General Chat

morning our Brenda ,and anyone else who happens by ,including Santa Claus if he is about :-).
hope the new jab works for you ,it must be terrible when you have a pain that some sort of pain killer won't work to some sort of degree,i have a few extra ,extra strong ones for use for when my hips get really bad ,but so far i havn't had to use any of them The people from social services came out yesterday and brought the missus one of those perching stools for use at the cooker ,the kitchen benches and table to help her with veggie preperation ,and also looked again at the stair rail and said they had the go ahead to put a full rail in ,so that they could in the future if needed ,put a stair lift in.
Best of all ,when asked if there was anything else they could help with ,the bathroom came into the conversation ,and they asked me if i could manage a bath okay with my hips being pretty bad ,so i said no ,i couldn't sit down because i couldn't get up again ,which is why i put the shower in ,last year.
Asked if that worked okay i said ,at first yes ,but now no, as i could no longer get my leg over,lol,which caused a snigger or two ,but i said i could no longer lift the legs high enough to get in the bath without a lot of pain ,and would only attempt it when i was desperate to clean myself up.
The upshot is ,they are going to get us a grant to have a wet room put in with just the shower moved to the back wall ,and a new sink and cupboard put in ,making things much easier for us both.
Turns out that as we are getting a council tax rebate ,we may only have to pay a couple of hundred pounds towards the grant,so i said ,yes please ,go for it,and try to get a grant for the lift too ,because we will need it very soon.
The rain and gales are due to hit us here by tonight so we are going to the metro centre after going to the doc's this morning to get the last of the Christmas shopping in ,lol,time is getting short.
Made some lovely mushy peas last night ,so fish and chips are on the menu this evening ,yum..
Hope you have your boat handy down there he he ,i am thinking of borrowing my sons fishing boat iof we get much more water up here ,lol, sigh ,bang goes our white Christmas again grrrrrrr.
Catch you later ,take care in those wellies Brenda ,Fred,And the two females xxx :-D.

Evening all,well its been rather mild here today.but iys going to be different tomorrow,
We are in for rain and high winds.Hope you have been ok with the weather Fred.
Back at the doctors tomorrow to get the increase in my medication,which I am really hoping will help me .
Trying to finish the christmas shopping has been a nightmare with the pain.
Was given a leaflet by the pain clinic last week which is ok for pain from arthritis etc but not the nerve pain i get.But will use some of the ideas and see what happends.
Glad you are getting used to the new windows ,it will be a long while before I get any upgrade s need to spend some money on more jobs in the house and garden,Have even been thinking of getting a car for myself again as I am finding it very frustrating not being able to just go out when and where I want.,but buying it and running it are two different things !!
Have been looking at the ecard websites and will be joining one in the next day or two.
Take care Brenda x

Morning Brenda,yep i think i may well get my coffee outside this morning ,a bit chilly out there at the minute but sunny and dry ,my jacket will suffice to keep me warm,no need for trousers ,lol,the shorts will do fine.
WASSAT ?corned beef ,from a tin ? never heard of it he he,'orrible greasy tasteless mush ,yuk,and far worse for you than those steak pies with the fat content in the pastry far too high.
that's the problem with growing older ,our bodies and digestive systems can't cope with all the additives in bread and pastry that get shoved into food these days .
I used to love Gregg's pasties and pies ,but these days they too ,have gone daft with all the gunge they stick in the pastry ,and i stopped getting them because the indigestion was not worth the result of a good nosh ,lol :-(.
We have cut down a lot on stuff For Christmas too ,we went to Iceland yesterday and got the last of the party food in,but not a lot of it because we get no visitors these days,and as you say ,it lands up getting thrown out.
I am now getting used to Windows 8 ,and it's fine for older people once you get your head round the operating system,most things like defrags ,virus deleting ,and automatic upgrades is all done by the system ,and all you have to do is browse, great stuff.
Think we are just about there with the food ,parcels for family ,and everything else apart from delivering it all ,so we are relaxing a bit more at last :-).
Hope John is feeling okay today ,sounds as though he may have overdone it a little with all that cleaning yesterday,i usually do that sort of caper over a couple of days ,compensating by starting the job a couple of days earlier ;-).
There are plenty of free e,card places on the net ,just have a browse,on yahoo ,or google for them ooodles come up in seconds.
time to start dinner now ,chicken lattice pasties ,new potatoes and veggies ,and for tea ,i think a jacket tattie may be on the cards. :-).
Catch you later ,have a good day ,Fred xxx :-D

