General Chat

Hi all.The snow we had yesterday has all gone,thank goodness,but it is still cold.We are supposed to get more at weekend!!
Glad to hear you should hopefully get some problems sorted with your new doctors.
Dorothy hope you catch up on your sleep now Dorothy.And also that your son gets all your Scottish things!
Just on my break at work now,but need to get some work done now that we could not do earlier .
Brenda

Good morning all ,from Newcastle where the weather is all changed again,he he ,we are beginning to think like shuttlecocks ,with things this way and that.
Been very busy these past few days what with housework,decorating and what ever ,but at last things are easing up again.
Well done on your new doctor Sylvia ,i too hope that this is the start of something a lot better for you and hubby.so ,i have my fingers crossed for you.
Brenda ,my daft sister in law is adamant that this new super tram is going to be connected to the tram way through to Blackpool's pleasure beach,and i keep saying yes ,you are getting super trams .but run on the rail network between Manchester and Blackpool's main line ONLY,lol.i think i may strangle her when i see her in april.
If this weather keeps up ,i think i way get the garden started this month ,so many things to do out there ,the greenhouse to clear out ,buckets to empty and get ready for the new season,roses and bushes to prune ,and weeding to do ,phew ,i need a rest just thinking about it all.
Hope all are well ,and now thinking of the warmer weather just around the corner ,Fred.

Hi all,
I received a lovely letter from a friend in England with lots of photographs her husband downloaded via Google of the street in London where I was born and grew up. I could see some of the alterations that had been made. I am glad my mother is not here to see the alterations as she was a keen gardener and our front garden was something she was proud of with standard roses. It is now one mass of concrete!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I also read about some of the houses being made into flatlets.
I was up and about early this morning to go to the market as the snow is as good clear. I left here at 9.00 and returned 11.15. I had to be back for my hairdresser at 12.00. It was bitterly cold, but nice to be out again. Johan and I had planned to go out this afternoon to the shop to see about a new wooden floor for our kitchen but after lunch I sat in a chair and fell asleep and Johan couldn't wake me up enough to go out. Oh well must make time another eay. Not Monday or Tuesday as I have to go to the hospital again.
My neighbour wants me to make some more cards for her, so must find time for that too.
Have a nice weekend, Sylvia xxx

Hi all,well up to now we have not had the promised snow.we have sunshine which makes it look great ,but it is decevingly cold!!
Hope you are feeling more rested now Fred ready for the garden onslought?
Sylvia,I can easily sit down some days and fall fast asleep,and still go to bed early and sleep.then I have nights when no matter how tired i am I just can not get to sleep.
Its been really slow in work today maybe they are all enjoying the sunshine!!! Hope they don't all come in at once after lunch which is what can and does often happen.
Better get back to work now.
Take care ,Brenda

hi from a cold but sunny barrie a lovely day for all the people who are ski-ing my family included I would think, I went out to the library and the shops and had a stroll around it was nice to be out in the sun it does give one a lift. nothing very much new at the moment I was thinking about maybe going our to see my sister again in calgary but the prices are up at the moment so we shall see what they are like in the spring. the olympics will start soon so that will make for some good watching well I am going to make my tea?dinner but can't quite decide what I want take care bye for now dorothy

Morning all ,a nice morning here ,wet but very mild for the time of year.
I was standing at the kitchen window earlier looking out into the pitiful excuse for a garden ,while making a cuppa when something [maybe gardeners instinct] made me pick up the pot with my little orange tree in ,and look underneath.
Three lovely roots were showing ,each as thick as the developing tree trunk,def' time to re pot it ,so ,Fred picks up the tree and heads for the kitchen door ,followed by my shadow [Hissy ,who escorted me to the greenhouse ,followed me inside ,sat down and watched me working.
So engrossed was i at doing a little gardening at last ,that i forgot about the cat ,and ,when i was finished ,i left the greenhouse ,shutting the door behind me .
An hour later the wife comes downstairs ,goes to the kitchen ,and calls through to me ,you locked the cat in the greenhouse,and she dosn't look very pleased.
,The missus let her out ,whereupon ,she flounced past me to the patio window where she sat ,back to me tail and bum covered in cobwebs from the greenhouse ,,oooooo ,i was in the bad books he he.
I stood up and moved towards here with the intention of removing the cobwebs but she was having none of it lol,
She got up as i moved towards her ,hissing at me all the while ,and went to the missus ,cor ,no doubt about it people ,i isss in deep disgrace lol.
Never mind ,come dinner time i will be forgiven [she knows i am the only one who feeds her.
Time to get on with the dinner prep now ,i think roast potato and parsnip ,and carrot and sweede fresh from the veggie plot ,with chicken in a thick sauce with tarragon ,chive and fennel,sounds okay to me .
Hope everyone has had a good weekend ,and no one has a Toyota.
Fred.

