General Chat

Evening all from what was a very bright but very chilly Manchester!! The morning was really miserable but the afternoon was blue skies ,still chilly but the sun shine made it seem warmer,if that makes sense.
Had a walk round the local Matalan,do you have them up your way Fred.?
John got a couple of new long sleeved polo shirts that are a bit thicker ,for playing golf when it gets cooler!
I got a top which if Iget some nice brown trousers will do for the edding we are going to next month.
I have been doing the excersises Fred and am feeling some bebefit ,but the damp weather is not helping .We have both said we have to loose weight so we are staring today ,did think of going back to weight watchers ,but it is dear and will go in a couple of weeks if I do not get a good start my self.
I am going to start doing a bit more walking even if I only go round the block and it takes me a while ,its more than i am doing now.
I have also decided that i will not buy any extra treats for us ,if it is not here we can not eat it.!!!
Need to check my emails as I am waiting on a reply from someone.
take care Brenda

Afternoon Brenda ,and anyone else who looks in ,well ,everything for the kitchen revamp arrived this morning ,but there were a couple of things that wern't right ,so i still had a few bits and pieces to sort out.
Just my luck ,the panel that goes right next to the sink arrived damaged so i had to take it back and get them to cut a new piece,one of the packs for the sink assembly was the wrong one ,so that had to be changed as well,
The panel ends were the wrong size [my fault] which had to be changed for the correct [thinner] sort ,and now ,the son is coming tomorrow morning to give me a hand to start on it all.
The cooker and freezer come a week on Wednesday ,which gives me plenty of time to loosen the worktops ,strip out the carosel for cleaning,and take out the old built in cooker casing.
Just to make sure i had plenty to do in the middle of it all ,we brought a new three burner with side burner gas B B Q for next season :-) which is going to be a bit of a jig saw puzzle ,being as it is quite some size ,and we got it cheap because it has no assembly instructions , :-S, he he,but no doubt it will be fun fitting it all together slowly as we find out where it all goes ,lol :-D.
Coo ,it ain't 'alf getting parky up here Brenda,i went outside at 5-30 this morning to put the bins out for collection ,and i could swear i could feel my ears ,and other sundry bits shrivelling in the cold air he he :-0 .
Stick with the exercises Brenda ,they will work well if you give them a chance old friend,after my triple bypass ,i thought they would kill me ,pain wise ,but two weeks into them i started to twig that i was getting fitter a lot more quickly than i would have done otherwise,and i landed up a lot better off for them.
I have just noticed that the gas board are over the road digging up the pipes outside the flats that are empty ,so with any luck ,they are about to be demolished at long last ,and it will be better done this time of year when the rain and damp will help the dust control problems that demolition causes.
Well ,time to go and make some tea ,a nice leek and potato soup tonight ,with a couple of thick slices of Morrison's bloomer bread.
Hope everyone is having a good week .Catch you all later ,Fred.

well the weather stayed dry most of the day,but has been raining again this afternoon,mind you John got his game of golf in so he was a happy bunny!!!
Been for my physio and was given another excersise and was reminded I need to do them three times a day and it did not matter what time.!!!
I have also got to loose weight so will have to seriously see about going back to weight watchers of I have not lost any weight when I I go back again.!!!
Hope everyone looking in is ok
Take care Brenda

evening Fred and any one else who is looking in.Not done much this weekend been to the library yesterday and changed my books,and had a chat with my friends there.
Have not been out today been busy sorting out some shelves and drawers in my bedroom,nothing for the charity shop this time all going in the binas it was all bits and bobs and old make up etc.
Glad you are making headway Fred,with all your refurbishments,glad you have a little help.Hope it all goes well,we can't seem to do much in this house without finding more work if you know what I mean,
John made a bit of a start by striping the window wall in the bedroon ready to repaper with an embossed paper and then paint it.we might paint all the room or just that one wall,its just an off white colour so should be ok.
David is off work this week and if the weather is ok he is going to take the plastic greenhouses down with John ,to stop them blowing way again.!!!
I have physio tomorrow and am out on both Wednesday and Thursday with friends on wednesday i am looking for something to weat at my neices wedding and Thursday i am going to the local retail park to see a new shop.
Should be back tomorrow.
Take care Brenda

