General Chat

Hi all,
Well what a depressing day. If it isn't bad enough having to attend a funeral, then it teaming with rain all day. We drove to Rotterdam in our own car, but with so many traffic queues almost wished we hadn't! It took us nearly 2 extra hours coming back. Actually I fell asleep most of the way home, kept opening my eyes to the same scenery - cars, cars and lorries.
I feel so empty and don't feel like doing anything at all. We had an easy meal. I bought some ready made salads yesterday, one salmon and one beef, so that made dinner easy.
If I go to bed early, then I am up at crack of dawn, so I will just hang around for a few hours.
Tomorrow will have to be clear up day as I have just dumped everything. I also have lots of ironing. Hope to have time to make bread and an apple cake or tart.
See you all tomorrow
Sylvia xxx

Hi all.having an early start today.no work but have a few things to get done,main thing being having my hair cut ,its geowing out like nobodys business' Then need to get a photo done for a new passport .
Then going to get those new curtains hopefully and see my friend might get a cofe with her but she is working,she works near where i am going for the curtains.Might start my christmas shopping thats all some people at work have been talking about.
I have a wedding in November and need a nice jacket/coat for it so will be looking for one today.
weather seems ok at minute hope it stays dry John wants to go to golf as its been closed afew days this week dur to the weather..
Speak to you tonight.
Brenda

hi sylvia please do continue to add to the thread you do so have interesting news about your life and the country you live in have a great holiday it sounds like it will be fun bye for now dorothy

Fred,
By the sound of your suet puddings etc. it is time your tomatoes were ready for you to start healthy salad eating again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I have been reading this thread but not adding. I have such uninteresting news compared with our Fred and his escapades. Don't hear so much about Missy these days, is she calming down Fred?
Me, I have another antibiotic cure. I phoned my doctor and asked her to check if it was ok as i don't want my hair falling out before I go on holiday. She assures me it should be ok.
Yes, I am going to Spain for two weeks 20 November until 4 December. Will make a nice change. We are going to where we used to spend our winters so know lots of people etc.
Just had a card to let us know that one of our friends was being cremated today. It is a bit too far away for us to go, especially as tomorrow Johan's niece is being buried. This funeral is in Rotterdam. She was 95 - would have been 96 in November. She was coming here to have dinner with us two weeks ago with her daughter and son in law but she didn't feel like it and only her daughter and son in law came. Very sad, but she never had anything wrong with her, no pain, no tablets.
Have a nice evening
Sylvia xxx

goodmorning I have just had two small carrot muffins and a banana and then read fred's link oh my the pudding he made for liz sounds great, sorry to hear about the mishap with the van you are having some dreadful weather, good luck at the dentist to-day it must be the day for dentist's my friend anne (in bury) is going with her daughter to the dentist she the daughter had a tooth removed last week and another had a crack in it but she developed an infection on antibiotic's but to-day they are removing that tooth as well under a general so anne is doing the driving, the weather here is another sunny but cooler day just great for doing some housework they are laying new carpet in the hall on my floor two floors above were done yesterday and it is supposed to be very nice, on saturday the building is having its annual bar-b-que from 4pm to 6pm it will be fun, they really keep on top of things here, so it is off to do some work bye for now dorothy

you must love cooking or just be good at it Fred you make your meals seem so interesting
Sorry to hear of mishap with caravanregardds to all margaret

