General Chat

hi brenda and fred this is for you two as you both have my e-mail address I have spent 3hrs on the computor as it went crazy yesterday lost my contct list, then I had to change my e-mail address a wee bit of course I had printed off a contact list a while ago but had not updated it so I have lost some, so my new e-mail address has one change a period after dee. and the rest is the same, fred I have also lost you of the messanger do forgive me. the air was blue as I am not that great on the computor when windows would not let me in I was very confused anyway I shall try and re do my contact list and tell folks the change to my e-mail small though it may be it is 10-30 am and I am still sitting in my night dress at this machine, had a quick read at the messages john sorry to hear about the delay it is the same the world over. sylvia and kathleen have a good week-end bye from a very frustrated dorothy

Sorry to hear that the op'was put off John,it's always because there is a last minute emergency ,but that is no consolation to you,but still ,it should de' go forward the next time,and Gayle will find things a little easier all round .Fred

Morning all ,and a quick message to Brenda regarding the greenhouse ,tell hubby that the need is ,you want one and you are the boss ,so there lol.
Honestly though ,you can buy a pvc one now from Netto that is collapsable for the winter and can be stored in a shed.about £50 the last time i looked,i couldn,t take mine down if i wanted too ,Mary would have a fit ,her chalet gone and no where to have a cuppa in the cold weather.
Have to go a message to the post office ,but back shortly.
glad to hear you have heard from Bill Brenda ,it seems his isp is not the best and he has to keep shifting round the site to get a reasonable signal ,goes to show how spoilt we are in this country.Fred

Hi all
Gayle never had her surgery, there was a five hour emergency operation meaning people due procedures on the Tuesday were sent home and asked to return the next week. So this coming Monday it's back to the hospital with surgery on Tuesday and we have been told the operation will take place. Craig who had come down while Gayle was in hospital went back to work and will be back down on Sunday afternoon. It is quite frustrating when patients get dumped off the surgical roster and I know it happens everywhere in the world of medicine. Enough grumbles.
Catch up soon, John

Morning all,
It's dry but windy again today,very grey so no doubt there will be rain later.
My friend was having a BBq at weekend but has cancelled it as it might be dry but will be very cold apparently.Will have to think about what to do for Sunday lunch now,have seen a BBQ chicken drumstick recipe that you can also do on a grill or bake in the oven ,might try that to make up for the lovelly food they do at my friends that we will not be having now.
Have spent a while on the phone today just making appointments,seems everywhere keeps you waiting these days ,I am sure its a big con to get your phone bill up!!!.
I am on work at 12.30 til 8pm so will be getting ready soon.
Fred have heard from Bill,he seems well.
Hoping to get some bedding plants tomorrow for the long trough like boxes (plastic) that we have,will keep them in a corner for w hile .but have seen some good ones on the local market that are not too dear.Would love a green house but John doesn't see the need.!!!
Well hope you all have a good day.See you tomorrow ,take care ,Brenda

Morning all,it Happens a lot Brenda,he he ,when the son is at cala Gran on holiday it's often sunny ther while it's cold and tiddlling down here,so ,at time it works the other way,suffice to say that i sat in the son for a while after i finished on the laptop ,and got a bit of sunburn on my baldy patch lol ,so ,i will be wearing the cap when shopping this afternoon.
Our weather is a bit like yours this morning ,dull ,not very warm ,and rain on the way so i'm told,but the sun is trying to break through so ,there is hope yet he he.
I have potted the bairns pumpkins into their final pots [very large ones ,so we may even get a few pumpkins off before the frosts start again ,but i have put the three pots next to the house where they have some protection from the incesant winds we get here on the corner site,so .we will see.
Our dwarf french beans will be ready to put into their growing positions next week ,so ,the season starts proper now.
There must be something in the wind folks cor ,the missus has been in the Chalet this morning potting on her petunias but ,i told her ,there is plenty more to do yet with aster,gazzania,dianthus, pyrethum daisy,and a few more ,waiting in the queue lol.
Going to start the main meal of the day,mince and onion ,with a dumpling and mash ,sounds good to me .Catch you later,Fred

Hi Everyone,I really thought I had left a message yesterday but seeing as there isn't one there I must have dreamt it.No luck finding a holiday .Might just see about having the week off nad then seeing how the weather is and go somewhere here for a day or two in a B&B,not Johns cup of tea but we shall see.
Dorothy bought Neils book today £3.86 at Tesco or two books for £7.00.Will start it when I have finished the one I am reading.
Fred where are you to be sitting in the sunshine we have very high cold winds here!!!
Kathleen hope your grandaughter has not done herself any lasting damage,but my neices are the same.
Sylvia hope you get your shoulder sorted.
Off to bed now ,did not sleep well last night and am working tomorrow.
Take care ,Brenda