HI everyone,just a quick message to say hello while I am having a break,weather is getting colder today ,no snow over the weekend,but they are still saying we will get some more,!!!
Fred am still looking at anything to do with our trams.but have not found anything about Blackpool!
Hope all ok see you tomorrow.
Brenda

Afternoon folks,lovelly sunny afternoon after a dismal and grey start,still bitterly cold but the sunshine makes it look good and " lifts" you a little.Been shopping for a couple of birthday presents this morning and got a few bargains at the freezer shop, I don't go often to this shop as its a walk to the car park and i can not carry things too heavy all that way,but John was with me so got a few things!!! .
Made a steak and guiness pie at weekend but it did not go down well,David and I did not like the meat in the beer (too strong a taste!)and John did not like the top which was filo pastry ,it was a Rosemary Connelly recipe.which I will not be repeating.Might use the filo pastry again for some pies but use a bit more.
Braising some steak and onions tonight with mash and cabbage.Morrisons had all their steak half price a few weeks ago and I got quite a bit in.
Better get on with ordering some books on line ,again for presents been meaning to get them for ages,and need them before the end of the month.
Take care,Brenda

To use a mild swear word [Bu***r] woke up to more snow again this a m with the ground again frozen so any thought of the garden is kapput, lol.
Yes ,we were at Morrisons too ,and a lot of the meat was half price ,so we got four loads of steak mince ,which is now cooked and down in the freezer ,some steak fillets ditto ,and four nice little pork fillets which we had for tea ,done in a nice sauce made with cheese and mushrooms.
I have been watching the situation in Australia this last week ,things look rather grim ,the guts ripped out of some places by storms and torrential rain ,other places hit by very high temperatures and drought ,and yet ,more places by fires ,still raging in many places ,and suburbs,so ,i reckon we people this side of the pond are the lucky ones,cold it may be ,but you can keep yourself warm and dry without too much hassle,keeping yourself dry ,and cool ,well ,that's a different matter,and fires are not the problem here that they are over there.
Brenda ,you need to buy yourself one of these shopping bags which fold up flat ,no bigger than a folded carrier bag ,but with wheels,ideal for you when you are on your own.
They sell them in B & M up here for £6-50 and fold up for the car boot when you get to it ,lol.,the wife can haul 15 kilos in hers,so they are very handy to have around.
I find the Filo pastry too time consuming ,and only use it for special meals ,preffering shortcrust ,which to my mind is easier and tastier by far,to my mind anyway.
We treated ourselves to a Greggs pasty for dinner yesterday ,never again ,they have changed the pastry from a shortcrust to a half puff pastry which is greasy ,stodgy and has faaaaar too much salt in,yuk.it's back to Peters for us,he he ,we both had indigestion after the pasty so ,i'm afraid Greggs have turned a corner ,and are going downhill.
I noticed as well that some months ago they removed the oggie from the shelves ,and then bought it back a few weeks ago with this same pastry ,the filling not nearly as nice ,and 30 p dearer not a good move.
Now ,i am REALLY looking forward to my usual bakers in Fleetwood for a decent pie again he he.
Hope none of you poor people have Toyota cars ,thank the lord i decided to stay with Nissan at the last minute instead of changing ,i don't think we have heard the last of the Toyota fiasco,quality control must be none existent at the plants where they are produced,bit like Browns Parliment ,he he.
Off to get some work done people ,see you later ,Fred.