Morning all.hope you manage to get your coffe on the patio Fred,you could have it here now but not sure about later when its lighter.been up since 6 and awake since just before 5.So have been catching up on emails and roamimg the boards ,let my membership to bluemountain go a while back and can.t find a good free ecard site ,any ideas?/
Treated me and John to some steak pies from Morrisons yesterday for lunch,we really liked them,but boy did they keep coming back to let us know we had had them,!!!Will be a while before we have them again.
Made a nice salad for tea,not the weather I know but I wanted something light.I had tuna and John had cornbeef,(sorry Fred from a Tin),with a bit of chedder and onion.I also had some roasted red peppers,from a jar as I have nevr cooked peppers like that ,but intend to try them,/
John was busy cleaning the carpets yesterday and did really well.he was shattered when he had done!!
Having a go at the two sofas today well doing one today and then one on Tuesday to give us somewhere to sit while the other dries.
Then I will get the tree and decorations up.
Still have a couple of presants to buy and lots to wrap up,need to get them done and delivered soon.
Just need the fresh stuff on christmas eve foodwise ,but not getting much in the way of nibbles as I had to throw away too much the last couple of years,
Not buying ant drinks apart from a bottle or two of diet tonic for the odd Vodka We have loads of tins of larger in the shed,and bottles of other stuff in the cupboard that never gets drank !!!
time to get the washer on now I can hear stirrings upstairs,
Take care Brendaxx
David was up in Newcastle yesterday for the City /Newcastle match.
He had a very early start as it was a lunch time kick off.but was back home by 7pm.

Morning all ,huh ,a bit more of the white stuff overnight ,and bitterly cold up here ,but it is supposed to become milder during the day ,and get even better by Friday ,so roll on ,i may even get my coffee Sunday on the patio with my furry chum if i am lucky ,lol .
I am having a day off from cooking other than doing todays meals Brenda ,i treated myself at Currys yesterday and got the new windows 8 pro disc which io am going to put into my Spare Toshiba laptop ,so that i can do a long trying out process of getting used it before i have to buy a new computer with it installed as the base platform. :-).
It looks to be a minefield to anyone on earlier versions of windows for us older people [the kids will take to it like a duck to water] but there is a distinct advantage to the system ,over the earlier ones in that all of the settings ,the security systems ,the updates are automatic ,you only need to sign in ,and sort out your apps and emails,that sort of stuff ,so there are are no worries about screwing the system up at all. :-D.didn't think the upgrade was bad price wise either £50 for the pro version ,but i bet i have a hell of a job at first sorting out where everything is ,he he. :-0.
Have to go to B&M tomorrow ,lol,my mother in laws gas fire lost it's back wheel yesterday so it has to go out ,can't afford to have it tear the carpet as it gets moved to do the cleaning :-( a pity though it's been a good'en ,40 + years old ,and still passed the latest safety test,bet the new one dosn't last nearly as long,but i may need one in the future in case of a power failure,then it would be the only means of heat on the top floor ,no good for the missus.
Think we are more or less done for the goodies for Christmas too ,only the little bits like the buffet sausage rolls ,little chicken bites ,party mini pies ,mini sausages ,that sort of thing ,the only thing for teas i will make are sarnies ,and our little pizza's that i make from muffins having sliced them in half and lightly toasted that way i can control the fat content in them ,so simple to make ,and the grand kids love them ,with no stodgy dough as the base :-)..
Time to start the dinner ,a few roast bits such as a red onion ,two roasties each and a couple of pieces of parsnip .to go with the chicken and sausages in the little casserole that i knocked up yesterday,.that ,some cabbage ,and mash will do us well,AND i can use the mash left over ,with the leftover cabbage to do a bubble and squeak for the tea,with a couple of veggie patties.
Catch you later all ,take care ,and stay warm ,Fred,and the two females he he xxx :-D

Hi Fred,wow,you make me feel dzzy just reading about what you have been doing.
Must get my self organised.Bought a large chicken today and intend to do aroast meal with the breast and a curry with the legs and then a soup/broth with the carcass,Might not get the dumplimgs but you never know.!!!! Last time I did any they took over the pan and nearly the stove.LOL
Been back to the pain clinic today ,the injection I had did not last long ,so now I am having another one,but do not know when,It might not work either but I have been told that it will be more likely to work as the first one worked for a while!!!
I am having my medication increased in the meantime. So I am waiting and seing again,
Better get on with the tea and then do a few christmas cards,posted the bulk of mine today aand then got two from people I had not heard from for a few years and in my married name. !!!
Got yours yesterday ,many thanks.
Take care Brenda xx

