General Chat

Hi all,the soup we made yesterday has to sit overnight to infuse ,so we will be having a bowl for tea tonight.but Fred was sneaky and had a taste while the missus was upstairs ,and i can tell you that it's a bit of alright.lol. I went out this morning to turn off the heaters and found a load of crocus with the buds in [wahey] we have lift of,next thing the bulbs in the front will start as well ,and i'm waiting to see how the bluebell come up.cause i managed to get hold of some proper ones ,not the squill that most of the shops seem to sell ,and look a bit different to the real ones. We did a bit of shopping this morning with the daughterand bought a few odds and ends,and found three fresh chickens in one shop for £5.00 which are now in the freezer upstairs,so we are okay for poultry for a good few weeks. Have to go and pick the grandson up from school now,so i will be back later,unless he pinches the puter again grrrrrrr. Freed.PtfA&G&G&S.

Hi all, Did my ironing today and had lots of time over for making cards. I have really been enjoying myself. Annemie did phone twice, but didn't come down, so could get on with my work. Did anyone see that picture of the French girl who has had her face rebuilt after her dog attacked her? It was her own dog, a labrador, usually quite docile animals. She was asleep and he was lying beside her and suddenly attacked her. She had the chin, nose and other parts from a young woman who had committed suicide. She still looked pretty gruesome after those operations and couldn't speak very well. It just goes to show that you cannot really trust an animal, they are after all beasts! When I was at home we had a Staffordshire bull terrier, and she was so docile, but they say these animals are dangerous too. I suppose, when they are our own pets we don't want to think of them as dangerous, do we? Well I won't be posting tomorrow as I am going away, so will see you again on Saturday. Sylvia xxx

Hello from a wet and windy Manchester,it was ok earlier today but from mid afternoon went down hill,but i suppose the rain will help the drought they say we are having. Sylvia,have a safe journey and a good vist to your daughter. June .I have had visions of you with a big hole in the wall were the fire place was!!!LOL,hope it was just like you said ,if you did it> Fred,nearly bought abig tray ful of chicken drumsticks (about 25) for 2.50 yesterday,but David and John don't like them for a meal,and as I am not having any parties just yet, had to leave them,asI haven't the room in the freezer. Dad has been for tea again tonight and I am going to see if he wants us to come to him now and again to keep him company more than anything. He likes curry so thought we could have a carry out or geta takeaway from the local supermarket ,who do some good ones. Working in the morning so have to get to bed at a reasonble hour,whether I sleep is another matter.Any suggestions about getting a good nights sleep.!!! speak to you tomorrow ,Brenda

I am really surprised that I was last one yesterday and first on tonight ,hope you are all enjoying what ever you are up to. brenda

Hi everyone, Thought I'd pop in and say hello while I'm still wide awake! I was going to last night, but was so tired by 8 all I could do was lie down on the chesterfield and then drag myself to bed. I've been spending far too much time on the computer since last Friday. Can't do too much around the suite still, so it seemd a good idea to do a lot of scanning and sending my info about my Jones family to my cousins. Also to plan out my trip to the LDS library and our local SoG, so I make the best use of my time there and order in the right film or fiche. Nearly finished now so now I can get back to organising my time better. I've just spent the morning raking up after the last storm, which, by the way was the worse one ever to hit this area, and caused flooding and voluntary evacuation of residents from the beach areas in Tsawwassen, and lengthy power outages, though not in our area this time, all of this unknown to us as we've been so absorbed in our own activities. I knew it was a bad storm because I heard the wind howling in the night, and saw the tree branches all over the lawn in the morning, but had no idea it was that bad. We live a good way above sea level, thank goodness, but there are a lot of very expensive homes beside the beaches, and they've suffered a lot of damage I hear. It's a beautiful sunny day today with not a cloud in sight, quite windy though. It was so good to get outdoors again after all the rain we've had this year, and I managed to get quite a lot done; hoping for more sun tomorrow so I can finish off. Pan was obviously pleased too to see the sun again; he kept charging across the garden, past me and straight up one of the evergreens. He follows me everywhere I go: he's fun and good company, too. John's sanding the floor at the minute in preparation for staining and varnishing so the end is in sight, and we'll soon have everything in order again. Then I'll have to set to and make the drapes, not something I enjoy doing. I hope you're all well and enjoying yourselves, and not working too hard. See you all later, Love, Di.xxx

