General Chat

goodmorning from another wet and windy day over here sorry that your trip to the market ended up with you getting rained on brenda I would love to wander round the market brings back many memories for me, Isobelle's new grandaughter is doing well also the new mom and dad she sent me a photo taken just after she was born a bonny wee thing. update on sasha (my cat) he seems to be over his seizure and has not had any more. I have been making a list of things to do on top is getting the car winterized perhaps next wednesday and then the regular flue shot not sure about the swine flue shot though my son does recommend it after talking to the research people at his drug company , as I am around young people it is probably a good idea and with my heart problem I guess I should do it. this week-end we put the clocks back we are a week later than england.well I should go and get the day started we have not heard from fred or sylvia for a while hope they are ok bye for now dorothy

HI all,have had a busy weekend,weather was really bad on Saturday very WET and very windy,but we still went to the market,but we came off after getting a soaking when moving from one block of stalls to the other ,had a coffe and a sandwich and then walked round the book shop bought some board books as presents for my youngest great neices.Got some meat and chicken from the meat marketket and then came home ,at one point there where so many leeaves blowing across the road they looked like a river!!!
Hope all is well with the new arrival.
HAve to get ready for work now,been delayed as John was home early from golf,rained off and my routine got behaind while I helped him trim his hair !!
See you all tomorror
Brenda

sunday lucnch time over here it is a cold but sunny day in barrie this has the makings of a fun day for my friend isobelle she recieved a call this morning from her son he and the wife where at the hospital she is not due till nov 5th but it looks like things are going to happen early ie. her water broke at the moment she is back home and if nothing happens by 6pm our time about 10pm yours than they will induce, to-day there is a party for taetum her other grandaughter who will be 4 to-morrow so her favourite uncle will not make the party, so the phone lines between my house up here and isobelle's in brampton are going to be busy. andrew called to invite me over for supper but I declined I am fighting off a cold so I thought I should not spread the germs over at there place he filled me in on all the weeks happenings with the children so we had a good chat the other family members where at church he only joins them occasionally. the takeover off his company by the firm pfizer has taken place but so far no big changes affecting him so that is good. next saturday is halloween the fun and candy night so I have got the children's goody bags ready they assured me that they where not too old to get them including blackpool rock if you have any grandma, thank heaven for the english and scottish shopp they keep me well supplied well that is it for me though I had 2 good jokes from fred this am hope he and liz are still enjoying the holiday bye dorothy

hi its saturday evening I was talking to anne to-day and she mentioned that you put the clocks back this evening we do not do it till next week-end so if I have it right we are only 4hrs behind for a week . sasha has been allright no further seizures so I am hoping that it was an isolated thing. I picked up the queen moms biography this am at the library I was number one for it, and I have read myslef silly to-day it is a very thick and heavy book, but apart from a few things from her childhood I did not find many new things in ot, anne said she saw and it was 50 pounds that is a terible price not sure of the cost over here as this edition did not have a price on it. still raining over here we may have to build the ark soon well I am off to bed have a good weekend and I hope youenjoyed the market dorothy

Morning all,have not looked out the window yet so can not give a weather report! hope its dry haev a number of errands to do today.
Dorothy ,I am so sorry about sasha.We had a dog,Sam,who was a fanastic dog,he was an English bull terrier and he had seizures from being about 1 year old,(he was 8 when he died)we found he had an heart conditon that caused them,he did have medication but that led to other problems later on,kidney,lungs etc ,in the end it was too many problems and each medication did not get on with the other and we also had that decsion to make.We knew it was coming and left it until the time he was in pain ,was still hard to let him go,but we did not want him in pain
Hoping to get to Bury later this morning ,always think of our meeting at M&S when I go into the shop. Not sure we will do the shops today or just the market,I want some cake decorating things from a stall on the market ,and some shopping from the fish and meat market,John is coming and he likes to do one or the other ,so it will probably be the market,can do the shiops in a few weeks on my own.Managed to sort some more bits out to get rid off,but have a long way to go yet.
Have been to the hospital this week and they are not sure what is wrong with my knee,the consultant is sending me for a scan as he thinks it is likely to be a ligament problem,but I am also having physio as well,which is painful but will get less painful as I strengthen my muscles ,apparently.
Better get washed and dressed soon and have something to eat ,so I will not be tempted to have a breakfast out!!.
TAke care Brenda

