General Chat

Hi everyone,not sure we its still afternoon,or classed as early evening at the minute!!!
Any way ,its a very cold day here ,was -6 during the night and like Fred we had white frosted grass and cars this morning,I was going out and was glad i was on the bus so i did not have to defrost my car!!.
It was very quiet in town ,think people are now feeling the pinch from christmas bills etc.
It was my friends birthday last Friday and we always go out the Monday after one of our "gangs" birthday so,we tend to budget for it .It was even quieter in the pub /restaurant we use ,but it meant we could talk andhear each other even better .
Hope you are all keeping well and warm in the cold weather.
Take care
brenda
t

Morning white world ,lol,been so cold last night that the grass and hedges front and back are white with frost even the cat refused to stay out there first thing this morning,preffering to sit at the patio window ,sensible girl .
I decided to do a casserole with the beef salmon joint because we need to have warming stuff to keep the body heat in today he he ,never knew the wife was a secret comedian until this morning.
How daft can a woman get ,preparing the veggies earlier she says to me ,can you get me some brussels and a cabbage from the veggie patch?
My answer was quick in comming ,i said ,no way am i going to the shed for a hacksaw and hammer in this cold.
The silly woman then asked what i wanted them for ,and i said ,the hacksaw to cut throiugh the cabbage stalk ,and the hammer to get the brussels off the haulm.i think she got the message okay ,lol :-P.
I did have a bread maker Brenda ,but i didn't like the hole left in the loaf by the mixing blade so i got shot of it long ago ,and i am now looking for one that retracts the blade before it starts the baking ,if there is a model that does this ,of course ?
In the meantime ,i have an Oster in the cupboard ,an old but very sturdy kitchen centre with a heavy duty motor ,and it has proper mixing hooks for dough,so i will give it a try out this next week ,hoping it will save me most of the strain on my wrists,that would help a lot ,cause i do love my home made bread a heck of a lot :-D.
I will have a look on the net shortly to see if i can find the animal i am looking for ,lol.but that will be after i put the roast tatties ,parsnip ,and onion in the oven .
Catch you later Guys and dolls ,hope all are having a smashing weekend ,Fred. :-D

Evening all.the weather has been good here as well fred,lots of sunshine ,but not good when driving.!!But it is very cold.
Been ou to the library today as one of my mates was finishing today .We will be going out next week with her ,but just called in with a small gift and card today and got a cup of tea and a nice peice of cake,
Came home and finished of the washing.now trying to get it dry.!!!
Thought you had abreadmaker already Fred.I have one that I have never used,David got it me from Tesco,!!!
John is at his mothers in Clevelys today and night and David is dog sitting for my sister who is in Derbyshire at a wedding..So its me and the cats ,they are both asleep on top of the radiators!!
Doing a small pork joint tomorrow,bought it a while a go and froze it not sure what we will have with it as I am taking stuff from the freezers as I need to empty them to move them while we have some new cushion floor laid.
take care,brenda

Mornin' to all ,after a darned cold night ,which has turned out to be a lovely sunny morning and the furry pest is enjoying the sun on the patio which i wouldn't mind ,but the little bugger is trying to get me to go out with a cuppa ,he he ,no chance puddy tat ,you have to be joking ,i will wait at least another month.before i go out with drinks
I hope your blood tests are okay old Friend ,i worry about mine ,and that's just for the sugar levels ,so i know how you must have been feeling about it. ;-).
My Son must have been listening to your thoughts on the gable end re pointing ,lol as he turned up yesterday afternoon ,and i mentioned it to him ,result ,half an hour later ,job done and dusted.
The new air fryer is brilliant ,far better than the actifry and just as quick ,we tried it a few days ago ,and it saves having to put chips ,fish fingers ,fish portions and the like in the oven ,no fat or oil needed either as we use the oven frys .
We did get a shock though when we went back to Currys to check out the bread makers [for the future] ,the air fryer cost us £85 on an offer ,with a three year exchange if owt goes wrong ,but anyway ,they are now £200 so we did save a packet.
We are going to be really lazy for dinner today ,a flan ,Cheese and bacon [home made] backed beans ,and chips,thus saving me a lot of time cooking .
Found a nice small Salmon fillet too ,[beef] so i will make a casserole this afternoon for tomorrows meal .just heat it through ,and do some roasties and parsnip to go with it ,along with some Brussel and cabbage out of the garden.
Time to go now ,and get a little housework done :-0 [spits out of the corner of the mouth ] and clears throat ,weeeeell ,you canna avoid it forever ,can you ,lol.
Catch you later all Fred. :-D.

