fire :-P,he can go and fetch it himself from the warehouse which is in south shields,lol.
Have to do a shoot ,the dinner is my chore today ,and i need to slit the legs from the breast of the chicken ,to make sure the heat penetrates the thighs ,otherwise they will undercook :-(.
Catch you later people ,take care in these winds ,Fred.xxx ;-).

Hi everyone I was sure I had done a reply to Fred's earlier message, but I have either sent it to outer space or intended to do it and did not.
Fred glad you are getting somewhere with your chair lift and having the bathroom done. hope like say its done for Christmas. I also hope Liz is doing ok.
We used to have a plastic green house ,in fact we have had two, one blew away
and the second was weighted down etc as you suggested .but somehow it was torn at the seams, David wants to try another next year ,but we will see if he still feels the same when it comes to it..
Nice to hear from you John ,hope your weather improves for you and you enjoy a good summer. we have had a real wintery day here in Northwest heavy rain very windy and the roads and pavements are strewn with leaves of all colours ,!!!
Not good for walking on ,very slippy.
Better get on with other emails
Take car e
Brend a xx

Hi one and all
Posts appearing several times - happened to me on here but I managed to delete them. Have just renewed membership for another year. Waiting for a bus to go shopping missed the earlier one.
The weather like elsewhere on this planet is forever changing with disasters thrown into the mix. The spring rains at times have a wintry bite with fall of snow in the mountain areas of the country. All we say is roll on summer and to expect high temperatures once again. The fires in Australia are terrible and weather forecasters say to expect some of the smoke cloud to drift over the Tasman Sea to New Zealand.
Catch up another time, John

Morning peoples ,where ever you are ,lol, from Newcastle in the wet and windy north. :-).
No chance of outside work today even though the trailer has gone off the drive ,away down south with the eldest son ,and partner ,no chance of us going away with a caravan in this weather ,collapsable or rigid ,he he ,i likes me comfort these days.
\at last ,the council have been in touch about the lift and bathroom ,and we have asked them to organise the contractor for us .
This has come at the right time too ,seeing as the wife's eyesight is failing and she will be needing help to get into the shower to her seat ,the bath ,at the moment being a big obsticle to both of us. ;-).
Anyway ,they ,and the contractor are coming out this week to get everything finalised [i hope] :-),so with any luck it will all be done by Christmas ,and it will be our best Christmas present ever.
The new portable fire has arrived ,both a gas fire and a halogen fire ,meaning ,no matter what with the power cuts ,i can at least keep the missus warm in the lounge until the power comes back on line. :-D.
I am going out back while the wind is low ,to pick all the apples off the tree ,and will spend some time this afternoon making apple pies ,a crumble and other goodies to put down in the freezer ,and will make up the sundried cheese and tomato bread while i am at it.
will take a pic of the little greenhouse when i put it up Brenda ,and give you some idea of the size,big enough to put 10 seed trays in to give you an earlier start in the garden,and collapsed and in the box ,it can be stored in the broom cupboard ,or in a shed.
y garden such as it is ,will be all change next year ,the potato sacks at the bottom next to the greenhouse and back fence ,all the other gear rearranged as needed.
need to be out front this week too ,the stump rooted carrots on the patio are ready to crop,one trough at a time i think,which will save us buying carrot for a few weeks at least.
Making a chicken sand leek dish for the dinner today with small roast tatties ,and some steamed veggies ,nice for a chilly day. :-).
Catch you later peoples ,take care all,Fred.

Morning to all ,from a ruddy cold north east of Blighty ,i even had to put me coat and hat on to go out to pick the calabrese for the dinner today ,brrrrrrr :-) which is ,two large fillets of Cod ,placed in cook bags with the herbs ,salt & pepper,tomatoes and veggies such as peas and french beans yum.
Don't see as a greenhouse is a must even in a small garden Brenda ,i know i have one for some tomatoes ,and for starting veggies sooner ,but you can buy a collapsible one ,weigh it down on the inside with paving slabs ,and use it to grow your seedlings in,and then collapse it and store as you put the veggies into their growing positions. ;-).
A lot of my tomatoes ,as the veggies [all of them] are grown in buckets and if you use the cherry variety ,they grow well ,and give lots of cherry size fruit ,sweet and firm ,just right for salads as well as cooking.
y actual growing space is no bigger than 6ft x12ft and i get loads of fruit and veg from it,not of course counting the urns and tubs growing fruits and herbs that are set on the paths around the garden front and rear,but more than enough to give variety ,and give me something to keep me interested ,lol :-D.
Still busy with the stripping down of the garden for the winter ,and ,i have the puters and car cameras to update ,and the dinner needs started,so i had better get the old butt in gear ,he he :-).
Catch you later people ,Fred. :-D.

