General Chat

Morning all,just a very quick hello .as I have to sort out some house insurance for dads house,I thought it was due endof May but it was earlier ,so now its lapsed and Ihave to get it insured. Don't kon what has happend with the font ,will sort it later ,have a good day ,Brenda

Hi everyone ,its nice here again,not as hot but still nice.
managed to get the insurance done for dads house,after a bit of phoning round etc,
Worked till 8pm last night and was on again at 9am,still its been a nice steady day up to now,lets hope it continues.this afternoon.
Working till 5pm and will be off till Monday ,so not bad hope the weather stays good.
Take care ,Brenda

hi my brenda you have been working a lot glad to hear you got the insurance sorted to-day is supposed to be warmer and the rain has finally stopped, have been busy with the tennis to-morrow is the men's semi final should be good so that will be a lot of pacing back and forth for me as I so want roger to win the whole lot. nothing much new still have not bought the plants for the balcony as the temp. goes down at night it was 4 last night and frost so I shall wait another week. anne has called several times this week to report on your great weather and her garden. bye for now dorothy

Good morrow all you Tired overworked ,cold wet and freezin' people ,from the frozen north of england ,where it's so dark ,and cold that i have had to turn the lights on ,and the heating.
After all that lovely early summer weather that came to a crashing end a few days ago,i wonder if it's the reason i now have a heck of a head cold.
The car has to go back in today ,a problem with the suspension,they didn't have the part in ,so i will take liz with me when i drop it off and take her to Byker shopping till it's time to pick the car back up.
Even Hissy is upset at the weather ,took one look outside and slunk off to sulk under the table ,see ya later peeps,Fred.

hiya Dorothy,Brenda ,and anyone else who turns up,to an afternoon of wind ,rain.and cold ,where has our summer gone ,bet it's emigrated lol gone to watch the oz football i wouldn't wonder he he.
not a lot going on here ,the garden is coming on well despite the weather i have all my parsnip through ,the carrot are doing fine ,and even the strawberries are flowering.
I can't remember where i read that in a small garden you could put strawberries around dwarf fruit trees in urns ,and that has given me an extra crop in the same space ,fruit yet .
I have another big black box to pick up at the sons ,another root crop growing place ,so i may even try to grow a few turnip for salads.
I think the bairns will do well when they come here in future ,a plate apiece,a slice of bread and butter ,and into the Greenhouse to pick their own tomatoes and cucumber ,they will even have their desert, strawberries and cream.
The pains in the stomach the eldest son has had off and on ,which the doctors couldn't find a cause for ,turns out to be lactose intolerence,he found out looking at a magazined,he has been on soya milk for a few days and the pains have gone ,wouldnt want to be the doctor on Tuesday when he goes to the surgery ,he he ,six foot four and three feet across the shoulders of p****d off farmer isn't a pretty sight at the best of times,and i have to wonder ,why did they miss so obvious cause of sickness and pain,i think i will stick to the one female doctor in the practice thank you ,not because she is ultra smart [which she is] but she knows her job ,seemingly far better than the senior male partners,but maybe that's it ,the males are past it lol.
Hope everyone is having a nice weekend,fred is teed off ,not being able to try out the marinade that the son told me about for the gammon joints,but i did try the other one he uses on the pineapple for the B B Q and it's spot on.
Catch you later all.Fred.

Hi Everyone,well like Fred said looks like we had our summer at the start of this week.!!! Today has been like winter,did not put the heating on ,socks and a cardi then the fire while watching a film in the afternoon on tv.The supermarket had stocks of BBQ stuff already in the chillers but don't think they will be being sold and used this weekend .Oasis have been in the park near the library where I work sometimes and the roads have been terrible at times.Tonight they will have been wet and cold. they are on tomorrow as well.
Sorted out some baskets I keep things in on some shelves in the dining room,its amazing what you collect without realising isn't it?
Any way have put the things that shoul not have been there ,back where they should be and got rid of some things,now I havw two baskets not four!!,Hope to go and get a new bathroom light tomorrow and maybe some border tiles,as they come to do the bathroom a week on Monday.
Have some family tree stuff to finish of ,so see you tomorrow.Take care Brenda