morning all,sorry to be a little remiss ,nothing wrong here ,lol,just a little busy of late what with the kitchen and gardens.
The kitchen gear arrives on Tuesday next week ,but i wont be starting the actual referbishment until a week Tuesday when the youngest son is going to give me a hand to strip the sink unit out,him being an ex plumber and all. :-D.
The rest i can handle myself ,and i can take my time,so ,things are under way.
We have already started changing the bathroom and toilet ,to wet rooms,starting with the toilet which i finished last night.the original carpet and underlay up and binning them.
We had already got the new underlay and lino for the toilet so i got on with it yesterday afternoon and finished it off by sealing the lino to the skirting boards with white silicone ,and the base of the toilet pan with clear silicone.
There is enough underlay left to do the bathroom ,so we only need a large offcut of lino to turn that into a wet room too.
Have to get ready to go food shopping up Cramlington now ,but i will be back this afternoon,enjoy the weekend all ,Fred :-D.

Had a good day weather wise,managed to get my washing dry on the line!!
Hope Fred is making progress with his kitchen refurb1
having a bit of a tussle on the diet ,my sister bought us a toffee apple cake this afternoon and I had already had my treat for today so it will have to wait till tomorrow.!!
hope you are all keeping well and happy
Take care brenda

Well it sounds like we are all having to try and dry out!!
Miserable and wet here again!
Hope you have managed to get all your new kitchen stuff from B&Q today Fred an dwill be hard at the DIY bit before long,
Hope you manage the move without to much trouble Bill and you are drier in the new place and are lucky in both the fishing and the gold digging !!
Had an email from Dorothy ,she has internet at the moment but still having probs with genes ,she is going to send them a postal order and see if its because she renewed for only six months.
Her weather sounds good and her sister is visiting its the Thanks giving weekend and she is doing a Turkey ,no change with the familky problems.
Have to get on with reading my book it needs to go back to the library tomorrow but I will have to take it weekend.
Take care
Brenda

Hi there, Brenda, and Fred.rained again last night,
Its 5am here, and I am just about to have breakfast. Its usual for me to get up early, but this morning I am setting off for the Gibbo River. at around 8am.
First I have to Drop my tent, and pack it into my Car.
It rained last night so I will wait a bit and hope the sun dries it a bit.
Prepacked most of my stuff into the car last night.
I hope its not raining up at the River, I have my fishing gear, and my gumboots.
I will also do a bit of Gold sampling.
Brenda, Hope you cheer up, not nice loosing relatives.
Fred, Hope you and Liz are drying out. and have a mild winter.
Bye for now.
Bill in Oz.

Hi Fred,I think you are a bit more than sopping wet as you appear to have had more than us and we are sopping wet!!.
Have been to Currys and Comet earier this year to look at the cookers ,it is on the back boiler (,pardon the pun !! )for now as other things are taking priority.
Had a bit of sad news my auntie died earlier today ,she was my dads older sister.RIP auntie Mary.
She was 90 years old and had been ill for a while.We saw her on Saturday and she was sleeping very peacefully.
Have not heard from Dorothy by email so not sure what is happening .hope she and her family are ok and hope Bill is doing ok down under,!!!
Tomorrows weather is not supposed to be any different I am sorry to say ,but Thursday and Friday are supposed to be drier.Lets hope!!
Better get the tea started ,some spaggetti bolognese,without garlick bread , as we are cutting down on thecarbs,!!
taje care ,

Morning to all ,from a sopping wet north east of ,you know where,another day with no clearing out of the garden ,grrrrrrr.:-| .
Try Curry's for your cooker Brenda they have a very good range [pardon the intended pun ] :-P , lol of range ,and other cookers,the one i wanted was 910 mm long,but they do bigger ones as well.and they also do a gas one of the same size ,but ,of course ,i am all electric apart from the central heating.
Comet do some good ones as well ,but i find the staff to be a bit iffy ,not much good at customer relations ,and can be a bit pricey too. :-| .
I alternate Hissy's flea treatment ,sometimes using tablets [bob martins] dog tablets which i break in half [cheaper that way ] the scottish ancestry coming to the fore ,lol :-).
I grind them down with pestle and mortar and then mix them in with some cat food ,such as fish ,or a pouch of Felix to hide the taste. ;-) .
Well ,tomorrows the day ,lol,down to B&Q pretty early with all the measurements for the bench tops ,fittings, and other sundry items ,including the kitchen sink .lol ,might as well do the lot,and when i start i think i will tackle the sink,drainer and bench there first ,giving me time to work out wether the taps and plug hole will still fit without changing anything,hmmmmmmm ,this could be rather interesting ,electrics i am fine with ,plumbing i ain't so sure but ,in for a penny ,in for a pound ,as they say.
Hope our Dorothy is okay ,and hope she will be back with us shortly,things are too quiet with out her around ,lol :-).
Catch you all later Fred. :-D.

