General Chat

Hi everyone
Friday has arrived and I have today to finished editing a newsletter for Sunday.
Pollsters are predicting that Labour won't be the government after Saturday's election and that National will be. Several polls over the past few days with the final yesterday, says National would win. New Zealand has MMP so the final outcome could be quite different with several parties who don't win an electoral seat but get over the five percent threshold to be in parliament.
The election of Obama in the USA has been very interesting and already spam emails are surfacing that are not at all nice, the people that send them obviously have nothing else to do. It seems no matter what is done about spammers they will still carry on which is really annoying, fortunately the amount that I used to get is possibly one a day which Telecom misses. Mind you there must be heaps that they stop getting into our emails boxes.
I am cooking dinner today - chicken stir-fry and rice which will be very nice.
Catch up soon - John

goodmorning all well I am quite bleary eyed as I stayed up till 1am my time to watch history being madeI was very impressed with mr obama's speech and I wish him well in a job that is so thankless in many ways I pray for his safety and wish him well. I found the whole thing very emotional as my partner of 22yrs is also black and I can understand how many of that race feel to-day it goes to show that really the colour of a persons skin should not matter if they have the skills to do the job, I understand that many may not agree with me but perhaps my years in nursing have made me colour blind as far as all races are concerned the patient always came first not their race. and lets face it there are good and bad in all races and colour, to-day it is going to be warm again very unusual weather 20 degree's to-morrow I am taking the car in to be winterized, fred you never stop good to hear that the wedding plans are so well planned I hope that you and liz have a great time bye for now dorothy

Just managed to get on a public pc at lunch ,to do some scanning ,it did not work,but thats another story.Hopefully will be back tonight or tomorrow.brenda

Hi everyone
This month in New Zealand is referred as 'Mo-vember' as its when attention is given to prostrate cancer - guys grow moustaches which are then judged at the end of the month. The funny thing is that a lot of wives and partners are glad with the top lip is shaved. I mentioned the other day 'Marmite' the manufacturers are one of the sponsors and they have renamed it as 'Mo-mite' for this month. Strange isn't it.
The bruises are still coming out on Gayle's knees following her tumble on Sunday.
Catch up again soon, John

Hi Everyone,
Glad you are enjoying the books Dorothy,you can only reserve up to 12 books in our libraries,we do have borrowers who have a list which they bring with them and add them as soon as they have got an earlier reservation..I have about 8 on my list ,but I also have over a dozen books which I have been loaned or bought which need reading!!.
Fred,do you ever just take 10?? I get tired just reading what you get up to..so pleased you sorted the insurance and are ready to go.
Off to sort out the tea ,some sort of omelette/frittaa ,but a low fat version !!
Brenda

Weeeeell,hello all.cor .Fred has been busy,the son turned up as we got back from shopping yesterday,so it was decided that it was time to clean the outside of the van with the jet wash..
The van was so dirty that it took two hours to do the job,but ,what a difference,the washer even blastedthe green algie off the back end ,thats some machine.
Martin is coming back tomorrow to help with the insidewhich will have to dry out a little ,seing as the daft gowk blasted away the seal round the skylight, lol.but all is okay after being resealed by me ,using a silicone sealant using a fine nozzle to get right into the gap between the light and the van roof.
The flight has been organised ,we travel down to Manchester on the afternoon of the sixth ,we stay at the airport hotel overnight,and will get up early enough to get the car to the park,and report in to the flight desk at 6 a m.
I am doing the insurance through the coop bank,as we already have insurance through them with axa.
It now transpires that the lady has parents who will not be going to the wedding ,so i have now been asked to give her away,which i will do no problem,but he will have to get one of his mates to be best man,as i canna do both he he.
His new home turns out to be a bungalow with a built on sun roof out back [shades of oz],and is supposed to be very large by brit' standards.still .we will see.
We had two pannini rolls out of the freezer for dinner with a few chopped new potatos done in the fat from the cooked steaky bacon.I cut the rolls down the middle ,placed them on the cooker grill pan.
The bacon went on one half followed emmental cheese,the other half had tomato and fresh chive on ,followed by cheese,which i then grilled until the cheese melted,all that was left to do was put shredded cos lettuce on and stick the halves together.
For tea ,it's just pasta with cheese and broccoli.with,chopped turkey breast,nice and light.
Well ,time to get busy again,i need to do the most hated house chore [whispers,the oven] gasps of disbelief,lol.
Not so bad as i will split the job,do one of the shelves tonight along with the door,and tomorrow i will do the other shelf and ,if the mood takes me ,the sides and back.
See ya tomorrow peeps.Fred.