hi fred and brenda and one and all fred you must have sent the good weather over here as we had a beautiful day to-day but my sister phoned from calgary this am it was 22 there on wednesday but to-day it was snowing and was she p----d off, andrew is flying to newfoundland and halifaz to-morrow on business for the week, I was over for a wee while this afternoon as he was alone and I wanted a word with him without the family around just to update him on the fact that I am having problems with the angina and to discuss changing some of the meds as meds are his business I like to run things by him before I go to the doctor it is 8 yrs on the 16th of this month since I had the heart attack so a few changes may be needed. nothing worse than retire nurses we like to go to the doc,s and tell them what we want no messing around. well to-morrow am I shall be glues to the french open finals I do hope roger wins, watched the DD cermonies this am rather rude of that little french man not to invite the queen, not a big fan of our prime minister but he did us proud with his speech for a change but I always stand up when they play the british national anthem, it was one of my former husbands relatives who wrote the words to the candian national anthem or known to us as the family song, well bye for now I hope the weather improves dorothy

Good morning all ,so,here we are on Sunday ,Dorothy standing accused of nicking Brenda's and Freds warm weather ,disgusting i calls it he he.
Well Dorothy for your information it hasn't got any better here exepting in the north east at least ,it is pretty windy.
I picked up the other big box yesterday from the sons and got it prepared and planted in the evening so that's an extra crop for the autumn ,winter every little bit helps,seeing that the world is in the grip of a wheat and rice shortage with the failed crops in oz, india and china i am going to need the extra stuff from the garden lol
What a pity i can't grow rice of my own ,but i will go out and buy two big bags ,which will last us two a long time.
The way the weather is going all round the world we will soon be back to a war footing with people having to stock up on foodstuffs ,just in case we run out .
We did have a stroke of luck shopping yesterday,we found a shop that had just had a delivery of Westlers hambuggers [lol] in tins that we havn't been able to get for months ,needless to say ,there are now six tins in stock,they are so handy to have in case we come in tired from some jaunt ,and can't be bothered to do a proper meal.open the tin ,sling the buggers in the frying pan,turn a couple of times ,slice four buns ,and there's the tea ,simple[ compere the meercat dot com ] he he.
Dosn't look as though i will get into the garden today ,so ,i may well do a little research to wile away the time.
Catch you later peeps ,have a good day. Fred.

Good morning all, a combination of sun and showers here, not as cold as yesterday.

Yesterday - D-Day!! How well I remember the days leading up to the long awaited invasion of Normandy. There was a sort of weird atmosphere - of hope and fear. It was obvious that something was about to happen with all the troop movements and leave being cancelled, the young men we were used to seeing at the local dancehall suddenly not there. With hindsight I suppose it was a "make or break time". Then the newsreels at the cinemas were showing all the pictures of the landings on the beaches, the first ones were greeted by applause from the audiences - but later it was much quieter when we could see what a high price was being paid and we didn't see the worst of it.
There was a group of young soldiers my cousin and I used to meet up with regularly at Hammersmith Palais, they were suddenly not there any more - and we never saw them again. One young man came back so shell-shocked that he could not hold a cup of tea, he was just 21.
The price of our freedom did not come cheap and leaves us a debt we can never repay - we must make sure that it is not forgotten.
Getting older seems to bring back the past too vividly for comfort at times.

Hope the weather cheers up a bit soon, they promised us a long hot summer - again - they've said that for the past couple of years!!!

My g.daughter is of to Greece for a week - she hopes for sun and relaxation. They are a group of 9 - fortunately all seem to be fairly sensible although they will probably make a lot of noise - why do young people have to be so LOUD!!

I am off to stay with my sister for a couple of days, meeting up with our sister-in-law and hopefully visiting a "pick-your-own" farm on Tuesday.
Looking forward to it. My sister lives in a flat overlooking the Thames - I love it, the river is so busy with all the boats - especially the rowers and all the birds especially the pairs of swans. They seem to have a routine visiting first one bank and then the other downstream, then they come back up and stay for a while before making their way, very leisurely, back to wherever it is they stay. The ducks (so many different kinds) with sometimes ducklings in tow - they can be so funny at times.

Must be off to get ready, have left all the meals ready for my two sons who live here so just have to get my things together and then I will be off.

Catch up with you on Wednesday - take care all of you.

