General Chat

Hi Fred,Liz and anyone else reading this.
Sorry I have not been on for a good few days,just did not realise I had not posted any messages.Sorry you could not go away,but hope you are both better now.
Also hope that your car was sorted out properley and you got it back without the trouble you had to get it there. .
Glad you managed to use your enforced time at home to get some garden work done.
We have two and a bit week.s til we go away,the temps in Tenerife have been really good.Hope they stay that way,need some sunshine.!!
Hope you manage to re schedule your trip to Liverpool.
John was a happy bunny on Monday just as David was the week before.Hope David is just as Happy on May 11th.?12th not sure when the cup final is.
Take care Brenda

Morning to all who look in today,from a coolish but sunny morning [so far ] he he.
We went out the day before yesterday Brenda ,to buy the new smaller gas B B Q,and paints for the hall and stairs ,which the eldest son ,and partner are going to see to for us.
Yesterday we went to the Gateshead retail park ,and went into Storeys carpets with the result that a fitter is coming out Friday morning to measure up ,and give us a Quote,which i think we will accept without contacting any other carpet companies,them being the one we have always dealt with [better the devil' ].
We have looked at twist piles which the fella said was as cat proof as any carpet can be,selected a new sort of underlay which is 100 per cent slip proof ,and are satisfied with the total price of both,so we now need the prices for the fitting of and the stair rods ,and carpet doorway grips ,to see just what the damage is ,so ,by the time the council comes to see to the lift ,all should be ready. :-).
While we were out ,the g p o tried to deliver the burger press [bugger] but the office is only a few hundred yards from the docs where we have to go this morning for the wife's tablets ,so we can pick the press up easily. ;-).
The garden is coming on well between the showers he he ,but anyway ,i have to take my time these days ,the old bones and joints start playing up very quickly if i try any heavy lifting ,this getting old isn't all it's cracked up to be :-(.
Not long now until you will be away on holiday Brenda ,i'm sure it will stay nice for you , catch you later ,Fred.xxx

Morning all.we have a sunny but chilly morning here,have washing out and some more in the washer to put out later so at the moment i am a happy bunny,have a little bit of shopping to do when John gets back from golf.
I am out with some friends from the library to night.We will have a drink (non alcholic ) for me as I am driving,and a meal and a really good catch up chat.
David is on holiday this week so he is out the back doing some cleaning the pump on the ond and the grids at the side of the house.
Hope your work in the hall and the stair lift all go well Fred,and it all helps you and Liz .
We are still hoping to get our hall stairs and landing and our bedroom decorated sometime this year.Along with the new shed ,thast about all we can manage with booking the two hoildays.

Morning all.we have a sunny but chilly morning here,have washing out and some more in the washer to put out later so at the moment i am a happy bunny,have a little bit of shopping to do when John gets back from golf.
I am out with some friends from the library to night.We will have a drink (non alcholic ) for me as I am driving,and a meal and a really good catch up chat.
David is on holiday this week so he is out the back doing some cleaning the pump on the ond and the grids at the side of the house.
Hope your work in the hall and the stair lift all go well Fred,and it all helps you and Liz .
We are still hoping to get our hall stairs and landing and our bedroom decorated sometime this year.Along with the new shed ,thast about all we can manage with booking the two hoildays.