Afternoon all.great to see Bill and Kathleen back with us again ,even if only now and again.!!! Hope you are both ok.
Hope your son gets round to you soon fred,I know what you are like waiting for people to come and help.you will get fed up and have a go yourself anyway,
John has been cleaning the drains out in the side ginnell ,they were rotten he got two carrier bags full of leaves stones papers etc and thatw with them having grills over them.We have used two litres of bleach and disinfectant cleaning them ,if the weather was drier we would power wash the passage way but its too wet. Mind you we share the passage with next door who do not clean their drians very often,John used to do it ofr them and stopped when they did not even acknowledge it.!!
At the docs tomorrow for the blood tests results ,have to be there early so the alarm clock will have to be set.Then going shopping with one of my friends.
Hope the weather is drier
Take care Brenda

good morning to Kathleen ,bill ,and Brenda,nice to see a couple extra peeps on here once in a while.
I hope Bill dosn't outstay his welcome at the river ,the land is drying out fast ,and some areas are already getting bush fires,it's so easy to get trapped out there ,with no one to turn to if help is needed
We are off out in a while to get some tubes of mortar in ,ready to tackle the little bits of cement replaced on the gable end of the house that the storm blew out,and get to grips with the garden wall that badly needs doing before the snow gets in and makes it worse,afraid the gable end will be a job for my elder son though ,no way can i go up the gable end to the house eaves with my bum leg ,lol :-( .
Have a nice day everyone ,be back later ;-) Fred.

Hello everyone, just popping in to say Happy New Year to you all.
I will be able to get to post more often now as I finally have my very own laptop!!!
A present from my sister, means I don't have to try to sneak in to use the computer when my son is not around - he was always only going to be a little while finishing what he was doing - always took several hours by which time I had other things to do..
Hope you are all well and look forward to catching up very soon - just have to get used to the slightly different keyboard etc.
Take care
God bless
Kathleen

Hi Brenda, Fred, JB, Dorothy, JA, and anyone else looking in.
I am just popping in from the Wilderness. to get some fuel for my generator. which is important to my survival in the wilderness.
Its still cold here in the morning, by the Gibbo River. caught a few Rainbow trout, which I fry on my Gas range. Plenty of food here, which I stock up with every 2 weeks on a 200km trip to Aldi.
Only ones I have a conversation with is the Occassional Fishermen dropping bye. and of Course the Kangaroos which pop in for a Weetbix or two.
Temperatures are climbing into the 40s again, with a few Thunderstorms which threaten to start bushfires. only the rainfalls can prevent this. but is rapidly drying out.
I plan to stay til the end of the Month, and then clear out before Bushfire season (Feb).
Thas all Folks , see you all in another week, when I go shopping in Bairnsdale.
Hope you all have a happy New Year.