Hello Fred , Dorothy and Bill,
Been busy today was up early and out at 9.15 as i had an appointment at the physio.
Came home ,was going to call at the supermarket for a newspaper and some onions but it was raining cats n dogs ,and I did not fancy getting wet just for a paper and I did have "an onion"so did not go.
Was out to lunch with some friends so John dropped me of in town as it was still raining heavy.
Luckily it had stopped when I was coming home,so I got the bus
Have made some butternut squash and yellow pepper soup, for lunch tomorrow,my sister is hopefully coming for a light lunch before she goes to the local hospital for some blood tests ,she goes every few weeks.
I have an errand to do tomorrow,so have made it in advance.
You have a similar proplem to us Fred with the oven,we have a range cooker ,dual fuel,and we want another one,but as the kitchen is fitted we need the same size but we can not find one that we like in the size we have available.!!!
I know what you mean about putting the drops on the cat ,we have the same trouble twice over and when the second one sees the first one being done ,he takes off and will not be seen for ages,!!!!
We need to get out the back and give it a good tidy but the weather is not good enougth.so we have said the next dry day we will do that.
Better get off to bed ,two early.morning starts are not good for me without early nights.
Take care
brenda

Good morning Dorothy ,& Brenda ,yep i agree with the weather prognosis ,looks plurry 'orrible outside dosn't it he he ,not much i can add to that exept to say ,i do not do wellies and raincoat digging in the garden ,so i am stopping in the dry.
Upset her majesty this morning by enticing her with a few Dreamies ,and then holding her down while the missus applied her regular dose of tick and flea drops ,[ the cat ,not the missus] , ooooooooh the look of betrayal we cot as i let go of her ,she shot off at great speed ouit of the door ,he he ,i don't think we will see her again until dinner time.
I still have loads of beetroot to come in out of the garden for use ,but no way am i going out there until it dries up a good bit.
I dropped a you know what in measuring the space for the new cooker so we can't have the one i wanted [Bu***r] it turns out that the cooker with the fifth ring in the middle is 2 inches too long for the availiable space which means the back door won't open fully allowing us to bring large items in the door.
So it's back to a regular size cooker with four rings on the hob ,but i suppose i can always buy an electric wok ,or stick to the present one :-| .
Co ,the lamb sounds great Brenda ,but it's a no no in this house ,being the fattiest meat around ,and mutton being hard to find these days ,so ,by request of the grandson who is here today ,we are having a Spam and Bean Crunchy top.
This is an old recipe from way back when pennies were tight [most of us have been there] and may be again the way the food costs are going up again .
It consists of a casserole dish ,to which is added one onion ,finely chopped .a can of baked beans.a can of tomato s [plum] and a can of Spam ,or chopped ham and pork diced into half inch pieces.all the ingredients being layered.a good mix of chop sauce /tomato sauce with a little water is added ,mixed with a generous dash of pepper.
All this is topped with melted marge ,into which four slices of bread are tossed until well covered ,which is the laid on top of the full dish ,to add the crunchy topping.
The grandson loves it as did our own four brats and we can find nothing as tasty for the money either ,a few roast tatties ,and mash ,with some home grown cabbage and you can't go wrong .
We have fired up the central heating and checked it out ,all seems to be normal after the gas work which finished last week :-) .
We are still left with a large hole in our drive which ,if it wern't so funny ,would be pathetic.
The gas workers arrived Friday morning and capped HALF the hole off with asphalt,leaving the other half ? when i asked why this was ,i was told ,seeing as the asphalt drive was put in by the council who rightly were paid for the work they filled in the asphalt part ,but as the concrete part was council ,they couldn't do that? helloooooo ?,the gas board dug it all up ,why wern't they replacing it all? seeing as it was all council work at the start.bloody crazy lot .he he ,So here i am ,half a hole left ,with a kevlar yellow covering still on my drive until this lot of clowns get themselves sorted out.i am half tempted to get the local newspaper on the case ,but i suppose if i do that ,i will mark my own card with them [the local council]' what a right carve up this is turning out to be ,what was wrong with filling the whole hole with tarmac ,or concrete i would like to know ,or is it something us lowly peasants don't know about? :-S.
Time to go and get on with this dinner,hope all are having a great weekend,Fred :-) .

