General Chat

Morning Brenda ,very early this morning as we have a full day visiting the family and doing a little household shopping for a few nik naks starting with two touch lights for the bedroom ,because the switches on all the ones we have are so ruddy awkward to reach in the dark and nine times out of ten the lamps land up on the perishing floor ,lol.
The Gas company came very early yesterday and turned off the gas to the house ,and the electric so there was no danger of an explosion ,as they replaced the gas pipe from the road outside to the meter cupboard in the utility room.
Course ,i hadn't thought to turn on the charger for the lappy the night before so i couldn't even sit on the patio in the sun ,and do any work at all ,grrrrrrrr.
They dug a flaming great hole in the drive outside our gate so we were prisoners all day ,not able to get the car out of the drive,and no power to even do the hedge out front for something to do ,Fred was NOT a happy bunny he he
The job was finished by 4 pm ,anyway ,the neoprene liner having been slid right through the old pipe into the house and the meter reconnected,then it was a short wait until the gasboard came to turn the gas back on ,what a palaver,demarcation shows it's ugly head yet again.,after all ,these fitters are far in advance workwise that the domestic gas board ,and it took the bloke two minutes to bleed the air out ,shut his bag and bugger off ,daft ,and a time waste if ever i saw one ,lol.
Make the most of the next few days with your washing Brenda,this sunshine should be savoured ,the temperatures will drop like a brick once the new month sets in :-(.
I got the camera discs out last night ,and put the three together on one dvd so that we can watch them on either the puter ,or a dvd player,and wiped the camera discs ready for reuse,a good job done and discs ready for the next time they are needed..Be back later today ,or evening ,hoping to hear that Dorothy is making headway with her sorting out of Genes,before she gets fed up and moves to the other firm ,who ,it has to be said ,has a better grasp of keeping it's members happy.
Have a nice day everyone ,see you later Fred. :-D

Afternoon Fred and any one else who looks in
Weather her is fantastic.just what we need for the roofing work.!!
Have not been able to sit out much as they have been in and out of the garden where they have stored some stuff,
Went out to a show last night TOP HAT which was great,think Fred Astaire !! It was not so great getting out of the underground carpark and the surrounding roads. !!
Going to the library tomorrow,my friend is retiring/being made redundant this week and tomorrow is her last day to work.
Hope Dorothy and Bill are ok and we can speak with them soon.
Take care Brenda

Evening Brenda ,wow ,what a day we have had ,tried to get down to the bank this morning ,and arrived ,only to find out that my solicitor had screwed up the work that i set him and the bank wouldn't accept the cheque and i had to go back for a new one,then i had to go back to the bank again ,and by then the city was heaving.
Got the bussiness done okay ,but by this time there was no chance of making B & Q this afternoon ,so we went into OUR market for a nice ice cold tea ,a habit i picked up in the middle east ,nothing more refreshing on a hot day.
Can't go out tomorrow because the gas board come back early to finish the mains liners through all the pipes in the road,by which tiime it will be six ,and everything will be too late to see to.
The trip to B & q will now be Saturday when we will go down to size up the new benches and fittings such as new sink ,and pipe lagging to prevent pipes bursting over the winter.
From there it will be Currys to see about the new cooker i promised the wife []me and my big mouth ] lol :-( ,a double oven ,she want's AND a fifth burner for the wok ,no pleasing some people ,he he.
I have told her that this is an early Christmas present ,and she will only get a small one over the festive period but knowing her ,she will keep on for a better offer ,lol :-(.
On the way out of the market ,we noticed that the french bakery had some lovely buns on sale ,granery rolls topped with sesame seed and crushed oats ,just the job for the B B q tomorrow,and i got 6 for £1.
They will go well with the burgers the farm made me ,Angus beef stuffed with cheddar cheese and chives,and the herb stuffed cumberland ,and lincolnshire snags .
This is the last B B Q this year ,so it is going to be the best one ,lol,cause i'm sure we have a couple of minute steaks in the freezer ,and a carton of Bombay Potato.
I was watching Hairy bikers on the box last night ,and i was interested to see they were in Morocco getting lessons on how to cook in a Tageene ,using spices and herbs ,doing a lot of slow cooking over charcoal , you know ,i quite fancy trying one of those ,the only problem being ,where to find one of those little round cookers ,hmmmm ,time to check on the net methinks.
Hope your roof repairs go okay Brenda and hope Dorothy can find her way back ,Catch you all later Fred. :-)

