General Chat

Morning to all out there ,wherever you may be .
Got off to a great start this morning ,and got the front garden hedge border cleared of weed ,and then did the big rockery circle for good measure ,lol,sat and had coffee.on the patio and then dead headed the roses front and back ,and finished off todays gardening by trimming the tomatoes of the dead leaves and fed them and the trees.
All done now ,all the rubbish in the garden waste bin ,so weather wise it can now please it's bessy ,he he. ;-).
I take it you are having a Cortrisone injection Brenda ? hope it works okay for you,i have put mine off until i can get no pain relief with tablets,which i hope will do a long while yet :-).
Thank goodness we have the freeview up and running ,football is the one sport i hate ,loads of grown up ,over paid men kicking a blown up piece of leather around for a living ,and the odd few clubs with plenty of cash ,trying to BUY the championship with ego bound players ,which is no way fair competition to other clubs who cannot afford the likes of Rooney and the like. :-|.
Was it industry run this way ,it would be classed as unfair competition,and at least now ,i have plenty of footie free channels.
You should have tried E Bay Brenda ,and got a new hinge for the freezer for a couple of quid , and saved the money for something else,can't see any point in buying a new freezer while the old motor is fine.bit late now though ,lol.
Next time you go to the market ,do me a good turn ,buy a Lancashire Cheese Pie ,and describe the taste of it to me as you bite into it ,by 'eck ,i could kill for the taste of one of those right now ,nothing remotely like that up here ,mores the pity.
Having a tattie and mince pie for dinner today ,with a medley of green stuff out of the garden ,the likes of cabbage ,beans ,Turnip and Calabreese.and a posh small tea this evening bits of chicken done in a K F C style coating,a few cheese straws,and a little cheese and onion flan. :-D ..oh ,and our first strawberries from the garden with whipped [low fat ] cream.
Going out to the kitchen to check on the dinner ,catch you later guys.Fred hissy And Liz xx :-D

Morning Fred,Liz,Dorothy and John (and anyone else looking in)
Did not get an appointment for the doctors on Friday,,but my ear was a lot better,will see if I have any problems over the weekend then phone if i do.
Busy day yesterday,had a haircut and then went for some shopping to stock up the freezer.
Had to get a new one in the week the hinge snapped on the lid of the old one so the lid was all out of kilter and we had to weigh it down to be sure it was closed properly.Mind you we have had it for well over fifteen years so we did not do bad.
We went out to my nephews 30th birthday party last night ,it was great to see the rest of the family,But the room was so warm ,!!!!
I have already got the washer going and will be doing a second lot later ,hope the blue sky we have now does not go grey and we stay dry so it dries on the line,
Well Fred you never cease to amazeme with your work load ,I feel tiered just reading about what you have been up to.!!
Hope Liz is ok at her check up tomorrow,I have two weeks now til I go for the injection in my spine which will(I HOPE) stop th epain in my leg and I can walk and shop as normal!!! .
David is of to the match today!! first of the season,so things are back to normal,according to him and John.!!!
Take care ,Brenda