hello all this talk of food from brenda and fred had my mouth watering this morning all I can add is that I had dinner at the families on monday evening and it must be sale's the world over andrew had been shopping he was home from halifax and bought two roasting all ready seasoned chickens so he cooked those for supper with mashed potatoes cauliflower with cheese sauce and green beans, when he is working from home he often starts dinner or cooks it so that when lindy gets home from school dinner is ready. I was over there to help out with the ironing that had accumalated due to both he and lindy being busy ie out of the province at the uncles funeral and all the kids activities, normally this does not happen but I enjoy ironing always have I am told that I am daft but I do enjoy it. and it was only shirts 19 in all well three guys it adds up. I am in the process of teaching the boys how to do it usually there dad does his own so they can learn. to-day we are having a little snow not much it looks quite pretty sorry that you are getting it again fred when you were so looking foreward to getting out in the garden bye for now dorothy

Hello all,from a sunny but very chilli Manchester,it looks glourious outside,but is really cold.,it has not tried to snow yet but I think its on its way.
Not working this weekend but have lots of errands and things to do,mainly with selling dads house.
Hope you get some gardening done soon Fred,and Dorothy well done on showing the lads how to iron,David does his own and sometimes John does as well.
see you all tomorrow,Brenda

hi everyone well it is a nice day so far sunny and cold but no snow I was out for a while this morning and it felt good to be in the sun. spoke to anne yesterday she said it was cold in bury but no snow I also spoke to my sister in calgary it was her birthday 63 this time she does not like that mentioned but I like to tease her about it. I mean she is a very active woman with all the mountain hiking they do and snow shoe-ing I think she does well and she is also very trim.the olympics start to-morrow so that will be fun to watch I always get a bit teary eyed when the athletes march in on the first day. well I am now going to think about starting something for my dinner this evening not sure what as yet take care bye dorothy

Good evening everyone,still cold here but no snow ,thank goodness,had a few flakes again yesterday ,but nothing stuck.!!
Could not sleep last night,and got up late this morning so am a bit behind with what I was to do.But they can wait,went shopping to a local retail park,got a new handbag with some money I had from last years birthday,its taken that long for me to decide what I wanted.Also looked for a new coat but as I want to loose weight i think I will wait for it. Really need to get my head together on this diet,seem to be putting on not taking off,if you see what i men.Its the snacking that I can not stop ,even tried having carrots and celery chopped up in the fridge but have them and toast as well.!!!
Better go have a couple of phone calls to make.
See you all tomorrow.Brenda

goodmorning well we had a little snow yesterday the weather man forgot to mention that so it was surprise i should send it on to vancouver they need it I have enjoyed the olympics so far vancouver is three hours behind this part of the country I sometimes forget how big this country is. this is a holiday week-end to-morrow being called family day feb. being one of the months that did not have a long week-end this was put into place. the children will be happy to have the day off school, I believe my group are going ski-ing for the day they will all enjoy that Ian likes to ski along with his dad and bryan and laura snow board and lindy does a combination of the two, and grandma just watches from the ski lodge and enjoys the hot chocolate and sits by the fire can't beat that. bye for now dorothy

Morning troops,nice and mild here this morning ,a little warmer than yesterday ,and the weather seems to have brought the birds out to play.
Made the missus and grandson a special dinner yesterday ,to let her know what day it was ,he he,her face ,when she got the online card said it all ,she thought i had fogotten, he he.
I got up pretty early and got out into the garden where ,supervised by the furry boss ,took out some button brussels ,carrote ,parsnip and potatoes.took them indoors and prepared the lot by 7 am.
We landed up by having an early dinner ,12 0,on the dot of a fresh roast chicken done with orange which i stuffed into the cavity after a liberal sprinkling of salt and pepper,put into the oven witjh roast potato,parsnip,carrot ,and red pepper,and of course ,caremalised red onion,home made country stuffing ,mashed potato ,cabbage ,green beans ,and a rich gravy.
The other breast off the chicken i stripped off whole and put in the freezer,before i boiled up the carcase and added some herbs ,salt and ground black pepper ,plus leeks from the garden,which we will be having for tea this evening.day even doing the washing up as i went along ,leaving the wife nothing to do.