Love
Kathleen

hi well what a morning roger won the french open I was just so pleased, well fred along with pinching your good weather I have gone one step further and pinched your cold weather it is cold and rainy to-day and also for the next three days they say, some of my friends and I have been stock piling some staples as the price of stuff in the stores seems to go up every week, kathleen hope you enjoy your days away how lovely to stay in a flat on the thames oh how I wish the budget would allow for a trip home this year oh well maybe next year well the next couple of weeks will be boring till the next tennis at wimbledon sp I will think of something to do bye for now dorothy

Morning all,Dorothy glad you enjoyed the tennis ,but sorry you are not feeling too great ,hope you get it sorted out,also sorry Dorothy,but you did not pinch the cold weather at all we are simply sharing it!! Its dry but cold at the moment but could rain later.Was up all saturday night as I could not sleep ,so was useless yesterday,went to have a sleep inthe afternoon and still went to bed at 10.30 pm and slept till 7am so did not do too bad.
On work at 1pm only till 5pm ,but have a couple of errands to do that I did not do yesterday.
Hope you have a good visit to your sister Kathleen.
Fred ,going tohave a ago at the banana bread later ,was going to do it yesterday ,but had to have a sleep instead.
More problems withthe pc ,think its the fan as we get a droning noise when it is turned on ,also when its beenon a while ,so its back to short burst .
Take care .Brenda

Morning all ,and a special hello to Kathleen who has bought back a load of memories to me ,bless her.
I can remember time in the forces when me and my mates had the same sort of feelings as those troops who were due to go across the channel,in the early fourties.
With me and the mates though it was the Cuban missile crisis and i remember well the feelings of apprehension and worry when all leave was cancelled and we were confined to camp on red alert, of course nothing came of it and it blew over ,but to us at the time ,we wern't to know that .
Talking about the time you are going to spend at the flat you lucky lass brings back fonder memories of visiting my beloved grandad in Twickenham in the 1950s trips to bushey park ,the regattas ,hampton court maze and yes ,the Thames which i saw every time i went to the allotment hard to the river with my grandad ,there was even one of those old fashioned water pumps with the side handle for drawing water straight from mother Thames.
They were happy times with my family and sister,i am one of the lucky ones ,a country born lad ,but with a lot of London connections down through the years with rellies seemingly on every street corner from Isleworth ,through to hammersmith [wonder what happened to them all].
We are still in the grip of wet and cool weather which won't please the eldest son,he is away to the car racing this coming weekend ,and is taking the trailer so that they don't have to find digs.
I have to go to his house this afternoon and show him how to change the trailing arms on the rear end of his Pergeot Diesel because they are badly worn and cannot be trusted to tow until they are replaced,but i have made one stipulation he has to pull me out from under the car when i am done lol.
Have a job to do now ,the price for my getting home made French Onion Soup for tea yesterday,complete with slices of french stick and toasted cheese on top the only two things of any worth to come out of France [you listening Pierre?] he he ,a cousin of mine who i tease a lot ,but in truth is a very nice person ,with a lovely family, lol,hey ,you should hear what he calls me when we start he he.
To get back to the plot ,my job is to go to the kitchen and grate half a ton of carrots [you know what i mean] lol ,so that the missus can do my carrot cake ,so, i will be back later,Fred.

hello everyone,its looking really nice again outside ,but its deceptive and cold.!!!
Just finished my lunch so have a few minutes to send this message.
Hope you are all ok and the weather in your part of the world is doing what you want it to,
Might get back later if not see you tomorrow.
take care ,Brenda

hi well it is still raining but it is warm 18 degree's hope you all are well nothing much new at the moment going on friday to brampton to pick up a friend and she will stay with me till sunday I will take her home then and stay over till monday so that will be fun. finally recieved martina coles the book the business from the library brenda I am sure it has been out for a while in england a good read but a bit on the raw side but then most of her books are quite frank but a good story line may go soon for some plants for the balcony it is starting to be warmer at nights I think the risk of frost is finnaly gone bye for now dorothy