Hi everyone, Yesterday I had a very hectic day. First I took my granddaughter to work then carried on with my grandson to college. On the way home I popped into Asda then filled up with petrol, went to the bank and then home. By this time it was 10.30, I made myself some toast and settled down to pay some bills and tidied the house. At 12.45 I went to pick up my daughter from work and at 1.45 picked up my grandson from college. At 2.45 I had to be at the dentist, back home just after 4 p.m. then go and pick my granddaughter from work at 5 p.m. When I got back the plasterer had already arrived and started plastering the wall and the heating advisor was there measuring up rooms. Eventually I had my dinner, about 9.30 I got the most dreadful headache and I realised I had only had the cuppa that I had when I got up, so I drank some water and ythe headache gradually went. Not only had I forgotten to have a drink, I also had forgotten lunch. Di, your weather sounds dreadful, I'm glad the sun is shining on you now. You will feel better when you are tidy again. I dont envy you having to make drapes and yet when I was younger, I wouldn't have minded, I just dont have the patience now. Brenda, sorry to leave you on your own, its not long to the Manchester Meet, I do hope you can make it. Well I.m going to have another cuppa now, I'm having an easy day today. June xx

Hi everyone. My last entry would not leave my computer! Just died on me so will have another go now. Our weather is great now - the humidity has gone. Tough day today. My friend had her breast cancer op today. Will see her tomorrow. It was a large tumour and very aggressive. Her heart played up during the op - we will know more tomorrow. Pip went to Doctors again today - different pills for his cough. Just plain codeine. Supposed to be very good for supressing the cough and will help the headache he gets when he coughs. Fingers crossed. More antibiotics as well. Out for tea this evening. I had Scallops Mornay - delicious. Pip had Ham Steaks, Pineapple, egg and salad and chips. I have just joined the U3A Computer group. Really enjoyed my first meeting. It covers so many different things. U3A is University of the Third Age for retired persons. There are groups on most subjects and I think Pip will join one of the History groups. There are 12 in my group. We all help each other and suggest different programmes and sites which we find useful and enjoy. I have enjoyed reading all your notes - everyone seems to lead a very busy life! I think sometimes we do more when retired than we did when working! I'm off now. Regards Mavis NZ

Hi everyone,what a lovelly bunch of messages,I have been shopping after work and now have a splitting headache,my sister phoned to say ny neice had sent me an email to print of for my dad,so that why i am here. But i am having trouble with this headache so am not saying much.Just glad everyone is ok Be Back tomorrow,Brenda

Hi everyone, Another gorgeous day here, and with water on 3 sides of us the air is so clean, it sparkles! We had a frost last night, but today was a perfect early spring day, and I got a lot done in the garden this afternoon; 3 more bags of debris, mostly pine cones and needles. We spent pravtically the whole morning to-ing and fro-ing between the local hardware store and home trying to get as close a match as we could to the stain on the floor in the hall. The girl in the store was so good, and so patient, opening 8 cans and staining a piece of the pine with each of them so that we'd get that match, and in the end after 2 trips home and still no match, she finally tried mixing 2 colours and got as close as we figured we could. So John is now busy staining about 300 square feet. Bernie came over this afternoon for the weekend, as usual, and while Steve rode off on his motor cycle to meet a friend who's just got a bike, to have a ride in the spring sunshine, she stayed home and baked. I could smell a delicious aroma of baking while I was outside and when I came in there were 4 huge cookies she'd brought down for us. She was telling us that she and Steve have both put on about 10 lbs since they've been together, so John and I are going to have to watch our weight too if she keeps baking these delicious goodies. Last weekend it was blueberry muffins! Sorry to hear June and Brenda that you've both been feeling under the weather with headaches; maybe you're both doing too much, and not having enough rest and relaxation. And water is a very important and often overlooked part of our daily diet, as you found June. And I hope that Pip will soon be over his cough Mavis. You're right, we do seem to be busier than ever when we're older, maybe because being retired, we can now indulge ourselves in our favorite activities. I know when I was working, running a home, raising 2 kids and making all my own clothes I never wished the day was longer. Now I'd welcome a few more hours to the day so I could fit everything in that I want to do. I even resent having to spend time sleeping. I hope things go well for your friend Mavis. and that she makes a good recovery. It's mammography time for me at the end of the month. I don't mind the actual process, but hate the waiting afterwards, even after 25 years of having them. Well, that's all for now. Take care all. Love, Di.xxx

Hi team We had an acceptable offer on Monday which fell through today as the purchasers could get finance, this just means more delays but we aren't too concerned. Another possible purchaser is waiting in the wings so I have been told, I will believe it when I see the offer. We haave another open home this weekend so its abandon ship and head to the shopping centre for a hour. We had been packing things in boxes so we are taking a short break from packing until we are assured that we have sold to place. John