goodmorning from a very chilly barrie -4 and windy glad that you have done all the stuff in the house brenda it does take a while does it not. well folks I had a strange afternoon yesterday sasha (the cat) was asleep on the couch when all of a sudden he went into a ful blown seizure he back flipped ofer the arm of the couch landed on the end table then off that onto the floor and was in the seizure for about 4mins, then slipped under the couch after I had pulled it out it is a very large couch he was crouched in the far corner then went into a small seizure again, well I called a friend and off we went to the vet's they could not find the cause so he is home and very quiet but eating and visiting the litter box. as the vet says both of the boys are old and in the medium stage of renal failure sowho knows, they could have done cat scans of mir's but I said no to that it costs in the thouands of dollars as he does not seem to be in any pain I have decided to just watch him, if it happens again then she advises that then I will have to decide to make that decision we all don't like to make with our pets. as I had seen many seizures when I was nursing I was surprised to see it in a animal , so it is too cold to go out to-day I have already had an early morning call from andrew first to see how sasha was and then the usual "mother don't go out to-day unless you really have to" if you need anything call and I will pick it up, well I don't need anything I have food and books so what more could I want bye for now dorothy

I read Dorothys message yesterday while I was at work and thought I had sent a small reply,but as I was doing it in work ,when I was not supposed to I could have hit the wrong button if someone came near the counter!!!.
Weather damp but windy today so I have put some washing out in the hope it will dry ,even if a little bit.
Well most of the jobs etc we had on for this week have been done ,so now I can start to put the books and ornaments back in the dining room and the photos on the walls,This will free up some floor space in here,but while I am doing this I have to do some decluttering .
I have far too many knick- knacks,so the charity shop will get them.My sister thinks I should do a car boot sale ,but I haven't got the nerve ,so hopefully the charity shops will benefit.
Six weeks tomorrow to our holidays,and we are really looking forward to them,after that it will be christmas,we are asked at this time of year to state what other holidays we want offf besides Christmas day ,Boxing day ,new years day .I do not usually ask as I have just been away ,but I am this year,I am asking for the weekend after new years day ,not sure if I will be lucky or not ,what this space.
Glad you are still liking the little job Dorothy ,must be good to be able to "work " when it suits like that.
Fred does seem to be having a good time .wonder how he got on swapping dishes etc with the lady he talked about.
Better go and see what John is up , he is openng something up by the sounds .,comimg from the other room,Probably Davids new bed ,He was leaving it to him to open. !!!
See you all tomorrow ,Take care ,Brenda

goodmorning from a dull and overcast barrie I have had trouble trying to get the gene's site opened the past couple of days, glad to hear that fred is doing so well on holidays the reports make very interesting reading you could almost believe you are there with fred and liz. brenda you are keeping very busy these days I thought you were supposed to be taking it easy. I have been busy doing some calls for the charity and the fax machine is spitting out some more lists as I type this, but as the weather is not great it gives me something to do I average about 4hrs a day in 2hr slots and get to speak to some interesting folks. nothing much planned this week as andrew is home this week so I am not doing any looking after the children. I am going to pop over to the library as they have a couple of books for me and also say that I have one overdue and that never happens in this house, I think when the computor system crashed the other day that they have made a mistake so I shall sort it out to-day, oh yes we have recieved another new program to us on the bbc canada it is heart and soul with sarah lancashire and I am enjoying it I am sure it was on over home ages ago bye for now dorothy

Morning all,or rather good afternoon,hope you are all ok.Fred seems to be having a right old time,just glad he is enjoying ot all.
Weather damp today ,good job I am not putting washing out.I was busy in the house today moving things round,so did not manage to get in the garden ,and am off to work shortly til 8pm ,had alate yesterday as well,so not a happy bunny!.Just going to have some home made potato and leek soup then have to get ready for work.
Take care ,Brenda