Morning Brenda ,John ,and Dorothy,back to normal here this morning after clearing up and putting all the stuff back in cupboards after the Freeview antenna and cabling were put in yesterday.I actually persuaded him to put a splitter in the said cupboard and put the cable into the other bedroom to save me the bother so we have freeview in both bedrooms now .
The old antenna in the loft that is wired to the lounge is that old ,that it can't even be used for free view,but the lad said ,as we are now an existing customer ,he will come back any time we ask ,fit a new antenna ,connect it to the existing cable ,and take the old antenna away for us for £50 ,which i may very well do in the near future.
At least ,when Liz has an off day ,she has the tv and dvd upstairs which can be turned on and off without getting out of bed ,and her kindle ,cor ,i don't half look after her ,he he ;-).
We had that Gnochie dish yesterday for dinner [potato ones] done with sweated spinach ,chopped up bacon pieces,onion and cherry tomatoes [from the greenhouse]result ,a lovely dinner ,stand alone ,nothing needed to go with it,and will be having that again ,and soon .
There are a few other Gnockie types to try as well ,cheese and bacon ones ,veggie ones,stinky cheese ones [yum] and a few others ,so ,plenty of variety. :-)
still raining here at the mo' but it is supposed to be dry later ,and pretty warm ,so the boss is going to set the washing away when she gets up ,and i will give her a hand to hang it out later AFTER i have trimmed the lawn ,i reminded her that I am the gaffer in the garden :-P.
Things have finally come together out there ,nearly everything is ready to use ,cabbage ,all three types of beans ,the onions are now showing signs of ripening,and even the carrot and turnip are starting to thicken at the root,as the late summer ,such as it is ,gets to work.
Won't be too long before the plums are ready too ,yum and plum crumbles are in the freezer for winter days,and we may get a few figs next season the way the tree is growing ,lol,we already have shoots coming away at the base ,hmmmmmm ,it may be a case of moving it out front to where the olive tree is at the moment,and keeping the olive tree in back,where i can fleece it easier if needs be.
Liz is at the hospital on Monday for her consultation ,and i have told her not to expect miracles ,at least she is still pretty mobile compared to a lot of people on genes ,who are far worse off ,and having to use oxygen for a couple of hours a day will not make her housebound in any way at all,time for het to worry is when i can't look after her any more,and not before.
Yep ,you get to the doc's Brenda ,ear infection dosn't sound much ,but if left too long can lead to deafness ,and as you say dizzy spells ,but worst of all is the effects on your balance ,which can lead to a fall ,no good for anyone at any age :-(.
Time to take the boss her cuppa up ,catch you later troops,Fred ,Liz and the pussy cat xx :-D

Hi fred and anyone else who gets to look in.
Hope all your flood averting efforts work fred,
sound like you are not taking any chances.
Also hope the new ariel etc helps with your Tv veiwing
always assuming the TV will improve as it seems to be a bit stagnent at the minute,
Think I have picked up an ear infection ,my ear has been painful for a couple of days and I have been a bit dizzy a few times today even when sitting down,so I phoned for an appointment at the doctors for tomorrow,but have to phone at 8.30 tomorrow to try and get one of the emergancy appointments.!!!
Hope your foot appointment went ok Fred and I was pleased about your eyes.,Like you said they are very importment.
Better get going have a few emails to catch up on and need to check the internet for a new boiler.!! HAve agood weekend what ever you are all doing
Take care Brenda xx

Morning Brenda ,and Dorothy ,who may be looking in even if she can't get on to add to the thread .
Well ,i took note of the forecast yesterday ,and set too yesterday morning and fixed up the flood barrier across the back of the house,the Patio door is now protected in case of deluge ,and i have an extra 6 inches of protection fixed in place ,which i can finish off in minutes in case it's ever needed,and have the back door barrier ready too ,just in case the dreaded flood comes.
Got it finished before i had to go to the hospital to have my eye scan ,which was fine so i was told ,with no change in the last 12 months ,good news for both of us ,as my eyes are needed more than ever these days ,without the car ,we are now house bound ,we neither of us can walk the half mile to the nearest bus stop,now that the council in it's wisdom cancelled the little phone as you need it service for the infirm ,and pensioners :-(.,if we ,the said pensioners cancelled our rates paayments ,they ,the council would be most upset :-P.
The worst of last nights deluge up here missed us last night again thank goodness,we only got hit the once a few weeks ago ,while the rest of the town copped a packet every time ,good for us ,but not so good for the other areas.
I have a fella coming out on Friday morning to fit a free view hi gain aireal into the loft which he has agreed to bring down the cable to the bedroom walk in cupboard ,fit a splitter to the skirting board and run the cable through the wall to the back of our T V,great as we have a lousy reception owing to a set top digi anntenna at the minute.
The best thing is ,i can punch a hole from the far end of the cupboard ,through the wall at skirting board level into the other main [guest] bedroom and run a second cable along the board to the other T V ,so we have free view in both bedrooms.
The old antenna is still fitted up ,and runs down to the T V in our lounge so we can get free view down there if we ever need it.
Watch out over there in Manchester all of you ,i see the government have succumbed to greed yet again and given the new franchise to first rail ,to run the west coast rail links ,despite the company failing ,and pulling out of the east coast franchise ,it bodes ill for you all ,rising prices ,a poorer service,and a more accident prone system within 6 years,our government has NOT learned by it's mistakes in the last 20 years ,and all it saw was ,wow ,a bigger pay out for us ,and getting a company that will be unable to deliver half of what it has promised
Have to do a shoot now and get my feet done at the clinic ,catch you all later ,Fred :-.D xx