Well.hello people,so many messages, from so many different places,and it's nice to see old friends keep coming back. Hi Mavis [waves hand ] nice to see you again,busy as ever i see.And hi brenda [waves again] i hope you have by now gotten rid of that headache,it sounds to me as though you are ,as usual ,trying to do too much at once. I was sorry to hear that the offe3r fell through John,i know how i felt the november before last when the same happened to me,but i think in my case it was the best thing that could have happened because in the long run ,our house is already one which i can't imagine being without,we live it and don't envisage moving again now that we have found our dream house. I will be keeping my fingers crossed for you and it would be nice if you could find your new home while the weather is clement. Have you finished your floor now Di,cor ,i wish our shop assistants were as helpful as yours,but ours are a different breed ,you here some people complaining about them over here,and i tend to agree with them,you walk up to a counter here ,to find them doing their nails or talking to a mate ,and if you don'r assert yourself ,you get ignored,totaly unacceptable ,even in this day and age. i now go into stores with the [take no prisoners attitude] any nonsence and it's get the manager time .lol. Well ,the boat came back yesterday and i will be going out shortly to do a few bits and pieces to finish it off ,it's on the trailer ready to be hitched up.,but i have a little painting to do and then it's photo time . The threatened snow never came,and the last i heard it was down in yorkshire ,but i don't mind,they can have it ,i lost interest after Christmas hee hee i Have just seen the trailer of the new film Chicken Little ,and it looks to be a hoot.just the thing to take the grandkids to see [god help me ] lol,but NOT all at once ,that would be classed as an invasion of monsterous proportions,. Well .i have to be about other business now ,but if the weather takes a nosedive ,i will be back later on .. Hope everyone is now looking forward to the weekend when they should have time to relax a little..Fred.

Hi everyone, Its lovely and sunny here but we had a very heavy frost this morning. Yesterday Gaynor and I went out for a pub lunch, the starter we had was lovely, I am going to make it home, you good do iy when people come round or I know my grnadchildren will love it as a meal. It was garlic rolls (batons) sliced and then mushrooms and red onions with cheese on top and popped under the grill. You could do it with sliced tomatoes for those who dont want the mushrooms. Very tasty! We had fresh salmon with salad and chips to follow. Mavis, I hope your friend is making progress and that Pip's tablets help him, too. I think you are right, we do seem to do more since we have retired. I was looking forward to still going on long walks when I retired but I am not able too, when I see sunshine like this, I long to be in the Lake District. Brenda, I hope your headache is better, I now think mine was due to these cold winds because my glands are swollen too. I hope the stained floor is a good match, after a week or two you wont notice any difference, I think it fades a little. Bernie sounds an absolute treasure, its unusual these days to find someone that cooks. John, I'm sorry the last buyer fell through, fingers crossed that the right person comes along soon. Fred, (another little treasure), It will soon be time to have that boat out. You need eyes in the back of your head with children around. At the moment, I am waiting for the van to come and remove our rubbiish. We have only had cardboard remove once since we moved in on December 20th, so you can imagine what a pile we have now. A fortnight ago they left it, so we complained but agreed to leave it until yesterday. They took some away but not all but what they did leave, they threw on top of the normal household rubbish, so that when the men came to take that, they didn't because there was cardboard on top of it. So another phone call and a van is supposed to be coming today. I have never had trouble with binmen before and its the same binmen that I had at my old house, I can only think that they had a run in with the people that lived here before us and they dont know that there has been a change of ownership. I think I will have to get Fred down here to sort them out, lol Have a good weekend everyone. June xx

Hi all, Just popped in to say hello once again. Johan and I arrived home around middday today and then my hairdresser came and gave me a permanent. She brought her little granddaughter with her who is a delightful child. She sometimes sings and dances for me and today read me a chapter from a Disney book. She tells her grandmother that I am her favourite grandmother's customer. She is going skiing next weekend with her grandparents and another 10 people. She says she is going to buy me a spoon for my collection. She bought me a spoon when she went to America too! Whilst with my daughter we visited Johan's sister of 82 who has had two strokes. I thought how pale she looked. This is not surprising when you hear that she doesn't go out at all. We played cards every night. At least Janet, Henk and I did. Johan just read and watched television. On Friday Henk took a day off work so that the four of us could go to Germany. We enjoyed looking at the shops there and found some bargains in the shops too. We played cards last night until 2.00 am. Anyway we could have a good lay in this morning. It's now back to reality, with me having run a couple of washing machines and baked a loaf of bread. I had some thick pea soup in the freezer which we had for dinner with French bread. It will be nice to be sleeping in my own bed again and settle down to a normal life. I've had my rest. Now have a nice evening everybody, see you tomorrow. Sylvia xxx