Hi Everyone,its been a really horrible day weather wise again, gret wet miserable and cold.Not done much apart from going to visit my aunt in hospital,
Now waiting for my tea to be ready,we are on roasted leg of lamb chops with roasted veggis,looks very tasty,
not sure if i am out tomorrow was going to my sisters but she has a chest infection,so we are not going.
Hope everyone has a good weekend.
Brenda

Evening all,fred ,Liz is a woman after my own heart with the decluttering ,mind you everytime i have left one of those bags out side it never gets picked up.!!! So I just fill them up and take them to our local shopping center where there are three or four charity shops and i give them a bag each .!!
Have two bags in the hall ready for the Barnados shop as I got some of there bags from the shop last time I went.
Have been to town to meet my friend for lunch,which was very nice.Then we went to M&S and got a bit wet has it had started to rain.
We had intended going to a Pound shop after M&S but had been chatting so long with our cups of tea that Idid not have time, the shop is in the opposite direction to my bus stop.!!.
REally wet and horrible weather here now with plenty of thunder,John is moaning that he will not be able to get out for golf tomorrow.!!!
The kitchen renovations sound very grand Fred,hope it all works out well for you,without too much aggro!!
Johns hs just made us a cup of tea.so I had better finish and put the lap top away before I get any tea all over it.
Take care
Brenda.

Hi Brenda ,and Dorothy if she is looking in,from oop north where the sun don't shine ,the heating is on and it's a tad chilly this morning lol :-).
As it turns out ,i can still get some help off the son because his job is a late afternoon and evening one ,so it isn't too bad after all.
the missus has the bit between her teeth now ,not content with the kitchen refurbishment ,she has gone through all the upstairs cupboards ,drawers ,and other hidey holes after a bag came through the door from Scope so we have two suitcases in the front room with books and dvd's in ,three huge bags of clothing , and sundry other things like unwanted toys and bric a brac,landing up with the floors upstairs breathing a sigh of relief as all that weight was removed from them :-0.
The bag that came through the door is outside waiting for the van to come down the road ,with a label stuck on asking the driver to knock ,lol,hope the lad ,or lass had their porridge this morning ,they are going to need the energy he he.
We have now decided on our new cooker ,a Belling double oven,black with ceramic rings on the hob,and catalytic oven liners both top and bottom ,yippee ,no more on my hands and knees with the Mr Muscles cleaner :-| all self cleaning ,and rather expensive ,but it will be well worth it.
We also decided to do away with the freezer upstairs ,getting a bit larger one for the utility room that will sit next to the upright bigger one.
The under bench fridge is going out ,and the cupboard that is next to the upright freezer is going where the fridge used to be,leaving the room for the new freezer.
I am getting rid of the rose cover bushes that we put in three years ago,they don't stop the weeds taking hold among them and the weed is impossible to get out with out having the arms scratched to pieces on the thorns,so ,out they are coming,to be replaced by the other plants i already have ,.thinning's from them replanted elsewhere ,fast growing and stopping the weeds from getting a hold,i will put a load of bulbs underneath first ,so that they will grow though as they come up.
Sean's parcel came yesterday ,so as soon as Scope have been we will be able to get out again, the first time we have been out since last Thursday,i think ,we isss going stir crazy ,lol. :-).
Time to go and get some work done ,see you all later ,Fred :-D