Morning Brenda ,very glad the holiday went well for you both ,and it's nice that the weather isn't nearly as cold as expected on your return ,lol,it will give you a little time to get used to it again.
I carried on with the Christmas cooking after the duck too ,the turkey was cooked in the microwave tow days ago ,on the convection oven setting to save energy and time ,far quicker than using a big oven because it heats up far quicker ,and holds the heat being a smaller cavity.
I sliced it up and put it back down in the freezer yesterday giving us five portions of breast meat ,two meals of curry in the legs ,and the wings can bw heated in the mic when i fancy a nosh on the bones ,he he :-).
The carcass i broke in half last evening and boiled it up with a carrot ,onion and a chopped potato for extra flavour,let it go cold overnight ,and made a hearty broth with it ,carrots ,leeks ,two smallish turnip ,lentils, another onion ,more potato, barley ,peas, and a few other goodies ,all the veg apart from the peas ,out of the garden ,;lol,i even tore some cabbage into shreds and threw those in for good measure .
Plenty of salt and pepper ,both fresh ground ,and now the missus has shoved two nice dumplings in for dinner ,lovely ;-).
for the table Christmas day i will cook the big chicken up so that there is some fresh cooked poultry on the table ,and of course ,i have a leg on my plate he he ,Christmas ,i have to have a leg to chew on ,the wife's legs getting a bit chewy these dsys ,lol,[ouch] :-(.
My new desk top arrived this morning and is now under the laptop ,,comfortable to use and looks like a great idea,and the legs will be handy if it's needed on the bed at any time.
Time to go already ,din dins is ready ,slurp ,catch you later troops ,Fred.xxx ;-)

Evening all,well we got back from our holidays early this morning 3.40am we
walked into the house.H.ad a quick cuppa and went to bed ,we were shattered,
.Spent the day catching up with the washing and the mail etc.
The holiday was good nice and relaxing,John did not miss the golf Fred,but was looking forward to going tomorrow,b ut it looks like he will have to wait a bit longer his golfing partner is still on holiday ,John thought he w as back today like us but
he is not back til tomorrow.
Glad you are on top of all your christmas preparations Fred,the Duck sound great.
Need to get my own pressies wrapped and delivered.
Its then I realise that I have forgotten something.
Take care Brenda

Morning to the weekend ,Brenda ,John if he looks in ,and anyone else who drops by ,lol, think that takes care of just about everybody :-D.
Ordered a new desk stand for the wife two days ago ,one that the laptop sits on ,has the two built in fans to keep the lappy cool in any weather ,them driven through the laptop via a usb port.
It can sit on the bed over the operators lap ,or has extendable legs for sitting on a low table,i thought it would be handy for the wife to use in bed ,for the lap top or her kindle fire if she is watching a film.
Anyway ,seeing as i can't go out until the courier brings it ,and can't deliver anything to do with the family's presents i took the duck crown out yesterday afternoon ,and cooked it this morning ,chef's style he he ,scored the breasts both sides applied the seasoning to the inside of the crown first ,turned it over ,seasoned the skin ditto ,melted three ounces of butter in the big frying pan ,and seared the skin for five minutes ,basting a few times to get the skin nice and brown.
Then ,it;s into a hot oven ,around 200c for 50 minutes ,basting the skin with the melted butter from the frying pan every few minutes .
Result? one duck crown with a lovely crisp skin [eat your heart out Mr Rue junior lol] which is now cooling down so that i can slice it before putting the slices down in portions of 4 ,ready for the festive season ,the wings ? cooks perks ,he he ,i will haave those lovely ,moist delights with my tea ,yum :-D.
Sorry to hear that the rounds of golf are so dear Brenda ,but hey ,he could take a putter and ball onto the beach for a little bunker practice he he.never mind John,the holiday is a bonus at this time of year :-).
Got my extra two bags of rock salt and grit mix in ready for the back end of next week ,and think i will get three more to store in the greenhouse in case we get snowed in big time ,which is likely on the cards,one more reason to get the family stuff delivered early next week.
Once that is done ,it can please it's bessie [as the saying goes] ,i think i have allowed for all reasonable situations.
Time to go folks ,from the commotion upstairs ,the cat is helping the missus wrap some presents up ,he he ,Hissy had better watch out ,or SHE might land up getting wrapped as well.
catch you later folks ,take care on your trip home Brenda ,hope you have had a brill' time ,Fred And the two bosses.xxx ;-).