good evening everyone,its been trying its best to snow here today but it did not stick.It is still very cold,I have the house to myself tonight as John has gone to check his mothers house is ok and will stay overnight,David is out with friends until whenever !!! So I am just doing some more printing of census forms and then will settle down for a night infront of the tv with no comments about the type of programme I like to watch.Bliss Hopefully going out for lunch tomorrow as we did not get there last week. Headache did finally go ,but have had one again today might be a touch of sinus . Speak to you all soon, Nice to have you back Sylvia all rested and eager to go again,. Brenda

Hi to everyone. Yes, Pip's new medication appears to be helping. His blood pressure was normal again on Thursday after being far too low for comfort for a few weeks. He must be feeling good - he is cutting the lawn - long overdue. It is so hot again I have just taken out a cold drink for him and suggested he leaves the front until tomorrow or even after tea. Just making a cottage pie for tea and have just taken a bread pudding out of the oven! Looks yummy! My friend has had her masectomy and is awaiting a biopsy result on the lymph glands. She is remarkably cheerful and quite happy to talk about it all. Came home today and will have the District Nurse call daily as she still has a drain in. Our friend Bob has been in hospital for a week with severe chest pains - he does have a bad heart but after lots of tests they have decided the pains are nothing to do with his heart but they also do not know what the problem was. They put him on morphine - he then had bad dreams. The worst one being an enormous rat running around the room! He said it was so real and when he woke up he could remember it vividly. He hopes to be home tomorrow. Our friends June & Blair are off to the South Island on Tuesday for 14 days. We will miss them - they are such good friends. I had better go - lazing around on the PC while Pip is working - not good enough!!! Talk to you soon. Mavis NZ

Hi everyone, Its been raining all day today, still I shouldn't moan the gardens definitely need it. The van didn't turn up to move the rubbish, it didn't come Friday either after promising to, so Gaynor got her camera out on Saturdayand took photos and emailed them to the heads of the relevant departments, that did the trick,a van came and took everything away. Today I was going to strip some of the wallpaper from the walls but this afternoon my sore throat returned so I decided to leave it for now, the plaster hasn't dried out properly yet anyway. Brenda, Enjoy your peace while you can, no meals to prepare, absolute bliss. lol Sylvia, What a good time you have had, just the thing to brighten up the winter months. Mavis, I'm glad to hear that Pip and your friend are still progressing nicely. We could do with some of your warm weather over here. Well the dinner smells lovely, its making me hungry. Its a nice piece of brisket today with yorkshire pud, roast potatoes, broccoli, carrots and cauliflower. See you all soon. June xx

Hiya All,not long back from having our Sunday lunch out at the carvery I have been talking about,good job as well with all the talk of brisket roast potatoes,cottage pie and bread pudding.!!!! It was busy at the carvery,but as there was only two of us we did not have to wait long ,I had the Turkey which was really tender and tastey ,with yorkshire pudding,carrots,cabbage,swede,cauliflower cheese,a few small roasr potatoes,stuffing and cranberry sauce,.I could also have had new and mashed potato,brocolli,peas and roasted onions,there were also a lot of sauces but I can not remember them .We left out having a starter,but had a treacle sponge and custard,heavenly . Came home and had coffe as we felt and still feel rather full.!!!!!Don't think we will be having any sandwiches later on as we usually do on sunday evening. John is on holiday this next week,I am off after Wednesday as I haven't got as many as he has,mind you it means he can play golf most of the week as I am not at home with him. June good on Gaynor doing the photos ,they can tend to give you the run around can't they?I know what you mean about wanting to get the papering stripped etc but I also know its better to take your time,we did the dining three times one tear as we rushed it made a mess,did it again hated the paper as we just wanted the old stuff off, so left it a while to be sure we liked what we finally got, Mavis,I was told the other day i shouldnot spend as much time on here on a sunday as I do,I should be doing things like alterations to trousers mine and Johns,ready for our holiday next month!!! How about that,I said ,its my day of rest ,you don't do anything apart from read the papers,go to the pub,watch tv and eat your dinner.I did not get a peep from him . See you soon ,take care,Brenda

