General Chat

Hi everyone Its a dullday here but not raining. Nick has now moved the furniture around in the sunlounge, just so that the furniture gets evenly worn, its not a big sunlounge, takes 4 comfortably with TV and sound system, it is my favourite room, I use it every day. Sylvia, Did you find a suitable hall for your parties or have you still to decide? We do have vaious sausage here, 2 that spring to mind are Cumberland and Lincolnshire, there are probably more too, of course there are the famous black puddings from Bury in Lancashire too. I must do some autumn wreaths. Fred, I hope you have better luck fishing today, a good way to bond with children though and that is really more important than the catch. I missed you and Jude during the night, I had a wakeful period about an hour after you. ( better point out you and Jude were on separately lol) Jude, Dont worry, I knew you weren't being rude, its not your nature. Madoc sounds lovely and as pleased to see you as you are him. I can listen to stories of dogs all day long. Anne, Your Lady sounds lovely too, its funny how they attach themselves to one person just that little bit more. It does sound as though your children have been generous and given you their cold, I hope you are better soon. Cant wait to hear about Brenda's holiday, hope she had a good time. See you all later. Love June xx

Hi all, Yes, it's Sunday again, where did the week go to? Jude, it was me looking for sticky toffee pudding. I did find a recipe on Google, but it didn't sound so good. I cannot remember it having dates in. I'd like to know somebody who has actually made one recently and can recommend it. We don't like the tinned ones. Anne, have you managed to lose your cold? That is one thing about getting older, we don't seem to get the common cold anymore. I'll have to cross my fingers quickly, won't I? June, we did look at halls yesterday and one was a good price but my husband thought it on the small side. He is going to phone around at other addresses. The weather here has been about the same, some wind, some rain, and the further prospect is the same. I made a batch of mincepies today. I want to get to my son in Amsterdam - only 1/2 hour away, but must make the effort. I always bake things for him as he is alone (his choice). We always have a laugh together. I have had a toothache for a couple of days and think I'll have to phone the dentist tomorrow. I was hoping it would go away, but no. Another expense! We used to get our dentist free, but now have to part a part of it. Trust me to get problems now we have to pay! June, or was it Jude, have you made your Autumn wreath yet? The little red berries on the cotton easter look nice, even dried blackberry pieces. Red chillies give a nice touch too. Oh I could go on and on. I'm going to stop now and do some sewing. See you tomorrow. Love to all, Sylvia xxx

hello everyone. I returned from holiday on Friday but haven't been able to get on here before now because daughter and family were here. They came specifically to go to the Malvern Autumn Garden show. We got home at 11pm on friday and had to get up early to go to the show on Saturday. Luckily Jon has done all the cooking for us this weekend but i am still tired. He did two lovely curries for lunch today - one chicken and one prawn. we are on the 3rd lot of washing, about two or three more loads to go. Why is there always more washing when you return from holiday than if you had stayed at home? we had a great holiday in Tenerife. The weather was glorious, sun every day for two weeks and 26/28 degrees. we are very suntanned even though we wore factor 15 at least all week and factor 30 on our faces. I have read back through some of this thread and seethat you have all been chatting away merrily. Pleased that you are happy with the new member of the family Jude. give me a few dates to choose from and I will pick one when we can meet. we go away again on 16th October. Is Daphne back from IOW? when we settle on a date we can contact her. Debenhams Glos OK for this meeting? Is Brenda still in Tenerife? I saw her hotel when we were there but would not have recognised her if I had passed her of course. Elizabeth, Sylvia, Fred, June, Ann, and Gaynor, Hi. And, of course anyone I have missed. Ann Glos

