General Chat

hi one and all it is another sunny day but still on the cold side but so pleasent goodness fred you and liz are going to be busy with all the work ahead of you in the garden but what wonderful end results you get, this week I am going to be helping out on thursday as the three children have different activities at different ends of town as andrew flew out last evening to new brunswick he only got home on friday from ottawa so it was a quick turn around for him he does not usually go out of town or province two weeks in a row but he has to do a couple of firings and hirings in new brunswick, I always know when he has to let someone go as I get a call and he explains to me why he has to do it I think it makes him feel better. he does run a tight ship but has a soft heart especially when people have families but he has to answer to the president of the company so I guess that is one of the down sides of business life. when I think back to his first job as a teenager collecting the buggies in the super market parking lot to what he does now my how time flies. I stayed up last night to watch the oscars quite a good show . I think that I will have a wander around the garden centre this afternoon and see all the spring flowers in the pots would love to buy some but the cats eat them so they have to go in the bathroom at night brenda enjoy your outing with your son on mothers day ours is not till may 10th bye for now dorothy

Hello again from a sunny ,but slightly chilly Manchester,we had a really good weekend weather wise.Hope it continues and gets warmer.
Have been busy washing and things today as its my day off ,don't get many Mondays off and its thrown my rota ,what there is of one a bit out this week..
Will be working all week ,not all full days mind you,but of on saturday,when my son is treating me to lunch or tea out, for mothers day,it will be too busy on the day ,but he has said he will cook the sunday dinner!!!
Need to go and get some lunch now ,see you tomorrow I hope,Brenda

Goooood morning all ,from the REAL north of England he he.where the sun is shining again ,and once the frost has melted ,both Fred & Liz will be out in the garden and greenhouse getting stuck into some work.
Liz is going to take her time changing all the soil in the tomato and cucumber pots,by putting all the old stuff into a big bin ready for filling up the buckets in the garden ,ready for the start of the season.
Liz has enough potting compost to start putting some flower and veggie seed in,so her season starts today ,mine on the other hand won't start for at least another week ,when i will kick off by putting in two tubs of parsnip seeds ,and two tubs of red onion sets.
There is a garden centre out towards Gosforth that sells good grade potting compost which is ideal tor the tomato plants and cucumber £12 for three,so i will go out come Friday this week and buy three ,and on seeing how far that goes ,get some more the next week.i also noticed some asparagus plants ,so i will be buying three more .
We went down to the sons for dinner yesterday to find he had brought the missus a compaque laptop for birthday ,and was trying to load touch screen in it.
He was not amused when i told him the puter was not capable of running that programme ,and that he either brought the model with touch screen on board which could cost him up to £300 extra,or buy a touch screen that he could put on the puter by adding two wires to the circuit board,which could cost him around £200,he he ,don't think he will bother ,lol
The new mouse is working a treat ,a little wireless model running on one AA battery ,with a little receiver that only sticks out of the usb port by 10 mm.and slips into the mouse for transport,so ,i will be taking it with the acer when i go away.
We have conformation that the car is on order,brilliant, we decided on the N-Tec which has the sun roof ,roof rails ,sat nav,and connect [for the phone to work through the radio] as well as a reversing camera which i reckon is even better than sensers enabling me to see exactly whats behind the car,dogs ,cats and kids ,lol.but i intend refitting the fresnel screen that is on the Note at the minute ,just to be extra safe.
Have to agree with dorothy ,Liz''s mountain hiking days are over ,but ,given all day ,she can still manage a good walk along the banks of the
Tyne river up towards Wylam and the son comes and picks us up when she is pakkered he he.
That's it for now you lot ,the sun ,a cuppa ,and the garden are calling meeeeeee,ta ta for the minute Fred.

hi brenda I don't think neils new book comes out till may I think that was the date the last e-mail I recieved from him. glad the weather is improving also over here this week-end has been sunny cold when out of the sun but good for walking about. my sister is in canmore for a couple of weeks at their other condo they were going to banff last evening to a piano concert she said that the snow is melting on the mountains but they were able to spend time snow shoe-ing very into hiking and climbing those two dare I say it does not appeal to me, took one of the ladies shopping and to the library yesterday she had never been to the library and ahas lived here over 17yrs blew my mind she did enjoy the experiance and is going to get a library card after all it is free, sunday am we have a two and a half hours coronation street the banner of dev was shown you can see that we are quite behind, I have it on as I potter around from room to room , as it is so nice I am going to go for a short walk around the area so bye for now dorothy