hi oh brenda what naughty cats you have or should I say they are following what nature intended them to do, the books I mentioned are very good and yesterday I finished the new peter robinson ie. inspector banks and it was also very good I was first in line for it at the library I have another 58 on request I just add everything new I see in the book store to the list so that I don't spend all my pension on books. trying to think of a gift for the grandaughter she will be 12 on the 10th but don't really have a clue I will be taking her out for dinner soon I like to take the children out for a meal just one on one it has become quite a tradition, laura's favourite meal is ribs so we shall probably go to a place called montana's usually on a wednesday of her choice as it is all you can eat ribs night for one price and she can pack them away she has hollow legs I think. well to-day is the us election so will be watching that this evening so I will watch casualty at 2pm instead of 8pm I am sure we are years behind but I do enjoy it. and bbc canada carries it at two times also holby blue, and eastenders also years behind. well I am off to the shops it is going to be another unusually warm day to-day 17 degree's possibly 21 this afternoon so I shall enjoy it while it lasts,looking foreward to news from fred re the wedding bye for now dorothy

Sorry to be late again,we have been told we can not use the counter pc's at work for personal emails full stop,if we need to use the pc we have to book a public on on our break.Thats fine when the library you are working at closes ,but when it stays open over lunch you get people asking you questions all the time.!!
Had a lovelly couple of experiences with one of my cats over the weekend,Friday i was getting ready to go and meet my brother as we had to see the bank manager and solicitor about dads estate,was running upstairs for something when i noticed feathers ,first one or two,then a few more,.on each stair going up from about halfway. At the top the white cat Alfie was really enjoying the remains of a bird!! Feathers all over the landing ,poor birds head on the top stair,now I know its in their nature but he gets fed twice a day and scraps from the table sometimes.so i cannot see the need for him to do this.
Sunday morning I am reading the papers having a nice cup of tea,just after breakfast ,my son was having a bath,I hear him come out of the bath room and then the language was blue!!! Alfie strikes again,this time he had gone to town and brought in a pidgeon!!!David my son ,had not known about the previous bird and was so shocked about what he saw ,hejust shouted and swore at the cat who was trying to defeather the pidgeon,the cat ran off with the shouting ,David put the bird in a carrier bag and brought it to me to put in the bin,(he was in his towelling robe.)So either we have a very good hunting cat ,or all the birds near us are so slow.We had thought of locking the cat flap so they can not come in on their own ,but we did not want to do that.So we will keep the kitchen door shut when we are not in there so we can sort of control what they bring in.
weather cold but sunny again today,was working 12.30 til 8pm so was tired when I got home,
working tomorrow 10-2pm then visiting my friend who's birthday it is,she is going out to the theater with her sister in the evening.So i have to go after work.
John I know what you mean about getting things down I used to have a to do list but not a lot got crossed off!! Hope your wife is ok after her tumble.
Dorothy any thing good in those books i am waitng on a lot of books at teh minute.
Fred any news on the wedding did you sort out insurance etc.
take care love
Brenda

hi john well the cats have recoverd from the time change as I fed them lunch early and since then they have been quite friendly with me, hope the wife's knees are better it is great hearing about your place on the world map regards dorothy