Hi Folks sorry to be missing for a few days ,Have been catching up on some things that I left while watching the Olympics,like Fred has said about slowing down,jobs that took an hour now take a half day!!
Weather still good on the whole ,this monring was great but its gone and started raining again now. Good jobs I got the washing in before lunch,
Have to go out now have an errand,.Take care Brenda

What a promising start to a Sunday morning up here ,not too bright yet ,but dry and not chilly as the mornings have been here for the last week or so.
I hope my son will come back early from the camping trip in his new fold down caravan.the quick look i got of it ,looks promising ,a few odd things needing doing to it ,but it looks to be solid and well built,and at £400 ,i think he has scored.
He had one like this a few years ago ,but this one is more modern ,and when folded down looks just like a largish trailer with a tarp' cover .
Everything is built in ,cooker ,beds ,two ,and a bunk ,,benches to sit on and cupboard space,and a heater.
He reckons to get a new awning for it as soon as possible ,where he can sleep in the warm weather to keep cool ,sounds good. :-D.
At last things are cooking in the garden ,even the late cabbage are doing really well ,and all three types of beans are past the flower stage mainly and have beans on :-).
I have been looking at a Marshall seed list online and have selected a pack of special seeds ,all the brassica being mildew resistant ,and club root hardy.a new type of cauli' for the smaller garden ,large heads but upright habit leaves. a new Brussel that is a heavy cropper,Calabrese ,again ,new ,and a good side head ,followed by side shoots,and two sorts of cabbage ,one early ,and one very late,a good selection that should do me for two years ,for under £10,not at all bad.
I also noticed a perpetual spinach that is good for full season use ,good for going into gnocchi dishes ,and stir fry's so i think i will get one of those packets as well.
I would like to get those little jobs done this afternoon ,lol,if need be ,i can do the alarm on the door myself [once i can get these old ,stiff bones down onto the floor] ;-).but getting into the loft to do the coaxial cable for the free view is well beyond me ,i can't go crawling along the loft space any more he he,so i will have to wait for that ,until he shows his face.
Sounds like you and John are slowing down too Brenda ,oh what a gay day ,to realise you issss gettin' old ,lol :-0h well ,we can still dream can't we?.
Steak and kidney with a twist for dinner today,no crust on top ,in the way of pastry ,but we are trying a herby dumpling instead.along with the usual roast tatties ,shallots ,parsnips,and some cabbage ,out of the garden.
Catch you later all,have a nice Sunday ,Fred,Liz And Pussy tat :-Dxx

Evening all,weather really good again here.But makes me feel so tired sometimes.even when I am not doing much.
John has been doing a few jobs round the house.and they have been more involved than he expected.so he is shattered as well.
hope everyone is having a good weekend. take care Brenda

Evening all,weather really good again here.But makes me feel so tired sometimes.even when I am not doing much.
John has been doing a few jobs round the house.and they have been more involved than he expected.so he is shattered as well.
hope everyone is having a good weekend. take care Brenda

