General Chat

Hello everyone,we have a very miserable day for new years eve,went to get a few groceries and you would have thought there was going to be a seige or something the amount of stuff some people had.
I am glad you and Liz got home safe and sound fred and enjoy the fish and chips tomorrow.
we as usual are not out tonight we stopped going out a few years ago ,
We have nothing planned for tomorrow ,just a nice roast lamb dinner ,which will leave some for sunday .
May I wish you all the best for 2011 and thank you for all your help in keeping this thread going.Love and hugs ,take care,Brenda

Fred and Liz are back home and ensconced in the front room with a hot drink ,car washed down ,unloaded ,and are now spoiling Hissy rotten ,after the welcome home she gave us she looks to have missed us as much as we missed her,so ,maybe tonight with her curled up behind my knees ,i may get a good night's sleep.
Hi Sylvia,nice to see you again ,hope you enjoy your New Year as well as you have your Christmas.
this time next year sean will be having a good time ,his wife ,Marta ,finished with the University for good,home with her degree in bio robotics,spending her first Christmas at home with her hubby,i just hope this year flies by for both of them.
Have to go and get tea ,posh one today ,jackets,with a tomato and cheese filling ,and tomorrow a really nice dinner ,back to normal fare ,fish and chips ,with mushy peas [home made of course].
Catch you all tomorrow ,happy new year everybody,Fred & Liz.

well it is new years eve day and we may have rain and a temp of 10 degree's almost balmy glad to hear from sylvia her goodies sound nice I am sure they taste good, yes brenda anne did go to the bluebell and it is the one you mentioned and they had a very good lunch she said it has new owners since she took me there the last time I was home. I agree eating out is getting very expensive but a lot places in my area have some good specials year round to get the customers in. the fishbowl is as the name suggests mainly fish has a special to-morrow a all you can eat buffet for 15 dollars and it has a sliding scale price for children and seniors it is over the lunch hour, I would think that it will be very good. but also very busy so I shall give it a pass plus you needed reservations. I can send you the receipe for the sweet potatoe's if you like it is quite good with the lemon and maple syrup. well the next time I am the thread it will be 2011 so I wish one and all a very happy new year and I hope that john is ok with all the flooding not quite sure if he lives near all of that take care bye dorothy

Hi all what a nice surprise to see everyone leaving messages.Glad you have hada good visit Fred ,have a safe and good journey home.
hope you are ok with hissy ?
Sylvia,hope youare mobile again soon with your scooter and enjoy your celebrations.
Dorothy sorry you did not see your film and hope you get to see it next week,my sister likes a place called the Blue bell for meals its near her in Whitefield is it where anne goes?
we might go out for lunch next week as its ages since we went out ,but everywhere puts the prices up as its christmas and say its a christmas menu.!!! so we will wait a few days after new year.
Your menu sounds great have never made sweet potatoes,must try them soon. See you all soon Take car ,brenda

Hi all,
Well Xmas is over and now we have New Year's Eve tomorrow to cope with. The fireworks have been going off here all week. If the police catch the guilty ones they'll get fined. They should only let off fireworks on New Year's Eve.
I still don't dare go out on my scooter because of the ice. The main roads are ok but the small slip roads are slippery.
So tomorrow it is a feast again on olie balls (sort doughnuts) and apple beignets, and on top of that my birthday in a few days time How much should I weigh? Better not ask.
Happy New Year everybody and to those who are not so well please get well soon.
Sylvia xxx

goodmorning brenda good to hear that ferd and liz are enjoying the visit with the grandson sounds like all is well with them, no I did not get to see the film as the theatre has about 18 small theatres and the line up was out the door by the time I would have got up to the ticket counter the film would have been in progress so I will try again next tuesday, my friends in brampton did however get to see it and said it was very good very much worth seeing. anne called early this morning to say the queen's first great grand child had arrived yesterday a little girl nice way for any family to end the year, she was going out for lunch to-day with her son and family maybe to the bluebell as her son did not want to go to the swan and cemetary though the fish and chips are very good there. andrew and bryan should be back to-day from niagra falls from the hockey tournement hope they had a good time, I am getting ready for the family on sunday have a new reciepe for sweet potato's that I am thinking of trying it involves roasting them and drizzling lemon and maple syrup on them as an extra veg, found some vegatarian chicken nuggets for laura so that should keep her happy. I think that I shall have a lazy day to-day reading and playing some of the xmas cd's that I recieved the weather is a little warmer and was foggy this am take care bye dorothy