Hi everyone
Had a bit of trouble typing this on GR this morning so put on notepad and pasted it over. After a busy few days Gayle and I are both relaxing. I had a go at the both the quick crossword and sudoku in the paper and decided I would do them later.
The weather around the world must be about the same, on Saturday here it was raining meaning the outdoor band concert had to be cancelled and Sunday it was hot sunny day and the second outdoor concert went ahead. It was a hot 21degress c, I got windburn resulting in a red face. After the concert Gayle stood to go and fell onto her knees on the grass resulting in bruising. She said that feet went numb and as one does stood and stamped end result a tumble.
Brenda I think we all look at things but never finish doing the task we start. I been saying for past few years since I was made redundant that I would sort out the family photos and still haven't completed the task. Your Christmas cake sounds like it is going to make you tipsy with the amount of brandy being poured over.
As in the States here NZ we have elections coming up ours are on Saturday so the politicians are pulling out all the stops to be elected.
Dorothy you mention about vegetarians - in our paper this morning comparisons were made about two spreads Vegemite (which is an Australian) and Marmite (which a New Zealand one) and what made them different. It said that Vegemite doesn't have vitamin B12 whereas Marmite does and this particular vitamin is essential to the body. Both taste differently and we actually use Vegemite because of it. The article actually said that vegans miss out on this vitamn and should be eating food that have it. Made interesting reading. Hey you are mean with the cats but mind you they will eventually get use to a later feeding time.
Catch up soon. John

goodmorning it does sound cold brenda hope you wrap up if you go out anne phoned this morning at 8am my time we put the clocks back last night so we are now back to being 5hrs behind you, she had the whole family over last night for a meal and as usual put on one of her great meals she has two vegatarians in her family so the menue was as follows cheese and onion pie, a chicken and leek pie, steak and onion pie, mince pie, then roast and new potatoes, mashed sweet potato;s lot of veg etc and lots of sweet things for desert, her oldest son works in russia so he was flying back there to-day at 7am your time even when we were at school she was a great cook. to-day it is sunny but cold I am off to the library to pick up some books that are in and then to pop by the grocery store they have chickens on special buy one get one of the same value for free so it is time to stock up for the winter!!!!, the cats were confused by the time change they wanted breakfast at 7 but I turned over and made them wait it takes them a couple of days to get used to the time change, bye for now dorothy

Hello from a very miserable grey cold day here,no rain or wind just very grey skies!!!
Been out and printed some pictures ,will have to get my printer sorted soon,its ok in black and white but the colour is awful/.
Have had a few bits of information on my tree that i must get looking at ,.but will try being a bit more organised as I found myself looking at the same thing more than once !!!
Need to "feed " my christmas cakes later with the brandy!!
The veg will need to be put on for dinner soon,there is only the two of us but i freeze what we do not use for in the week..
Have cut down all the dead stuff in the garden so we could get it into the "green bin" to be picked up by the council in the morning.Due to recycleing we have numerous bins of different colours,green is for garden waste .we also have a large compost bin which we put stuff in first along with kitchen waste.
Speak to you all soon,Brenda

Hi everyone
The Fellowship Brass Band arrived before lunch on Saturday and were supposed to have played at the park but it rained. They used that time to rehearse for the concert that night which was really great. Today they lead the service, then share lunch and played at small park area which was known as the landing area for ships bringing settlers to New Plymouth in the 1840's. Craig returned went back to Auckland after the luncheon and we stayed for the outdoor concert, and are now taking time out. Now its back to the two of us and we see Craig at Christmas. Hope nobody is feeling too cold now. John

Hi all,
Well no snow yet, but it is so cold that I am sure we will get some soon.
I kept myself warm by baking bread, two brown and a sultana loaf, a Dutch apple tart for my neighbour and a butter cake - a bit like shortbread - as well as making a large pan of tomatoe/vegetable soup with meat balls thrown in. Who cares about the kilos, must keep warm.
I have so much pain in my knees and legs so wonder what the X-rays I had last Friday will reveal.
Keep warm everybody.
Sylvia xxx