Evening all,Good to see that Liz is not letting you slack at all Fred.HAHA
Hope you got the washing dry and the shopping done,
The jobs you have for your son to do sound a bit complicated for me.!!
Anything technical is over my head sometimes.
Went toshopping with some friends today and then for lunch,but the shopping trip was not very succesful,but lunch was good.What was betterr was that we had a good chat with out any music or loads of kids running about.!!
Know what you mean about bills,we keep looking at the switch websites to see where we would have a better deal.Have sent you an email as well to day Fred.
Better get some emails answered as well tonight
Take care Brenda

Morning to all ,nice morning here for a change ,bit cloudy yet ,but promising to be a pretty warm day ,hope so anyway because i have just given the missus a hand to hang the washing out,more like a spare beanpole really ,standing there ,washing over both shoulders until the boss is ready to stick 'em on the line ,he he ;-).
Coooo you should try the tatties again next year Brenda ,the way i have put mine in this year after the tip to place them in layers as the first lots leaves break surface has paid dividends ,i should be having the best crop ever this Christmas :-D.
Time now to stop buying the veggies for a while ,as i have cabbage ,broad beans,and calabrese ready in the garden ,and cucumbers in the greenhouse.
We have booked our return to Liverpool for the 16th of next month ,back to the same hotel so we know just what we need to pack for the journey.
Lots more to do this time ,more museums to see ,the Submarine museum ,the first on the list ,the same day as we take our next ferry trip ,nice ,cause if you take the ferry you get in to the museum 20% cheaper.
The open top tour bus is on too , your ticket ,brought on the bus ,lasts a full 24 hours ,and that too gives you cheaper entry to many places of interest.
as well as shopping this morning i have to go to B & Q to buy a cross cut hand saw ,i see my son borrowed the last on ,and havn't seen it since ,that sounds about right .lol.and i will be hiding this one ;-).
I have this same son booked to do two jobs for me ,both ones i can no longer do myself ,the first one ,being getting into the loft and the tv dipole ,cutting the cable and fitting a splitter ,and then running a new cable through the corner of the bedroom cupboard ceiling and putting a second fitting onto the skirting board with 2 female outlets.
The rest i can do myself ,fitting cable to both plugs ,one through the conduit to the tv ,in our bedroom ,and the second through the bottom of the cupboard wall ,through to the other bedroom for the other tv ,we will then be ready for the digi switch over next month,after which ,if virgin media don't get their finger out and smarten up ,i will be telling them to sling their hook and take the tv package out ,leaving just the phone and broad band :-|.
The other job is to convert the kitchen alarm to work on either the door contacts ,the PIR .or both ,the pir can then be switched off during the day while pussums is in and out ,lol.
I aint 'alf glad i signed another 4 years onto the B Gas frozen tarrif Brenda .looks like another price increase in the offing ,not funny for any working class family or pensioners these days .
See some one is screwing their loaf in thinking of extracting the gas from all the old mines in britain ,and then pumping all the co2 from the process back underground to save on pollution,this will hopefully stabalize the gas prices and finish the need to buy gas from abroad,and reduce the need for some of the oil imports as well.
Time to do some work now ,back later, Fred :-Dxx

Morning all.well we did get the washing done and on line,and it was almost dry when the rain came,luckily david wasin the garden and we got it in before it started properley.There was a big bolt of lightening and then the thunder was so loud and lasted ages!! and the rain was torrential.we had rain for about half an hour with more thunder and lightening but it was not as strong as the first lot.
My sister who live towards Bury said they had rain for well over an hour and some streets were flooded.Luckily they are on a higher level than were the flooding was.
Hope dorothy enjoyed the tennis I know we did ,shame about the doubles,
Have a couple of erands to do ,so had better get going.See you all soon,
Brenda