Morning to all ,,nearly back to normal here in the north east ,back to normal after two lovely days of sunshine :-D,and now back to normal ,cool and perishing wet :-(,lol.
I did manage to get out back and get started with the planting in the reorganised veggie patch ,now that the new fence is up a windproof one :-),i got two runs of broad beans and french bean set away,leaving the run up the new fence left .
The new garden has only one row of buckets up the centre ,which will be used for calabrese ,which will keep us in heads and side shoots until November.
The greenhouse is well under way ,the calabrese seeds in ,and the tomato plants [4 sorts] now in their homes :-)and the spares ready to go into buckets to place in the borders for extra tomatoes .
All the herbs are up and away ,and the fruit trees are in bloom.apart from the Olive that will bloom a lot later,and the rhubarb is saying ,pick me foe a pie ,lol,or better still a crumble.
The new bannister is up ,and the painting finished in the hall and stairs ,and ,the new carpet is down :-D which is a brown twist pile that the ruddy cat will not be able to pull,it also a stain guard making it easier to keep clean.
All the off cuts from the underlay ,and carpets ,floor grippers and carpet joiners are in the back of ,and boot of the car ready to go to the recycle plant up the road,before we go out shopping.
Here's me Brenda ,starting to cool down with the thought that once the new bed ,and the new mattress for the guest room arrive on Monday arrive ,it's time to slow down ,and the wife drops the bombshell,she now wants the front room started ,prior to getting a new carpet laid in there as well :-( :-P,i need a holiday .
Anyway ,time to get on with the chores before we go out on the rounds ,so i will shove off and get on with things ,Fred.xxx

evening Fred ,Liz and anyone else reading this,Well we had a brilliant holiday,did not do much,but it was great weather wise and company wise,
My leg was not as good as I had hoped for,so will be phoning the pain clinic to see if I can bring my appointment forward from July.
My filling and part of my tooth came out when I had a few peanuts on holiday ,got an emergancy appointment tomorrow with the dentist,thinnk it will be an extraction,not much tooth left to fill.!!
By gum Fred there is no rest for the wicked LOL,have you had the stair lift fitted,can't rememberif you have said,
Hoping to get up to you know where on Satutrday
Depends on the weather,and if we have any other errands to do
sounds like the washer has finished so better go and empty it. Plenty more to do from the holiday.
take care Brenda

Evening to all,what a day i have had ,really teed off with the ruddy weather ,but i did manage to get out back this morning and used up the last four buckets ,planting them all with Tomatoes which i will just shove on the borders somewhere out back.
The green planter which i used to put a cucumber plant into ,now has 2 tomatoes in ,Liz no longer able to eat cucumber because it makes her sick,more than likely some new reaction to one of the tablets she is taking.
The rest of the back garden is set and ready to go,all that's left to do is transplant the brassica as soon as they are ready. :-).
The fruit trees are now well away and i am chivvying the wife into making me some rhubarb crumbles :-D.
my first 2 troughs are showing the carrot ,parsnip,and spring onion ,so another 2 weeks and they can go out into the garden ,leaving room in the greenhouse for another 2 troughs to set away,and in another two weeks the other 6 will be set away in their own positions.
The hall and stairs are finished ,the new carpet down ,and we now await the people coming to do the survey for the lift,bearing in mind that the bathroom will need done first so that the cast iron bath can be moved down the stairs in safety ,the lift will no doubt be fitted in the autumn. :-).
Yes ,4 weeks will see us in sunny Blackpool [not] with the eldest daughter ,but she ,like us is not interested in Blackpool itself ,liking Fleetwood ,and the other villages far more.
We will be stopping in Bispham at Premier Inn,far nicer than somewhere in the middle of Blackpool , and right on the tram way for the ride around the tracks ,everywhere now open ,and no buses to cover the gaps in the tramway as there was for three years. :-).
Looking forward to my cheese and onion pie again ,you just can't get them up north which is terrible he he.
Time for tea ,but i only fancy some Weetabix ,or shredded wheat tonight after the dinner,so ,i will away ,and return tomorrow ,take care all ,Fred.xxx