Yep,we isssss here folks ,in darkest Wiltshire ,lol,just in time to do the grandson his Christmas dinner ,and the look on his face made it all worth while ,and to cap it all he got to taste his nanas ten minute Christmas pudding which he hasn't had in two years,he he ,the blissful look on his face was good enough for us.
We had a stir fry today for dinner ,and will be having our party tea today ,complete with crackers and other goodies.
Liz enjoyed the trip tp Morrisons this morning ,to fill the car up for the trip home and pick a few bits for the tea,mince pies , and party platters ,and stuff like that.
We are off home new years eve ,home in time for tea after making a fuss of Hissy and giving her her present ,a cloth mouse with a string tail ,stuffed with cat nip ,which she loves.
Hope to catch you all tomorrow ,Fred.

Hi all,feeling better today hada good nights sleep,and even got out to buy milk today,Called at the crem as it would have been my dads birthday to day ,took a small plant and a card.It is usually really cheerfull there at this time of year ,but the weather and mushy snow made it look really bleak I did not stay long.
Hope you got to the film and more importantly enjoyed it.
John also felt better and took the chance to get up to his mums ,he stayed a couple of hours and came back this afternoon.He did not see much snow near hers ,according to her it was bad yesterday,but it melted with the rain last night,but there was still plenty on the fields near the motorway,There was also a lot of mist/fog,which is supposed to get worse tonight. The weather men say we should not see any snow for the next few days but only at weekend they said it would snow again hard before new year.!!!
Hope Liz and Fred got to theire grandsons ok and are enjoying themselves.
See you soon.
Brenda

hi gosh brenda you and john are under the weather I do hope that you get well soon colds are so miserable, hope fred and liz are having a good time and a safe journey back, the weather looks good at the moment cold but no snow it is about 9am my time but they are calling for snow to-day still hoping to go to see that film but I don't have to leave till about noon so I shall see what the next couple of hours bring, I forgot to mention that andrew recieved an award from work a weeks trip to aruba at the end of january from his company lindy is trying to get the time off from school but if she can't as she is not on contract but doing a maternity leave (teachers can take up to 2 years off paid for the first year but not for the 2nd) then he will take bryan not a bad award he has been very lucky this year. take care and keep looking after yourselves bye dorothy

Hi all,we are still sneezing like lunatics and I have an headache which is just about bearable.when i take the cold capsuals which have paracetamal in them,John is taking lemsips,.Hope we are better tomorrow,don't think we will be going to the shops as my legs are a bit like jelly still. and there is no rush for the things I was thinking of getting.
Its been raing here today so some of the snow is clearing but not much.
Johns mum said they have had more snow near them so its snowed on top of ice.which is not good at all. John is begining to think he will not get up there till next year.
Hope Fred and Liz managed to get off to the grandsons and don't encounter any adverse weather etc.
Hope you got to your film Dorothy,and enjoyed it ,don.t think they have offers like that at our cinemas.
see you tomorrow take care,Brenda

good morning yes it is nice to be able to get back on line with this thread it sounds like you all had a nice christmas day sorry to hear that your house is full of colds brenda hopefully you will recover soon, fred have a nice trip out if you are able to go, the rowan's are on lindy's father side of the family they came from wales I believe when her grandmother rowan died a few years ago they had placed a lot of her belongings gathered from her travels around the world (she was in china in her late 80's) in a auction in toronto and I remember 4 small paintings of wales went for 25,000 dollars. no one in the family wanted them as they were very dark but someone reconised the name of the painter, all the family were allowed to take something from the estate lindy decided on a piano, andrew was out of town so he missed out on the paintings as he put it "I liked them very much" and I am sure that they would have cleaned up and shown the beauty of them. to-day it is cold but no snow though the snow has hit the states the airports at new york are all closed I guess it is there turn to see what a storm can do. brenda if you go to the shops you are braver than I after seeing the shops on the news packed with folks on boxing day, I will have another day at home and do a bit of housework, I may go out to-morrow as the Kings speech is playing at the movies near me and tuesdays are cheap day under 6 dollars for the show and I really want to see this film. also I need to pick up some potatoes and milk have everything else for the family coming for dinner on the 2nd just have to figure something for Laura (still vegatarian) maybe some sushi she loves that, well as usual I am rambling on so bye for now dorothy