Hi all,
Yes Kathleen, what memories we Londoners have of the war years. I used to go down to the allotments near us and talk to the troops coming home after the war. I remember one of the soldiers giving me a condom, and being naive - just a schoolgirl - didn't know what all the soldiers were laughing at. They said "blow it up". What innocent days they were. These days children grow up much quicker.
I have a busy week this week. Yesterday had my help in the house and physiotherapy and today a pedicure, plus shopping. Tomorrow off to
Eindhoven with our two grandchildren for their mother's birthday. Yes, my eldest daughter will be 51 tomorrow. I expect my granddaughter will drive us home - will want to drive us there as well if she can persuade grandpa to let her.
Thursday I have physiotherapy again and Friday hairdresser, doctor to discuss the result of my last blood tests etc. and the engineers are coming to connect our glass fibre cable for television/computer etc. Now my sister in law in Rotterdam has just phoned and asked whether she can come on Saturday with my niece. I had preferred Sunday but have said yes. now to plan what I can do easily for dinner on Saturday, as well as baking a cake or tart. Yes, even when you are retired life can be busy.
Sylvia xxx

Morning all.its a lovelly looking day again today but the forcast is rain later !!
Nevermind just looking at sunshine is nice these days.
Am waiting for some visitors to call ,the parents of my friend in Austalia,they are bringing some photos for me.
Should also have my friends coming to pick up their cat we have been looking after her while they were away.
Then on work at 5pm til 8pm not a nice shift but it is short and I know I am working with a lady I like and get on with.
See you all tomorrow.Take care.Brenda

goodmorning from a warmer barrie and I do believe the sun is shining had a bit of news from someone I had put a message out for info on my birth mothers brother who was believed to be in canada and got a reply from a lady who had found a listing on a ship of a john magnuson and also on the passenger list was a linus magnuson as linus was the name of my birth mothers father it looks like it is them jut a bit more to add to the story I will see where that leads john was supposed to have a daughter living in toronto she would be about 60-70 I would guess. I will see what other info this lady can come up with. hope you all have a good week-end and good weather anne called yesterday and said that it had been nice in the am , she is being taken out next tuesday for dinner by her two daughters it would have been her husbands 80th birthday he was a lot older than anne and she has been a widow for about 15yrs now I asked her if she was going to that chocolate resturant brenda you will know what I mean by that but it is some italian resturant some where between bury whitefield or ramsbottom that covers quite a bit does it not bye for now dorothy

Coooooeeee,and good morning to one and all from Newcastle O T where ,believe it or not ,the sun is out at last. lol.
The garden is looking good now ,and nearlly all my brassica are ready to go out into the buckets soi think it's gonna be a busy weekend what with one thing and another.
The van is going to be away to the midlands ,so i will be able to reach the front lawn without having to lift the mower over the trailers towbar [bliss] and i will be able to get the drive tidied up a little ,and weed treated.
With no grandsonthis weekend we will be able to relax for the two days ,with no running around after him ,so it looks like a B B Q complete with jackets for us even if the weather goes pear shaped i can use the table parasol to keep out of the wet,sooooo ,anyone coming ,get your orders in now he he.
Hope everyone enjoys the coming weekend ,catch you all later.Fred

Evening all,we have had a lovelly day weatherwise.I went shopping for a few new things for my holiday,but did not have much luck .thought I would be lucky in the sales but they either did not have my size or the colour I wanted !!
Working tomorrow so hope its not too warm or we will be roasting in there.
Hope you find something more out Dorothy from the lasy who has been in touch.I do know the restaurant you mentioned,Always very busy there,even on none market days.
Take it easy this weekend Fred you do dnot seem to have many free weekends.
Be back Sunday,Take care ,Brenda

Good morning all and a lovely sunny, warm morning it is.

Had a lovely couple of days away, met up with my sister-in-law on Tuesday and that was really good. We visited a pick-your-own farm and brought home some broad beans and strawberries - they are delicious. Also some of the many garden centres and nurseries, managed to get a couple of plants I wanted, rosemary and lemon balm also a different mint which I hope will grow better than the two kinds I already have. Don't know why they don't seem to grow too well, I have them in big pots but I bet if I put them into the garden they would take over!!!

Also visited Wetlands at Barnes, amazing place and will definitely be visiting again soon - this time with a camera and notebook. So much to see but too much to take in at one visit. The black bamboo was amazing and it was good to see how so many of the fences and little gates were made from the willow and bamboo - I want some!!

Will have to come back later on to tell you more. Fred you will know where I stayed if you know Hammersmith. Right by the bridge overlooking the Lower Mall. All changed quite a lot now from the 40's and 50's. No time to write more just now but will come back this evening.

Hope you all have a great day
Love
Kathleen