General Chat

hi from a very thanksgiving sunday it is only 3 degree's john I am sure that people have noticed that you have been missing on the thread glad to hear that your wife is in good health at the moment long may it continue your dinners sounded great , I spoke to my sister in canmore yesterday they had gone to their 2nd place for a few days they had about 4 inches of snow and it was -11 rather chilly but she said the mountains were beautiful I am off to the hockey game in a little while I don't really enjoy them but grandmas have to do these things sometimes and bryan appreciates it when I go, ther is a great smell of cooking turkeys in the building to-day I suppose lots of people are having their meal to-day, I am going to have either chicken keiv or a beef wellington that I picked up at the frozen food store plus some nice fresh vegatables hope you all have a good week-end bye for now dorothy

Greetings, it has been quite awhile since I visited GR and you probably didn't notice my absence. The past few weeks have been very busy helping on a committee organising in our area The Salvation Army's 125 years celebration of ministry and evangelism. Photos of a bygone era were displayed included pictures of the worship halls some were closed and demolished, one became a builder's workshop near the town where I grew up is still there (although worst for where considering it is 106 years old), one became the Army's family store, one hall was sold when a new one was built now seen various groups occupy it. We had 150 or so sit down for dinner on the Saturday and similiar number at the Sunday service. Some wit asked would I organise the next one in 2034, if I'm still about then I would be 86!!

Gayle's fistuala saga continues, she is keeping good health and the surgeon said they will do it but not until she really needs it - and when it happens onlyl two weeks needs to elapse before actual treatment as there would be shunt in place.

Been on Facebook a lot these days and Gayle tells me I spend to much time on it, which probably true. I need to make sure I check into GR a bit more regularly than I have in recent months. Take care, John

goodmorning well the rain of the last few days has stopped and the sun is shining a bit and the fall leaves are wonderful yes brenda steven seems to be improving he has been transferred to a cottage hospital near his home spoke to his wife yesterday she said he was in a really bad mood and she was not pleased with him mood swings are to be expected I guess he has lost a lot of weight and is still quite weak but all in all is on the mend hopefully his mood will improve. I went to brampton on thursday for a retirement dinner for a nurse I worked with it was a good turn out about 60 people a great meal and I saw people I have not seen in a long time so it was fun I needed that lift. the highway was not to bad driving back friday morning but it poured rain all the way. I am going to andrews for lunch to-day bryan has hockey this week-end so andrew and the two boys will go to the cottage on sunday and lindy and laura are going to-day, the former husband came up last night so will be at luch as well and he will go to the hockey match to-morrow . I also started back at my little charity job I quite enjoyed getting back to it. cleared of the balcony all the furniture pots etc getting ready for the winter. must call anne this morning hope you all have a good week-end bye for now dorothy

Have been awake a while in bed ,so have got up to surf the web so to speak and check on here,will also look at the hot matches I have ,11 pages and have not found any that are proper matches for ages.
Hope you are all ok. will be getting a drink after checking the hot matches for a bit.
See you all later.Brenda

we have been expecting rain today ,but glad to say it hasn't arrived yet.
John should have had a full round of golf.
NOt working tomorrow,but have food shopping to do and shopping for paint and a new TV !!!.
Hope you are all ok and Fred is enjoying Cyprus and Hoope Dorothys brother is doing ok.
Have a good weekend.
Brenda

Hello from a sunny and very cold Manchester,if you had looked out the window and seen the blue sky and sunshine you would have thought it was summer.!! Could have done with my gloves this morning when driving the car.!!!
Had a good day with my friend ,but the lunch we had was not very good,we went for cheap and cheerful fast food place,but it was not good ,so will not be going there again.
Got started on christmas and have seven presents now,but still have someways to go.Have a numbe of birthdays inbetween as well.
Hope you enjoy the Thanks giving weekend Dorothy ,and hope it continues to be good news about your brother.
Working all day tomorrow and should be painting at weekend in Davids room,!!!! wath this space.
TAke care ,Brenda

hi from a cold and windy barrie and it has rained most of the day this week-end is a holiday week-end over here thanksgiving turkey dinners plus plus. andrew calle me to see if I wanted to go up to the cottage for thanksgiving dinner but there is going to be quite a crowd about 17 with us and lindy's sisters family , her sister whohas returned to canada is driving from ottawa with her family it will be there first thanksgiving in canada in 17yrs, I have decide not to go as I want to be around to call scotland and check up on steven. I not really in the mood for a crowd but andrew will have his dad with him I believe he is coming up. the stores are full of the fall vegatable and lots of turkeys frozen and fresh but they are quite a price. this is the week-end that most people close their cottages so the highway will be busy, but the fall leaves are turning and colours as always are wonderful mother nature at her best. well I say bye for now dorothy