Hi fred ,Sorry your errands went a bit wrong ,hope it all got straightened out in the end.
Had a good morning myself ,up to a point!!!
Managed to get a reitrement gift for my friend ,I had been looking for this item for months and found one by accident this morning !!! Got some good bits and bobs from the £1 shop,and some little things to start my christmas shopping,Then I went to the Sainsburys supermarket near the library i worked at ,but they are building a new one and have now moved into the new building as a temp supermarket,but it was just chaos with a capital C, and the carpark was even worse!!.
Mind you once I had gotten out and to the library i was ok,They had a couple of books I was waiting for,
I gave my friend the gift I got her this morning and we had a good chat with a sandwich and a cup of tea as it was lunch time.
When i got home the builder was still working hard and the new roof on the bay looks good.He still has to finish some things of so it might go into next week,
Hope the BBQ goes ok the burgers and baps sound yummy.
How many will be there? the weather should stay good for it. John is going to his mam this weekend she will be at the caravan,.
I am doing well with my de clutterring I am working my way througth a set amount of cupboards an ddrwawers each week. Next week we will look at the top cupboards over the wardrobes.
take care Brenda

Yep Brenda I'm Sorta ok, Just had another Storm Gusting Wind to 100K, Broke a couple of my Fibre Glass poles, and Collapsed part of my tent on top of me, Got a Couple of replacement poles from Bairnsdale (I'm in Swifts Creek at present 90 km away. Got the poles the next day.
Getting Supplies ready for a 2 week trip back to the Wilderness, No Communications from there, Even Sattelite is poor, and my Navigator stops working.
Have to leave all my 230v devices behind, and use gas, and a new Generator I just bought from Aldi, only good for 1kw, but will Drive my Computers, and my 1000 movies on the Laptop.. Will do a bit more Gold sampling along the Gibbo River.
Getting a bit old for this Game. slowing down a bit.
Anyway Brenda hope the builders get finished on your place before the Rains hit you. And FRED ,you get your BBQ sorted
And Dorothy gets back on GR. to keep the thread Alive.

Bill in Oz

Morning all ,and a special thought for friend Bill,who is off air today [so far] because his camp site has been hit by an even worse storm than before ,resulting in him having to batten down the hatches and concentrating on keeping the tent tied to the ground.
I Had word from Marta last night ,settling back in at the Uni' in Poland for her last year before graduating,to say that she had heard from her hubby Sean ,who has now arrived in the middle east after the stop over in Oman,and is safely on camp [airbase].
Talking of which ,can i ask those people who shop in the big stores like Morrisons and Asda ,to keep their eyes open for the free range eggs in store that are supporting the Help the Hero's Fund by donating 15 P of the purchase price for every six eggs sold ,these guys can do with all the help they can get ,being ignored by the government who put them in the state that they are in to start with.
Had a text off Chris yesterday asking me to put off the B B Q until today so that he can be here for it ,lol,so ,not wanting him to go without ,it is now on for this afternoon :-D.
When his Dad comes to drop him off i will give him the heads up as to starting the kitchen make over ,re changing the sink unit and bench tops ,and converting the cooker unit to take the full size oven we are getting put in.
Once that is out of the way ,i will crack on with the windowsills which want cleaned up and repainted before the frosts come :-|.
|I was up early today to give the lawn and veggie patch a quick cold shower before going upstairs and getting one myself ,it being the start of a hot day.
Going to do a shoot now ,time to get on with a bit of work before it starts to warm up.
Hope everyone is having a good weekend no matter what happens ,Fred :-)