Good morning Brenda ,Dorothy ,John.Sylvia ,and anyone else who drops in for a chat.
Sspent some time over the last two days ,reloading vista ,and messenger 8 ,and finally got the puter to start upgrading itself again ,so ,hopefully that's the end of getting booted off the server every two minutes.
We are confined to camp now until Sean can get down to the guardroom to renew our gate passes ,the original ones had the wrong expiry date on and we got pulled at the gate Saturday when a guard spotted that the passes were out of date by four days ,oooooops.lol,they should have read 10th of november ,not october he he.
We had a grand day on our last day out however ,revisiting Kourion roman/christian site that we visited in January ,but even now ,we have to go back yet again lol,there is a roman house on site ,specially built to withstand earthquakes,so ,they knew all about quakes in cyprus even in those days.
Some parts ofthis site showed advanced use of water for baths , saunas and swimming ,all drained from the river Kouris which runs into the Episcopi bay resort ,but of course ,these days feeds one of the massive dams that supply the whole island with water as it comes off the mountains to the north.
I have tons of pics from all the sites we have visited ,as well as many of the streets and lanes in the towns and villages ,the people ,and the wildlife many of which are snakes and lizards,and some unusual crows ,which are some size ,and unusual colouring.
The visit to the Monastary Of The Cats went well ,we went to see about getting Shade looked after and were chuffed to find that they would take him ,no bother.
The monastery is now run by nuns who really look after their charges,so well in fact ,that despite the main gate being left open till dark every day ,the cats never cross the gate posts onto the track,they know where they are well looked after i suppose.
We were escorted all roundthe grounds by three or four lovely friendly furry chums riding on our shoulders until we sat down ,whereapon we were inundated to the point where our laps were overflowing with little bodies lol.
The gardens extend well out to three acres and the cats can go anywhere they plese it would seem.and i took a few pics of o0ur escorts ,fig trees laden with fruit,olive trees that keep the nuns well supplied with oil,and orange and lemon trees ,along with veggie patches ,these nuns won't be short of fresh produce for their kitchens.
We were pleased anyway ,because a prior visit to the cattery that gave Sean shade in the first place ,are well stowed out ,and couldn't take any more cat's onto their books ,being over run already ,the alternative i couldn't bear thinking about.
I made a nice thai green curry last evening ,complete with a can of cocanut milk ooooo it was good ,despite the fact i overdid the ginger a bit ,hot hot hot lol,but despite that it went down well ,hey i'm getting to be quite good with some of these native dishes too .
One lady stall holder at the market asked what we used leeks for in britain ,so i made a deal withher ,i would taste a greek dish ,if she would taste one of ours ,saying that it was meat free and using leek.
She said okay ,so we are going back for dinner on Friday to try this dish of hers ,and i will take some calgannon that i will make in the morning first thing so it's nice and fresh,you know ,with some fresh ground cyprus black pepper i reckon it will be a bit of all right,he he ,i'm hoping for a convert ,it being so quick and easy to make.
Have to go now ,i am in charge of dinner today ,a bread &cheese pudding ,nice and light and again ,easy to do,and i now have two versions i can cook.
See ya later Peeps Fred.

Evening all.hope you all had a nice weekend ,mine was really quiete ,work yester day and housework,well a bit ,today.Have some ironing to do later and tomorrow,I have an errand to do before work,which I was going to on Friday and forgot!.
Weather very grey and cold,but at least its dry
Hope it stays dry for a day or two ,we have loads of leaves in the garden (we have no trees just the leaves)and I want to get them swept up and in the bin before friday,when it gets collected and the only day I have is Tuesday.John would do it normally .but he will be busy decorating the walls where we had the radiators changed.
John has made us a drink so I had better finish on here and get down for it.
Hope Fred,John and Sylvia are ok.
Speak soon Take care all
Brenda

hi brenda thanks for the update on your knee one of my younger friends has had both knee's replaced due to years of nursing no doubt and she thinks that it is the best thing she ever did. so your weather is not great we are in a very cold spell at the moment the sun shines but it is bitter cold, I am not doing much this week-ned some chores around the house and then some phoning for the charity. the week ahead looks kind of boring but that is how it goes at this time of year, I am looking around for a birthday gift for laura she will be 13 on the 10th of nov. the library had a major malfunction of its main computor system so things got heald up re books that one has orderd but to-day it is finally fixed . I am reading ian rankin's new book at the moment and it is quite good bye for now dorothy

Hi all,its grey and chilly again today,and freezing in the library,we have had a go at resetting the heating so lets hope it is ok on Monday.Been very steady today with people wanting more books to read as they say there is nothing on the tv to watch!!
Had a good day yesterday ,did all my errands and even a had a half hour in thr garden cutting back the dead flowers etc.Had a nice hot coffee afterwards with a choc chip muffin so that was nice.
Hope you are all well ,and have a good weekend.
Brenda

Goodmorning from a rather cold but dry Manchester,hope it stays that way have a few errands to do today.
Hi Dorothy ,glad you had a good thanks giving.
I have oseteo arthritis in my right knee and hip.the knee has been getting worse bit by bit for a few years,but last month it went on for longer than prevous and I have a constant pain .which ebbs and flows so to speak.Might need a bit of a clean out or they might say it needs replacing according to the doctor!!!Hope its the first one ,don't want anything like a replacement ......yet! Up early as the pain woke me at 5.30 and I could not get back to sleep.
We have had the radiators put in now and they look great ,but becaause they are smaller ,(but more effiecent and economiacal than the others) we will have to repaper one wall in the living room and dining room.Luckily we have a few spare rolls of the paper we used in the dining room so that will save some money.The hall is painted plaster so just needs paint.Have been looking at paint colours but not sure what colours to go for ,bit restricted in the living room ,because of the suite and curtains,but the hall is nutral at the moment. Bertter go and get dressed I want to get out early to do the errands.Take care
Brenda