HI Fred and any one else looking in, good to hear that all your hard work has paid you back with dividends.David was pleased with his first attempt at growing veggies but like John he says we need a green house. However where we would put it has always been the problem.!!!
Glad that your grandson is enjoying his leave and so pleased he is doing well in his career.
Bet he is loving having all his favourite foods cooked by you and Liz of course.
We had lots of different olives on the buffet at the hotel, John had some of them but I am a little "reserved" when it comes to things like that.
I am trying to make dishes for us with no or less meat and also using more fish.
some things have been ok but others haven't.
Bought some ink for the printer I got of you ,I have been getting the proper stuff but Sainsbury's had their own on offer so I thought I would try it. It was a lot cheaper Hope its ok/
Have finally managed to get my pictures from the camera on to the lap top/Just have to print some of and find out how to attach them to emails. They do not seem to have the same system.
Will send you a couple when I manage it.
Have a good weekend Take care
Brenda x

Good Morning to Brenda ,and anyone else who looks in,and yes Lass ,our tomatoes are about done too ,we have put them into newspaper and put them on the window sill to ripen.
It's now time to empty the greenhouse for the winter ,finishing off with a fumigator bomb to kill all the disease and bugs from the growing season.
The beans are are still hanging in ,but the next hard frost will see them die off but considering how late they [and everything else] was put in we have done very well this year.
The Bay tree is now in the front garden in the round border up near the top of the lawn ,where it will be fine ,it now being fully hardened.
My Olive tree is now showing some actual olives he he [too late was the cry],but it should be fine for next year. :-D.
My brassica has done very well ,the cabbage are now ready to use ,and the calabrese main heads long gone [yum] is now throwing side heads ,so we will be okay for a few weeks before we have to start buying again.
The potato sacks are now covered with a huge tarp,waiting until we have used the barrels out front first ,and all the soil from said bags will be stored in the tarp as we empty the bags ,so that i can reuse it next year after adding Dried sea weed and manure to it .
The grandson has been out and about a lot while he is on leave ,and will go back to Germany on Sunday afternnoon,catching the ferry from shields over to the continent,where he has another two years to serve before coming back to a home posting.
His C O is so pleased with him with his studying and work load that he has put Sean in for promotion to sargent 12 months ahead of time which is a bonus ,it adding to his pension pay out in three years time.
We are now awaiting word from the builders for a start day for our new doors and windows which will make the house a lot warmer ,and snug ,but in the meantime ,the reflectors behind the radiators that i made ,are working well and the house is already warmer by far with the heat being thorwn back into the rooms rather than going out through the walls. :-).
Doing wraps for the dinner today [one of Seans favourite meals] and will be doing a chicken dish with mash and veggies for our daughter when she comes for tea.
Off to do a bit of work now ,gatch you later peoples ,Fred. ;-).

just noticed that my last message has been posted 3 times ,not sure what I did to do that .!!
Weather is getting very grey and colder down here not sure what it is like for anyone else. It has rained on some days and then we have had some great sunny bright days when it has not been as cold.
We have some painting to do in the next few weeks want it done before the next holiday as it will be to near Christmas when we get back and I want to get my carpets cleaned professionally..
David is still getting some tomatos from his couple plants, We have cooked them as they are a little hard but have been ok.
Hope everyone is ok and keeping well and happy.
Take care Brenda x

Evening all,just back today from 11nights in Ibiza , had a lovely time did not do much just had a really relaxing time.
The weather was fantastic and we all had a lovely tan, we did not normally bother wanting to look "tanned" but the weather being so hot we had to make sure we had the proper protection .
Now have to sort out the washing and then get it dried.!!
Have a few appointments over the next few weeks ,teeth eyes and doctors so that's a few days earmarked.
have a few social things on, a christening on Johns side his great niece , a friends
70th birthday and a get together with some former work mates,(didn't want to say old!!).
Will be back in a day or two when I have caught up with my work, Brenda xx

Evening all,just back today from 11nights in Ibiza , had a lovely time did not do much just had a really relaxing time.
The weather was fantastic and we all had a lovely tan, we did not normally bother wanting to look "tanned" but the weather being so hot we had to make sure we had the proper protection .
Now have to sort out the washing and then get it dried.!!
Have a few appointments over the next few weeks ,teeth eyes and doctors so that's a few days earmarked.
have a few social things on, a christening on Johns side his great niece , a friends
70th birthday and a get together with some former work mates,(didn't want to say old!!).
Will be back in a day or two when I have caught up with my work, Brenda xx

Evening all,just back today from 11nights in Ibiza , had a lovely time did not do much just had a really relaxing time.
The weather was fantastic and we all had a lovely tan, we did not normally bother wanting to look "tanned" but the weather being so hot we had to make sure we had the proper protection .
Now have to sort out the washing and then get it dried.!!
Have a few appointments over the next few weeks ,teeth eyes and doctors so that's a few days earmarked.
have a few social things on, a christening on Johns side his great niece , a friends
70th birthday and a get together with some former work mates,(didn't want to say old!!).
Will be back in a day or two when I have caught up with my work, Brenda xx