Evening folks.Hope Bill has managed to stay grounded and not been blown away,also hope any gold digging he does do is profitable.and he stays ok and does not hurt himself.
Hope the BBq and then the kitchen work all goes ok Fred, Glad Sean and his missus are doing ok in their new homes,i am sure it will be ok in the end,I already buy the help the hero goods ,they do bacon and cooked ham in sainsburys.
The building work is doing ok ,but he has to come back on Monday .
He will be doing some work on next door while he has his scaffolding up,seems they have the same problem as us.
We are planning on some decorating when its all done ,with David helping John,David does not mind but John is a bit impatient when showing him what to do,!!!
John is up at his mothers this weekend and has been helping in the garden by mowing the lawn and cleaning up the leaves,at neary 90 and 84 ,its a bit much for his mother and step father,but they will not entertain any idea of moving to a flat or somewhere with a smaller garden!!!! NOr will they have the garden taken up and either flagged or shaled,
Weather still fantastic ,sleeveless tops on October 1st !!!!
Had a really good time on the night out for the people leaving the library,we even sat out on the patio at the pub.as the weather was so warm.
Going to get a bite to eat ,being on my own,david is out as well. I can please myself what i do or have,!!!
Take care,hugs brenda

Hi Brenda, and Badger,
Storm passed, now expecting the rivers to rise.
My credit on Prepay has disappeared, so I will make a trip to Bairnsdale tomorrow and get that sorted. in the meantime, will have to run, Hope you are both well, and Dorothy gets back on soon.
Bill in Oz

Morning all ,Bill,Brenda & [waves]to Dorothy ,crikey what a difference up here this morning,a slight breeze ,still pretty mild ,a tad warm even,but raining and cloudy ,,looks like i got the B B Q in just in time.
Glad to hear that you have just about got the building work completed Brenda,you will rest easier no doubt ,knowing that the roofing is now sound ,and water/snow proof,which you will be needing in the next few months.
Thanks for the heads up regarding the bacon too ,didn't know about that one ,but i will be on the lookout for it now,all donations will be going to a very good cause .
Bet you are double glad you put your gear well up on the bank top Bill,with the water on the rise ,that was an old dog move that others would have been well advised to follow ,there is nothing worse than a flooded tent .
Found my new dongle Bill,a pay as you go from the 3 mobile people ,which i will use when away ,now the wife can use the spare lappy with 3 while i am on line with t-mobile ,he he,no more infighting to be on line first.
Yes ,as Bill knows ,we will be away down to B&Q on Wednesday ,to pay for ,and have cut in store ,the bench tops ,select the new sink unit ,and all the other fittings we will need,and then try to get them to deliver at a modest cost [i hope] ,finishing the kitchen off with the new cooker,which we will be getting from Currys to take advantage of the insurance and replace deal ,in case of breakdown..
Hi dorothy [waves again] hope you can get online again shortly,ruddy daft genes ,did that to me a while ago and that's when i changed my sign in name to get round it ,daft it is when you only need to change one part of the name to get round it ,but there you go ,
Going to do a shoot now ,i am going to shunt all my photos onto piccasa ,move the files onto my external hard drive ,and transfer them onto my travel laptops so that i can see them any time,anywhere ,lol,and ,at the same time i will install the 3 dongle onto them so it is ready to use next month.
Something to keep me busy indoors with the weather anyway.
Catch everyone later,Fred. :-) .

evening all.we have had a really good afternoon weatherwise today after a bit of a cloudy start,better than yesterday.
Hope Bill is out of the wet and has managed to get his
gear grounded.and he gets his credit sorted.
Sorry Fred you still loose me when you start talking technical!!!
We have also had a few other Help the heros grocery things cooked meat (vacuumed packed).,meatballs and the bacon.I will keep mt eyes open and let you know what else i find.
We have had an up and down weekend with good and bad family news.
My Auntie my dads sister is back in hospital and is very poorly things don't sound too good,She has a number of problems,diabetes,and pancreatic cancer. and now has a kidney infection as well as .Johns sister has had breast cancer last year and developed a swelling ,luckily after a check up it was only fluid and everything else is fine.
The good news is that my brother in law and my nephew have both been able to get jobs after being out of work for 6 months and a year.!!!
Another bit of good news was that the builder did not charge us as much as we had been expecting for the extra work.
Better get on with some other emails and check the other sites.
Take care Brenda

