General Chat

OH Sylvia.what a shame.all this time you have been wanting to be well to go away and Johann isn't well enougth!!!
I will keep my fingers crossed that we get away ok and that you and Johann get well soon.Just on lunch at work so haven't much time,hope everyone else is ok.Speak to you tomorrow,Brenda

Hi all,
Well Johan went to the doctor this morning and we now know we cannot go on holiday on Thursday. I hadn't packed the cases but just had heaps of clothes etc ready. I had told my help in the house I didn't need her for two weeks so will have to contact her again now. I paid her in advance so she won't be running back to me as she thought she had a holiday too.
They don't know what is wrong with Johan yet. Actually I haven't been feeling 100% either so maybe it is a good thing we are not going.
My daughter and grandchildren who are in London are ok. My granddaughter phoned in tears yesterday to say they had missed their plane - why, shopping and thinking all the people in front of them were going on their plane. Anyway they managed to get another plane at 16.30 and paying another 15 Euros. The worst thing was missing another day. Linda said London by night, instead of London by day. I phoned yesterday evening and they were sitting in an Irish pub in Kensington waiting for their dinner they had ordered. They were going to do a sightseeing tour this morning and hope to book a show. I told them where they could get tickets 1/2 price. Let's see if they follow mummy/granny;s advice! I phoned again this morning and they were eating a good English breakfast - which they all love.
Now let's hope that Brenda gets away safely. I'll be able to hold the fort now Brenda!
Sylvia xxx

goodmorning from winter wonderland Yes brenda I did get down to isobelle's I took the boys home at noon it took 20minutes to clean the snow off the car it was the heavy stuff about a foot had fallen, the highway was not too bad I drove in and out of snow squalls but got there allright, brampton had no snow it was a lovely late fall day cold but sunny the differance in weather is really strange just about an hour and a half apart in distance, sylvia I do hope that you have a great holiday it sounds like you will, gosh brenda you trip has come along fast but probably not fast enough for you I hope you and john have a fab time. this week I need to whip the apartment into shape and perhaps write my overseas xmas cards the season will be upon us before we know it. we are suppose to get snow every day this week so the ski hills will be opertaing soon I would think. bye for now dorothy

Hopeyou get chance to read some messages before your holiday Sylvia,I am sure you will still have a great time.
We go a week on Friday and this weekend I will decide what I will take with me,then repack everything a few times before we go.
Weather here wet and dismal,hope the white stuff doesn't stop yourvisit Dorothy,might get to Bury on Saturday ,but not sure yet.
Might nip to town tomorrow Debenhams have a sale on and John has seen something he wants for a christmas present for someone.
My hand has been a little sore but not much ,could havebeen worse,well better get off to bed ,if we are having an early trip to town !!!
take care ,Brenda

Hi all,
Just a few words in case you are wondering what I am doing. Well have been so busy preparing for our holiday. It is now Sunday and we are off early Thursday morning. First lots to do. Monday my help comes and in the afternoon we have a pedicure. Tuesday Johan has to go to the doctor and I go to my craft workshop. Wednesday I have my bladder rinse. Inbetween of course last washing and ironing to do.
Have a nice 65th birthday Fred. I've forgotten what it's like to be 65. Gosh was it so long ago!
So I'll be in the sunshine on Thursday but I am not allowed to sit in the sun. How wicked is that? I love sunbathing too. But............ skin cancer is not funny either, and I don't want to have any more bits cut away from me.
See you all tomorrow.
Sylvia xxx

goodmorning from winter wonderland yes the rain yesterday turned into the white fluffy stuff lots of it and it is still floating down but the tree's look beautiful I guess some of the rain froze and they are all sparkling. brenda sorry to hear that you got your hand injured but I am sure you looked smashing all dressed up, fred well the big one 65 I wishyou a great day and remember it is only a number, your lunch menu sounds great enjoy, the boys had a good evening last night we rented a couple of movies and we had popcorn as well, they did not go to bed till 11pm so are still asleep as I type it is 9-30 my time so I am enjoying the quiet I am supposed to go to brampton to-day after I take the boys home till to-morrow but it will depend on the roads I guess I will have to call isobelle and see what it is like down there I was looking foreward to a quick down. well bye for now dorothy