afternoon all from a really nice spring like Manchester,still a bit chilly but its nice to see the sunshine and people walking about.
Dorothy,we have not got the Neil White book on order yet at the library,will have to check again before I finish and put it on reservation.I am trying not to buy any books as I am doing my best to down size in books,magazines, cds and dvds.Have given loads to the charity shop and my partners mother ,she them passes them on to the club house where they have a caravan.
Glad you are getting in the garden Fred and enjoying yourself,sorry Liz got bombed.Hope she is ok now.
Nearly time to start the closing uo proceedyre so I will finish my cuppa and get started,
Brenda

gosh fred I hope that liz has recovered from her escapade with the bomb in the greenhouse it must do a very good job, it was great to hear you talking about the blubells and the crocus and you have cut the lawn allready spring must be coming to your neck of the woods, it is getting a little warmer over here and we are seeing more of the sun and can open the windows for a while each day I still have snow around the car where I park it but it is starting to melt away, the long range forecast looks good but we can still get snow in april , brenda I have ordered the new elizabeth george book that is coming out you should have it in england before we do. anne's daughter e-mailed me this am looking for ideas for mothers day ie. some new books so I gave her a few ideas from amazon uk. hope you all have a good week-end and fred continue to enjoy the garden bye for now dorothy

Yep Dorothy i issss,or was ou tin the garden until it started to get dark ,making hay ,as they say.
I did go to b & Q yesterday on a bit of a spending spree,i got a smoke bomb to fumigate the green house ,two new roses to replace two old ones that have never done too well,and the new staple ,/nail gun because the one i borrowed off the sun was about as useful as a pork chop in a jewish butchers shop.
So good is it that i had the first screen panel up in five minutes flat,so ,knowing that i could complete the job ,i broke off from that ,and mowed the lawn for the first time this year ,got the two boxes cleaned out and got ready for the parsnip.
One box left to do ,but it still has carrot in at the moment so i can get that one ready later ,it is going to be filled with red onion,which will be handy for salads and pizza making ,along with stir frys.
The wife got a bit of mickey taken out of her ,once i had rescued her that is.
I went indoors to put the kettle on and pay a visit ,and while i was indoors the wife decided to position and light the bomb for me ,she went in the greenhouse ,shut the door behind her so the wind wouldn't blow the match out ,and fired it up he he.
It went with a whoosh,and the missus couldn't see a thing within three seconds ,but luckily i came out of the house in time to open the door and get her out ,coughing and spluttering ,eyes streaming.
Once i knew she was okay i gave her a right telling off for being so daft ,and telling here that in setting a bomb,one NEVER shuts the greenhouse door until they come out.lol.
The greenhouse for a good four hours looked like a smokers club were having their annual meeting i have never seen anything like it ,if any bug survived that ,it should get the V C.
I will get the other two runs of screening up later this morning before we do the weekly shop ,and after i have had my coffee sat out back looking at the garden coming to life again ,the crocus are a picture ,and the front garden shows signs of the bluebell i transplanted last year coming through ,cor ,i do love this time of year.
Sounds as though you are getting out at the right time Brenda ,i wouldn't like the thought of being replaced by a machine albeit only for certain parts of the job ,it sounds degrading somehow.
Hope you get sorted with the car too ,once you are retired i see the sense in sharing one as well ,only half the running costs to start with,and i remember only too well ,the need to take a heavy lorry down the Manchunian way once a week to get my multidrops off ,he he ,i would rather go through the heart of London than Manchester any day ,
When i go there again ,as i may very well do in April.it will be by train and bus from Blackpool,the car staying on site he he.
Well ,that's it peoples ,the yellow thing up in the sky has come out again ,lol,now where's me gun ,i'm off Fred.

goodmorning glad to hear that your knee is feeling better brenda I have to agree with you that the automated machine in the library is not a good idea we have one and it is not used very much even when you have about 20 people in a line we have about 4 ladies on the the check out desk so things go quite quickly plus I have tried the machine out and it seems to be out of order more than in order. I did tell you did I not that neil has a new book coming out in may I believe, I am going to send you a personal e-mail with anne's phone number and I will explain why in it. fred must be out in the garden hope he does not over do bye for now dorothy

