General Chat

Fred is back ,worn out and tired after helping to get the son sorted out with the council. Put simply ,he keeps the house and morgage and has to go to to a debt management council run by the government,to sort out how much he can afford to pay off the bridging loan,the interest of which has been frozen. If the loan company object ,they will lose the lot and get nothing . The costs of buying your home have gone up far more than the wages over the past three years that the office said that there were thousands in the same boat,grrrrrr ,i reckon Gordon Brown should be shot with s*** at dawn ,it really gets me mad ,that a bloke earning nearly a million a year and has no financial worries makes the general publics lives a misery with all his taxes[ i wonder if he was born in Nottingham ] lol. Be back tomorrow peeps ,Fred is off to bed,if he can get to sleep,,with the noise of the water pump out front, yes ,the builders have struck again folks ,same pipe on the same piece of road ,what a load of total whallies.They punture it again after digging down ten feet over the whole width of the road and then bog off home leaving the hole flooded to road level,the poor lad from the water board will have to clean out the hole of hundreds of gallons of water before he can even start the repairs.. See you all tomorrow .take care crossing the roads lol,just in case you go down neck deep in water hee hee.Fred.

Well another nice sunny day today so I went to the doctor - yes again - as I have a fungus in my mouth again, which is caused by the antibiotics I am taking for my cystitis. I cannot win can I? I have also some eczema round my eyes so that they are itching a lot. My doctor said I have to start taking iron tablets again next Monday when my bowel examination is finished. I also went for the nationwide breast screening - this is definitely the last time as it is 50-75 years of age. Tomorrow will see what new scootmobile I shall be getting. I have an appointment at 11.00 but have to be back at 1.30 for my help in the house. It is the neighbour of my usual help as Anita was operated on herself last Tuesday. I have asked my neighbour Annemie to come and sit in my flat just in case I don't get back in time and she will be there for the help. Nice to see so many 'old' faces again. Don't go away again girls, we are really a nice lot; Sylvia xxx

Hi everyone. I'm back at last!! So good to read all your news and catch up with you all. Pip has been sick - urine infection and a blood infection. His white cell reading is 19 - far too high. Very high temperature and lots of shaking and feeling so cold. Have seen the Dr. each day this week. Tomorrow is decision time as to whether he needs to go to Hospital for an intravenus antibiotic. He also has a blockage - even an enema didn't work!!!!!!! To add to all this his Prostate is very enlarged and needs attention. What it is to get older!!! His breathing too is poor due to the very warm weather. The weather in NZ is very hot and humid. Seem to always be watering the flowers. The runner beans are doing well but again I am always hosing them down. Our little foster grandchild is still with my daughter. He may well go back to his Mum in a few months time. Mum has to prove that she can 'behave' all the time and leave the booze and drugs alone. I wonder! He is such a delight to have around. Starting to chat now. Loves Day Care and playing with the other children. Fred, our Thrush without the tail is now feeding it's babies! I knew the babies didn't have tails straight away. This one is flying quite well. Brings her babies into our garden to feed them. The love to watch them. The lawn will be short of worms I fear!! Fred, hope your son sorts his mortgage O.K. What a worry. Sylvia hope things go well for you healthwise. Must go now - hope to have a better night tonight. We were up all night last night with Pip vomiting etc. Take care. Regards. Mavis NZ

Hiya Mavis,glad to hear your thrush and family are doing well.if they are short of worms send 'em over here lol,i have wormcastes all over my lawns so they are nice ,fat juicy ones ,and the birds are welcome to them,i seem to spend half my days in spring and summer getting rid of the little piles of chewed soil they leave everwwhere. The sky here is very overcast yet again after a nice sunny morning ,more rain on the way methinks. I have had my phone call off the roofing company,and they are coming out to do my roof on Friday week,and if any more damage is done in the meantime ,they will pick up the bill for that too,he said it was becaause they had tons to do after the storms and mine was bottom of the list because little damage was done,well ,you can't be fairer than that,though i hope the rain dosn't get through to spoil the artex on the ceiling .but at the end of the day,if that happens ,i won't have to redo it . Liz has dexciddd she wants roast chicken with all the trimmings for tea,so i had better go and get started,cause i havn't even done the brussels or tatties yet. See you all later on.Fred..