In return ,she did the tea leaving me the afternoon and evening off ,luxury for me.,so i have had a lazy afternoon and evening .
I see the board is jumping around again ,so i will swap over to my other Browser which seems to be far more stable and controlable ,back in a mo' Fred.
Let's see now ,where was i ,lol.i really must remember to come onto genes via Google ,not I.E which seems to be the root cause of this jumping about.
I ended up last evening doing a complete factory restore on the acer ,which is now spot on ,and ready for Blackpool.lol.i didn't realise it was so long since i had used it ,and it seemed to be simpler to do the restore other than having updates come up every half hour for days,i even backed the puter up for a future restore by using two discs to back up to ,rather than using the other method which takes far longer.
Hope everyone had a good weekend,i am off down to the metrocentre now to see if i can find a laptop stand to put into the bag for the next trip out.
Take care all Fred.

goodmorning I really have to stop reading fred's messages so early in the morning over here his dinner reciepe from yesterday had my mouth watering once again and I have not had breakfast as yet sounded smashing fred I bet you all enjoyed it. I had a fun day watching the olympics and seeing canada obtain the first gold medal on home soil . dthe grandaughter is learning to ski moguls hard on the knee's i think but she is keen on it and goes really fast she has no fear I guess I can hardly watch . most of the province has the day off to-day so the roads are not busy for a change though the road up to the ski hills has been busy since about 6am. Ithink that I will do some cooking to-day I have been inspired by fred Ihave anice beef pot roast and i shall do some small baby spuds turnip and asparagus and I have a sticky toffeesd pudding left over from xmas in the freezer that will be desert bye for now dorothy

evening all,I agree Dorothy that Fred can really get your mouth watering when he lists his menus.!!!
Had a busy day today ,thought the rain we have been having would keep people in ,but it hasn't.
Had a few jobs to do for the team leader so have been busy here,will be ready for home very soon,but giving a lift to a colleague who has a large parcel to take home and usually gets a lifyt from a friend who is on leave ,she had forgotten and will have two buses to get if she hasn't got a lift!!
See you all tomorrow.Take care ,Brenda

Hello all.its freezing here today,the sun does keep trying to get out but its cold.John had to defrost my car and scrap the frost from the windscreen,took him ages.
Hope everyone is staying well and warm.
Working all day today ,and am now counting the weeks till i finish,which will be 5 weeks today.YIPPEE.
Better go and get some shelving done.
take care
Brenda

Morning Brenda ,Dorothy and all you other readers ,lol,the nearly retired ,and the ones who have gone before.
Yes ,retirement will be a blessing for you,but ,i think you will find that you are going to get a shock,finding yourself busier than ever he he ,the upside being ,you will be your own boss ,and can make up your own mind as to which way round you do things ,and more to the point ,when you decide to do them .
Well after a little deliberation ,we went ahead and booked our two weeks in September ,going down to Cornwall next to Newquay for a look see.
Booking now [an early bird ] we get a luxury 6 berth caravan ,gas and electric in with the price, for £370.
We hope it will be nice as i fancy returning next year if the fishing is any good,and we can even call in at Plymouth on the way down to see the nephew ,who is in the navy,and his wife and children,i can also take a pic of the war memorial with my uncles name on for my records[really must apply for his service record too].
Nothing special for dinner today folks ,only four very large mushrooms which i am going to stuff with cous cous and fried streaky bacon,served up on toast,time i tried a few new things he he.
Time to go now ,things to do ,lol,us retired folk are never done [evil snigger ]Fred.

Sftrenoon all,its has taken agaes to get on here ,not sure if its the site or the pc???
Can not stop long have to make a phone call at 3pm and then go back to the chemist for my prescription.
Working tomorrow ,so need to go today.
Weather sunny and cold again but it does look nice through the windows .Some Daffs and tulips are pushing up now hope this cold will not see them off.
Great news about your holiday Fred,will be looking for a bargain when I am retired.
See you all tomorrow take care,Brenda