General Chat

Hi all, Well haven't been here for a couple of days and just read about Fred's sister. May I offer my sincere condolences to you Fred. I have been very busy with Johan trying to install a new printer, but it doesn't work. We will have to phone on Tuesday for help. Today my wash drier gave up the ghost so have been looking on internet for another one in case this one canot be repaired. Also my dishwasher doesn't seem to wash as clean as it used to, so here again have been looking on internet for another one. When we sold our house and came to live in this flat we bought all new electrical appliances, so it is logical that they will all give up more or less the same time. We are in for a big spending spree!!!!! The weather hasn't been too bad, some showers, but also some sun. Sylvia xxx

Hi all, Well haven't been here for a couple of days and just read about Fred's sister. May I offer my sincere condolences to you Fred. I have been very busy with Johan trying to install a new printer, but it doesn't work. We will have to phone on Tuesday for help. Today my wash drier gave up the ghost so have been looking on internet for another one in case this one canot be repaired. Also my dishwasher doesn't seem to wash as clean as it used to, so here again have been looking on internet for another one. When we sold our house and came to live in this flat we bought all new electrical appliances, so it is logical that they will all give up more or less the same time. We are in for a big spending spree!!!!! The weather hasn't been too bad, some showers, but also some sun. Sylvia xxx

Hi everyone,Dorothy i am so pleased the surprise tea went so well.You sound a bit like mw with the tears, Weather wise its is lousy here wet,cold miserable. Had a friend round for tea so that was nice ,went to Dads early as i had to drop David of in town, so came home, via dads and then got home just before I would be normally going out.If you know what i mean;It was funny doing things at different times but it all worked out ok. Was going to try and find something on my great great grandmother as I have a feeling I may have gone up the wrong garden path again.!!! Johns etting out of the bath now and I said i would brew up,so I had better go, Take care ,Brenda

Another bank holiday spoiled by horrible weather!!e had planned to do some tidying up in the garden and repair and paint the garden furniture but it hasn't even been good enougth for that,as it keeps having little showers but it is so cold as well. Had a tidy up /declutter of my bills etc and have tidied up in here a little. Hope you are all enjoyinh whatever you have been doing .Brenda

Evening peoples,Someone mentioned having a lousy weekend as regards weather lol,we have just come back from Scotland and the weather was lovely,with only a couple of showers to marr an otherwise smashing holiday hee hee,we even had our B B Q yesterday afternoon. The bro in law has just been on the phone to say that my sisters funeral is on the eighth of next month,and we can go down ,and come backon the same day because the son Martin is going with us ,me driving one way and him the other. Someone was asking about my pda the other day.and how well it worked. It was loaded with tom tom 5 and works great apart from one small area on the a1 which has only just been finished so hasn't been loaded onto the data base yet,and the warnings for the safety and speed cameras works great. The bro in law has a spare tree in the orchard which hasn't been planted yet which he says i can have,a tree grown from seed ,a hollyoak that will go well in the front garden alongside our hollybush in the spare square. Thismeans i have a little piece of my sister outside my front door where i can see it ,and her ,everytime i look out of the window ,or open the door. The rain here has done my garden the world of good ,the leeks and beans have shot up over these past few days ,and the warmth in the greenhouse means my cucumber and tomatoes are doing really well. It was nice too ,to come home to a warm house and tons of hot water ,something which we havn't had since mid feb'. Still,the old one did well ,thirty years old so the fella said who came to fix the new one ,i bet the new one dosn't last as long lol. Thanks peeps for all the messages of condolance,they were most welcome ,and helped tons. I'm not hanging about any longer tonight peeps ,not cause i'm still sad but because i'm going to have a HOT bath [yippee] hee hee. Fred.

hello fred glad to see you back on line and that you are keeping your spirts up, the tree idea sounds really good as you say you will have a special memorie of your sister. glad that your hot water is now working well nothing like a good hot soak in the tub . bye for now dorothy

Time to pull us back to the front of the list i think lol. I have just got back this evening from a trip to Berwick,with Stephen ,Ann,the missus,and the grandbairns,travelling up and back on the bus. The trip went well,taking two and three quarter hours,but the scenery was nice and we had a couple of nice views of Linisfarne over in the distance. We found the caravan park where we will be spending a weel in september,which is very nice,having sea views from most of the caravans. The shopping will be easy ,only a short distance along the cliffs to the town centre,so i can leave the car on site and get plenty of exercise. .It's nice to come in to a warm house as well,you don't realise how much you depend on your boiler till it goes wrong hee hee. Well,offfor a bath now ,but will catch up to things in the morning. Take care all.Fred.