Afternoon everyone,didn't realise how long its been since I have added to us,The mouse is still playing up doesn't seem to be charging properly So David is going to look at it.!!! We are talking again and might be having a compromise on the monitor.I will keep you posted. My uncles funeral went ok yesterday,well as well as these things go.It is usually really good to see relatives but not so good at times like that.I did talk to three of my mothers cousins,(her only ones living really)who are interested in the family tree,might get more info from them so will be making some calls. Weather very cold but dry today. Have lots of house work to catch up on ,but not in the mood. Speak to you tomorrow night hopefully.Brenda

hi brenda glad that the funeral went as well as these things can go it is never an easy time, its funny how funerals bring out the relatives that one has not seen for a while, it is very cold over here but we have missed the snow again but once again they say it is on the way. how nice to hear about the worms from mavis and fred it is so spring like, that is the season I miss the most we go from snow one day to heat the next not that gradual awakening, miss the bluebells here as well. nothing much new doing quite a bit with the grandchildren this week , though my son should be back to-night, the apartment is looking quite dusty but it will have to wait for the week-end, the cats are all curled up and having a afternoon nap and I am going to head out the door to be there when the children get home, oh I do wish it was spring bye for now dorothy

Hi all, Well another Spring-like day today. I went to town with Johan and tried out my new scootmobile. It is all shiny and a lovely colour blue. They are going to adjust the suspension for me, at my request. I should have it within two weeks. My last scootmobile I received free, but we will now have to pay a small sum each year. This is to stop those people who order a scootmobile and then don't use it because they are too scared to go out on it alone. A terrible waste of Council money! My temporary help came today and I got her to clean the large windows on the balcony. She did this in no time at all and made me feel so ancient because I am not so quick. Tomorrow I have no special commitments apart from having to drink two litres of that foul-tasting liquid to empty my bowels ready for the examination on Friday - ugh! Have to keep my eye on the time as I have to take two tablets at 10.00 tonight. I am constantly busy with myself. I'll be glad when next week comes. Sylvia xxx

Hiya:o) Oh Sylvia, yes yuck, remember it well:o((((( Brenda, pleased the funeral went off ok. Fred - pleased your son has sorted things, that must have been a worry for you all. Fat cat has just come into the puter room and is climbing over everything,he's going to knock all my craft things over in a minute little tike!!!! He was on his pillow a minute ago, l actually came up here to get my camera - he must have known what l was planning!!! l have a good one of Madoc - l decided to wash his bedding yesterday and had the mattress of his bed on the kitchen floor - he saw it and came and plonked himself on it, as if to say 'Oiii leave it alone', so l took a picture of him doing his protest!!!! He was a pain in the bum last night - on and off from 2.45am he kept scratching the door, then again at 6am - gawd knows why. Its been a really lovely day to day, almost spring like!! Did the animal food shopping today, had to stock up for our holiday for the neighbour and dog sitter. Do hope Madoc is going to be ok, three weeks is along time. Jimmy will be ok,he's got people here most of the time. Vic is fixing the fence tomorrow that got blown down a few weeks ago. A friend is coming in to help him cause he's not too keen on d.i.y. l've got the hairdressers then to the printer to collect a collage poster l had done for my brother in US. Its of old photo's of our grandfather (Bernard Meninsky) with his mum, then our dad with Bernard and dad in his RAF uniform and one of his Sqdrn emblem. They'll be printed on 2 x A3 card, so should be large enough for him to see, then he can stick them on the wall. Not been to the gym this week, too much to do. Take care everyone:o) See yah Jude sarf wales:o) xx

Hello again,thought I would be back earlier but got caught up with phone calls and hoovering!! The living roomcarpet seems to be growing pet hairsthese days and so I gave it a quick vacuum after Coronation Street,.But with two cats and a dog it isn't surprising it gets so bad,should have done it when I first got home from work but got side tracked. Jude ,Oscar my ginger cat always sits on my lap in here if he is in with me,but Alfie the white one walks over everything,and even trys to get on top of the wardrobes.!!.Max the dog (German shepherd) sleeps on a big blanket that would fall apart if I put it in the washer again,so think he needs a new one.What a loverly idea for the photos,I am sure your brother will like them. Sylvia,good news about the scooter ,hope you enjoy many miles of happy and safe scootering .good luck on Friday. Dorothy,not much sunshine here the last few days ,but they are saying we have had one of the warmest januarys for some years. I love bluebells but haven,t had much luck growing them myself,Johns mother has loads in her garden in Clevelys Must get back to bed and try to get some more sleep,at work at 9 til 5 tomorrow. Ps sorrry to anyone I have missed,Brenda