Obviously nobody around at the moment. ann Glos

Coooee - hello Ann, so pleased you had a nice holiday and your off again soon:o)) probably be best to wait til after your next break and yep Debenhams will do fine. Me not working in Gloucester though:o((((((( Just got back from the pub - well about half an hour ago and that Madoc has been a gem. Down on the river bank a large Bull Mastive sat waiting for his packet of crisps and container of beer - low and behold his master actually brought them to him - no wounder he's large!!!! lol Sylvia - my sister is going to look up the Sticky Toffee pudding receipe, no promises though!! No not started the wreaths yet, l need to take a walk along the river bank!! Dentist !! l need to make appointment as well,no toothache though,just very sore gums!! June - thank you:o) Your dining room sounds very peaceful,nice to have the puter there, we did have ours in lounge,then kitchen diner,but l make sooooo much mess, so much so that we often could'nt see the table - lol lol - dunno why l am laughing it was'nt funny when people came to dinns!!! so the storeroom is perfect in that respect - BUT NO WINDOWS:o(( Anne - your Lady sounds lovely - funny that, you having a Lady and me having had 2. What breed is she??. This Madoc is just so gorgeous, we really can't believe our luck - can't wait for our son,his wife and her mum to see him on Wednesday evening - oh my word its hubbies birthday on Thursday, will have to get a cake or something in now - l have only just twigged,thats more likely why son & co are coming then, they tried to come this weekend - dowwwwwwwwwwwwwwww they are staying the night as well!!!! sounds as though l had forgotten hubbies birthday completely, had'nt honest,its just that we had decided to play our birthdays down now - can't really afford it, having paid for 2 dogs in the last 2 weeks and the food which includes a 15 kg bag of complete food - we decided that that would be for both our birthdays and xmas:o))) l am covered in scratches - the dog chased the cat, l rescued the cat,he got me!!!!!!! arm,leg and stomach,nothing nasty but cleaned them with antisceptic incase!!! Did some gardening today,with help from Madoc who insisted on trampling all over the plants and mud and then make nice paw patterns on my carpet - as our soil is clay,we now have pretty reddish brown patterns on medium green carpet!!! quite effective - lol l managed to burn all the 66 piccies of students onto a CD,took ages to work out how!! lol Ok, l am off to bed now, some of you may know l was up at the wee small hours chatting to myself on here - as l sent a message to someone,that person had gone, still kept me busy, l could'nt make a cuppa cause Madoc was asleep in kitchen. Nite nite all and take care all of you:o) Jude sarf wales xx

Hi everyone The weather hasn't made up its mind yet, it was like this yesterday but I did manage to dry my washing,(even though it was Sunday) To my mind there are far more worse things in this world to worry about than washing on a Sunday. Jude,That Bull Mastiff you saw must be a creature of habit,or its master/mistress is, it obviously knew what the reward was. Yes having pets doesn't come cheap, but they are worth it, all the love they give you is well worth it. I have always had 2 dogs, so that they were company for each other if I went out, but this time I have only one because of all the vet bills etc. I like Madoc better than Maddock too, I agree it did sound rather fishy. Ann, You obviously had a good holiday and a busy weekend, but its nice to have time with family. Sylvia, You have started early with mincepies, I see your toothache hasn't slowed you down, going to the dentist is a very expensive thing theese days.Hope you get it sorted soon. Both Jude and myself have said we would like to make autumn wreaths, I'm afraid I haven't done much about it yet. Did you get your sewing done? I finished changing the contents of the drawers around, the craft drawers are in the sunlounge and the Family History stationery etc are in my "office" Today, after tidying up, I think I will get back to looking through the census, I haven't done any for a day or two, at least my eyes have had a rest. I hope everyone else is alright, see you tomorrow. Love June xx

Good morning friends Hi Jude, I will email you. Hello June, I dried three loads of washing yesterday too. All the time thinking 'hope Mum isn't watching'. She was a stickler for not working on Sundays and I never used to tell her when i washed or ironed. actually washing really isn't working these days is it? in the machine, on the line is hardly work but she still wouldn't have done it! It is grey and murkey here today, yesterday was lovely, Saturday morning at the Malvern show it chucked it down (and i knew why we went to tenerife on holiday). Must get on, will call back here later. Ann Glos

By the way Jude, re your photos and burning them onto disc. When you download them and save them, if you can save them to a new folder within your photo programme you can then burn the whole folder onto the disc in one go, it saves a lot of time if you can do this. Ann Glos