What a great surprise to see Dorothy back with us,like a late christmas present.
Hope you can stay along time Dorothy,glad you enjoyed your christmas,we had a very uiete one as usual with just John ,david and myself,wehad a nice lunch which was served late due to a few things not going right ,but it turned out ok on the night as they say.We had an ice cream dessert a while after the meal which went down well.John and David had sandwiches and pickles later in the evening but I was still to full.!!Today has been really lazy as John and I have both come down with colds and have been sneezing and coughing and have streamming eyes and noses!!! We have dosed up on lemon cold mixtures and will be having an hot toddy before bed time,
Fred ,hope Liz is feeling better todayand you manage to get down to your grandsons ,they have said the weather is turning milder after tomorrow so you should be ok ,really hope so.Try and keep in touch but if not all the best to you both and your grandson,
Dorothy will be back tomorrow unless I get out to the sales to look for a few bargains to use for birthday and house warming presents.
Take care brenda

nice to see you back Dorothy,and it sounds as though you had a good Christmas day,,interesting to hear of your connection to the Rowan family as well ,my grandmother was a Rowan by birth ,her parents being from Morneshore ,county down before emmigrating to tyneside in the 1850s.
i had heard rumours of a connection to canada,but i 'm not sure yet ,though there are def' connections to Oz and New Zealand and Scotland.
We had a quiet day ,part spent at The eldest sons ,and part at the youngest sons ,we were supposed top be down to Wiltshire today ,but Liz wasn't too clever after being in the cold twice in one day ,so we spent boxing day at home in the warm.
All being well we will go down south tomorrow as it reckons to be a little warmer through the week.,and if i warm the car before starting off ,we should be okay.
Hope everybody is having a great holiday,stay warm and safe all,and if for any reason i don't get back on line this coming week ,Happy New Year folks,god bless you all .Fred.

hello hello and guess what I think that I am back after much fiddling around with different new browsers etc so have been this boxing day morning catching up with all the notes from dec 1st I hope that you brenda and john and fred and liz had a wonderful day yesterday, I went over christmas eve and we all had a lovely dinner cooked by andrew lindy and the children had been ski-ing all day, then went to church for the carol singing then Ian had us up at 7am, the children were happy with all the santa gifts bryan and laura recieved lap tops and Ian an I pod something or other I am not sure about all this tech no stuff, I was very spoiled with my gifts an indoor terrium that I can grow vegatables in and a magic bullet chopper ( for veg and all kinds of reciepes) hard to describe, after a wondeful breakfast we watched the queens speech and had a nice visit, I came home about 3pm as they left to go to lindys sister's for dinner(supper) I did not want to leave simeon for too long as he is not well. the weather yesterday was cold but no snow but this morning we have a few flurries from the lake. the family are going to toronto to-day to the sewell/rowan annual dinner(Lindys side of the family) this has been going on since the late 1800's about 60 will be there for a buffet dinner and up to 200 in and out during the day, lindys aunt on her mothers side has a large home in the beaches area of toronto. her husband died earlier this year so this is the last year that she will be hosting it next year Lindys sister jane ( the eldest of three) will carry on the tradition it is a time for all the family to get to-gether and catch up on things the family are scattered around canada and India but all manage to get to boxing day dinner. it is so nice to finally be able to catch up with you all and I wish you and yours a very happy 2011 bye for now dorothy

Hello everyone,hope you are all well and warm? there does not seem to be any end to this cold snap.well if I have not got anything now its not being bought as I do not intend to go out again.
david has tomorrow off but will have to pay a day back next year when theydo a stock take.I suppose it stops them paying overtime!!!
I seem to have lost or misplaced some of our decorations we had a couple of those card holders which you put on the wall and put a number of christmas cards on them,but there is no sign of them !!They will have to go on string or some ribbon I have.
Mind you we do not seem to have as many cards this year which is not surprising really.
Better get on with those last minute jobs, see you all tomorow. Brenda

hi everyone,hope you are all keeping warm and well? hope so its a bit warmer down here today ,but the snow is still here we are supposed to be getting more tomorrow or Friday. So we are doing our last bits of shopping and delivering cards and pressies tomorrow so we shouldn't have to go out again.have john and davids pressie to wrap yet and some decorations to put up ,but it will be ok on the night ,Have to finish the icicng on the last three cakes tonight so we can give them out tomorrow.
Take care Brenda