Morning all,fred is up and about at last,and as usual ,as soon as iv'e had my first cuppa ,it's on to the puter to see what everyone has been up too. For those of you that keep trying to grow bluebell [join the club] and keep striking out,there is a spanish squill that you can buy ,almost exactly the same but with thinner stems,which is hardy and easy to grow,and they even flower at the same time,but to those people who have bluebell already ,don't mix the two together or the squill will kill them in a couple of years. Your fat cat sounds a bit like my cat iccy Jude,she was a right terror in the house ,and out,the local dogs [and postman ] were terrified of her lol. She used to come into the lounge ,or front room jump up on the sideboard ,and start knocking off the ornaments with a swipe of her paw,having finished this she would jump to the fireplace and do the same there . It used to drive my mum daft,but she was so lovable with it that she was forgiven her mad half hours.which were frequent . I remember the day i bought some shark steaks to tryfrom the fishmonger,i put it under the grill for the suggested time and put it on my plate ,and then cut into it,to find it pretty tender ,but not very nice tasting ,so i added a little salt and a good helping of black pepper ,and still ,it tasted naff. I was just going to throw it in the bin when i had a flash of insiration,[fish, cat?] so i chopped it up,and put it on Icck's plate.Of course ,the cat smelt the fish which she loved to bits,came running to her plate and took a big bite. Fred had forgotten about the pepper [honest] the next few minutes were a blur ,Iccy howled like a dog ,spat at all and sundry [me included] and went racing round the kitchen spitting ,knocking stuff over ,and literally ,trying to climb the walls. It Was a week before that cat forgave me,she used to sit with her back towards me sulking good style ,and if i wen't to pick her up she would growl and take a swipe at me lol. One thing though ,that cat had a looooong memory,she never ate fish again,would sniff it if we tried to cook any and run out of the door ,only coming back in after the smell had dissapated. She did forgive me but for a good few months would sometimes give me a dirty look if i was putting food on her plate,and was very suspicious until she checked to make sure it was her whiskers hee hee. I will be going through to the youngest sons later this morning talking the spare kitchen table seeing as the old one they have has seen better days. Hope everyone has a nice day.Fred.

Hiya - just a quickie Mavis l do hope your poor hubby is soon well, bless him he's having a rough time of it. Madoc and l walked out this morning whilst Vic and friend mend the fence - they are still at it now. Madoc was great, brilliant until we went round a corner and a man passed us - Madoc went for him!!!! he did'nt bite him, grabbed his trousers. He knows the man aswell - unfortunately he did this on Tuesday to someone else, he did'nt know this man though and will do it to one other man when ever he sees him. This 3rd man looks after his sons dog which madoc hates and now associates the man with dog. l phoned dog trainer this morning and shes coming out with us at a pre-arranged date (after hols now), hopefully with the men. We know where 2 of them live and will ask them if they are willing to help. He's not a nasty dog at all so l don't know whats going on in his head - but if he bites someone l'll have no choice but to have put to sleep. Its nothing to do with this training, he did it 2 or 3 times before that. l'm sitting here crying my eyes out, god l do hope he will be ok. l have to tell the dog sitters where he's going for 3 weeks and just pray they wil stil want to look after him. going now. jude sarf wales xxx

Feeling very tired tonight ,so will not be here long.Hope I stay asleep when I do get to sleep not like last night. Mavis,sorry I did not mention Pip in my earlier messages hope things are getting better,my dad says he could cope with getting older if it wasn't for what his doctor calls 'wear and tear' or 'effects of work etc' meaning things are wearing out ,hence aches and pains in joints, Being used a lot,aching muscles etc. Fred ,I am not supposed to buy any more plabnts for the garden as all the tubs have loads of bulbs and plants in them already ,but I will look for the 'bluebell' you have mentioned. See you all tomorrow,Brenda

Hi all,lovely morning here ,nice,mild ,sunny but what a bummer ,the forccast predicts a cold snap for the weekend [yeah ] that sounds about right ,it's okay for me being semi retired but not for those poor peeps who are at work all week,and seem to get landed with the worst weather each weekend. I got up earlier this morning because of a bit of noise outside to find they had done it yet again,digger throug hthe main water pipe this time so the water may be off for hours,but old Freed is getting crafty,the camping ten gallon drum is in the kitchen ,full of water where it will stay until these clowns finish the building,so ,take heed folke ,no matter where you are ,if a building firm called torrent start work next to you ,get those pans filled up before they start ,cause sure as shooting they will chop a pipe within the hour. I went out front and shouted over that i was going to put them in for the guinness book of records for the number of times they have cut the pipe hee hee,the reply was unprintable [ i think i struck a nerve lol]. One bright spot though ,being up so early ,i caught Mr mouse getting his families brekkieand taking it back under the fence so at least they have survived the winter so far. My Black bird is still seranading me at two in the morning [noisy beggar ] but i must admit in getting used to it and would feel a bit stange if he stopped now. i have to go now,i am going to tip the second barrel of tatties out to see what they are like and then it's a bit of housework ,and THEN,it's time to prepare the dinner,a nice curry [beef] with some basmati rice so ,anyone coming had better get their skates onhee hee,any overflow of quests will be served in the secondary dining room[aka Marys chalet] See you all later, have a great day,and weekend .Fred.