Hi all,
Fred, I will contact you later when I have had a natter with the boss. He is asleep after dinner and lying (indoors) in the sunshine. Me, no time for sleep!
There are just not enough hours in a day for me. I seem to have finished my ironing now, but my hobby room really needs a good tidy up.
Today I phoned our doctor's surgery as I had a nasty pain in my right shoulder. I have had this before and have had injections for it. They have the injections in house, so they managed to give me an injection on the spot. It has helped a lot. I couldn't cut any bread or pick up anything with my right hand this morning, but now it is easier.
I do wish this cold wind would disappear. We are still having to have our central heating on at night. Daren't like to think of the cost of our fuel bill this winter.
My poor plants on the balcony don't like the wind either. Not so many birds at the moment, looking after their young ones still I suppose.
Have a nice evening,
Sylvia xxx

Afternoon Dorothy ,Kathleen ,Brenda,and everyone else ,ooooooo,this is the life lol,sat here on the patio with the laptop under the sun awning ,tinny in hand ,lapping up the warm nice sunny weather.
The missus took me shopping up to Cramlington this morning for a look around the market ,cum,boot fair ,and going through wide Openvillage [aptly named] we went through some roadworks where i hit a nasty bump where the company doing the repairs had done a lousy job on the temporary surface,we came down off this bump that was so severe despite the traffics low speed thjat there was a hell of a bang ,and i thought wow ,that sounds like a broken strut on the nearside rear wheel.
I stopped at the first chance i had and got out to have a look,and it was the near side rear quarter light that had shattered,the jarring was so sever that the adhesive had given way ,shoving the glass up to the top of the metal frame so hard that it shattered.
Phoned the insurance company as soon as i got back and they are sending auto glass out this evening to put a new panel in ,no charge ,but i tell you what ,no more Nissans for me,in future my new cars have windows with rubber all round the glass ,or i don't buy them..
Had i have had a passenger ,it could have been very nasty to say the least ,and i will tell Nissan that i am not pleased when the car goes in next month for it's 2 year service.Off for a snooze now in the sun ,the height of laziness lol ,Fred.

hi just read the messages from fred and kathleen re the orange tree etc I still have not planted things on the balcony as we are still cold at night last night it was -1 and frost , but love to read about other peoples gardens, as I do envy people with green thumbs, but hopefully at the end of the month I can get cracking with the balcony pots etc. soccer has started again for the youngsters so all three grandchildren are signed up for it so tues, wed, and thurs evenings will be busy as they all have a different night. the team that lindy coaches for her school (basketball) are in the finals on wed, so I am doing the guitar lesson run and the other grandma will take Laura to her match, so I hope to get to a match next week its a lot of fun. and the children will be looking for soccer shirts when they come over in july, lindy mentioned that they will be going to brighton and she found a good shop there last year, well it is time to do some laundry bye fornow dorothy

Good morning everyone, pretty dull looking here this morning. Very windy and rain is forecast for later. We could actually do with a little rain as the ground seems very dry but I hope it waits until this evening as my son is hoping to do some tidying up outside later. He will be sleeping for a few hours as he worked last night, a 12 hour shift, but has 4 days off now. Unfortunately the forecast says rain and high winds for the rest of the week so I doubt much will get done.
Shopping in Tesco the other day I spotted a lonely little tomato plant sitting on a shelf, I felt so sorry for it I bought it. When I got home son helped empty the shopping bags - and broke the one stem on the plant. I gave it some water and sat it on the window sill in the kitchen where, happily, it has grown another shoot and is looking quite healthy so I am hoping it will reward me with a good crop of tomatoes later.
I hope your orange tree grows well Fred, I have tried several times to grow both lemon and oranges from pips. Some have started well but have given up after a while, mainly I suspect from not having the right conditions. I don't have a greenhouse (wished for one but no luck), yours has a much better chance being grown from a fresh orange rather than a bought one which has travelled. Plus you have the magic "green fingers".
Dorothy, I hope you are feeling better now, sorry you had to miss out on the family dinner. The cottages sound interesting, I imagine everyone is different as each family has made their own additions. Sounds like a wonderful place for the whole family to relax and enjoy some time together away from everyday life.
I hope you manage to find a suitable holiday Brenda, it can be difficult when you are limited to places you can go. Sometimes you can fare better with last minute bookings.
Wow!! the sun has suddenly made an appearance and for the moment at least it is looking really bright though still very windy. Don't expect it to last long though as I can see clouds in the distance.
My g.daughter has been very naughty, her pneumonia has not cleared up and she has been given more antibiotics - but she wanted to go to an 18th birthday party on Sunday so she has disobeyed orders, not taken her tablets and is now not feeling very well. I am so cross with her, she seems to have reverted to being an 8 year old as far as common sense goes. Had another x-ray on Friday and has to see the doctor again this week. I think he will not be pleased with her.
Brenda, you asked if anyone had heard from Bill - well a few weeks ago I chatted with him on AIM and he was fine. I have to rely on him contacting me as (because Chris will not re-instal AOL) I cannot see when he is online but he knows when I am around. Has anyone else heard from him? Fred??
Hope Sylvia & Johan, John and Gayle are well and that Gayle has started her treatment now.
Take care
Love
Kathleen