Hello al, well if I say so myself,I looked pretty good for the wedding ,with my hair done up as they say ,nails done ,new shoes and jacket ,scrubbed up ok.Taxi came we all pile into it David in front ,John and Myself in the back, and screeeeam! ,my hand was trapped in the front door,complete accident and after the initial shock no apparent damage.I had put my hand between the back and front door to pull by self in along with two carrier bags i was holding,David did not see my hand and shut the door,there was I screaming and they all looked at mewondering what was up and my hand was still trapped.!!! I couldn't tell them for shock and then when they realised, of course it was my fault!!!,which it proabably was but I hadn't said it was anyones fault. It is swollen a little and one finger is sore but there are no bruises and I can bend the fingers.
The weding was brilliant ,day was dry but greyish .hope the photos come out ok.
I did take some but not sure how they will come out ,having problems with my batteries,Anyone any good with digital cameras and batteries please,.
i keep gettibg the yelloe light for low battery when i use my recchargeable batteries even when they have just been charged and my friends ordinary battery worked her camera but not mine.
going to hang some washing out now might dry a bit, See you all soon,Take care ,Brenda

Goog morning all.Fred has decided to have the day off from family history,and so has time to himself [snigger].
Hissy is in the back garden having had her breakfast,and is skulking in among the brassica lol,she isn't too confident this morning after a run in yesterday with two HUGE magpies he he.
She was doing her usual,lurking in the undergrowth waiting for unwary birds ,when the magpies arrived.
She came barreling out of cover expecting the birds to scatter [ wrong],these two birds were having none of that nonsense,and in fact hopped towards her beaks at the ready,well ,hissy didn't know what to make of it all ,and skidded to an ubrupt stop,the two magpies hopped a step closer ,and her bottle went,i watched her scoot into the greenhouse ,tail like a bottle brush ,the coward he he.
I had to go out ,coax her to come out from behind the heater ,and carry her in doors,where she stuck to me like a klingon for the rest of the day,lol,even this morning when i opened the door it was ,nose out ,a good look around before the rest of her followed the nose ,tight to the house wall.then a quick dart into the undergrowth,where she is laying that low ,i can't see hide nor hair of her.
The meal out next Wednesday is fixed ,17 family members going to the chinese buffet in the metro centre to celebrate my retirement and birthday,so ,i hope someone is taking the cake lol,i will forget the diabetes for the day.
I don't normally bother with birthdays ,but this one ,being the 65 th ,well ,it is a bit special,after all.
Hey ,a litttle less than a week ,and i will be a man of leisure [yeah ,right] but ,at least ,i will be able to to the jobs ,as ,and when i want ,and do what i want ,within reasonhe he.
Sunday dinner today,on the order given last week,one frtesh chicken to roast ,together with sweet potato,sweet yellow pepper fluffy roast potato,and shallots.
The other veg is mash ,sweede and cabbage out of the garden,rounded off with giblet gravy.
The bird has had the cavity sprinkled with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper,and will be stuffed whith chopped up apple and orange,cooked breast down for an hour so that the fruit juices soak into the breast from the inside.
I will then turn it over ,sprinkle the breast with salt ,after oiling it wit ha little olive oil,then finish it off with some streaky bacon,in lattice form on the breast ,overhanging to the thighs..
Any one coming ,will have to be here spot on midday or you have had it lol.
Christmas this year will be a rest day for me,aas we go to the daughters for dinner ,and the sons for tea,boxing day we are with Martin all day,so our turkey will be put down into the freezer until Sean and his missus arrive back with us,we will then have OUR Christmas dinner with them ,and a few guests.
I loved the butteernut squash soup that the lass made during the week,done with ginger,but Liz wasn't too keen,,she likes soups with a pretty strong taste ,and this was a nice ,delicate taste which i enjoyed very much,so ,the remainder in the freezer is mine ,and she will have something else.
Have to get on with the dinner prep' now ,but i have plenty of time this afternoon to come back and have a natter..have a good Sunday allFred.