Hi Folks didn't realise I had not left a meesage yesterday,still here I am now,Nice to see you Fred,what a lovelly idea about the tree,I saw a clenatis the other week which i am thinkking of getting in memory of our June from Preston.,I will have to wait til my firend takes me out to the garden centre again as I can not remember its name(the plant). Off for a bath myself as i have had an upset tummy this after noon. Brenda

Hi Brenda i just popped in because i can't sleep tonight for some reason,and noticed your message on the Clematis. I had one in the old garden at Birchvale ,trained along the back wall which was a lovely blue colour. The missus has just ordered three different ones from her book,so we intend planting them all together on the side of the garden shed out front so that there are diferent coloured flowers ,intermingled at different times of the flowering season. This will also give some of my birds a hiding place to nest in ,i hope lol. Been having pains in the legs since coming home today ,no doubt due to sitting too long on the bus,so i had better take a couple of anti coagulants before i go back to bed as a precaution,they are for my pvd when i have any trouble with the old walking appendages hee hee,but old Fred is doing well ,these are the first tablets for this in a month. Off to bed again now ,see you all in the morning .Fred.

Hi fred and everyone else,Sorry you couldn't sleep,and taking the tablets worked. I will let you know when I get the clematis,I know it was pink !! it was in a tub and was trained up some wigwam trellis so it could be put anywhere,but will have to put it either against the fence or in a tub against the shed.. On work today 1-8pm not in the mood,had a long bank holiday that has spoiled me.!! Wish i had just a bit bigger savings so i could retire properly.But will have to wait till i am 60and get my state pension. Speak to you all soon,haven't seen sylvia about .hope she is ok . Take care ,Brenda

having my tea break,so thought I would see what was going on ...........See you tomorrow .Brenda

Hope everyone is okay,i have spent a pretty lazy day ,having cut the front lawn,done a little housework and then got the tatties into the barrels. Sixteen to the barrel and covered [just] with a mix of dried manure and potting compost,cor ,we should have potatoes coming out of our ears by christmas lol. We have Ashton stopping with us until Sunday morning but she is never any bother ,so ,as a reward ,i may take her to the seaside tomorrow afternoon,as soon as i get my front garden sorted. It's just a matter of sorting the iris out really,they are too close to the hedge and keep getting flattened every time i use the trimmer to cut the hedge back,so i will move those over the other side of the garden and then put low growing plants split from the parents to lay between the flagstones wqhich will be much easier. I really must have an early night tonight ,i am still tired from yesterday ,and i think the best way forward is to snuggle down and let nature take it's course. I now have two new inhalors ,this doctor of mine is taking the mickey i reckon,it takes me half an hour every morning now to get myself sorted out,not my idea of fun hee hee,but it'd better than a kick in the teeth. Must go now ,so tjhat i can catch up on my emails .once msn sort themselves out grrrrrrr,i am thinking of going over entirelly to internet explorer which is far more reliable ,and just keeping hot*mail via ya*hoo.. They even had the cheek to ask me to recommend them [msn] to friends ,[i don't think so] lol. See you all later,have a nice weekend all.Fred.

hi everyone just finished watching the french open for the day I so enjoy the tennis, fred your plannting of the potatoes made me hungry, hope that you will be feeling more like your old self soon. to-day is another hot one at the moment it is 92 degree's and that is without adding the humidex index, we are supposed to get a thunder storm late this afternoon I have to say I hoping that it does arrive as I am supposed to take Ian to baseball practice but do not relish sitting out in that heat but I do remind myself that it is better than snow and -30 below. nothing much new to-day just enjoying the tennis bye for now dorothy

Hiya,thought it was to good to last have had almost a week of sleeping right througth the night with maybe an early wake up now and again,was very tired tonight went to bad 10.30 ish had a little read ,went to sleep.Then ,PING ,that little light went on atabout 12.15 and here i am.will have a look round for ten ,fifteen mins then try again.On a full day at work again tomorrow,so don't want to be too shattered ,not when the kids are on holiday and using the library like a playground if they can.!!! Dorothy we have had ,sunshine ,rain ,thunder ,lightening and then sunshine again today,the weather just doesn't know what to dowith itself. Hope your back to yourold self soon Fred,may be you are over doing things a bit, See you all tomorrow,take care ,Brenda

managed to get back to sleep ok but woke up with the alarm very tired. on lunch at the minute,but no emails to check or messages on here!! See you later maybe ,have a good weekend !!