Afternoon,well we have a dry and sunny day here today ,little bit chilly,but still nice to see the sun,
Just finished lunch so have a minute to spare,don't think I will get on pc at home ,so got on here instead.
Hope all is well,see you tomorrow.Brenda

Evening all.this will be short and sweet again I am afraid,had problems loggoing on to the internet and had to reply to a couple of emails amd get rid of a load of junk!!!
Fred you make me feel really jealous of you and Liz ,but I am so pleased you are enjoying the holiday sounds wonderful.
Dorohty so glad your brother is making a recovery ,it might be slow ,but its the right way.Glad the white stuff changed to rain.
Managed to get another chap to come and see about changing and movingthe radiators,he will come and see what is involved and the phone with a quote.My friend has had him do a lot of work in her house and is really pleased with what he does,so we will have it done anyway as good workmaen are hard to find.
It has been raing all day ,on my day of as well.
Went to the dentist,got there 15 mins early, waited half an hour to see him only one person came out!!! then in and out in 5 mins and that will be 16.30 please.thta was me and John!!!
went looking at beds for David and a mattress for us ,and was going to look at TVs ,but got fed up with the traffic and came home.Mainly as my sister was calling round and if we had not got out of the traffic we were in at that point ,there was no turning round for ages.All due to road works on a roundabout!!!!
Speak to you all tomorro w,take care ,Brenda

goodmorning thankyou fred for the words of comfort to me I really do appreciate it, yes steven has been given a new lease on life he won't be 51 till jan. the word yesterday was he was a little more alert and moved to a high dependancy ward, the plan is to move him on friday to a hospital nearer his home his in aberdeen and he lives in fettercaraine kincardenshire then after that to a rehab hospital not sure why that is happening )the rehab I mean). but as 3yrs ago they would not operate on him as he was considered not a good risk this time they had no choice he has done well to come through and now hopefully he will take advantage of this 2nd chance after all he still hs a young family courtney is 19 but rhys is only 8. I see my cardiac specialist for my 2yr check up to-day but I am not expecting any problems more or less an in and out fast visit. I must say that the place fred is staying sounds wonderful and after the poor weather he had in england this summer both he and liz must be enjoying the sunshine and warm weather, brenda hope that you are feeling well bye for now dorothy