Morning all,cor ,what a sight greeted Liz and i when we got to site yesterday,the awning on the ground ,in the mud,and two of the bars bent almost double,lol.
We were lucky ,our awning suffered no damage other than those two bars which we replaced at an awning clinic on the way home.
We bought the curtains home too,and got those washed last evening.
It seems that there was one heck of a downpoar and gale Monday night,the wind must have lifted the awning and got underneath.
The undamaged awnings on site had thick webbing straps over the front end tied down to heavy grade pegs ,fitted with special springs to allow the strap to give just a tad ,but not lift off the ground,so ,i will look for one today.
To cheer Liz up after the upset,i made her a nice leek pudding for her tea.
I dug out the one pound basin,and greased the inside with a little flora .then set to ,to make the pudding.
I used the wok,put in a little olive oil,and added quarter of a pound of streaky bacon[the jewish fraternity will have to use Kosher bacon like me ] chopped into cubes,and gently fried until soft.
To this i added one finely diced potato and a pound and a half of sliced leek,sweating the mix with some black pepper ,a dash of mace ,a little corriander,lemon zest,and a little ground chinese spices from a mill.
I made up four ounces of a veggie suet pasrty,rolled out thinly,lined the basin with it,then used the remainder of the pasrty for the top.
The greasproof paper i used to grease the basin with ,i then useed to put over the pastry top.
Bunged in a steamer it only takes one and a half hours to cook.
Preperation time ,fifteen minutes ,and worth every minute.
We put the other half of the pud in the freezer last night ,so it will do another meal in a few weeks when we fancy a quick meal.
Today having an appointment at the dentist,i will prepare a quick ,soft [lol] meal just in case.
A nice frittata made with free range eggs from the same farmer who does my Christmas Turkey,,with chopped onion,a little garlic,and some diced chicken breast,and to go with it? the remaining mashed potato,and cabbage from yesterday ,done as a panhaggilty,in the frying pan,again ,nice and quick.in case the old jaw is sore and aching he he.
We have at last started to see red tomatos in the greenhouse ,and i have some lettuce ready ,so i reckon it's time for a few salads,perhaps with a French stick,sliced part way through,and garlic butter pushed into the cuts,then given thirty seconds in the mic' to warm it up ,luvvverly .
.I'm now off to have a mooch aroungd the boards ,but i will be back later to see how everyone is doing .Fred.

hi just a qucik update Laura went to school to-day with the crutches driven in style by her dad also along on the ride was the younger brother Ian he was given a ride as he agreed to carry around her back pack (quite heavy) it will do the both of them good for him to do something nice for laura and for laura to have to depend on her brother they usually fight like cat and dog , it was a lovely fall day here not to hot this month seems to be going by so quickly, bye for now dorothy

Afternoon all,I also hope I am not moving round from libray to library.<we used to do thata few years ago ,when we first started but they stopped doing that due to having to pay us travelling money!!!
No one thinks this new idea will get the go a head,mainly due to the amount of travelling people woukd be doing.Mind you sillier things have happend!!!.
weather wise its a nice nice day ,well its dry up to now,!!!
Having my tea braek now ,so speak to you later,Hope your grand daughter is ok Dorothy ,Brenda

goodmorning (wed) first of all fred thanks for the receipe I will pass it on to my friend and I will also try those web sites, brenda I hope that you don't have to go wandering from library to library that sounds like a daft arrangement, now I want to share my crazy day yesterday at 8-30 I had just got up and the phone rang with the grandson on the other end "grandma you have to come to school laura has had an accident with her bike and was lying in the road till two ladies and a man brought her to school" I tell you I was in the car and away wondering as I drove along if I was fully dresses!!! I took her to the clinic and after x-rays etc she has bruised her knee and the tendons in her knee she is on crutches luckily she did not break anything she will have follow up net week and may require physio, of course her mom was teaching at an other school and dad was in toronto, but we were all relieved that it was not worse she went one off the bike and her knee went the other way, when I got home at 5pm I remembered that apart from cleaning my teeth and a quick wash of the face my usual morning shower had not taken place. so she will have to be driven back and forth to school for a while but she was supposed to start tennis lessons last evening so she said sorry grandma you won't get a wimbledon champion just yet so I am hoping that to-day is a calmer day plus my son is working from home to-day so he can deal with any problems that come up bye for now dorothy