Morning to everyone from all over the place ,including the pond.
Glad to hear that the repairs were finished to your satisfaction Brenda ,even more glad it was a little cheaper than you had anticipated ,a bonus yet :-) .
Looks like i will be doing the kitchen upgrade on my own [sounds about right],he he ,with the news that my youngest son has now found himself work again,good on him ,only out of work a few months ,when there are so few jobs going up here in the north east.
He has gone back into the catering trade ,the wages not bad ,and it's pretty safe work wise ,no short time likely.
Going to get the ladders out now ,back later ,Fred. :-)

Morning all.glad your son has got himself a job fred ,but bad news you will be doing the kitchen on your own.
Had my NHS physio yesterday and they told me the same as the private on has done.I have been given the same sort of excersises today but been told to do them 3 times aday instead of 1 or 2. I can only go once a fortnight due to the demand on their services. So I will continue to do the excersises but do more of them.
Weather turned out good yesterday ,hope today is the same as I have washing to dry!!!
Had a conact from someone on my grand dads side of the family the other day,we have been in contact before and shared info,she was telling me about another branch she had found,but then emailed back to say they are not on our tree.!!!
I did have a quick look at my files and had an idea they weren't ,as I had looked at someone from their branch before. Still gets the old grey matter working again.
Good luck with the kitchen Fred,we have a bit of DIY to start ourselves and I want it finished by the end of next month ,before we are away in December.
Better get on with the ironing and then clean the kitchen floor before I go out to take ny neice to the hospital.
Have a good day everyone,take care.Brenda

Hi Brenda ,and Dorothy if she is looking in,from oop north where the sun don't shine ,the heating is on and it's a tad chilly this morning lol :-).
As it turns out ,i can still get some help off the son because his job is a late afternoon and evening one ,so it isn't too bad after all.
the missus has the bit between her teeth now ,not content with the kitchen refurbishment ,she has gone through all the upstairs cupboards ,drawers ,and other hidey holes after a bag came through the door from Scope so we have two suitcases in the front room with books and dvd's in ,three huge bags of clothing , and sundry other things like unwanted toys and bric a brac,landing up with the floors upstairs breathing a sigh of relief as all that weight was removed from them :-0.
The bag that came through the door is outside waiting for the van to come down the road ,with a label stuck on asking the driver to knock ,lol,hope the lad ,or lass had their porridge this morning ,they are going to need the energy he he.
We have now decided on our new cooker ,a Belling double oven,black with ceramic rings on the hob,and catalytic oven liners both top and bottom ,yippee ,no more on my hands and knees with the Mr Muscles cleaner :-| all self cleaning ,and rather expensive ,but it will be well worth it.
We also decided to do away with the freezer upstairs ,getting a bit larger one for the utility room that will sit next to the upright bigger one.
The under bench fridge is going out ,and the cupboard that is next to the upright freezer is going where the fridge used to be,leaving the room for the new freezer.
I am getting rid of the rose cover bushes that we put in three years ago,they don't stop the weeds taking hold among them and the weed is impossible to get out with out having the arms scratched to pieces on the thorns,so ,out they are coming,to be replaced by the other plants i already have ,.thinning's from them replanted elsewhere ,fast growing and stopping the weeds from getting a hold,i will put a load of bulbs underneath first ,so that they will grow though as they come up.
Sean's parcel came yesterday ,so as soon as Scope have been we will be able to get out again, the first time we have been out since last Thursday,i think ,we isss going stir crazy ,lol. :-).
Time to go and get some work done ,see you all later ,Fred :-D

Evening all,fred ,Liz is a woman after my own heart with the decluttering ,mind you everytime i have left one of those bags out side it never gets picked up.!!! So I just fill them up and take them to our local shopping center where there are three or four charity shops and i give them a bag each .!!
Have two bags in the hall ready for the Barnados shop as I got some of there bags from the shop last time I went.
Have been to town to meet my friend for lunch,which was very nice.Then we went to M&S and got a bit wet has it had started to rain.
We had intended going to a Pound shop after M&S but had been chatting so long with our cups of tea that Idid not have time, the shop is in the opposite direction to my bus stop.!!.
REally wet and horrible weather here now with plenty of thunder,John is moaning that he will not be able to get out for golf tomorrow.!!!
The kitchen renovations sound very grand Fred,hope it all works out well for you,without too much aggro!!
Johns hs just made us a cup of tea.so I had better finish and put the lap top away before I get any tea all over it.
Take care
Brenda.