Bill in Oz

Morning all,its damp and grey again here.Hope it dries up later as i have an errand to do
It was great to see Johns message ,it was horrible to see that Air ballon crash on tv,especially as some had been gifts from other members of the family NZ has certainly been having more than its fair share of tradgidies.John is welcome to visit us and leave his messages any time he wants..
My nephew in law came over last night and sorted out the desk top pc,he will be getting some memory for the pc which should sort it out.
He also set up the printer that Fred and Liz kindly gave me
He came with my neice and their little girl Amelia who is two tomorrow,she is so cute and is now a proper little girl not a baby any more.. !!!!
I am really sorry about your Uncle Fred,I still have one uncle on my mams side and two on my dads side,but two are not so well,so I cannot ask them about family things for my tree stuff anymore and the other one always says he does not remember !!.
Hope you and Liz are feeling a bit more chipper today Fred ,think we all get a bit under the weather and down now and again,especially this time of year.
Let me know when you sort something out about Fleetwood. and we will arrange to come over and see you.
I had a couple of errands yesterday and a visit to my friends parents.She lives in Melbourne and they are going out on Saturday for eight weeks.
They are in their eighties and used to go each year but have cut it down to once every two or three years due to the cost and their health.
I would love to go back one day ,but John is not as keen.It would be the first thing i would do if the Lottery came up.!!
Better get started on my errand and want not ,seeing as the sun is trying to peek througth!!
Hugs Brenda xx

morning John ,and Brenda from oooop north ,lol,yep John saw the news about Christchurch and the on going misery with the quakes ,and the balloon accident,not a good start to your new year.
We too had a very quiet Christmas ,and new year our lot being in the public sectors as regards work and them having no time off other than Christmas day,so ,we saw no one at all,but that is a blessing in disguise as we are both under the weather at the moment with the death of my only uncle.
It will be nice seeing you on board more often ,it's always nice when people add input to this thread.
Hope you are getting some rest at last Brenda now that the footie discord in the house is over ,lol, you now need tons of R and R ,and things to go right for you for a change.
Have to go and get some work done but hope to be back later on.Fred :-D .

Hi everyone - popping in again to say hi
Christmas for our family was a quite affair - with just the four of us joining friends at church for a shared lunch. Boxing Day we went to my brother's place for a barbecue tea for which Gayle and I made a bean salad and Craig and Gemma made two desserts. It was great catching up with the family. :-):-)
:-( As for the start of 2012 it has been quiet for us but sadly for some families it has bought sorrow - 18 people dying on the roads over the Christmas/New Year period. More sadness in the past days with 11 being killed when an air balloon plummeted to the ground. Over the weekend the boat carrying containers succumbed to the elements and broke in two spilling more oil and containers into the sea. New Zealand has had a mixture of disasters over the past year or so. :-(
I'm going to try and visit GR a bit more often this year. Jon :-)

We have had a pretty good day weather wise fairly dry up to about half an hour ago,and we even saw some sunshine this morning ,it still was not very warm but it was better than the grey we have been having.
Went for my scan today,found the place ok and after allowing extra time to get there had to wait about an hour.It took about a half hour to do ,now have to wait at least two weeks for the results.
Managed to get some sleep last night,but am still tired today,so it will be another early noght here I think.
Have a few errands to do tomorrow ,depending on weather,so not sure when I will get on here,
Take care ,brenda

Had a really good dayin Bury with my sister yesterday.She had a better time than me as she got most of her outfit for a wedding next weekend,I got a few bits and peices.My leg was painfull when I was trying to look at some things in some shops but i found somewhere to sit and was ok then.
Have my scan tomorrow on my back to see what is causing the pain in my leg,will let you know asap.
See you tomorrow
Brenda

Hi Brenda ,hope you have fun with your sister tomorrow in your old shopping haunt ,lol,it may be drier for you ,but you watch the winds ,they will be weaker than today ,but will be around until the weekend.
We won't take our dec's down until the 5th because it took us old'uns so long to put 'em up ,that we are going to enjoy them for as long as we can,he he.
With the winds and disruption ,the parcel may be as late as Friday ,and you will have to sign for it ,but if you do miss it you can go to your local post office parcel collection and pick it up.
Going to have one to pick up myself next week ,my incinerator is on the way from Wilkinsons and i in turn will have to sign for it,and i don't fancy trying to get it in the back of my car ,the size of it.
Well ,that's it folks ,now's the time to start in on the Easter Eggs ,lol,Fred now ducks to avoid the flying objects.
off now to get the tea ,mundane stuff tonight ,just fancied beans on toast ,with an egg on top.
Catch you later all .Fred. ;-)