Morning John,Dorothy,Kathleen,Brenda ,and anyone else that drops in.
We have at last ordered our new Hoover ,after the last one died on us after 12 years + ,so the funeral is this morning when the scrap man turns up to take the machine to the great scrap yard in the sky lol.
Poor old thing ,she never went wrong in all those years and never had a service either.
I sent Hoover a tongue in cheek complaint saying the machine had passed away after many years exellent service ,and that i hoped the new hoover i had ordered would do me for a good few years.
I Even had a nice reply lol.who says companies these days have no sense of humour.
Managed to get the hedge done yesterday ,the front lawn ,and potted on more gear in the greenhouse,followed by the housework,and was finished in time to sit on the patio all afternoon topping up the suntan on the knees which are now starting to turn brown,in time for the B B qs ,and the picnics on the beach.
Have to go now,i promised bec's a piccie of the orange tree which i grew from a pip out of the orange she nicked at the roadside in Cyprus,andi reckon in a couple of years it will be big enough to put into a big urn and go between the plum and apple trees.
Have a good week all ,catch you later Fred

fHumoiur

goodmorning the family dinner did not go as planned as on saturday afternoon I came down with chills and a fever and felt awful so I cancelled as I did not want to pass on what ever ti was that I had, so on sunday mothers day I spent it getting rid of this bug, andrew and lindy popped by with some flowers to cheer me up so that was nice then he left for the business week in ottawa, this am it is on the cool side but the sun is shining so we get a warm day later, there is tennis on again this week so I shall be quite happy, I think I will also change closets around and put out the summer clothes into my bedroom and move the winter ones into another room. brenda I hope you are able to find a holiday within your price range are you looking for one in england or abroad. Lindy was telling me that when she went to the cottage on saturday the water was quite high in the lake and the ice floes as they melted had moved some of the big rocks on the beach higher up but they were able to get the water lines hooked up to the cottage. next week-end is the holiday week-end and the highways will be busy with people coming up to see how the cottages have fared over the winter, a lot of the cottages are more like three bedroom brick homes and some people do spend the winter as some of the roads are ploughed out in winter, lindy's family cottage was built in the early 1900's and added onto over the years as the family grew .it is a fun place for the children as they can take out the row boats, canoes and kayaks (life jackets compusalary) I just walk on the beach and swim in the lake not to keen on boats, well time to get on with some housework bye for now dorothy

Morning all.hope you all had a good weekend.I have a few minute before I need to get ready for work,been looking up car insurance but not found much difference yet.Also been looking for a cheap holiday around beginning of July but thats when the prices seem to go up!!! We can only go up to a certain amount and John will only go to certain places so we will be very lucky to find anything I think.
Better go and get ready see you all tomorrow ,take care,Brenda

Morning all,its a bit chilly here today ,but we are supposed to have a bright day , when and how long for is any bodies guess!! so I had better get the washer on to get the washing on the line to dry. Will be out visiting my neice who's birthday is later this week but will be doing a course that day .so will see her today.Also have a few phone calls to make to a few friends about arrangements for various outings later in the week .
Might get back later as my car insurance is due soon and I want to check out the internet compare sites to see whats on offer.
Kathleen,I was really interested in your story,it makes you think how things really were then,and what people went through.
Hope the family meal went well Dorothy and you enjoy mothers day whatever you do. Have not managed to track Neils book down in the shops yet ,will have to order on line I think ,was hoping to avoid paying postage.It was not one the cataloque for new books in work but I can make a requst for them to buy it ,only it can take a month or so.Mind you I do have enougth unread books to keep me going.
Hope you all have a nice day ,take care ,Brenda .