Hi Fred,we are still covered in the snow that came down on Friday night Saturday morning.we have not had anymore snow but it is still FREEZING,had to wait so long for the bus to town that I thought i had ice cubes for feet !! It will be two pairs of socks at least for me in future!!
Had to meet my friend to give her a present.Luckily she was held up as well waiting for the chemist to do her prescription,for the flu jab,its a long story as to why she couldn't get it done free at the doctors but could get a prescripton which is free as she is 60 then take it back to have the practise nurse give it to her.!!! Have emailed Dorothy and heard back from her,she is ok and still waiting to hear from genes .But is using emails only for now.She has been telling me her friend in Bury had to clear 4inches of snow from her drive and Dorothy had to clear 4 foot from her car !!
Better get on with Tea it was spag bol ,but David is out at a football match and I don't feel that hungry after having lunch out ,so it will be a quick egg and bacon job which after egg and chips is his favourite meal.
See you all tomorrow,take care,brenda

Morning Brenda,sorry to be missing yesterday ,but the oppertunity to get out in the garden which was still frozen hard ,but snow free ,was heaven sent .
I managed to get out ,wrapped up like a demented Eskisnow [lol],double mitts on hands,two pairs of socks on feet stuffed into wellies ,towing the garden refuse bin round behind me ,
I got all the old haulms stripped down,the roses pruned,most of the leaves up ,and the damaged Willow tree chopped up ,and stuffed it all in the bin which is now chokker.
I was frozen to the marrow by the time i got indoors ,but it was worth it to get cleared up out there ,the ground so hard that the wheels of the bin didn't do any damage at all.
I stripped down to the frozen skin ,and slipped into a nice warm bath where i soaked foor a good half an hour before getting dressed again,and sitting down to a tea of a hearty vegetable country soup ,the sort that has everything thrown in but the bones and horns ,he he ,just what was needed.
Looks like i was just in time as well ,as it looks as though the third band of snow is coming our way,and will hit us by mid day,but with all the outside work now done ,it can please itself .
It looks like the trip to Wiltshire is off ,this weather is sooo cold that to get Liz to the shops at all i have to spend 10 minutes at least getting the car warmed up before i can let her leave the house,as to ask her to walk in the cold air is making her really ill,so ,no chance of me going any distance with the remotest chance of getting stranded in it.
It is now a case of praying for a lottery win so that i can move her to a far warmer climate to live.it's that or she has to be on the move from spring to autumn ,and then hibernate ,he he.
Think today we will have a small practice Christmas dinner ,some ready cooked turkey slices out of the freezer ,some brussel ,cabbage.carrot ,and potato ,steamed in the small steamer ,with some nice hot chicken gravy,no roasties today though ,the next time i to the real deal will be Christmas day when i get the big guns out ,the corned beef,Turkey, and baked ham with the Kilties and all the trimmings.
Have to go for now ,time to turn my self into the kitchen and get the dinner prepared .
Stay safe and warm all ,and be careful out there ,boots on with good grips on the soles days ,isn't it ? Fred.

Wel the snow arrive3d this morning ,and its about 4 inches deep,in our road,Jogn was going to Clevelelys to his mother but has postponed it for a few days.
david was working today and said it was a weird feeling walking to work at 5.30am,!!!
The cats don't like the snow and are walking about like lost soauls,
Hope every one is snug and war,Take care ,brenda

\\\afternoon Fred and anyone else looking in,We are laugthing now about the flight to no where,but it wasn't at the time,We are putting in a claim,which might get us a bit of compo only £30.00 each. but its better than a kick up the bum!!
Glad you got your shopping sorted,and are all tucked in for the weather ,we have had sunshine and freezing temps today and there is snow on the high ground but we have not got it here,
Making a nice chicken bake for tea with some baby potaoes and broad beans ,thoight I had some biggish spuds to bake but i didn't.
All the holiday washing ids done and most of it will just go into the case and spare drawers ready for the next holiday ,whenever that is.Johns mate was done by those drivers might tell hime about the cameras,Have all my presents to wrap tonight and tomorrow and a cake to ice ,so its busy round here tonight.
Take care ,brenda