Afternoon all,from a windy and wet (very wet ) Manchester.
Not done much today aoart from take down the decorations and put them away.
Good job we did not have to go out!!
My sister phoned and asked me to go to Bury with her tomorrow so hope the weather is drier.
Take care
Brenda

Evening all.,been to town this afternoon with my friend,had a walk round to see what was left in the sales ,but there wasn't much,not that we really wanted anything.I manged to get a manchester City calender for david which was half price.so that wasn't bad.My friend was looking for a handbag,but the one she really liked was not in the sale and at £110 was more than she had in her christmas money!!!
Do not know how they price some items like they do.!!!
Had a nice salad for tea with the lamb left over from yesterday like Fred says ,nice to get back to simple stuff.
Weather was sunny but very chilly today but is supposed to be wet wet wet for the rest of week.
John is not a happy bunny because the weather has put paid to his golf on a good number of days the past couple of weeks,so I will just have to sort out some projects for him!!!! keep him busy.
Time to take the decorations down tomorrow i think,then I can get the back bed room sorted when all the boxes are put back in the loft!!!
David has just brought me a cup of tea so I had better drink this one as I let the other go cold this morning.
Take care ,Brenda

Morning all ,what a lovely start to a new year ,sun shining mildish and dry ,so i will enjoy the afternoon ,dinner prepared [ Shepherds Pie] ,and a couple of veggies ,back to simple but nice fare after stuffing ourselves for a week [not really ,but you know what i mean].
Now i have the housework done ,i will enjoy the afternoon while the ewather lasts ,he he ,i see that the rot starts tonight into tomorrow ,with severe gales ,and tons of rain ,maybe even leading to cold days and snow,ho hum ,well it is winter i suppose ,and we have had it easy compared to last year.
Hope your trip during the week Brenda ,gives you the answers you need ,and hopefully even a solution to the health problems.
Glad to hear that you had a nice Christmas old friend ,makes it all worth while he he ,we did well ,nice and quiet ,relaxed ,and cosy ,just the job ,lol.
Catch you again later ,Fred. :-) :-D

wishing everyone a very happy healthy and peaceful new year.
Take care Brenda x

afternoon folks,very miserable here again today and very very wet!!
We have done what bit of shopping we needed ,and had a quick look at a couple of shops with sales on,but did not get anything,
Been looking at some holiday brouchures that have been sent to us,not that we asked for them !!! The prices did not look bad in some but the flight times were not good at all.
Will wait a while i think, ,want to get my leg a lot better first.
I am going for the scan on my back ,next Friday 6th ,so hopefully that will help sort it out.
Need to get rid of the choclates and biccis still in the house as we are all going to be loosing weight after Sunday
Fred hope you and Liz have a good New Year weekend and enjoy all your great home grown and cooked food.!!!.
Need to get on with a couple of emails.
Be back tomorrow Hugs Brenda

morning Brenda ,yep ,the wind has dropped up here as well at last ,and the colder weather seems to be coming back in ,but we are not expecting to go anywhere today ,so it can please itself he he.
The corned beef is now ready ,and i will cook it tomorrow ,and then cool it overnight in the fridge ready for the big day ,to go with the turkey .pork ,and parsnips ,cabbage ,brussels and new tatties ,all from the garden,smashing.
after i have finished on the puter ,and had my cuppa ,i am going to install the new printer for the wife ,fire up my new kindle for the first time and start boxing up one or two parcels.
This afternoon i am going to be laid back and lazy ,time for me to chill out for a couple of days.
See the E,U are being very sneaky all,with cheap egg imports they are going to try sneaking in to Britain,after failing to enforce new rules about egg production aimed at improving the life of chickens in less cramped cages.
It would seem that only a few countries have upgraded their farms while other countries have refused,about right i think the French do as they please as usual ,and flood Britain with cheap eggs in the hope of putting the British egg farmers out of a job. :-|.
What comes around ,and all that ,because i for one ,will now refuse point blank to buy any e /u food products at all ,be it meat ,fruit ,or grain products .
Off the soap box now ,and off to enjoy my cuppa ,he he ,see you tomorrow peeps ,Fred. :-) :-D