Hi Everyone,its been a really horrible day weather wise again, gret wet miserable and cold.Not done much apart from going to visit my aunt in hospital,
Now waiting for my tea to be ready,we are on roasted leg of lamb chops with roasted veggis,looks very tasty,
not sure if i am out tomorrow was going to my sisters but she has a chest infection,so we are not going.
Hope everyone has a good weekend.
Brenda

Good morning Dorothy ,& Brenda ,yep i agree with the weather prognosis ,looks plurry 'orrible outside dosn't it he he ,not much i can add to that exept to say ,i do not do wellies and raincoat digging in the garden ,so i am stopping in the dry.
Upset her majesty this morning by enticing her with a few Dreamies ,and then holding her down while the missus applied her regular dose of tick and flea drops ,[ the cat ,not the missus] , ooooooooh the look of betrayal we cot as i let go of her ,she shot off at great speed ouit of the door ,he he ,i don't think we will see her again until dinner time.
I still have loads of beetroot to come in out of the garden for use ,but no way am i going out there until it dries up a good bit.
I dropped a you know what in measuring the space for the new cooker so we can't have the one i wanted [Bu***r] it turns out that the cooker with the fifth ring in the middle is 2 inches too long for the availiable space which means the back door won't open fully allowing us to bring large items in the door.
So it's back to a regular size cooker with four rings on the hob ,but i suppose i can always buy an electric wok ,or stick to the present one :-| .
Co ,the lamb sounds great Brenda ,but it's a no no in this house ,being the fattiest meat around ,and mutton being hard to find these days ,so ,by request of the grandson who is here today ,we are having a Spam and Bean Crunchy top.
This is an old recipe from way back when pennies were tight [most of us have been there] and may be again the way the food costs are going up again .
It consists of a casserole dish ,to which is added one onion ,finely chopped .a can of baked beans.a can of tomato s [plum] and a can of Spam ,or chopped ham and pork diced into half inch pieces.all the ingredients being layered.a good mix of chop sauce /tomato sauce with a little water is added ,mixed with a generous dash of pepper.
All this is topped with melted marge ,into which four slices of bread are tossed until well covered ,which is the laid on top of the full dish ,to add the crunchy topping.
The grandson loves it as did our own four brats and we can find nothing as tasty for the money either ,a few roast tatties ,and mash ,with some home grown cabbage and you can't go wrong .
We have fired up the central heating and checked it out ,all seems to be normal after the gas work which finished last week :-) .
We are still left with a large hole in our drive which ,if it wern't so funny ,would be pathetic.
The gas workers arrived Friday morning and capped HALF the hole off with asphalt,leaving the other half ? when i asked why this was ,i was told ,seeing as the asphalt drive was put in by the council who rightly were paid for the work they filled in the asphalt part ,but as the concrete part was council ,they couldn't do that? helloooooo ?,the gas board dug it all up ,why wern't they replacing it all? seeing as it was all council work at the start.bloody crazy lot .he he ,So here i am ,half a hole left ,with a kevlar yellow covering still on my drive until this lot of clowns get themselves sorted out.i am half tempted to get the local newspaper on the case ,but i suppose if i do that ,i will mark my own card with them [the local council]' what a right carve up this is turning out to be ,what was wrong with filling the whole hole with tarmac ,or concrete i would like to know ,or is it something us lowly peasants don't know about? :-S.
Time to go and get on with this dinner,hope all are having a great weekend,Fred :-) .