Hi Fred and anyone else looking in,taking a few minutes from my sunbathing LOKL to see how you all are.We are having a godd time.But John will not be getting any golf in its too dear.
Take care Speak next week
Brenda xx

Hi Fred and anyone else looking in,taking a few minutes from my sunbathing LOKL to see how you all are.We are having a godd time.But John will not be getting any golf in its too dear.
Take care Speak next week
Brenda xx

OOOOOf into the wild blue yonder goes Brenda ,and into a warmer place for a while .lol,enjoy it Brenda and John too ,who will be able to play a round in a warmer ,and hopefully drier place he he :-D.
Well i had a lousy night on Wednesday and finished up at 3 am ,downstairs changing Liz's computer station from towers to a laptop which i upgraded from vista to windows 7.:-).
I then spent the rest of the morning destroying the hard drives in the towers using Kill Disc ,to prevent anyone getting any personal info from them ,before removing the hard drives from the towers and taking a hammer to them ,and finishing off cooking them in the incinerator .
I then took the towers ,hard drives and the old monitor to the council recycle on the way to do the shopping ,and found space in the house that i didn't know we had ,lol,suprising what you find when you de clutter your house he he ;-).
The reason for the sleepless night ? easy really ,Sean was on the way to His new camp ,and on the high seas for 14 hours ,not a place to be in the fog in wintertime ,so i spent a fretful night waiting for the email to say that his ship had docked in Amsterdam.
Got another email last night at 7 pm to say he was in Celle, at his hotel ,so by this time of adding this post ,he will be on his new camp taking delivery of all his furniture at his new home ;-).
We didn't see a lot of the lad while he was here because he was doing the rounds of family and friends before shipping out ,but hey ,that's what grandparents are for ,lol.
I didn't realise that he meant so much to us both until it came to the crunch and never thought that his safety on a boat wound be far more unsettling than him flying ,but there you go ,must be me getting old , ;-).
next thing for me to do is buy a windows 8 disc ,and convert my Toshiba laptop to the new system and give it a look see ,that way i can see what it is like before the day comes when i have to buy a new laptop ,and ,it will give me something to do in the evenings,lol.
Time to go and do a bit of work for a change ,i have some hoovering and dusting to get on with ,lol,Catch you later guys and dolls,take care all.
Fred xxx :-)

Afternoon allhave had a couple of bright sunny but absolutely freezing days yesterday and today.!! John did get out to play golf ,but said it was very very mddy ,looking at his shoes socks and pants I can see why!!.
last of the packing will be done after tea and then we can "relax "till tomorrow morning when we will go to our friends.And from there to the airport. HOORAH
Hope its warmer were we are going,can't be any colder.think they are having rain at the moment but its still75%
Have to get on have a chickem to cook for tea ,that will give David something to have tomorrow so he does not have to got othe chippy straight away/
Take care will try and log on while away.
Brenda

Evening all,weather has been ok today better than weekend.Yesterday was a bit miserable and plenty of showers.
You would think that i would be all readt and packed for the holidays but no ,, I am on the last minute as usual/!!
looks like we are in for some bad frostin the next few days.
John hopes it does not rain tonight as he might get a gane of golf tomorrow ,the
.course has been closed for three days,
Glad the three bird roast went well ,my sister has had one in the past .but her husband did not like it/
Hope it all goes well for your grand son.
take care Brenda xx

Morning peoples .bit damp here this morning ,and i have just fed the birds ,and ducks in the back garden he he,but was pleased to see that upon opening the patio curtains ,i did not need me wellies this time ,lol :-).
That three bird roast was very nice Brenda ,i can recommend it to anyone,and notice that the new one ion Aldi is a 4 bird roast which i may try next time.
We had a good helping each with a slice of the corned beef i did a couple of days ago ,so we ate very well.
I sliced up what was left ,and had enough for three meals for the two of us to freeze down for future use,lol,we will do well this winter ,by the time i cook the duck breast ,the turkey and the goose crown,so we will only have to wonder where the veggie is coming from ,most of that from the garden i reckon ,the leeks ,brussel ,parsnip ,and carrot ready for use ,and some beetroot still usable,not at all bad from a small garden ,havn't even started on the late savoy cabbage yet ;-).
The wind here has swung already and is now coming down from the north ,brrrrrr ,plenty of ice and frost on the way methinks,but i'm not too bothered ,we are well in credit with the gas and electric ,and have plenty of bottled gas ,just in case of breakdown,which shouldn't happen now ,the gas board finally got their butt in gear and got the boiler serviced last week ,the last time they will be doing it ,the job being given back to Home serve :-D.
well that's me for now ,the binmen have just arrived ,so i will bring the bin in and then get on with the grandsons washing a dryer job today seeing as we have to get it dry ready for his hold all's ,he is off to Germany tomorrow ,Hanover i think is his new home for three years,but he is now in pension earning service ,is well paid and has good prospects ,even when he leaves the air force ,the world really is his oyster ,lol.maybe i should have stopped in too ,i would be on a darned good pension now as well .
Catch you later people ,take care ,and be safe ,Fred and the tribe xxx :-D

