General Chat

oh gosh brenda daffs and tulips how I miss spring in england even after all these years took a friend out for her birthday lunch yesterday there is a very nice fish resturant near me called the fish bowl! she had the fish and chips special and I had the shrimp linguine both of us were stuffed after a great meal, the weather is still very cold and some snow off the lake but not much, so five weeks till retirement I do wish you a happy one it does take a bit of getting used to but as fred says you will find yourself being quite busy and wonder how you ever made the time to work . freds holiday booking sounds great not sure what I have planned this year nothing in mind at the moment. if it is a good summer I don't need to go away with all the lakes and great areas around me to explore so I shall see what comes. back off to watch some of the olympics and do a spot of ironing at the same time hope you all have a great week-end by for now dorothy

well its sunny again today,and its not as cold!!
Hope you get the summer you want Dorothy,we are hoping to go in May somewhere ,but the prices at the moment are more than we want to pay.
As I will not be working we can go when ever we see a good deal,which is good, we had to leave a couple of deals last year as i could not get the time off.
Its was quite here this morning .well steady really,till just before lunch,then it was really busy for 10 mins.
Have just opened again and its getting busy so I have to go.take carem
Brenda

goodmorning yes brenda one of the joys of retirement is that you can pick up and go at a moments notice, last evening I went out with my daughter in law to the the church they had a show and silient auction to raise money for some members to go to ghana they are linked with a church there, the entertainment was good it was a chap that sings and does paradies to the songs and then desert was included, it was a good evening, lindy was a bit sore in the legs as they had been out on the slopes most of the day and she was snowboarding not ski-ing to-day. I would like to mention that if I am not on line for a few days or so it is because I am having a bit of a problem with the ticker a few episodes of sort of feeling like I am going to pass out happened at the church last evening and that made me quite mad as I was trying to avoid the family having any idea till I get it checked out with the specialist the blood pressure and the blood sugar are fine so not sure what it is, of course nurses new or old are famous for self diagnosis anyway I am sure it will resolve it self so hope you all had a good week-end bye for now dorothy

Hi all.Dorothy I do hope all is well when you have your check up,I do know how nurses are ,having one for a sister,she is good at getting others to do things like see the doctor,but not so quick herself.You look after yourself.
We had snow this morning not a lot but it was still there ,it has gone now and I hope we do not have any more.
Still not found the ho;liday ,but we have pleanty of time.
Better go now have a few emails I need to send while i have this to myself,
Take care ,Brenda

Morning all ,and a very cold ,white one too grrrrrrr.
There's Fred,new boots and rose loppers ready to do battle at last ,opens the curtains and goes out to bring the bin in,,and what do i see ,more ruddy snow[throws boots back in the cupboard in disgust] and comes in the kitchen to make a cuppa.
Looks like it's back to work in the house again for the time being ,there being more snow forecast for the rest of the week.
Still,it is only Feb' but i can't help thinking of ,and wishing of the early spring we had two years ago ,lol , i would have been sat outside at this time of day enjoying a cuppa ,and wondering what to see to next..
The tulips and daff's should be fine ,they are very hardy,and come from climates colder than ours ,he he ,if they can grow in Wales which has worse weather in winter ,that we are likely to see ,i don't think for one minute that a bit of snow will hurt them
even my bluebell are now showing and holding their own ,so i think ,once the weather does break ,we are in for a glorious spring.
We have one of those Morrisons curries for 2 meals for dinner ,that should keep us warm till tea time ,when no doubt i will have some soup again,though i don't know what sort yet.maybe Tomato,or even Leek & potato,along with some french stick.
Time i was starting the housework [spit's out of the corner of the mouth] and looks longingly out of the window [sighs ] blast it ,still snowing.Fred

goodmorning sorry to hear that due to the snow you are housebound fred hope it clears up soon for you love to hear about the spring flowers, we had snow yesterday with more to come most days this week. so I will not be going out . so back to watching the olympics I guess . made a nice pasta dish yesterday with lots of mushrooms and garlic bread living alone I can indulge in my liking for garlic bread.my friend anne in bury had her new carpets laid on saturday it cost her 10 pounds to have the old ones put into the garage until she can get the council to take them away, I found that strange when I had new carpet in the house the installers took the old ones away part of the service . well that is it for me for to-day bye for now dorothy

goodmorning sorry to hear that due to the snow you are housebound fred hope it clears up soon for you love to hear about the spring flowers, we had snow yesterday with more to come most days this week. so I will not be going out . so back to watching the olympics I guess . made a nice pasta dish yesterday with lots of mushrooms and garlic bread living alone I can indulge in my liking for garlic bread.my friend anne in bury had her new carpets laid on saturday it cost her 10 pounds to have the old ones put into the garage until she can get the council to take them away, I found that strange when I had new carpet in the house the installers took the old ones away part of the service . well that is it for me for to-day bye for now dorothy

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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