Afternoon folks,well the weekend has been great as the weather man has predicted,just hope he is wrong about tomorrow.and the rain holds off.(we can but dream)
Not been doing much apart from doing the holiday washing and catching up with normal household jobs.
Got my tooth sorted it was part of the tooth and not theffilling that had come out.so I relented and had it filled,!!
After seeing the doctor on Friday she upped the medicine for my nerve pain so we will see how we go on till I see the pain clininic,
Was going to my sisters this morning but I got my times mixed upp so I am going tomorrow,
Hope you enjoy the cheese and onion pie Fred ,I love the one you get in M&S it is great ,bit pricy at £3.40ish but really tastey.
Better get on with the dinner soon,the beef is taking ages to cook hope its tender and tasty when we finally get to eat it. !!!
Take care brenda xx

morning all ,my hurried gardening over now seeing as it's raining out side,but hey ,i did get quite a bit done ,lawns front and back cut and the edges trimmed in time for the garden waste collection this morning.
All the troughs but 3 have been seeded and are set in their growing positions ,and i will hopefully get the last three done this morning which can stay in the greenhouse until the garden dries out again. :-).I even tried the new B B Q out yesterday ,and found that the new tray i brought to try with it is spot on ,all the cooking done in this tray keeping the fat and juices from getting inside the gubbins ,and enough space left round two sides of the burner ,to toast the buns on,finished ,take the tray indoors to clean and wash ,shut the lid of the burner ,job done. :-D.
My bro ' in law was sent home from hospital far too early ,was home three days ,and was rushed back in yesterday afternoon ,the R V I in Newcastle is a total waste of space ,no one department seems capable of working with another ,no communication between them ,to the detriment of all the patients,leaving them isolated ,treated incorrectly,and wondering what the hell is going on.
the same old trouble too many chiefs ,not enough indians ,and too much interference on the part of Mr Cameron and his cronies ,who ,by the way seem to be getting more and more confused them selves, and still a long way to go before the elections :-( .
no way i will pay that sort of money for a pie Brenda ,lol,i will wait two weeks until i can go to my little cafe in Fleetwood and have a piece there ,and remember to go into the pie shop as i come home ,buy two or three ,slice them when i get home and get them down in the big freezer..
Going to make some nice panninies for dinner today ,to go with some nice steak cut chips.
time to get on with some chores now ,the new carpet needs it's first proper hoover now that the pile has settled down,he he ,the cat won't be a happy bunny when the noise disturbs her sleep,but ,hey ho ,needs must and all that .lol ;-) .
Catch you later all.Fred.xxx

Afternoon folks,We are having a wet dismal day here in Manchester,and its cold!!!
The washing has been hung all over the dining room and back bedroom,when I was sure it would be out on the line.!!
Sorry to hear about your brotherin law Fred,hope he recovers soon.
I do not buy the pie from M&S that often,but we enjoy it. tried doing my own a couple of times but the reuslts were not really edable.!!
Had a good afternoon yesterday we went out to celebrate my friends 70th birthday,
had a lovelly meal that was originally 10.00 but by getting two together it was only 6.00 each, Which allowed us to get a really great desert.!!
Tried to get the photos from my new camera on to the lap top but couldn't manage it am going to see what happens on the desk top .which is XP and the camera insructions say something about XP. I feel I am going backwards with trying to understand new techinical gargon. LOL
Hope you have a good weekend,take care Brenda x

Afternoon folks,We are having a wet dismal day here in Manchester,and its cold!!!
The washing has been hung all over the dining room and back bedroom,when I was sure it would be out on the line.!!
Sorry to hear about your brotherin law Fred,hope he recovers soon.
I do not buy the pie from M&S that often,but we enjoy it. tried doing my own a couple of times but the reuslts were not really edable.!!
Had a good afternoon yesterday we went out to celebrate my friends 70th birthday,
had a lovelly meal that was originally 10.00 but by getting two together it was only 6.00 each, Which allowed us to get a really great desert.!!
Tried to get the photos from my new camera on to the lap top but couldn't manage it am going to see what happens on the desk top .which is XP and the camera insructions say something about XP. I feel I am going backwards with trying to understand new techinical gargon. LOL
Hope you have a good weekend,take care Brenda x