Morning all,well we have a rather sunny if cold day here ,which it seems is the order of the day all found.
Have been out to follow John to the garage for his car to be MOT'd ,I then bring him home and take him back to pick it up.But we might have to wait till gone 5 to go and get it back,right at rush hour !!!! we have to go on some busy roads ,which we found have road works on due to the impending introduction of trams!! (to Ashton),so we are hoping they will keep it overnight and we can go in the morning after the rush hour.I can then call at an Aldi on the way home for a spot of shopping and be home for lunch and then I am at the hospital for a check up on my knee,which is a whole lot better ,it will not be perfect but it is ok ,and I have not needed to use the stick for a good few weeks.
John is in two minds about down sizing to one car ,we will be doing it but might wait a little longer.We had thought of doing it now ,with me finishing work and both cars will have just had MOT's,mine is due next week.
He has looked at a few places but not seen what he wanted at the right price yet.!!
Going to do some soup and rolls for lunch ,only tinned soup today ,but will be doing some home made lentil soup for tomorrow
We have been told at work that the new library we have been waiting for will be mainly self service,!!! with machines to self issue and discharge,we can ot see them working as they have them in other libraries and they are not used,the borrowers want people to do this and talk to them.!! I know this will not effect me as I am going ,but it will have an impact on my friends at work.
Hope you enjoyed the gardenining Fred and got your screen up,without the need to pull the plug.
How was the trip to the library Dorothy? I have 8 books on reservation ,hope they come soon.
TAke care ,Brenda

goodmorning I will attempt to do better in the future fred when talking about the snow , but it has gone and we have had two cold but sunny days it was great to open all the windows and let the fresh air blow through good luck with all your gardening clean up. we are all recovering from the hockey game on sunday it was a great game and regardless what is printed about the olympic games I for one thought it was great and all the athletes who came wether they finished first or last are great in my mind what a wonderful time they gave us, I must say I think that it did bring the country to-gether in a way that after over 50 years in this country I have never seen before .. Ithink that I shall pay a visit to the library to-day and get stocked up on some reading material bye for now dorothy

Morning troops,what a nice morning here in the north east of england,very thin [cold] as the yorkies say but nice and sunny,so i will get out in the garden later on and get the screening put up along the fence to keep next doors weed seeds from getting into ours.
I went oiut there at 7am this morning and pruned all the roses and Fushia ready for the screening ,but i will have to wait until it warms up because this is a two person job ,and no way will i get the trouble and strife out in the cold ,he he.
The garden recycle bin is full of prunings ,so it's as well it gets emptied next Tuesday morning, i will be needing it empty for the wife to clear out the greenhouse,all the dead tomato plants are waiting to come out of the buckets still ,and there is other stuff to dump like dead weed and the last of the veggie haulms .
I feel a lot happier now ,having started the big clean up,i knmow spring is around the corner.

Dorothy ,the word or words you are looking for as regards the snow ,is either a snowstorm ,or blizzard ,even heavy snow ,but pouring naaah, that's rain he he.,but not to worry anyway ,'cause your spring is well on the way too.
We are still attempting to get the upstairs freezer cleared out so we can shut it down until next Christmas ,so we are having a right hodge podge for dinner ,a big carton of calgannon ,a smallish box of chicken breast ,k f c ,spicy bits ,and two chicken burgers ,so that's a little more out of the way.
Oh And i found a largish piece of atlantic Coley there too ,so that's in the pot for the cats tea.
she is a fussy little bu***r too she hates any fish that is over boiled ,so i tried a few weeks ago to find a new way of cooking it for her and found the method i now use for our salad fish too .
I just put it in a saucepan straight out of the freezer,as is ,no salt,or spice ,and cover the fish with kettle boiled water ,stick the lid on the pan and leave for ten minutes ,done to a turn and no taste boiled out.
I tried it with aq bit of frozen salmon two nights ago ,and even with delicate fish like that ,the taste is far better than any other cooking method i have ever come across,i will never have fish poached again ,lol
Cor ,our bin men are late today ,he he ,the waste recycle wagon was here first ,they are normally an hour later than the bin wagon.
Well peeps ,i am off to the shed to get the rolls of screening out ,ready to go ,when i can persuade the missus to get her bum off these ruddy computer puzzles of hers ,he he ,i will wait another half an hour ,and if she hasn't moved then i will trip the fuse box .[evil snigger].
See ya later Fred.

Hope you all had good weekends,
Sylvia glad they have finally giben you a name for your problem,and it can be sorted out.
Fred well done on the car etc and the meal as allways sound good
Hope that white stuff stays away for you for a while Dorothy
Working at my least favourite library today and am here till 8pm.!!!
Better go need to find some earplugs
Brenda.

goodmorning so close to retirement brenda hope the day goes quickly for you at work to-day, sylvia glad you finally have an idea as to what was causing the problems for you apnea is a problem that can be fixed though so it is good that you know about it. as I look out the window it is pouring snow that is the only way to describe it big fluffy flakes I had hoped to go out to-day and I really should go out and clear the weeks supply of snow off the car I will wait till noon and see if it slows down the ploughs are out so the roads should be reasonably clear, I am assuming the family are off to the slopes to ski and have the snow boarding lessons, perhaps they will stop on the way back and clear off the car they often do that to surprise me and I do appreciate it . I am feeling a little better so hopefully things will improve enjoy the rest of the week-end bye for now dorothy