goodmorning one and all from a very cold barrie it is -8 at the moment and its about 8-30 am my time, yes brenda I am fine just been a little busy on monday I had turkey dinner with a lady and her family up stairs from me it was very good I think all my friends and family had a good thanksgiving week-end, lindy and her family put the cottage to bed for the winter and byran had a good hockey game. this week I am doing my little job plus helping out with the children andrew had an unexpected business trip, and lindy is busy at school as far as I can figure it out she fills in for 13 teachers, each teacher gets planning time and when they do lindy takes the class that they should be teaching at that time, so she covers jnr and snr kindergarten and grades one through three, las night she was setting a science test for grades one and she says some of them can not read, it appears that some children have not had much help at home with reading etc. I loved reading fred's message re the castle while I am sorry that the steps where such a problem the castle sounded great I would have loved to have seen it. the white stuff is starting to fall quite near to barrie but so far has missed us I should take the car in to have it winterized and check on the snow tires so I will make an appointment for next week. brenda I hope that your knee improves what have you done to it, I have had no news from scotland for the last few days so I assume steven is slowly on the mend may phone to-morrow take care bye for now dorothy

Hello Everyone,Had a nice day today weather was good as well,Glad to see Fred is having a great time,even when he forgets his stick!!
Have an appointment to see a consultant about my knee next week ,but am expecting him to say that I can not have any treatment till I have lost weight!! Don't like taking the painkillers which do not really take the pain away ,but leave me with other effects !!So I will wait and see what they say.
Hope Dorothy and Sylvia are ok and John too.
Take care
brenda

Morning all ,made it at last ,the internet is hopeless out here,and it is more often off than it is on,but.however ,it seems more stable this morning.
We went out yesterday ,back to the castle we had to leave last Friday because of the heat,and had a very enjoyable two hours ,in and around the site.
It was built by Christians in the 3rd century a d,and used to produce sugar and wine for hundreds of years by the ,christians ,then the turks, and also the arab Marmadukes who sacked the .place before leaving ,for other places to raid and plunder.
Hard to believe that Christians played so big a part in the islands history ,but i took a pic close up of the motiff on the castle wall ,and it shows knights shields and one being the Royal family crest of the time ,richards crown over the top of the shield and crest.
The castle itself is amazing ,with a very well thought out water system ,with three wells in the castle basement in case of attack.where the stores were kept and the wine made..The kitchen was on the first floor along with the quarters for the knights and their servants.
The middle floor had more quarters and another well,as well as latrines sunk into the walls[hope the knights took their armour off before using them ,lol it's a ruddy long way down if he were to slip].the walls on all floors had windows on all sides .slabs set into them for peeps to sit on,and enough room for narrow tables down the middle to eat meals on.
The top floor was the same apart from the stairway leading to the roof which was for the lord and lady of the castle .
This is the main reason i am staying in today ,the long walk up this spiral staircase was difficult ,to say the least ,even the school kids from the local schools were complaining lol,so for an old goat who had forgotten his stick [smacks wrist] even the long rest we took on the roof taking pic's of the scenery before coming back down was not long enough ,because coming back down was worse than going up with no handrails ,and by the time i got back onto the lords floor ,i was well and truly shattered ,with all the stairs to go down yet to reach the drawbridge ,ooooo ,i was ,and still am sore ,to say the least,but to see this castle ,and to take all those pics ,well ,i would manage to do it again if i had too ,[with a stick of course].
The wife and i made some flans this morning ,spam and egg ones plus some jam tarts with the left over pastry, the flans will make a nice change ,cold with a nice salad for dinner.
I managed to get my large centre parting mowed yesterday too once i had cooled off £12 it cost me ,,ere [thinks] this barber on camp is on a good screw ,if he does 30 peeps a day easy with the army here as well,you are talking 360 euros a day ,wow, open four and a half days a week,no wonder this fella is driving a series 8 B M W to work every day he dosn't pay rent ,him doing the crown good service in keeping the troops well turned out ,and leccy on the base is £12 a month so .the overheads are very small[ something tells me i took up the wrong trade] he he.
Hope everybody is well ,and doing fine ,take care all.Fred & Liz.

Hello everyone,hope evryone is ok.weather really chilly again today ,going to have a bowl of soup at lunch to warm me up.
Been busy this morning,better go and straighten some books.
brenda

HI all.just had my tea break at work and its really slow here at the moment,I will be to tired when I get home to go on the pc so thought I would see what messages are on now.Hope everyone is ok,we have another sunny but really cold day here,hope yours is ok
Take care ,Brenda

Hi all.John,yes you are missed!! Just hope Gayle is ok with all this waiting,you must be doing a good job if they want you to organise the next dinner,even at 86!!
How is you weather over there,Spring should be with you I think!
Dorothy glad your brothet is on the mend ,my mother used to say if people got in moods in was a sign they where on the mend!!
Hope you enjoy the match and that Anne was ok when you phoned her.
Have to go .john has just made a brew and Iwant to watch a tv programme before getting some ironing done.
TAke care ,hope Fred and Sylvia are ok
brenda