Morning all,not a bad morning here in the north east ,so far,but we are expecting the bad weather back this afternoon,the end of the hurricane that caused so much damage in america.
I have checked out the garden already,and bought the bis back in ,and shoved 'em well into the hedge to keep them out of the wind.
Hi dorothy,i just used a normal sage and onion stuffing [home made] and added a pinch of nutmeg ,britzed two apples and added them with a quarter teaspoon of ginger powder[didn't blitze root ginger in case the bairn bit into a piece lol].
I have founfd a lovely site for those that like trying new recipes [the foody,uk and ireland] website,tons of good ideas on there from meat dishes through to veggie dishe ,sweets, soups gravies and stuffings ,and there was a ginger and apple stuffing on there,but i prefer making stuffing that uses raw ingredients ,not pre cooked,i find precook destroys a lot of flavour.
We are due at the sons for tea so i think i had better get a few cakes made,seeing as it is Elayshas birhday ,see ya' later peeps.
You do that Brenda,quit on your birthday,you will find plenty to do,relax ,and live longer ,i,for one think you have flogged your guts out long enough.
Fred.

Just a few lines.begining to feel the effects of not being tired last night now.Work was ok but we are hearing some rumours about us going on a city wide rota which means if a library in the south side of town was short of staff due to illness then any "spare " bodies even on the other side of towm could in theory be sent there to work. !!! Sounds ok but the praticalities are not so easy due to travellung etc.
I am really thinking that i will be finishing next march when i am sixty ,was just reducing my hours to one day a week but am going off the idea rapidly.
John has brewed tea so I am off for a cuppa.Brenda

goodmorning everyone as usual after reading fred's dinner menu for his grandson I am drooling it sounded smashing fred could I askyou for the apple and ginger stuffing receipe I have a friend who is always looking for new stuffing receipe's and she loves ginger, the weather you have sounded awful and I have seen all the pictures on the bbc web site. I had a great day of tennis it was wonderful to see murray win over nadal, of course I shall be watching this pm. even though I shall be keeping an eye on the children to-day but they know grandma loves her tennis, and laura starts tennis lesson's on tuesday one can hope that she likes it. as towho I want to win I am conflicted roger is my all time favourite but murray I like as well so much history at stake for both of them. brenda it sounds like you had a nice day glad you enjoyed it, margaret you sound like you will be busy withyour garden seems strange you are looking foreward to spring and we are heading into fall and winter. bye for now dorothy

Fred just as your tomatoes are at the business end of your season a few early ones are growing in Pots in our conservatory (covered at night with frost cloth) These will go into glasshouse once I can repot my fuchsia plants and move them into shade house
Garden is being prepared for spring Just a few lettuces and cabbages being set out and early potatoes into buckets and bags Its a topsy turvey world weather is still very changeable here too Margaret

Well,good morning to one and all,from Tyneside that survived the floods [just about],but i know of a few villages and towns that were cut off,Morpeth being one.
It has faired up here and the gardens didn't get washed away,so i am looking at getting the hedges trimmed for the last time this year ,if it stays dry.
Hissy is in the back garden looking for flies to chase,but she will be out of luck,too cold out there this morning.
Sounds as though you may have a touch of arthritis Sylvia,so a holiday in Spain may be just what you need,if it is arthritis ,the warmer climate should see it subside.
They have nearly perfected an injection[a one off ] to cure the complaint ,but it is ten years away too late for us oldies i'm afraid.lol.
Looks as though ,with this weather on the downward slope ,i will have to resort to ripening all these tomato's ,in newspaper on the windowsills.or make a lot of green tomato chutney,or both he he,not to worry ,it's still free veggies and fruit at the end of the day.
The first of the french beans went into a nice stir fry for dinner yesterdayand we are enjoying plenty of cabbage and cauli while they last.
The carrot are nearly ready,so soup making time is coming round again.
We hope to be away back to the van tomorrow dinner time ,til Thursday when i have a dental appointment.
We made the grandson his dinner yesterday[he dosn't like to go home until he has had one ] lol,seems he never gets one at home .
We did him ,roast chicken apple and ginger stuffing[which he loved] roast and duchess potatoes,and greens out of the garden,torn cabbage ,carrot cauli'and roast pepper,with a nice veggie gravy.
Afters? weeeell,we found some miniture chrissy puds which got put in the mic',and accompnied by brandy custard [getting in practice for you know when].they went down well
Well,that's it for now folks,time to get cracking ,tons to do as usual,but hey,it's all fun ,if you don't weaken lol.
Fred.

