General Chat

hi john congratulations on your birthday and the wedding anniversary hope you both have a good day and do something special to celebrate bye dorothy

HI all.hope you had a happy birthday and wedding anniversary John,I am like you wondering what happened to all those years.Think thats why i am not retiring just yet seems to keep ageing at bay!!!
well done Dorothy on your training and sorry about the Tennis hope the meal goes well.Can not stay too long have a doctors appointment at nine and the plumber is here at 8am to put in the sink. Brenda

Good morning all, lovely sunny morning again - the second one as it was nice and warm yesterday also.
Not had the heating on Fred and at the moment have the setting down on the lowest. Hot water needs just a little cold added to make it right for bathing and shower so keeping it down for the time being to try to make up for all that electricity we used with the immersion heater and electric heaters - I dread to think what that bill will be.
Brenda, you are not having much luck with your bathroom, hope the leak gets sorted quickly. Pleased to hear you managed to sort out a holiday, hope you have a good break away.
Dorothy what a disappointment that the tennis was not on your TV - I watched Andy Murray for a while but had things to do so didn't see any other matches. Hope your new venture goes well, good to get something that brings in a little extra cash - and keeps you out of mischief!!! Mind you I do wonder how you find the time as you seem to keep very busy all the time.
I hope Sylvia and Johan are feeling better, it seems to have been one thing after another but Sylvia is always very positive about it all. Getting older does bring problems, we look forward to our families growing up and retiring from work, having some time to do other things - and then along comes something to upset our plans - life gets tedious don't it !!!
Wasn't there a song about that?
John - belated Happy Birthday and Anniversary greetings to you both. Hope that Gayle is able to start her treatment soon, it has been a long wait.
Have been trying to catch up a bit on my research - uncovered a skeleton or two on the way. Certainly looks as though some of my Aunties told a few big fibs - and they were so prim and proper as well. Have found a new fourth cousin - well I think he found me but between us we have confirmed quite a lot. This is my paternal grandmother's family - grandfather is a real puzzle being Irish. Irish research is a nightmare.
My granddaughter has just been offered a studio flat - she is thrilled to bits but now feeling a little bit guilty about leaving her Mum, she shouldn't as it will be better for them both in the long run. My daughter has her problems and Indira's health is suffering because of the stress. She is nearing the end of her college course, she has worked really hard but illness and other problems have made it all very difficult for her. Keeping my fingers crossed that her exams go well now.
Fred, never thought of putting mustard on the toast with sardines - tried it and it works really well. Don't think I will risk having champers in the bath - it is too much of a struggle to get out of the bath as it is (these old bones don't co-operate so well) I would probably be stuck there. Old age is not so much creeping up as coming at a full gallop !!

Have a great day all of you
Love
Kathleen

goodmorning at the moment there is a cool breeze but we are in for a scorcher I have to get myskates on as this is a busy day will do 4hrs more training and then it is on to picking up two of the children and all of us getting glammed up for bryan's graduation , he and I had a great dinner last night at the wing place he introduced me to gar par which turned out to be onion rings covered in a garlic and parmasean sauce very good quite light and the onion rings were not greasy he had wings and I had fish and chips!!! then he had a blizzard at the dairy queen (ice cream shop), it is fun to have time with the children one on one quite special really as you learn all about the hopes and dreams. the humidex will hit 38 to-day , I am watching as much tennis as I can though I think that I will miss rogers match to-day live but can see a replay on the computor this evening later on. oh yes we now get law and order uk on the tele on thursday nights the lead detective is a familiar actor to me bradley something or other did he play in coronation street!!, well it is time to get the day started brenda I hope the bathroom is now finished and kathleen enjoyed your latest message bye for now dorothy

Afternoon Kathleen,Brenda ,and anyone else who happens by .
Been to the metro centre today and got my new nokia put onto vodaphone ,and went to 03 and purchased a brand new skype phone lol, i can now phone anyone in the world for as long as i like free of charge,good news to a scot he he.
I have 100 free minutes a month talk time in the uk ,and ditto text messages ,and so i reckon i am well sorted ,all i need now is to get buddies skype phone numbers and i am set to go.
Not a bad contract either ,£7-50 monthly with no hidden charges,but it means i no longer need to lug the lappy around town looking for free wi fi when i have that phone in my pocket ,how neat is that?
Not Bad eh,Brenda?,sitting in that bakery in fleetwood ,talking to mates in oz or canada ,and new zealand ,orrrr even blighty ,free of charge [ a scotties dream he he].
Freds day off today ,well spent to ,or will be when the phone is up and running so,i will go andget the tea while it is charging,and tonight ,i will peruse the instructions instead of read a book .
Catch you all later,Fred.