afternoon John.Brenda ,and hope you don't have our weather pattern today Brenda,one loooooong thunderstorm ,lol,that has been going on well over an hour ,with the rain to go with it,good job that i knew it may happen this way ,and was out ultra early and got the front lawn cut ,the edges cut ,front and back ,and got the feeder onto the front lawn before the threatened rain came over. :-).
I made an early ,light dinner ,stir fry ,because we are having a posh tea today ,K F C chicken thighs [me] and mini fillets [the boss] with a few little strips pulled off for Hissy[can't leave her out] :-|.
I will make up some egg mayo with chive ,and cress and make open bun sarnies,have the chicken ,and some mini pies and a cheese onion and chive ,quiche.,tea done .
Have to go and get started anyway ,catch you all later ,Fred Liz & the catxxx ;-) :-D.

Morning all.weather still pretty good.not to many showers.Hope it stays dry ,have bedding to wash today.
Saturday and Sunday the only days we have a cooked breakfast ,but even then we do not have the traditional full english ,may be bacon ,sandwiches or poached or boiled eggs.on toast. John is now up and when he goes for the papers i will do the breakfast .!!
Still not sure I am keen on the new set up still have to find time to have a good look.
Take care Brenda

Hi again - I been absent since I reported Gayle's passing and our son, got married on 30 June and the occasion was very nice. Sign language at the wedding and at the reception - lots of laughs too considering the week we had had. I am slowly getting use to living on my own which is not often as Craig and Gemma come by most afternoons.
Brenda - haven't looked much at the Genes changes so when their email arrived I logged on. I will need to take a closer look to see whats happening.....and if its becoming to complicated many of us may be saying goodbye. Just hope the costs don't go up. John

not sure I like this New genes can't seem to find anything. Will have to have a nother look Brenda

Hi All,could have sworn that I had put a message on here on Sunday,never mind.
Weather not to godd today think John will be hope from Golf early!!
Did get to Bury mbut it was a short visit as i only wanted certain things and didnot fancy walking round.A few stalls had changed hands and were different goods now.
Luckily it wasn't any that I wanted.
Have to pop to the post office soon,between the showers.
Brenda

sorry to hear that you have the dreaded anti Bury Market shopping bug Brenda ,lol,but joking apart ,it sounds like that virus is doing the rounds again ,so the best thingto do is what you have already done ,dose yourself up and hit the sack for a day or two . :-(.
We have managed to have our B B Q today ,though at times i was thinking the forecast wallahs had it wrong again ,and we were looking at rain. :-|.
Took some pics this morning showing at last signs of growth in the garden and greenhouse,and got my two troughs replanted with the spring onions ,and the Pak Choi is in the cups until they are big enough to go in along side the Apache onions.
Hope everyone is doing okay and is looking forward to the weekend ,Fred & Liz.

Morning all.weather still good,but I am feeling awful,buzzinghead ,sore throat,and upset tummy,don't know what it is yet but don't like it.Hope you all have a good weekend.
Going to have a lemsip and go back to bed. Brenda

afternoon all,weather still very good.All my washing has been bone dry within an hour or so of being pegged out.
Thought i was meeting my friend at lunch ,just for a cup of tea/coffe and a chat,but we cancelled it as she was not feeling well,she is waiting to go for some tests so I just pottered round the house,started to do some ironing but even with the doors and windows open it was far too warm.Will finish it later.
Hoping to get up to Bury market on Saturday with John ,hope to get some salad stuff and a few birthday cards,have two special birthdays a 30th and a 40th,and will be looking for some christening presents.As usual Fred you had my mouth watering with your menus!!!! our veg has been a disater this year we only had potatoes and a couple of Tomatoes but they have both been distroyed by slugs the only thing left is the rhubabrb!!!. John is really adament that he will not be doing any more !!!
I have made a not in my diary of the cafe in Southport,and hope we will get there.
Think I will need to sit out in the garden for a while will a cup of tea and my book and try to cool downm
Take care Brenda