Afternoon all ,specially to dorothy who seems to need a little tlc at the moment which is very understandable.
While Steven was on a ventilator Dorothy ,there was no way you would get within a half mile of him,because of the possibility of cross infection.
He will indeed ,be weak for a while ,but as the bleeding has stopped now ,and is less and less likely to start again so long as he is kept quiet ,the prognosis is looking quite promising.
I was told after my triple bypass ,that if a patient goes a month with nothing going badly wrong then he ,or she is going to make a good recovery.
Hey ,look at the old Badger ,20 years on and still going strong [mostly] lol
The Man now needs to take every day as a bonus ,and as he recovers from what used to be a massive operation ,but now is an everyday one,he should count his blessings and get on with his life.,he could after all ,wrap himself in cotton wool ,go for a walk in a few weeks and get hit by a passing car ,take it as it comes is the motto
Well ,today the wife and i decided it was about time to do a little touring. early because ,try as i might i couldn't get on the internet this morning and i gave up in disgust at 0930,got ready and toddled off.
We left the camp .turned left onto the pafos road for 6 miles or so ,passing loads of proper date palms [not the decorative ones you see everywhere ] but the real mc'coy ,with lots of luscious dates on yellow as yet ,but soon to turn a light orange which will be a sign of being ripe ,slurp.
Havin'g not seen any on a palm since my Aden days ,i must admit i was highly tempted to shin up one of the trees and nick a few ,but realised in time ,that this shinning up trunks ,is for an old git like me ,faaaar beyond the realms of reality .
The thought of getting chased by a Greek landowner armed with a large club of some sort made me think twice ,nay ,three times,so i decided to give the thought a miss, .lol
We passed some amazing countryside and,the wife beingarmed with my camera ,the windows right down in the heat ,she reckons she got a few nice pics,as we went past.
Anyway we headed to a little village called Pissourie, and and can honestly recommend it for a holiday for anyone who isn't in to the likes of Pafos ,and iya napa,it's quietish,has a beutiful beach with lots of loungers set on the sands,a beutiful hotel where you can book in at half ,or full board.
The temperature there today was 29c sunny with a lovely cooling breeze off the bay,and the sea temperature was a nice 27c lovely i calls it he he.
There were quite a few little shops arouind too where you could buy everything from the Sun Newspaper to walls ice cream ,from eggs to Lincoln sausages and bacon lots of salad stuff and stuff like locally grown potatoes and cauliflower ,so even half board people can feed themselves.
There were apartments for hire too ,so ,really ,everyone is catered for ,
The villagers were as ever ,friendly ,polite and willing to impart info as to their way of life ,and the way the village came into being,and the shopkeeper i talked to was a mine of information ,we in england ,parts of, could learn a lot from these people.
There is a nice walk here along the beach front,past all the holiday makers sports ,like surfing ,para gliding ,snorkling,scuba,water skiing , rafting behind a speedboat ,there was tons to do ,even down to a greek version of Pedalo's for hire,something for everyone i reckon,and with a Bar ,cafe ,and club at each end of the beach ,we easily found our place to get our coffee at cheapish prices.
So far along the beach to the landward side there was also a nice ,not too big garden with lovely flowers and shrubs among the trees ,the colours were fantastic ,and the camera was soon busy ,me taking some of Liz among some of them, then she doing ditto.
We even struck lucky walking back for coffee ,meeting a couple from Shropshire on the last day of their holiday,with a camera so we landed up taking a pic of them together ,and they did the same for us.so ,all in all ,the only7 bummer of the day so far was havingto come back,lol
However ,i made a lovely mint sauce last night with balsamic vinager and local grown mint so i had a little salad for dinner ,the sauce sprinkled on top ,lovely.
We are being decadent tonight for tea ,snags ,beans ,eggs and chips.,with some nice chop sauce ,and two slices of local brown bread ,cor ,these people know what bread is all about ,oh ,and i forgot to mention ,the piece de resistance a nice ,large ,slice of rasberry cake cum cheesecake delish' [i hope ].
That's it for now peeps ,hope everyone is well ,and getting on with the things they like best.
Fred & Liz.

hi everyone hope that your tummy upset has passed brenda have enjoyed reading fred's messages about his visit they have actually cheered me up, this week-end has been very stressful re stevens condition he thankfully did not hve to go to the operating theatre again but remained on the ventalator and the family could not see him ( I did not understand that part) yesterday he was removed from the ventalator and place on oxygen but was still not concious, to-day this am he was awake a little but not making sense and was unable to even take a drink without much help he is very weak, I am going to phone scotland in a couple of hours as his wife and daughter were hoping to see him to-day, but t least he is alive and hopefully will start to get better soon , oh yes a few flakes of the white stuff drifted pass the window this am but then turned into rain thank goodness bye for now dorothy

Hi Peeps ,and our Sylvia,glad to see you old friend ,i think a lot of us were getting more than a little concerned about you .
Don't worry about he curries ,we have already had two,and now i have found some curry leaves and cardomom pods ,plus the other bits and pieces ,we will be having a few more,along with the side dishes ,the ideal meal for an outside evening when the heat of the day goes down.
Poor old Brenda,sounds as though you may have forgotten to wash one or more of the veggies before use,easily done ,with sometimes devestating effects.
The muslims have the right idea ,washing their hands every time they handle money even ,money being among the dirtiest things around.
Liz and i have taken to using the little hand spray ,even when we go out for a meal before starting the first course ,you can't be too carefull when you get older ,your tummy becomes easily upset,and takes longer to get over.
Any veg i use other than home grown gets washed,no exeptions ,aand any stuff exposed in my garden gets washed too ,you can never be too careful.
We are chilling out today ,going nowhere at all ,so ,very shortly it will be on with the suncream on the face and other bits [knobbly included] and i will be off to top up the tan ,hat on today because i had a little too much on the bald patch yesterday .lol.
Might be back later ,Fred & Liz.