Not tired tonight ,been to bed and read,a while,so came on here for a few minutes.Did not watch any tv programmes til this evening, then did not see any news programmes so do not know how the tennis went on Dorothy??Hope you had a good weekend and the children are ok next week for you.
Watched a couple of films we had recorded today ,have not had any chance til now to see them,was doing some ironing at the same time.,have loads of ironing to catch up on
The weather today was awfull it did not stop raining all afternoon.
Going to look up some names on my dads side as some one hasbeen in touch and I am feeling a bit better about starting again.
Hope Fred and Sylvia and everyone else is ok

goodmorning well brenda I am glad that you had a good night out too bad you had to go to work though. well watched murray play yesterday and he played very well 2 sets up on nadal takes some doing and then the rains came it is supposed to be played at 4pm our time weather permitting to-day (sun) 9pm your time maybe they will show it onyour tele I would think it will be worth watching I am sure nadal will come out like a rageing bull I hope andy can continue the good play of yesterday, we have had a general election called for 0ct 14th about 5 weeks from now done and dusted before the states theirs take so long not sure why we needed one I think I will vote for the green party the others are just the same old same old nothing new and different well that is it for me for to-day bye for now dorothy

we have a quiete minute here at work,should not be on here but thought I would take a minute as we have not had our tea break!!
weather has been very good today after a bad start.watched a wedding at lunch at the church opposite work ,two lovelly old cars all decked out with white ribbons etc.the men in top hat and tails,a couple of page boys ,and all we could see of the bride was the back of her veil!!!! did not even see the bridesmaids as a bus stopped right between us and thw church.
had a good night out for my mates 6oth .not hung over really but under par shall we say!!!
see you all tomorrow ,have a good weekend .Brenda

hi how nice to hear from sylvia but sorry that you are still not feeling well, the trip that you have booked sounds great you should have a great time, brenda glad to hear that you had a couple of outings with friends it does give you a lift oh sales at m&s sounds like fun, anne phoned yesterday apparently the weather is not grand she was in her wellies. the boys are about the same, should be a good day of tennis but new york may be rained out so who knows, monday I shall be looking after the children after school lindy has a staff meeting and andrew is out of town it will be fun, his dad (andrew's) is up for the week-end staying with them it will be good for the children to have some fun with grandpa they will probably go golfing Laura is turning out to be better than her brothers. I think that I shall buy another basket of tomato's and freeze them they are so cheap at the farmers markets at the moment. my pepper plant has started flowering again well I am off to the shops bye for now dorothy

Hi all,
Thought it time to say a few words again. I have been peeping in daily to read the thread but not replying.
I have had a lot of pain in my arms and legs and the doctor thought I had fibromyalgia but the blood tests proved negative. So what now? I have to go back to the doc and see what to do next. I cannot even move my right arm very high at all.
Anyway on the brighter side of life Johan and I went out today and booked two weeks in Spain end November - 20 until 4th December near Benidorm; It is a small place where we used to spend our winters. It will be nice to look up old friends, so will have to brush up my Spanish. Friends of ours who live not too far away here encouraged us to make the effort to go away and hopefully we can travel in the same taxi as them to Schiphol airport.
Johan and I bought ourselves a new suitcase today. Typical of Johan he said "it's too big". Well, we are going for two weeks and I want 2 suitcases, but will have to break that news slowly.
We have a real bargain holiday hotel, two weeks with all meals, drinks etc.for 500 Euros per person.
If we want we can get the bus into Benidorm. The sea is within walking distance.
Now have a nice evening.
Sylvia xxx