hi brenda after the hair and nails I am sure you will look smashing at the wedding hope you all have a great time, another rainy day over here but not very cold, I had a call to the school yesterday and ended up taking bryan to the clinic there was a hole on the school exercise area and he joggied into it and caught his heel luckily nothing was broken a bad sprain his friend was not so lucky he has a hairline fracture in his foot, a teacher decided that they were pulling a prank to get out of a test so medical attention was delayed, needless to say that did not go over well with my son so he is taking futher action at the school, I had to wait about 20 minutes to be able to take him from school, bryan is a straight A student who has never tried to miss a test so I am not sure what the teacher was thinking but both boys were hurt, good job we have a set of crutches in the family he will be on them for about a week and no hockey that is the worst thing for him. never a dull moment with the three grandchildren. the boys are over this afternoon for a sleep over as laura is having a girls night for her birthday with friends, Ian has requested shepherds pie for supper please grandma he loves it so that is on the menu. bye for now dorothy

Hi everyone,hope no one has got my bug??
Work was ok ,but due to the behaviour of some of the young people who use that library we now have security people on the door,!!!!
It is only on the days we open late ,and they now have to show that they are a member of the library and they have home work to do!! sorry state of affairs ,but when we have been threatend the management had to do something.the library is a bit isolated.it is on a main road but its not busy after 6,30pm/
Did some more shopping today and finished the errands i had to do the other day.Tonight i altered some pants i may wear to the wedding tomorrow.depending on the weather.
Tell you all about it on Sunday .At the hairdresseres for hair and nails at 9 am.
Brenda

Hi Everyone,well I feel a lot better today ,my headache ,ear ache and sore throat have gone I just have achey limbs!! Its not been too cold today so I went a drive out to do some errands that I should have done when i was ill,but my shoulders and neck are now a bit more painfull so have taken some paracetamol.Glad you are all getting into other interests now the weather has changed i have a list of things to look up.
At my friends daughters weding on saturday so I had better be 100% ,she has already had 4 people drop out this weekdue to illness.
Brenda

goodmorning from a drab winter day in barrie though the sun is to shine later !!!! we had a good time at Laura's birthday dinner and the chinese waiters sang happy birthday to her though Laura ended up sounding like flora that had the children in stitches but it was nice of them to sing to her. the boys are coming on saturday for a sleep over as she will have some girlfriends over at her house for a sleep over, so I will enjoy having bryan and Ian. to-day I am heading for the shops and the library alsoon thursday I have a job interview I recieved a phone call from a resort near here asking if I would be interested in doing some part time phone work for them so I said well I will come and see what is involved they told me to bring a resume well I have not done one of those since the 60's so I had a fun time putting one to-gether last evening. not sure who gave them my name I think it was one of the people in the building who knows some of the work I did over and above the nursing with the union and management and I think that she read one of the articles I had published at two of the universitys on nursing skills, I shall have to track her down and see if it was her. anyway it might prove interesting as it would give me something to do over the long winter months I will keep you posted, brenda hope that you are feeling better bye for now dorothy

Hi everyone
Keeping an eye on my internet limit, got a message the other day saying that it slow down to dial-up speed. The weather the past few days has been nice and sunny but forecasters say rain is coming. Cleared weeds from the garden this morning before it got too hot.
Checking out whether its worthwhile having a heat pump installed, if we do it won't benefit the whole unit which will be a pity - plus the cost is another thing too as they aren't cheap to buy. Take care, John

hi everybody once again fred had my mouth watering re the meal he cooked up for his grandson the man i should have his own cooking show, brenda I hope that you are feeling better I think that I am over most of it, to-day Laura is 12yrs old so we are all going out for dinner this evening she has picked the manderian resturant for the birthday meal it is a great chinese buffet place lots of really good food, Lindy is the middle of doing report cards for her classes at school so I am going over early to do some ironing for her I know my friends think I am crazy but I do love ironing it is one of the things I do well, don't do crafts of cook that well but my nana taught me to iron and I love it. we had a sprinle of the white stuff in the night it is on the roof tops but thats all . andrew just called to say he is working at home to-day so he has made a start on the ironing which is mostly his business shirts, and so he should I trained him well to do these things so I shall just finish what is left when I get there, sylvia I hope that you do enjoy your trip , fred I just recieved two new contacts on the yates family that look interesting that is on my dad's side of the family his mothers relations so I shall follow up and see where it leads bye for now dorothy