Just a quick message as I have had an upset tummy today and not done much apart from go to the loo!!!!
Think could have been the meditarreanen chicken I did for tea lots of veggies,red ,yellow and green peppers,onions ,mushooms ,new potatoes,should have had couregetes but for got them ,cherry toms and a little leek and celery that was left over from a soup.It looked good and tasted good ,but perhaps too mamy veggies
Then we had a stewed apple cooked in the micro wave,just a bit of fromage frais on it.
Glad you are still having a great time Fred.hope it continues.
Dorothy hope your brother is ok and will be thinking of you all,glad Anne got home ok and is reunited with her dog.
Want to print some pictures now ,so that will take me all night ,so had better go,or will be up burning the mignight oil and I am working tomorrow,
Take care
brenda

Hi everybody,
Yes, it's me. the one who has been neglecting you for such a long time. Sorry, but just didn't feel up to it. I confess that I did peep in just now and again.
We now have our e-mail working again. We have a new provider and the mechanic who came connected the wrong cable - and not been such computer experts we had to wait for help. Anyway yesterday the mechanic came again and fixed everything. So we're back in the normal world again.
Fred, you should be eating lots of curries in Cyprus where it is so hot. When we were in Africa - where we lived for six years - we used to go to our clubhouse and have a curry lunch every Sunday. I often cooked a curry and had friends round. I used to make a curry on our birthdays and all the family could eat. It always looks so colourful with all the side dishes. I made side dishes of chopped tomatoes, grapefruit, oranges, fried bananas, fried onions, raw onions, crisps, chopped hard boiled eggs, peanuts, coconut, paw paw, Sometimes I made a beef curry and sometimes a chicken curry. It is so easy to do as you can make it the day before and then only the rice to cook on the day!
My ex son in law and his wife have just come back from Cyprus. He found it a fantastic country and had a really super de luxe hotel.
I bought some fresh strawberries today. They weren't even expensive.
It seems as though one supermarket is out to beat the other here. We have 3 big supermarkets and they all have lots of special offers every week. I have never seen cauliflower and cucumber so cheap at this time of the year.
Another two weeks and our clocks go back, then it will really look ike winter has set in. I must find the rest of our winter clothes before it gets too cold. I think I will get our help to put our winter duvetf on before I wake up in the night shivering.
Well everyone, have a nice enjoyable Sunday.
Sylvia xxx

goodmorning it is saturday 9-30 my time well the last 24hrs have been very stressful steven had 6hrs of surgery on friday morning he did come through it and was stable for a little while then started bleeding and they could not stop the bleeding so he had many blood transfusions, I was on the phone to the hospital in aberdeen at 3am to-day your time they had managed to stop the bleeding but are considering taking him back to the operating room this morning to try and find out where it is coming from. he is on a ventalator so is not aware of anything no plans to take him off that as yet, I am going to phone his wife about 2pm my time and see what the latest up date is as far as I know it was a triple by-pass but I forgot to ask the nurse if they had had to do a fourth . I spoke to anne and she arrived one hour early in manchester friday morning after a good flight she was very pleased with thomas cook planes and the great leg room, she had picked up her doggie so was very happy to see her hope you all are well have not read the latest updates on fred trip as yet but will get around to it soon bye for now dorothy