morning to all,sorry fort the delay ,lol,but i have been a tad busy this last week :-).
Had the water board come out yesterday,who insisted that they had to put a new stop cock in ,not just find the one that just needs digging out and a new cover put in place.
they were a little upset when i told them to get lost,all that waste money in digging through concrete hard against my garden wall and drive gates where they will destroy the fillet that stops the snow and ice getting between the wall and path causing damage that is so avoidable .
i showed the two workers where the cover used to be ,but no ,they could only dig where they were told to,huh ,no wonder that the water boards are losing money.
So i will have to start all over again ,getting the fella to come out to do a survey ,but this next time i will be waiting for him ,and show him where the pipe runs between the houses ,and THEN show him exactly where the stop cock is. :-| .
All my planting out is now done ,and i am about there with the whole garden ,lawns as well ,just a bit of weeding to do and that's it,,so ,time for me to relax a little.
we are about ready to start packing ready for the off on Friday morning,then ,when we get home it will be time to get the car sorted ready to return it for the change over.
Looks like a nice sunny day is in the offing ,the wife already has the washing out and i am thinking ,a nice salad for the dinner,out on the patio. :-D.
Got the downpipe sorted too ,the fella from the builder came out on Friday morning and put a whole new pipe in ,very reasonable price too ,so i can't complain about that :-).
Well ,time i got on with some work ,can't concentrate though ,he he ,longing for Friday when by now i will be over the other side of town picking the daughter up before setting off down the road,so ,catch you later Brenda time to get yer shorts on and get a sit down in your garden for a lazy day :-D xxx

Hi fred and Liz, well theres never a dull moment atyour house is there Fred LOl,I would have liked to have been a fly on the wall when you where telling the water men where to go!!!!
I hope you have a brilliant holiday and it all goes well and so does the car swap.
Our car has to go in next week,there is aproblem with the wheel well where the spare goes it was full of water!!,we have nevr looked at the spare since we got the car so did not know..It was found last week when I had a flat and had to get the AA out the man said get it back to Ford to be checked out,Luckily it was in for a service a few days later so now a specilaist is going to look at it as they do not know how it gets ,Could be up to a week ,but we will get a curtisey car.
.Going up to Bury tomorrow,but am expecting a bit of hassle with the tram.with it being such nice weather everyone and his uncle tend to go.!!!
John is still sorting out the stuff we have been "collecting"in the sheds
We have been amazed by what we have found LOL and are trying to get rid of it ,we can take some to the tip ourselves but will probably still have to get a skip.
Take care Brenda

Hi fred and Liz, well theres never a dull moment atyour house is there Fred LOl,I would have liked to have been a fly on the wall when you where telling the water men where to go!!!!
I hope you have a brilliant holiday and it all goes well and so does the car swap.
Our car has to go in next week,there is aproblem with the wheel well where the spare goes it was full of water!!,we have nevr looked at the spare since we got the car so did not know..It was found last week when I had a flat and had to get the AA out the man said get it back to Ford to be checked out,Luckily it was in for a service a few days later so now a specilaist is going to look at it as they do not know how it gets ,Could be up to a week ,but we will get a curtisey car.
.Going up to Bury tomorrow,but am expecting a bit of hassle with the tram.with it being such nice weather everyone and his uncle tend to go.!!!
John is still sorting out the stuff we have been "collecting"in the sheds
We have been amazed by what we have found LOL and are trying to get rid of it ,we can take some to the tip ourselves but will probably still have to get a skip.
Take care Brenda

Hi Brenda ,need the holiday even more now :-( , my bro in law was sent home from hospital yesterday ,being told he was well enough to go home ,got home at 12 fifteen P m ,and died at 12 -45 P M,well enough to be sent home to die more like. :-|.
The wife is in bits ,and i feel really down ,he and i spent some great times together ,worse for my wife who phoned round yesterday for Peters wife who had the police and coroner to deal with.
Think she coped well ,but let go when we were in bed ,and sobbed her heart out ,i fell so ruddy useless,all i could do is cuddle her ,and i had to wait until she cried herself to sleep before my tears came.
will get back to you in a couple of days ,when the wife is more like herself ,one never expects to bury a younger brother by nearly 20 years..Fred xxx