Goooood morning all,Brenda,John,Dorothy ,Sylvia,and anyone else who drops in.
Hope too that you havn't got the flu ,Brenda,it's the last thing you need,and certaily hope the oz flu hasn't arrived on these shores yet,it is a killer,and the jab will not kill it it's a mutated virus ,so all a body can do is take to their bed and dose up on asprin or whatever,to damp the symptoms down..
Well ,i have kicked off the Christmas cooking folks ,no kidding,i spent two hours yesterday evening cooking up the brine and spices for the corned beef,[which is taking up half of the fridge ooooops]
The bairn [Chris ] enjoyed his sunday rioast yesterday,lol,he is into his veggies now.
I did him cabbage sweede,carrot and parsnip ,all out of the garden,along with roast pork loin,with roast tattie ,new tatties,and home made stuffing,and of couse gravy .
Chris has instructed his dad NOT to come and pick him up until he has had his dinner He He,seems he likes his grandads cooking.
All the housework that needs doing is out of the way until Tuesday,so ,apart from visiting the council offices this morning ,i have the day free for my research,into my scottish Bairds.
I have at last found my Gt grandad [many times removed to David Baird ,born Wemyss Fife c1816,and have also found his siblings ,and the parents.
Turns out Davids Brother Charles was also a mariner,and when David moved to Sunderland ,durham,his brother emigrated to N S W oz,on board the ship Nantulus,so it looks like research is moving to oz and new zealand.
Off now for a swan around the boards ,catch you all later.Fred.

Hi all,
Hope you are not going down with the flu Brenda. Have you had your anti-flu jab yet?
Johan and I had ours last week, so we should be ok.
The weather is cold and miserable, but then again it is winter. Almost time for Johan and I to go to Spain, then when we come back almost Xmas, then New Year. I always think after Xmas the weather seems brighter.
See you tomorrow.
Sylvia xxx

Just a quick hello to you all as I am feeling a bit off colour,have a sore throat and a banging headache,hope its only something like the two day virus Dorothy had,and not this Australian flu everyone is talking about!!.
We do not appear to have heard anything about your election yet John it might be on the news at 6 o'clock mind you I missed the news this morning as I stayed in bed with not feeling well.
Be back tomoorw,feeling better i hope.Brenda

Hi everyone
Politics has ups and downs yesterday the current Labour government lost the election to National. As the prime minister concluded her thank you speech she dropped a bombshell saying she was standing down as leader and a new leader will be appointed. That news shocked people across the country, nobody close to her knew that was standing down. Anyway enough of that.
We have had two sunny days and that's nice. On Saturday after voting I cleaned the outside windows but its still smeary, so I have to try again later. We have put seeded potatoes into some pots however I think it may be a bit late. Jeepers its coffee time, catch you soon. John

hi everyone I am recovering froma nasty 2 day cold not sure how I got it especially as the weather was so nice for a week, now it is changing rainy and cold this evening we are having a pot luck supper in the lounge area of the building these are very interesting as the menu is so varied my menu item is desert but seeing that I felt so awful I did not make anything but bought a dozen fancies. anne called from bury this morning I gather the weather was not great she was expecting a storm this evening. not much going on at the moment so I will say bye for now dorothy

Hi there,been very busy today ,my day off and errands to do again,just going to sit down with a nice cuppa,but no cake or biscuit,they are rationed,not banned just very severly rationed.!!! Only having them at weekends as a treat which they where when I was a kid,
Out for a chinese meal tonight as its my friends birthday but it is bitterly cold already so it will be freezing tonight,!!!
I agree about the spam and the horrible jokes that get sent ,not just after this US election but about all sorts of "news items".
Again there are good and bad in all walks of life ,colour and creed,don't judge a book by its cover is my motto.
My tea is getting cold i have been informed by John so i had beter go and drink it..
See you over the weekend and have a good one.brenda