hi from a melting dorothy it is almopst 10pm just home from the graduation evening it went very well but it was a scorcher even my eye lashes were perspiring but all the kids looked great and went off about 7-30 to a diner and dance and then bryan and 5 of his friends were having a party at one of the houses ( well supervised) many off them had spent the afternoon in the pool at bryans house with snacks provided by his dad so a good day was had I would say, fred I am really pleased and interested to hear about your phone with all the free phone calls on it sounds very interesting so do tell us more after you have read the book, I am going to sitt out on the balcony for a while as it is actually cooler out there now it hit 38 t0-day and that was in the shade goodnight from me dorothy

hi its 8am and a heat alert has been issued but it is better than the white stuff will be a slow day as the temperature hits about 38 with the humidex lots of water is in order so its tennis and resting for me to-day, the nursery has a sale on tomato plants so may pop over in the cool of the evening and see what's left no other plans for the day bye for now dorothy
,

Evening all,just a quick hello ,then I am off to bed,had to check my emails and had a lot .mainly adverts form a few places and a few chain letters,and then in between a couple from friends.
The bathroom is now finished and is fantastic,John has had the first offical bath and David the second ,I will have a nice soak in the morning as I am not working.i am going out later with my sister.
Glad your ok with the boiler etc Kathleen,fred you make my mind boggle with all these new gadgets.Dorthy hope you do not melt with the heat.
Take vare Brenda

goodmorning well I had a good time shopping at the plant sale I bought two different kinds of patio tomato plants and two geraniums so they are now out on the balcony, it is to be a bit cooler to-day and rain forecast for sunday through most of next week, to-day I have a funeral to attend one of my close friends her sister died last thursday an unexpected death and two autopsy's had to be done as one was inconclusive she was 78 so I did not see why it had to be done . it is the last official day of school to-day so the children will be happy , bye for now dorothy

Just a quick hello ,before I am off to bed ,been busy sorting out my packing and doing a bit of iroming.
working tomorrow and might get on a library pc during lunch ,but if its nice we might go for a walk as it get s hot when we close for lunch.See you soon ,Brenda

Hi there all ,just back from the monthly freezer shop ,mostly done at Aldi and Netto ,where i bought two nice 2 kilo chucks at £2-75 a piece,on of which Liz is doing for dinner today and the other is in the freezer ,so ,at least that one when we take it out won't be full of ice like the ready frozen ones will ,and be much better tasting.
I also bought a chicago town Lasagne which i cook and cut when cold ,into four ,and freeze down in seperate bags ,these are tasty and ideal to go with salads.
Also bought one smaller one from Aldi which will cut in two portions ,veggie and very tasty ,ideal for our Brenda because it's not so high in fat,and very low in sugar ,ideal for Fred ,lolo.
just This ere phone isn't high tech Brenda,it's just a normal phone with normal monthly tarrifs ,exept that it has an extra icon to open skype,which as i say enables the phone to call skype anywhere in the world free of charge ,even in this country which is a darned good idea.and not bad for £7'50 a month ,other than that it has the usual tarriff,for going cross network.
This one also has a free to browse internet connectionwith yahoo on board.
Seems we are heatwave at the start of next week so it looks like the B B Q will be getting fired up for midday meals,and going on to cereals for tea.
Hope you do well with your tomato plants Dorothy , sounds good to me so ,looks like you will be eating well.
Off for now ,stuffing to make for the chuck ,home made of course.
Have a nice day everyone Fred.

goodmorning up early and had coffee out on the balcony watching the tomato plants grow!!! lovely cool breeze and the sunrise was great more tennis to-day and andy is playing, my friend isobelle is on her way to cape cod with all her family for a week,so I am e-mailing all the tennis results to her by way of her sons blackberry , they travel in two cars with walkie talkies to keep in contact her daughter and daughter in law are both expecting one in august and one in november so lots of pit stops along the way. this week I am back at the charity job in the mornings for 4hrs at the office but should be working from home soon will catch the tennis later in the day on the american channel so I should not miss much. fred your f reezer shopping sounded great I will be doing some of that before anne comes over so I can have some meals planned out as she is only coming for two weeks she will have some dinner invites from people she has met over her (my friends and family) my son will fire up the barb -b-que as well, plus she loves to go to tim hortons over here for the chili and the french vanilla coffee. well it is time to go and check out the tennis for the day have a great week-end I guess our het wave is heading your way and we are in for rain for the week ahead bye dorothy