Hi Fred,I have only just read your message and send Liz and yourself my deepest sympathy on the death of your brother in law.
What a shock for everyone,like you say its not something you anticipate.
Hope Liz is feeling ok ,well as ok as she can do.
When my brother in law died at 39 I stayed with my sister that night and all she wanted was for me to cuddle her througth the night,so don't beat yourself up about "only" being able to cuddle Liz.
Having physio on my back on Friday it may help my leg,
Looking at other things now like Acupunture ,even if its only for a temp relief on holiday etc
Love and hugs to Liz and yourself. x
.

Hi Fred,I have only just read your message and send Liz and yourself my deepest sympathy on the death of your brother in law.
What a shock for everyone,like you say its not something you anticipate.
Hope Liz is feeling ok ,well as ok as she can do.
When my brother in law died at 39 I stayed with my sister that night and all she wanted was for me to cuddle her througth the night,so don't beat yourself up about "only" being able to cuddle Liz.
Having physio on my back on Friday it may help my leg,
Looking at other things now like Acupunture ,even if its only for a temp relief on holiday etc
Love and hugs to Liz and yourself. x
.

Hi to all from sunny Blackpool [not] but hey the change is what we wanted,and i ain't complaining as our first day proper was spent at Blackpool zoo,a place i have never been to ,not even to visit my relatives he he ,the apes ,lol
Liz is starting to get herself back together ,and the eldest daughter is a blessing for the extra support she is giving,so i suppose once we are back home and the funeral is out of the way ,she will soon get better.
I am missing my furry boss a lot already bless her ,she is very precious to me ,the first pet i have had in 40 years and funny with it ,my son will be looking in today to make sure her auto food supply is working okay and the big water bottle has plenty of fluid in :-).
Blackpool is the same as ever Brenda ,full of dirty streets .litter everywhere ,no wonder we prefer to visit the other places while we are down this way,with a trip up to Southport tomorrow before we come home,on Friday.
We may be off to the Tramway this morning for a late breakfast,and then out for the day stopping off on the way back for dinner ,probably the Carosel in Clevelys ,one of the nicer places that don't sell rubbish food ,or rip the tourists off ,as do some .
Catch you all later Fred.xxx :-D

hi Fred, glad that the break down here is doing Liz some good.
Glad as well that your family have helped a little your daughter with Liz,and son withMissy.
Try to get over to Lytham St Annes its a lovelly little place with some nice
places to eat.especially a place on the front which has a carvery.however the name escapes me LOL.
My friend lives there and we have been a few times when we go to visit her.
John has demolished one of the sheds and is sorting out the ground work for the new shed.The garden is a complete mess,and it will be ages before its straight as John wants to relay the flags now as well.
The fence panels at the bottom of the garden need replacing and the guy who's garden is at the back of ours has said he will do it as we did the ones that are there now.Which will save some money.!!
Enjoy the rest of your break, hope the weather picks up,
Take care HUgs Brenda x

Morning all
Fred I hope you are back safe and sound and had a good holiday,and Liz is feeling better.
The garden at the moment is like Steo toes yard ,! John has dismantled the shed at the bottom of the garden and levelled the ground as the new shed will be bigger,
When we get the car back we will be going down to look at the sheds we have been looking at on line and hopefully be ordering one.
The car is still being investigated at the garage,hopefully we will hear something later today.if not John will not be a happy bunny to say the least.
Going out to lunch today one of my friends is 65.and I have not seen her since New Year ,so it will be good to catch up.
Need to get some ironing done soon, before I go out, ironed a few things over the weekend but not the trousers I want to wear today.!!
Might do some window shopping on the way to the pub we are going to,have my cousins wedding in August.
Better get going Take care Brenda x