Hello Fred , Dorothy and Bill,
Been busy today was up early and out at 9.15 as i had an appointment at the physio.
Came home ,was going to call at the supermarket for a newspaper and some onions but it was raining cats n dogs ,and I did not fancy getting wet just for a paper and I did have "an onion"so did not go.
Was out to lunch with some friends so John dropped me of in town as it was still raining heavy.
Luckily it had stopped when I was coming home,so I got the bus
Have made some butternut squash and yellow pepper soup, for lunch tomorrow,my sister is hopefully coming for a light lunch before she goes to the local hospital for some blood tests ,she goes every few weeks.
I have an errand to do tomorrow,so have made it in advance.
You have a similar proplem to us Fred with the oven,we have a range cooker ,dual fuel,and we want another one,but as the kitchen is fitted we need the same size but we can not find one that we like in the size we have available.!!!
I know what you mean about putting the drops on the cat ,we have the same trouble twice over and when the second one sees the first one being done ,he takes off and will not be seen for ages,!!!!
We need to get out the back and give it a good tidy but the weather is not good enougth.so we have said the next dry day we will do that.
Better get off to bed ,two early.morning starts are not good for me without early nights.
Take care
brenda

Morning to all ,from a sopping wet north east of ,you know where,another day with no clearing out of the garden ,grrrrrrr.:-| .
Try Curry's for your cooker Brenda they have a very good range [pardon the intended pun ] :-P , lol of range ,and other cookers,the one i wanted was 910 mm long,but they do bigger ones as well.and they also do a gas one of the same size ,but ,of course ,i am all electric apart from the central heating.
Comet do some good ones as well ,but i find the staff to be a bit iffy ,not much good at customer relations ,and can be a bit pricey too. :-| .
I alternate Hissy's flea treatment ,sometimes using tablets [bob martins] dog tablets which i break in half [cheaper that way ] the scottish ancestry coming to the fore ,lol :-).
I grind them down with pestle and mortar and then mix them in with some cat food ,such as fish ,or a pouch of Felix to hide the taste. ;-) .
Well ,tomorrows the day ,lol,down to B&Q pretty early with all the measurements for the bench tops ,fittings, and other sundry items ,including the kitchen sink .lol ,might as well do the lot,and when i start i think i will tackle the sink,drainer and bench there first ,giving me time to work out wether the taps and plug hole will still fit without changing anything,hmmmmmmm ,this could be rather interesting ,electrics i am fine with ,plumbing i ain't so sure but ,in for a penny ,in for a pound ,as they say.
Hope our Dorothy is okay ,and hope she will be back with us shortly,things are too quiet with out her around ,lol :-).
Catch you all later Fred. :-D.

Hi Fred,I think you are a bit more than sopping wet as you appear to have had more than us and we are sopping wet!!.
Have been to Currys and Comet earier this year to look at the cookers ,it is on the back boiler (,pardon the pun !! )for now as other things are taking priority.
Had a bit of sad news my auntie died earlier today ,she was my dads older sister.RIP auntie Mary.
She was 90 years old and had been ill for a while.We saw her on Saturday and she was sleeping very peacefully.
Have not heard from Dorothy by email so not sure what is happening .hope she and her family are ok and hope Bill is doing ok down under,!!!
Tomorrows weather is not supposed to be any different I am sorry to say ,but Thursday and Friday are supposed to be drier.Lets hope!!
Better get the tea started ,some spaggetti bolognese,without garlick bread , as we are cutting down on thecarbs,!!
taje care ,

Hi there, Brenda, and Fred.rained again last night,
Its 5am here, and I am just about to have breakfast. Its usual for me to get up early, but this morning I am setting off for the Gibbo River. at around 8am.
First I have to Drop my tent, and pack it into my Car.
It rained last night so I will wait a bit and hope the sun dries it a bit.
Prepacked most of my stuff into the car last night.
I hope its not raining up at the River, I have my fishing gear, and my gumboots.
I will also do a bit of Gold sampling.
Brenda, Hope you cheer up, not nice loosing relatives.
Fred, Hope you and Liz are drying out. and have a mild winter.
Bye for now.
Bill in Oz.