Hi again everybody and welcome back Sylvia. Glad to hear you had an enjoyable break away with your daughter. And now you're back and busy again as ever. I might even be inspired to start making bread again myself, after reading your message. Haven't made any for about 6 months. Another lovely day today, and I've bagged 3 lots of stuff in the past 3 or 4 days, so the garden's looking nice and neat again, and I can now see all the bulbs shooting through. Hope this weather is going to last for a few more days...maybe even till September!? Dream on, Di! I received a lovely wedding photo with all my second cousins' and familys, dated 1959, a few I met in the past. It gives a terrific boost to one's enthusiam to have others really sharing the interest in tracing the family, and maybe finding some of those elusive links. Brenda that sounds like a fantastic restaurant. Hope you and John have a good few days off together at the end of the week. So you're told that you spend too much time on the computer as well. The answer is probably to have a partner that shares your interest in genealogy, as one of my cousins does, but on the other hand that means your computer time is shortened.. ..can't win sometimes can we! June what a great idea photographing the garbage, and sending the photos in . I'd like to take a tour round the neighbourhood and take photos of all the pieces of garbage they leave lying around after they've emptied the bins, and the stuff they leave in the bins too. And then they strew the bins and the lids all over the place. All this talk of food has made me feel soooo hungry. I used to love brisket, a really flavourful joint, and bread pudding. Is that the one that has lots of dried fruit in it, dark in colour, and all brown and crispy on the outside, Mavis. My Mum used to make it for us regularly when we were kids. That and spotted dog and roly poly pudding. Musy go. John's whipping up some of his special open sandwiches for tea. Tomorrow he's putting the varnish on the floor, and then it's done and we can get organised again for another 7 years! He's going to redo the office, but that shouldn't be too disruptive. See you all again soon. Love to all, Di.xxx

Morning peeps ,thought i would spend a few minutes on here before i start packing for the weekend. Brenda has the right idea ladies ,no nonsense and stand up for your rights.lol. If i had said owt like that to my missus i would have been told ,you get your bum out in the garden on sunday to mow the lawn weed the flower beds and plant the veggies,and THEN i will darn socks ,iron ,and repair trousers hee hee.go it lass ,take no prisoners . Glad you enjoyed yourself Sylvia ,long may it last ,you do far too much and need your time out.and it's always nice to see family. Lots of peeps turned up on the other thread too ,it's as if everyone has been busy elsewhere ,or like Sylvia ,has been enjoying an early holiday. Hi Mavis [waves to her ] nice to hear that Pip is doing well now ,once this weather improves he will be out and about enjoying the garden as well as working in it,i have a spare deckchair here if he would like it to sit on to go with the nice cool drink in late spring lol,something to look forward to. You have given me an idea June ,thanks very much,we have a little collection of shops just up the road where the council hav'nt cleaned up in months ,i will take a photograph,then go to the local offices to show it to them ,and let them know that if they don't clear it up within two weeks ,that i would send the photo to the local paper so that people will ask what they are doing with the money off the council tax. It really annoys me ,we spend a lot more on council tax in newcastle than they do in gateshead ,yet the south side of the bridge you will find streets cleaner by far,roads gritted properly ,and the flower beds and parks looked after properly,Newcastrle on the other hand is not looked after properly at all,and the last heavy snow we had ,the roads wern't gritted till people complained and by then there were umpteen accidents.grrrrrrrr. I have a lovely photo of V.Ps new house and mountain behind ,it looks absolutely beutiful.and well worth the wait to find it.,i can just imagine waking up in the morning any time of year and looking out of the window to that view utter bliss. I am pretty lucky myself ,as i can see some of the moors over the back between the houses ,but i can't compare the two views lol.mine looks a bit sad in comparison well ,time to be off ,Fred needs to pack a case or two ,and needs his breakfast crumpets for tomorrow,see you all later.Fred..

Yes Di. That is the bread pudding - I use my Mum's recipe. We love it cold. We also love roly poly pudding - with golden syrup! Tonight we had to make do with a Chinese Takeaway as we had been to indoor bowls then visited my friend who had the op. She is doing really well. Her husband now has an infected foot and had to go to the Dr today. Very swollen and very red. He is a diabetic and easily get's infections. He will walk around with bare feet so the chances of treading on something are high. Mind you most of us 'Kiwi's' walk around with bare feet. Took me a while to get used to it but at home in doors and out it is great when it is so hot. My friend who has just gone away to the South Island for 2 weeks has left me in charge of her beautiful orchid. Not too good with indoor plants so wish me luck! Have any of you people on the thread got a web cam? We use ours to see and talk to friends in the UK. It is late again and we have to be up early tomorrow. Well, I will be up early to make the tea and then attempt to wake Pip up. Usually takes two calls! Goodnight for now Mavis NZ