Good morning all, a bright and sunny start to the day. It is forecast for it to get a little warmer for the next two days - then back to colder and heavy rain.
Friday was the 64th anniversary of VE day which brought back many more memories. Sadly no official commemoration of this day for fear of offending other nations - what a sad thing that is.
On the day my cousin and I went to Piccadilly Circus to join the celebrations, there were hundreds of people all in jubilant mood, dancing, singing and generally very, very happy. We went then to Trafalgar Square, just as crowded and just as happy, thence to Buckingham Palace where the Royal family came out on the balcony. It was such a sight when, as darkness fell, all the lights came on - no more blackout. We had a wonderful time and went home in style in the back of a milk lorry!!!! Tired but so very happy that it was all coming to an end as we felt it would not be too long before the war in the East would soon come to an end. There was also - in our family - the vague hope that maybe - just maybe Daddy would come home after all, though in my heart I knew he wouldn't but Hope (as they say) springs eternal....
Of course, in time, hope faded. We lost Mum 3 years later, she was finally at peace. Later that year I joined the WAAF and served with the Occupation Forces in Germany. I saw there how the people had suffered and witnessed the joy of two of our German cleaning ladies who heard that their husbands had been prisoners of the Russians and had finally been released. I was with them when they heard their names announced on the radio, they showed me photo's of their menfolk and we all hugged them and rejoiced with them. I married in Berlin, the German ladies who worked on the camp gave me my Hen night (all the WAAF personnel had been posted out - I was the only one left waiting for my posting) They asked about my family and I got so many hugs from the older ladies and they understood when I cried and hugged me some more. Two days later they all stood and cheered me on my way to the church. The lady who made my wedding dress sewed a little bag into the back of the skirt, it had a piece of bread, a pfennig and I believe it was salt.
Ordering my flowers was fun!! It was not their custom to carry bouquets so didn't understand (my German was limited to say the least). On the day what was delivered was basically a bunch of flowers so the service wives got together and with some ribbon made it look a bit more like a proper bouquet. On the way back from the church all the women working on the roadside (it was all women doing the navvying) stood and waved and cheered us. My posting had come through so I had a weeks leave before leaving Berlin for Uetersen - where, once again, the RAF didn't quite know what to do with me - but that's another story!!
Oh dear!! I do seem to be travelling down memory lane quite a lot these days - perhaps it's my age LOL!!!
Love to you all - and John hope all goes well for your wife.
Kathleen
(must press submit before I change my mind)

hi well it is a very wet saturday the rain is pouring down isobelle's son has just picked her up and they are on the way back down the highway, we had a fun tow days we went shopping yesterday found some good sales on baby clothes for the new additions to her family, plus some great bargins on ladies clothes, we did not do well at the casino in and out quite fast, plans for mothers day etc have changed andrew has to leave for ottawa and kingston to-morrow it is about a four hour drive so we shall all have dinner to-gether to-day at some point, lindy has gone up tot he family cottage to put in the water lines into the lake the other son- in law is hleping this time and to put the dock out into the lake so we shall see what time she gets back, fred the meall the other night sat well on my tummy, I do buy veal quite often ie for a stew and other things it makes a change, brenda sorry that you are not happy with the location you are working at.they are planning a new library for the south end of town to be finished in 2011, as they say they get 3000 yes 3000 a day at the one I go to not sure I quite believe those numbers but it is a busy place and I do make good use of it . well I shall go and tidy up a bit and read the saturday paper, John I wish you and your wife well with the procedure and hope that it will improve her health take care bye for now dorothy

Hello everyone,John I am so pleased that it looks like Gayle can start her treatment soon.Hope all goes well for her.We had mothers day in March here,it was near my birthday so it seemed to be forever.!!!
I am at work and have been moved to another library due to staff sickness.I do not like this library due to the building and the users ,but all the staff are great.
See you all again
Take care and have a good weekend.
Brenda

Hi everyone
Haven't been on GR for awhile and thought its about time I popped in. Gayle enters hospital on Monday [11 May] then has surgery the next day for the placement of the fistula in her arm and be discharged mid-week. Craig wanted to surprise his Mum for Mother's Day on Sunday, something that she doesn't like as she likes know who is coming and so I had to tell her when he was coming.
The past week we were both meant to be busy with The Salvation Army's Red Shield Appeal but the hospital pre-admission put paid to that. We still managed a couple of days.
Take care, John

Hi all, well we have now got the new keyboard and mouse installed ,my son did it in the end.He can not see why I wasn't sure this is the correct keyboard and mouse as they both run of batteries,we will see how long they last and see who pays for new batteries.!!!!
I am working tomorrow so had better get to bed ,have a good weekend,take care ,Brenda