Hi Everyone,did not manage to get on at work yesterday ,sat out in the shade to try and cool off,then last night we had such torrential rain parts of the city were flooded!!! Even the city of Manchester Stadium had to be pumped out by the fire brigade.A number of roads in the area were still closed today!!
Not sure if I will get on tomorrow .and will try to get on while I am away.
I also like Netto and Aldi for freezer things ,Cool trader and Farm foods are ok as well, Need to stock the freezer when I come home but also need to label things better ,I am renown for not knowing whats in bags and packets.
I nearly got skype when Johns neice was in NZ but she came home earlier than expected.must try and keep up with new deals etc.
Enjoy the tennis and your training Dorothy.l
Take care while I am away.
Brenda

Morning Brenda ,and all the other stalwarts who look in every couple of days or so. and i'm glad to hear that someone at least is enjoying this so called heat wave he he.
Us up in the frozen north are still suffering cool temperatures ,and drizzle,and i for one have actually seen that yellow thing in the sky for an hour and a half [about] for the last 36 hours ,and blow me down ,it's looking like another day of the same grrrrr.
Yes Brenda ,i reckon the likes of you and me are spoilt for choice shopping wise and ,if memory serves me right,you have lots more open markets than we have ,so i bet you have your freezer stuffed with goodies.
Despite this lousy weather ,i have all the buckets filled ,apart from the one row of eight which is earmarked for my beetroot,and the cups are ready to go out ,may even get them out this afternoon if it dosn't tiddle down ,lol.
Think the missus is chancing her arm lol, by putting the washing out ,i think i will stay out of the way for now,she won't be too pleased if it comes in wetter than it was when it went out,if you know what i mean .
Catch you later peeps.Fred.

hi one and all it was another lovely sunrise this am but clouding over as I type hope you have a good trip brenda sorry that you are having not so great weather fred but maybe it will buck up, off to the charity office soon this is giving a lift to my days having something productive to do now that the children don't require as much help from me as they used to, they are getting ready for the trip to england and france on the 9th of july this is the first plane ride for them so they have lots of questions. the tennis is going to be great to-day so I shall dash home at 1p m to catch as much as I can bye for now dorothy

Hello, sunny spells and rather warm and humid down here in the south east.

I did write a message yesterday - think it is still floating around in cyber space as it does not appear to have reached this thread - perhaps because I was having a little grumble. Today i am an even less pleased mood but think I had better not talk about it too much lest this message disappears.

Will just say my g.daughter has been allocated a studio flat (a basic room with kitchen space and a bathroom) She was over the moon but has now come down to earth with a big bump. As she needs help with basic furniture, applied for grant/loan to get started we applied to the appropriate authorities to be told "she is 18 and doesn't have a baby - so gets nothing" If she was a single teenaged mother she would get about £3,000 - and also of course if she was a new arrival. Perhaps I should have said she has an Irish passport!! Don't think that would work though - don''t think that counts. The kitchen space is just two cupboards and a sink - so she can wash up but not cook.... I give up!!!

Hope Brenda has a good holiday. Dorothy, hope you are enjoying your training for your charity venture - good to be able to get a little extra cash and do some good at the same time.
Fred we have the opposite to you, the ground is so dry. it has been first very windy and now hot so everything has dried out very quickly. Having to water two or three times a day for my pots and just as often on the open ground bit (think I am glad that no more was dug over).
We don't have a Netto's but there is an Aldi and a Lidl store not too far away - the bonus is Aldi has a free car park. There is a small market once a week but it tends to be a bit expensive unless you want to buy a watch - loads of stalls selling watches for a fiver.
Sorry, I am feeling very grumpy today, college are giving Indira a hard time because she missed some work when she was off sick (pneumonia) but she has worked really hard to catch up and now they say no point in taking the exam as she won't pass. She is arguing that they should give her the chance - nothing I can do and it makes me mad.
Better go and hopefully will feel better tomorrow.
Hope you all have a good day
Love
Kathleen

hi oh kathleen I can understand why you are in a bad mood what a lot of things going wrong hope it all gets sorted out soon, well I went to the charity this am to find them in an uproar the dial up system on the computors had crashed on friday and they had someone up from head office in toronto in to help fix it but they had forgot to tell me my services would not be needed so did I mind going home, well with all the tennis on to-day I jumped at the chance plus they said they would pay me for 1hr of my time I thought tht was silly as I was only there for about 4mins, I enjoyed the tennis but the murray match had me pacing up and down what a match thankgoodness he won so I am off to bed take care bye for now dorothy