Hiya:~) Thats the way to do it Fred!!! Just a quickie - Madoc is behaving at present. l have spoken to the dog sitter and she says 'no problem' - she knows him and has had alot to do with dogs all her life. Thats a big load off my mind l can tell you. We still want to work something out with the trainer and atleast one of the men - but we have to find him first!!!! Sorry l sounded ruthless the other day - but l was upset and had to get things straight in my head in the event of!!!!!!!! The last thing we want is to lose him. l now have a good picture of Fat Cat doing his lounging bit and madoc on his bed before it went into the washing machine - will get it on to GC Photo's asap. Hope everyone is well and Brenda hope your not too tired now.Take care all;~) jude sarf wales xx

Hi all, Well not such good news on my behalf. I have a large poliep on my intestine and it may be cancerous. It is too big to be pinched away so it means surgery. It must be done quickly he said, so straight away had a lung photo made and then must have a stomach photo done. Feel like a film star with all these photos. Wish I could sell them! My father died of bowel cancer, so you can tell how I feel at the moment. The doctor said I must see that my offspring get examinations too. I get my scootmobile on Tuesday, so am looking forward to that. Sylvia xxx

Sylvia my love - l am sorry to hear this news. keep positive, you usually are. Take care - loads of hugs coming your way((((((((((HUGS))))))))))) Love jude sarf wales xx

hi sylvia just a message to wish you well from over in canada polyps can be benign think positive thoughts, even with bowel cancer in the family you may be fine they do such great things in that area now adays , fred your idea of storing water when road repairs are being done is a great one, jude your doggy sound to be having a bad time hopefully the trainer will be able to help. nothing much new here at the moment I have spent the week helping out with the grandchildren, oops spoke to soon my son has just phoned with the words mom its ok he will be ok, but bryan the almost 12yr old is at the clinic after getting a hockey puck in the face eye area, he does not think the occipital bone is broken but they are taking more x-rays, the phone call was to prepare me for the phone call which will be coming from bryan later this evening, and to ask me to be very firm with him about the fact that he was not wearing his helmet. he had gone to the end of the stree where there is a big hockey rink set up in a park area, and it it is a struggle to get the boys to wear a helmet there peer pressure they get called a wimp if they do, but they wear one at their hockey games in the arena. actually my son was going ballistic about it I did mange to get him calmed down so I gues he has a large black eye, is grounded for the next month re the rink at the end of the street, and no school dance to-night and is to get a lecture from grandma when he calls no doubt looking for sympathy. oh the joys of it all, I willbe called later I am sure to be informed if his sight has been affected at all. as they are all still at the clinic bye for now dorothy

Just a quick hello to everyone. Sylvia, so sorry to hear that you have to undergo surgery. Will be thinking of you, as Dorothy said it could still be benign. The sooner it is dealt with the better and loads of positive thoughts are coming your way from lots of caring people. I hope that there will be someone who can let us know how you are until you are well enough to tell us yourself. Jude, pleased the dog-minder is happy about Madoc. You have done well with his training, they are like children though just when you think they are behaving well they go and do something naughty - just to keep you on your toes!! Fred, I bet those builders just love you :-). Good idea for making sure you don't run out of water. Brenda, hope you are managing to sleep better. I do try to stay in bed but in the end can't stand just lying there doing nothing but being awake when I want to be asleep. Not so good when you have to go to work the next day. That's the good thing about being self-employed - only thing is if I don't work I don't earn any money. Hope everyone else is well. God bless Love Kathleen

Sylvia petal .i caught your message as i was preparing to sign off to go shopping and decided to reply now ,rather than later. Peeps are right on here when they say the prognosis is good for you.Even if it is malignant ,if caught early these days [and yours has] the surgery should remove it completely and you will very likely remain in the clear. Bowel cancer is the easiest of all to treat and cure ,so chin up ,.and keep positive .see ya later all .Fred.xxxx[for Sylvia]

Hi Sylvia and all. Sorry about your news but we will be thinking of you lots. If itr is any consolation my neighbour had the op for bowel cancer 7 years ago and never had any trouble. Just has a yearly check. Also Freda, a friend of ours had the same 6 years ago and still no problems. Fingers crossed for you my dear. All for now just wanted Sylvia to know I am thinking of her lots. Love Mavis NZ