Morning all.glad your son has got himself a job fred ,but bad news you will be doing the kitchen on your own.
Had my NHS physio yesterday and they told me the same as the private on has done.I have been given the same sort of excersises today but been told to do them 3 times aday instead of 1 or 2. I can only go once a fortnight due to the demand on their services. So I will continue to do the excersises but do more of them.
Weather turned out good yesterday ,hope today is the same as I have washing to dry!!!
Had a conact from someone on my grand dads side of the family the other day,we have been in contact before and shared info,she was telling me about another branch she had found,but then emailed back to say they are not on our tree.!!!
I did have a quick look at my files and had an idea they weren't ,as I had looked at someone from their branch before. Still gets the old grey matter working again.
Good luck with the kitchen Fred,we have a bit of DIY to start ourselves and I want it finished by the end of next month ,before we are away in December.
Better get on with the ironing and then clean the kitchen floor before I go out to take ny neice to the hospital.
Have a good day everyone,take care.Brenda

Morning to everyone from all over the place ,including the pond.
Glad to hear that the repairs were finished to your satisfaction Brenda ,even more glad it was a little cheaper than you had anticipated ,a bonus yet :-) .
Looks like i will be doing the kitchen upgrade on my own [sounds about right],he he ,with the news that my youngest son has now found himself work again,good on him ,only out of work a few months ,when there are so few jobs going up here in the north east.
He has gone back into the catering trade ,the wages not bad ,and it's pretty safe work wise ,no short time likely.
Going to get the ladders out now ,back later ,Fred. :-)

evening all.we have had a really good afternoon weatherwise today after a bit of a cloudy start,better than yesterday.
Hope Bill is out of the wet and has managed to get his
gear grounded.and he gets his credit sorted.
Sorry Fred you still loose me when you start talking technical!!!
We have also had a few other Help the heros grocery things cooked meat (vacuumed packed).,meatballs and the bacon.I will keep mt eyes open and let you know what else i find.
We have had an up and down weekend with good and bad family news.
My Auntie my dads sister is back in hospital and is very poorly things don't sound too good,She has a number of problems,diabetes,and pancreatic cancer. and now has a kidney infection as well as .Johns sister has had breast cancer last year and developed a swelling ,luckily after a check up it was only fluid and everything else is fine.
The good news is that my brother in law and my nephew have both been able to get jobs after being out of work for 6 months and a year.!!!
Another bit of good news was that the builder did not charge us as much as we had been expecting for the extra work.
Better get on with some other emails and check the other sites.
Take care Brenda

Morning all ,Bill,Brenda & [waves]to Dorothy ,crikey what a difference up here this morning,a slight breeze ,still pretty mild ,a tad warm even,but raining and cloudy ,,looks like i got the B B Q in just in time.
Glad to hear that you have just about got the building work completed Brenda,you will rest easier no doubt ,knowing that the roofing is now sound ,and water/snow proof,which you will be needing in the next few months.
Thanks for the heads up regarding the bacon too ,didn't know about that one ,but i will be on the lookout for it now,all donations will be going to a very good cause .
Bet you are double glad you put your gear well up on the bank top Bill,with the water on the rise ,that was an old dog move that others would have been well advised to follow ,there is nothing worse than a flooded tent .
Found my new dongle Bill,a pay as you go from the 3 mobile people ,which i will use when away ,now the wife can use the spare lappy with 3 while i am on line with t-mobile ,he he,no more infighting to be on line first.
Yes ,as Bill knows ,we will be away down to B&Q on Wednesday ,to pay for ,and have cut in store ,the bench tops ,select the new sink unit ,and all the other fittings we will need,and then try to get them to deliver at a modest cost [i hope] ,finishing the kitchen off with the new cooker,which we will be getting from Currys to take advantage of the insurance and replace deal ,in case of breakdown..
Hi dorothy [waves again] hope you can get online again shortly,ruddy daft genes ,did that to me a while ago and that's when i changed my sign in name to get round it ,daft it is when you only need to change one part of the name to get round it ,but there you go ,
Going to do a shoot now ,i am going to shunt all my photos onto piccasa ,move the files onto my external hard drive ,and transfer them onto my travel laptops so that i can see them any time,anywhere ,lol,and ,at the same time i will install the 3 dongle onto them so it is ready to use next month.
Something to keep me busy indoors with the weather anyway.
Catch everyone later,Fred. :-) .

Hi Brenda, and Badger,
Storm passed, now expecting the rivers to rise.
My credit on Prepay has disappeared, so I will make a trip to Bairnsdale tomorrow and get that sorted. in the meantime, will have to run, Hope you are both well, and Dorothy gets back on soon.
Bill in Oz