Morning to all ,poor old Katherine ,i would be spitting blood too if my bairns were treated in that way,how dare the government encourage young women to get a better deal by getting themselves pregnant ,were i you lady ,i would be getting in touch with the powers that be ,asking for an explanation
Our local government is the same ,complaining about the young unmarried mothers and housing in one breath,and then ,like yours ,refusing young single people housing because of silly young women ,a lot of whom get pregnant knowing the state will keep them,and it's a ruddy shame for the young ones who have made a genuine mistake ,to be tarred with the same brush as the others,maybe time for the government to stamp down on the males ,and make them pay for their offspring and single mother housing.
Lovely start to the day here mind ,rain overnight ,but the sky is now nice and blue ,so ,i ask myself ,is it the start of the north of englands heat wave ,my carrots are on the patio ,sun glasses on just in case he he.
well ,i am off for now ,getting ready fora return to town for another pair of new glasses,seeing as i am told reactolights are no good for driving,so i will get a normal pair and buy clip on lenses for the sun,which i can get from the same place.
Take care all ,and watch that sun ,it's as fierce now in england as it was thirty years ago in the middle east ,i kid you not Fred.

Good afternoon all, just popped in to add a brief message as it is too hot to sit here for long.

We have a promise of rain tonight through tomorrow - hope we do get some as the ground is so dry. Keep watering but it dries out almost immediately. Trouble is it will probably be a torrential downpour which will sit on the top and then evaporate, we want a nice steady gentle rain to first soften the top - Mothor Nature probably has other ideas though!!

Sitting here with a wet towel round my neck. Had to go to the new "flat" as the security door (a great steel thing to deter squatters) has finally been removed. Indira was supposed to be able to move in last Monday - she couldn't even if she had had furniture because of this door. The floor boards are all badly warped and I don't see any carpet layer worth his salt agreeing to lay carpet down in it's current state. The secondary double glazing is stiff, been put in back to front and the one opening window has a broken latch. The front door should really be replaced as it looks as though at some time they have had to break in - could have been the previous tenant who was, I believe, an old man. Maybe he died - but I won't tell Indy that!!! They have just covered most of it with paint so there is a gap against both locks. Will have to get on to the appropriate department to get some of this sorted out - they don't like it but I wonder if they would be happy to live there as it is??
These flats (a combination of studio and small one bedroom flats) were built specifically for yioung people who needed accommodation but they are so badly designed. The kitchen area of the room is on an inside wall with no means of venting steam or cooking smells - it is basically just a sink with cupboards above and below and space for cooker, fridge and washing machine alongside. The windows are filthy and I couldn't get at them to clean - I am trying to calm down before I ring the Repairs people.
Forgot to say, the floor has dozens of nails sticking up, seems the old man must have nailed his floor covering down and it has just been ripped up leaving all the nails behind.
G.daughter was so pleased to be offered a place and now it is all being spoiled for her. She is being rehoused on health grounds - must say this is not doing either of us much good.

Dorothy, watched that match the other evening and felt exhausted just watching - what a win for Andy!! and he won again yesterday. Fingers crossed for his next challenge.

Fred, hope you and Liz are getting some better weather, hopefully not too hot. We could do with some of your rain, surprised you have had such a bad spell as they kept saying it was the whole country - shows how much they know.

I hope that John & Gayle are well and that Gayle has started her treatment at long last.

Take care and enjoy your day.
Love
Kathleen xx

Evening all[in best Dixon Of Dock Green Voice] lol ,and what a difference ,we had rain over night ,but i still got the front lawn done while the son was busy on the caravan prior to it,s sale this month.
Been beutiful all day ,and so i decided to do a small B B Q for the tea,one nice all beef burger each ,and one baconburger ditto,with onions done in an onion sauce,a small side salad on wholemeal breadbuns,and very nice it was too.
It was soooo warm at half three that i decided to do a middle east style experiment with an egg and baking tray,placed on the tray at the side of the trolley ,blow me down ,it half cooked itself ,i reckon if i had done it at midday it would have fully cooked,now THAT'S warm ,lol.
Back off to town tomorrow to pick up the driving glasses,it was cheaper to buy subscription sunglasses than to buy ordinary ones with clip on sunglasses ,so i got a nice silver lens pair ,he he tray posh and all that.lol.
Hope the flat works out okay kathleen,we have our fingers crossed for you both,sounds as though you are prepared to chase the landlord ,so ,all i say from past experience is ,take no prisoners
and go for the jugular .
The weather is supposed to be good again tomorrow ,but after that it is all downhill again ,heavy rain and localised flooding ,hmmmmm sounds familiar .
Off now fora nice ,cool shower.Fred.