Hoi everybody,
Well it is Friday, and why do I like Friday? Well it is the beginning of a weekend and means that I have no hospital or doct ors appointments.
I now know the name of the new sickness I have and that is Apneu. This is why I keep falling asleep, dizziness, etc.etc.
will have to sleep with a mask on. I now have had dysentary, thrombosis, thyroid problem, astma, bronchitis, 3x cancer, and of course all the childrens sicknesses.
If you look up Apneu on the internet, then you will know why I keep falling asleep.
will write more next week.
sylvia xxx

Afternoon peoples,back home at last having renewed the wifes blue badge ,and ordered the new car ,a nissan Qashqai N-Tecx2.
Rather dear for me ,but i can recover a lot of the cost by keeping it for 6 years before i renew it again,but ,if it does me as well as the note which goes in as part exchange it will serve well.
It's as well i got that bit done in the garden ,because it has been piddling down all day.
I put the tea in before we went out this morning ,two pork chops [kosher] with chopped veggies and tatties in a nice home made sauce,it smelt lovely as we came in the door,andmy nose tells me i am going to enjoy it ,lol.
Hope everyone has a great weekend no matter what ,and as for Brenda ,he he ,bet you can smell that retirement just round the corner ,i'm sure you are going to love it .Fred.

Afternoon folks from a very wet Manchester ,don't think the rain has stopped since early this morning!! but at least it is not white!!
Mind you it is cold enougth ,hope it doesn't change overnight as I am working tomorrowand then after that only two more Saturdays to work !!!!).Been in and out doing errands all day ,so am taking a half hour to have a brew and check my emails ,david will be in shortly and I will not get on,I do have the lap top but am still getting to grips with it so am so slow at it all.
See you all tomorrow,have a good weekend what ever you are all up to.
Brenda

hi well it is snowing and snowing but I am tucked up nice and warm and have no plans to go out till saturday it looks pretty though we may have this for a few days, hope you get out in the garden fred I agree red onions are great, I hope to do the balcony vegatables again this year I was looking at the balcony pots the other day I may buy a couple more, and perhaps put up at lattice for some things to climb up , I get the full sun all day long so it does get quite warm/hot . well it is back to the olympics for me I am amazed at the skill of countries all the athletes should be proud of themselves what an acheviement just to get there bye for now dorothy

Hello everyone,bit milder today weather wise ,hope you got out with your spade and fork Fred.!!
I have a few plans for things in the garden,but am waiting to see how I go with what we have at the moment as I am going to be doing more than I do at the moment when I am at home!!
I am off tomorrow and will be doing a few errands as we should complete on mt dads house and I have to pick up a bed headboard I ordered for davids bed,
Better go,nearly time to open again after lunch.See you tomorrow ,take care, Brenda

Hi Brenda ,this ere council need to get their facts right ,they can only charge for a drop off at a tip if there is writing on the van with a firms name on,plain vans do NOT get charged.
We too dump straight to the local tip once we exceed the yearly pick ups ,3 a year i think for most stuff but not garden waste that is too big for the recycle bin.
I reckon this charging to dispose of rubbish is stupid anyway the money the council spend on trying to catch fly tippers ,putting up cameras and taking people to court is far more expensive than it used to be when the council disposed of all waste without charge.
It looks as though i may get time in the garden this morning to start getting the haulms and dead plants out for putting in the recycle bin ,yippee ,a start at last though it won't last long ,the snow coming back they reckon.
I have loads of leeks to get out ,clean up and freeze down ,they come in so handy during the summer when they are dear in the shops.
I am starting two more big bins this year one for red onions which are no good for cooking but are ace for salads,and another for extra parsnip ,you can never have too many of those,lol
Time to go again ,he he ,me fork is calling ,Catch you all later,Fred

hello everyone,well its cold again here but atleast the snow did not arrive like we where promised!!
Perhaps Annes carpets where not taken as councils are now charging companies for getting rid of rubbish when its part of commercial things.My sister in law had to get rid of all her old kitchen a few weeks ago as the man putting it in said he would have to get her a skip at about £80.00 a go,she got the council to take some but not all of it. They ended up with a van they borrowed and took it to the tip themselves ,but said they were asked if they where housholders or builders!!! as they would be charged if builders,because they had the van!!.
working till 8pm again tonight and then on all day again tomorrow!!.so will not be doing much when I get home.
Will be back some time tomorrow.
Brenda