Hi All,did not go to Bury ,change of plan,Went to the local shopping "center",Got a new light weight suitcase,and then some other bits and peices.
Bumped into a friend and had a cooffe and a chat ,
Got home and put the washing on the maiden to dry and some on hangers in the dining room ,
Hope you got the three bird roast deforsted Fred and tomorrows dinner is brilliant.
Just finished the bulk of my christmas cards ready to get in the post while I am away .other wise it will be first class stamps !!!
Do not think I will be doing this many again ,
Will be looking at ecards etc.
Have agreat dinner tomorrow FRed

Take care Brenda x

morning to all ,another day, another good one after the wind and rain yesterday .lol,the washing is out on the line already before the return of the rain and winds over the weekend :-(.
Bet you are looking forward to your holiday Brenda ,i am already looking forward to our first one in April next year,he he ,and the winter proper hasn't even started yet.
Have to remember to take the bird roast out of the freezer tonight so that it is thawed by Sunday morning ,and ,by the way ,anyone buying one of these three or four bird roasts for Christmas ,remember to follow the cooking instructions to the letter,but do NOT cook it in the foil tray that you are supposed to use ,but put it in a proper roasting tin ,and use either a two part roasting tin or use foil.
Cooking in the provided foil tray produces a lot of fat in the bottom giving a greasy joint that is not cooked properly on the bottom.yuk :-(.
The email by the way Brenda is now doing the rounds,and i liked the bit about the politicians who are STILL screwing the system as regards perks and paid gallivanting that are supposed to be for drumming up business for the country ,but are ,for the most part a cheap ,expenses ,public paid holiday :-|.
Off to see about the new motor today ,looking at the B max and C max ,as well as another Nissan if the clutch problems have been sorted out,.lol.as soon as it gets really cold overnight ,i am going to be asking for mine to be done ,and will be getting their fitter to come out to pick it up ,THEN let them come and say there is nothing wrong with it,and i will threaten them with an R A C inspection. :-| :-P.
The missus is starting to perk up a little ,the tablets and steroids having the desired effect ,and the breathing is a lot better :-).
Well ,time to get myself into gear ,i have a bit of work to do before we go out.so ,catch you later guys and dolls ,take care ,and you take some sticking plaster and bandages with you when you go to bury next time Brenda he he ,a holiday spend will leave your poor purse feeling a little limp and under the weather ,lol .Fred ,Liz and The other female family memberxxx :-D.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY Fred,hope you enjoy it ,even with all your jobs ,including the making of the corn beef.
I had a few hours in Bury on Friday with my sister,got almost all we wanted.!!
Might be back next week with John.Weather was really good for us.
Have a few alterations to make on some clothes for the holidays.which will keep me busy.
Hope you all enjpy your grandsons leave,
Take care Brenda x

Morning to all ,tried sending a reply to Brenda yesterday ,and it went walkies as i hit the submit button ,grrrrrr ,i was too tired to go back on and try again ,so i am trying again now ,lol :-).Yep ,get your trips in while you can Brenda,the met people say we are heading for the worst winter in 100 years [ouch] :-(.
I can just about remember the years 1940 ,-42 when the snow started in early January ,and went on for 11 weeks virtually none stop,,the airfield my dad was stationed at was so bad with ice and snow they couldn't get the runways clear enough for use and there were no ops for two months.
Am i glad i have the house stocked well up with bottled gas for the heaters in case we lose the power without which we can't cook or run the lights or heating.
I have a two burner cooker in the shed which is complete with a grill ,and another one which is just a ring burner using the little internal gas container ,so ,as long as we have water ,and the food tins we will be okay. :-D.
The grandson should be here by 7 pm tomorrow to start his embarkation leave of ten days so i will be starting the cooking of the corned beef as soon as i finish here,blast it ,i should have planned it better ,cooking it yesterday so that i could have a slice as a birthday treat ,lol,never mind ,i will have some with the grandsons Christmas dinner ,which i am doing for him on Sunday, the three bird roast now at the top of the freezer ready to come out Friday so that it can thaw slowly. :-).
Have to get on with this beef so that i can get it into the slow cooker before going shopping,so ,catch you later guys.Fred ,Liz and Hissyxxx :-)

evening all.had a great day in town with my mate ,but we did not find what we wanted.
Hope I have some luck with my sister tomorrow .we are off to Bury,!!!
Take care Brenda xx