Just a quick hello as i am just finishing lunch at work,the pc is so slowww ,will be back tomorrow as i have a couple of programmes I want to watch tonoght on TV.
Weather sunny but very cold.
Brenda

goodmorning everyone from a cold but sunny barrie well last night was fun I was at the family's home handing out the goodies to the ones that came to the door once again the numbers are down I think we only had about 40 children about 3yrs ago we had over one hundred, my three looked great in their costumes well I would say that wouldent I, but about ten to eight Bryan (13) and three of his best buddies arrived back having gone out at 7pm to say gosh grandma it is not like it used to be it is not as much fun!!!!! so they hunkered down with a scary movie and looked at their loot, I lauged the joys of growing up it was kind of fun to listen to them natter away all of them now have deep voices and are close to 6ft tall . Lura and her mom arrived back about 8-30 but the youngest and his dad arrived back at nine he had a great time, Lindy is doing a music course to-day so andrew has all three off them on a sugar high I would guess. brenda it sounds like you have a lot of social engagements coming up you should have fun I think that it is time I gave you a phone call I will try nad figure out when you might be home, fred it is steak and salad for tea to-night I was going to do a veg but have a craving for a salad, well I am off to do some housework oh yes brenda I have just finishe p.d.james's the private patient and it is very good bye for now dorothy

Evening all.,had a busy few days so apologies for being absent!!.
HAd a few phone calls to make yesterday ,then was on work 12.30 til 8pm ,shattered when i got home, so just had my tea then watched some tv,sorted out the papers we needed for today, as we had to see the bank mananger and solicitor about Dads affairs.!! So we are a bit nearer getting things done.
Also did some christmas shopping ,and had a few birthday presents to get due to the fact we will be away when these birthdays occur.
We also have a wedding in two weeks and have been told today we have a christening the weekend we get back from holiday/!!
Just got into my pj's and going to have a drink befor bed as I am working tomorrow.
Glad everyone is keeping ok in the cold weather or sunshine in Johns case.
Love Brenda

Nothing special for dinner today dorothy,using what's left of yesterdays dinner with a couple of dumplings put on top.
A couple of roast tatties and a cut up parsnip,in the oven too,and veggies in the steamer with my favourite veggie ,which i have been watching in the garden for the last six weeks.
It's my old favourite from my Lincolnshire days brussel tops,Taken off the plants at the first frosts ,to encourage the sprouts to form,this is something you can buy on their own in the local markets down their,as tops,or supplied as the complete haulm tops and brussels.
The kids used to love them when they were young,but they wern't too keen on the brussels themselves,funny,that.
Anyway ,they will be cooked in the steamer along with some fresh carrots,and new potatoes,just the job on a cold day..
Sounds as though you could do with one of those background heaters for your computer room Sylvia,just enough to keep the chill off .

Have to go now to do a little shopping before the weather closes down again,i wouldn't go at all exept that we need milk,and some gravy powder[and some exercise he he.
Hope everyone is looking forward to the weekend ,and the planning of christmas ,which is looming ever closer.
Here,Fred ducks to avoid the shoes that could come my way any second he he.,catch you all later ,Fred.

hi well went tot eh doc's and obtained my flue shot so I am ready for the cough and cold season at the moment the sun is setting and it is a fantastice sight red and oranges sinking into the darkeness the temperature is supposed to be good for to-morrow for the trick and treating I am going over to the family to do the door for them as they walk with the children. glad to see fred that as always you are coming up with good receipes, sylvia hope your visit for the x-rays goes well. I shall have to get to the house cleaning to-moorw am two weeks off dust has accumalated. bye for now dorothy

Hi all,
Well Fred you are not the only one who has the cold weather. I listen to all the motorists - the early risers - scraping their windows and turn over and go back to sleep for another couple of hours - no life like that of a pensioner!
Am going to have X-rays of my knees tomorrow afternoon. First to the market, then the hairdresser comes here, then the hospital.
I don't think that the snow is very far away, brrh, brhh,
It's not so warm in this computer room so will keep my husband company this evening. He won't know what has happened when he sees me so early.
Sylvia xxx