Evening all ,what a lovely day it's been here. Nice and sunny but with a gentle breeze . I got the iris dug out and put into their new quarters before the sun got too hot to work in,weeded the three main borders [one left for tomorrow,and apart from the hedge ,that's it out front for now. So,this afternoon ,i have been sitting outside ,lager in hand ,shorts on, tanning the old knees again,lol. I had a bit of a shock this morning,found out i couldn't squeeze any more black ink out of the cartridge in my printer ,ans so decided to go to my usual little computer firm in Westerhope ,called Laserteck,turned the corner onto the little industrial estate ,to find it was gone . Woe is me hee hee,no more cheap inks ,they used to cost me £12 for all four colours.lord alone knows how much they will cost now.oh well ,at least for now ,i only need black,having got spares for the other three colours for now. Iv'e put up the photos of Berwick and Mablethorpe ,plus a new photo of Ashton which i will send out shortly,the bairn has been here since yesterday ,and hasn't been a moments bother,Liz and i are very lucky indeed with all our grandchildren,they all behave very well when they are with us. Liz used all the spare mashed potato from yesterday this morning ,mixed with a strong cheddar cheese ,and raw diced onions ,and made some patties covered in breadcrumbs ,for the freezer,six cheese and onion pasties,and a large cheese and onion pie,all now in the freezer for future meals when we fancy something light for tea. She made some lovely tuna fishcakes two weeks ago too,but they didn't last very long lol,i really must get her to do some more. The inspector arrived this morning ,passed all the work the lads did when fitting the boiler so the combi has now been commisioned. Hope everyone is having a nice weekend,see you tomorrow.Fred.

hi sometimes I think that I gain weight just reading all the good food that fred talks about it all sounded so good. yesterday was another hot one and I took Ian to baseball practice he seems to be getting the hang of the game but has decided he likes soccer better (good lad) he is eager for me tobring him back either a manchester united soccer shirt or a david beckham, last ime I was over in the lake district we found a great place that sold the shirts very cheaply an outlet I guess does any one know if there are any near manchester of bury. the prices in the manchestere city shop were very expensive. to-day I watched the french open again and went after it was over and picked up my free medication finally a perk for being 65 I now just pay the dispensing fee and a low one at that, I am so pleased over the last 6yrs I have spent 28,000 dollars on drugs and that was with a drug plan as well , so many of the heart meds were not covered think how many trips home I could have had . anyway things are now looking up. I guess it will be tennis all week-end so I am loooking foreward to that bye for now dorothy

Dorothy,i am just the same as you, I only have to think about food and i am half a stone heavier.!!! Good on your grandson to prefer football. I will look out for the footaball shirts,there are a lot of Retail outlets now around and about , Fred will have to stop feeding us these tip bits.!!! or I will not fit in the suit I bought for the wedding last month and have to wear again to another wedding in two weeks. Going looking for shelving for ths room tomorrow so I can put my files on them nstead of the floor. Then John can bring his golf trolley and bag up here.and we can store the washing thats waiting to be ironed(mainly mine)up here as well!! Thats the theory LOL. We will then have a clear hall way and dining room.,instead of an obstacle course and chinese laundry. Will Let you know how we go. Take care Brenda

Morning troops,just a few minutes to spare before i get my butt out in the front garden to get that hedge done. No looking at Freds pad on google earth this morning peeps ,it will do you no good as ,if i wan't this job done before it gets too hot i will be moving too fast for the spy camera to pick me up lol. I was going to do it yesterday ,as soon as Ashton went home,but as she left ,the son turned up . We went down to B & Q to get the wood for the screen for the new combi boiler ,to hide the pipes,and i must admit ,the son did an ace job of it and liz is chuffed to bits with the result ,no more copper pipes on show underneath the boiler .and the lads who fitted the combi cut into the ceiling ,capped the three old pipes and then plastered over the top ,one neat job,and ,they even cleaned up after themselves.brilliant. We decided to have our First B B q of the season ,and even Liz sat outside all afternoon under the parasol,as we chilled right out ,the nibbles lasting three hours in total. The same son has just been on the phone ,suggesting a trip down the coast ,cullercoates ,or st Marys island or both ,so ,i must away and get ready. Hope everyone is having a good weekend ,see you all later ,this evening .fred.

Hi all, Well all of you talking about weight. I have lost 11 kilos (1 kilo is 2.2 lbs) without doing anything for it. Well, nothing, did have a tumour taken away! It is a good thing that I have enough to lose. Have some more tests this week and am wondering what they are going to come up with next. Well I will enjoy myself in the meantime. Next Sunday Johan and I are going to Eindhoven to stay in our daughter's house whilst she is in Turkey. We can get into Belgium and Germany very easily and visit Johan's sick sister nearby. You may be wondering why I have taken so long to come on here. Well computer problems. Couldn't get printer to work, then Johan bought new printer, no not printer, printer back to shop and finally got help in as so many things started to go wrong. I couldn't even type in the end. My trusty help in the household told me that her husband was a computer hobbyist and they would come round on the Saturday. Well they did and in a mum of a second everything was fixed. In fact, I have more than I ever had now. He is going to come round again later in the year to help me with my digital camera. I had this camera for my birthday in January and it is still in its box! Well, did have other things on my mind too. It is a while since I used my new sewing machine and tried to do just that yesterday but having difficulty in threading it up. Must get the CD out and see how it works again - all takes time that is the trouble! Have almost finished the small towel which I am cross stitching for my daughter. It is an alphabet of cats. My daughter is cat crazy. She doesn't know I have been doing it, but will try and finish it for her birthday. Well everybody, have a nice Sunday further. Sylvia xxx