Hi All,not much to report today,the temperature is up above 30 in the open,and apart from the trip to the flea market in the next village down the road where we bought some nic naks , we havn't done a darned thing but have our light salad lunch and sit round in the shade of the verandah,with the lappy on the table.
I am doing Sean a curry for his tea prior to him going on the night shift ,no accounting for taste i suppose ,but a curry in these temperatures ,the mind boggles ,lol.
Seems i will have to give him a few cooking lessons while i am here ,he is living out of frozen meal packets ,dried noodles ,and tins,not on;ly veeeery expensive ,but not a good diet at all .
Anyway ,i bought a few containers for the freezer this morning and intend over a few evenings when it cools off a little ,making him some soups and small meals to help out till he gets home to the missus ,who by the way ,is a pretty good cook ,knowing some really nice polish recipes i intend copying myself.
Seeing quite a bit ofthe flora and fauna already ,he he ,i was kept company last night by a little Praying Mantis who sat on the lappy transformer watching my every move ,a finger too close and he ,or she was off like a shot ,only to come back a few minutes later.
I got in quite well with the camp butcher who is an Irish lad ,with the effect that he has promised me a good price for all the meat i will require for a weekend B B q ,some lovely home made beefburgers, 100% beef[no cereals],some pork belly slices ,lorne sausage [frozen ,but Grants best],and some black /and white pudding [also grants ] nowt but the best .
home baked rolls from the greek baker just outside the camp gates will finish the repast off nicely .
I have already taken some pics of thecastle ,trees, and park ,for when i return home ,but the best so far i think [if it comes out right is one of a 30 ft high tree outside the castle with deep green leaves and startling blue ,bells,really pretty i think.
saw my first banana tree too this morning but couldn't get close enough to see if it had fruit on ,the dates here are ripening fast ,as are the olives ,and grapes ,but i was miffed to find all the orange trees have been picked ,so ,no piccies of those ,blast.
will have to close till it cools off a little ,he he ,i don't know which is going to melt first .my fingers ,or the keyboard,lol.
Catch you all later Fred.& Liz.

Hi all,what a very miserable day we have had,fine drizzzly rain,and really dark grey sky.!! Went to start my christmas shopping ,but the first two things I had on my list where sold out of where I went,they where childrens matching hat ,gloves and scarf sets for my brother grandchildren,will have a go at another shop tomorrow.
Did get some nice birthday cards and the shampoo I like on offer ,so it was not a complete wash out.!!!
Glad you and Anne had agood visit Dorothy,lets keep our fingers crossed for the lotto,Know what you mean about the savings etc,we have suffered as well.I want to see my friends in OZ but the only way i will get there now is when we sell dads house which is not looking good at the moment,we do not want to rent it out and might have to resort to selling to a developer who will pay way below market price.!!It depends on a few things over the next 6 months or so.
Have been sorting out books to take to the charity shop as I need to declutter the shelves in the dining room .Some books I have had for year s and would have trouble with the print now,its that small.
Hope to get back tomorrow,Brenda

hi it is thursday evening 6pm my time 11pm in england anne left for the airport on the shuttle limo from my place at 2pm her flight leaves at 7.55 so she is still in canada as I write as it takes about 2hrs to the airport from my place she needed to leave at 2 so that she met the 3hr arrival for an overseass flight, we have had a good visit even with all the changes I saw in her, it will be strange not to have her hear when I wake up on friday morning she arrives at manchester at 8am your time 3am my time.. I am glad to see fred is enjoying cyprus I will have to go on the other site to read what happened to liz, kathleen I live in barrie ontario about 1and a half hour drive by car from toronto. I have had some very sad news from scotland my borhter that I only knew about 5yrs ago has had another heart attack his 4th to date and is in the aberdeen royal infirmary booke for a triple by pass to-morrow morning they are not very optomistic re his chances 3yrs ago they refused to do surgery as they said he would die on the table, but I guess this procedure is all that could maybe keep him alive he is only 50 and rhys is 8 and courtney 18, his wife phoned me on monday and was very upset, I called the hospital on tuesday but was not able to speak to him though a nurse said she would tell him I had called. so I will wait for a call on friday god willing he will pull through. brenda I don't know when I might plan a trip to bury I have trouble with the agina at airports and of course like a lot of people the resession has hit my bank book badly but I could always win the lottery or the son could donate some air miles again. hope that davis is on the mend bye for now dorothy

evening all,glad you are having a good time Fred,and so pleased that Liz is on the mend,(just to let you know David is feeling ok as well he,has been his own self about cleaning his room ,so he must be ok !!)
I am glad you are relxaing and enjoying things ,can not wait for our holidays .
Nice to hear from Kathleen and glad she had a good visit as well,too her family.
Thing Dorothys friend Anne is probably on her way home now,glad they had a good visit as well.
John is watching football at the moment,normally he would watch in the bedroom on the small tv ,but since the big tv is not working we had to bring the small one down to the living roomso he is in there watching and I have come on here ,but have a few emails to reply to ,none for days thenlike buses three /four togethers.
Am on work 12-8pm tomorrow,so don't think I will get on unless we have a really quieite night.See you all friday ,take care ,Brenda