Hi everybody, Have now cleaned my garden table and hauled out the spiders nestling in the corners. Table is now stored inside for the winter. I've made a double helping of spaghetti bolognese, because Johan and I are going away tomorrow to Delft. We will be picked up by taxi at 9.15, so should be in Delft around 11.00. There is a lovely old church there which we want to visit and my husband has sorted out some leaflets. Will tell you all about it tomorrow. We should be home around 5.00 pm (that's why I've made double portions of spaghetti). I've also made an appointment with my son in Amsterdam for Thursday afternoon. Usually I cook, but he insists on cooking for me this time - wow!!! Lovely weather here at the moment, sunny, no rain. I do hope it stays dry for tomorrow. Till tomorrow, Sylvia xxx

Hello everyone.... I finally got around to the computer, we had a great time at the wedding, I didn't take my tablets so I was ok - a few vodka's kept me going, at least I wasn't spaced out... just very merry lol. The "do" was really good fun, John comes from a very large family and almost everyone was there, he took the opportunity of taking a print out from his PAF file and got people to fill in some gaps (well until the "party spirit" got the better of him lol). Any way it was good to meet his family, I doubt I will remember all the names but everyone was very nice. We didn't do much yesterday, we called in on his Mum and Dad in the morning, we needed to have a couple of hours to wake up and a cup of tea before we drove home. We all went back to bed in the afternoon mind you we all felt better for it and then Mum came round later on and bought Bonnie home. She loves going to see Mum's Beckham, I thinks she thinks of him as her baby. I'm glad Madoc is happy and settling in well, I'm not sure what the full story is there, but he and Fat Cat seem to be having fun. Anne (Belfast) your sea bass and salmon sound really appetising, I haven't had fresh fish for ages, it has really made me fancy some, we have a fish van who parks outside the local shops every Friday so I will have to go and have a look at what he has this week I think. Anne (Gloucester) you sound like you have had a great time in Tenereife soaking up that gorgeous sunshine, you weren't missing much weather-wise here at all and you're off again soon? Lucky you! On one hand it doesn't seem like five minutes since we were in Corfu, and on another it feels like a life time away (it was 6 weeks ago). Sylvia, do you live in Holland? I have been there a couple of times, Delft is beautiful and of course the pottery is very pretty. The first time I went, I stayed just outside the Hague and the second time I stayed in Amsterdam itself. It's a long time ago mind you, it was when I was a Fashion student in about 1980 so I suppose things may have changed somewhat since then. I can remember on one visit we went down into a damn at Rotterdam (I can't remember what it was called) and another visit we went to a lovely model village called Maduradam, I hope I got the spelling right (I doubt it lol). Of course we did the canal trips and visited Anne Frank's house all the usual touristy things but it's a lovely place. I can remember skating on an outside ice rink in a square in Amsterdam one evening, the skates were really old and I fell and hurt my knee, it was so sore, we all had to walk to a textile exhibition the next day for what seemed like miles! At least it was flat! Anyway, I'm going to go now but it was nice catching up with you all See you soon and take care Gaynor Ann xxxxxxxxxx

Hello everyone - just a quickie before l go into the garden. Been to the vets this afternoon - Madoc's limp very prominent!!! our vet is quite concerned, he thinks he has a hip prob as well as leg.His ankle is swollen and he does'nt think he's had surgery before - so the scars are from a nasty cut from the accident.We are waiting for the original vet to phone RSPCA with all there details. He will have his booster jab on Fri,then wait 10days before he can have any anti-imflamitories etc - then xrays!!!!! The rspca have said he had a clean bill of health when he left there so we should be able to claim on the 30 days free insurance from them!!!! hope so! Our vet thinks he had probs before the accident. If he needs surgery it will cost hundreds - you can imagine our faces and what was going through both our brains - BUT hubby looked at me and said "we're keeping him so we have to deal with it now" - thank god for that,bless, l thought he might have said "send him back" - really could'nt let this one go. Apparently his real name was Mad-dog and RSPCA changed it to Madoc - must admit he do's sit for ages watching insects and any shadows. Anyway thats it for a wee while,speak later. Will reply to all your messages later. Ann - will email you back,thank you:o)) Jude sarf wales xx

Me again!!!:o)) Gaynor - sounds like you enjoyed yourself,can't remember where the wedding was!!? What breed is Bonnie - and yeh Madoc is settling in now - he and Fat Cat have been as close as 2ft this evening more than once,Madoc almost ignores him apart from when they are in the garden!! Sylvia - what ever are you and hubby up too??lol l hope you enjoy it what ever it is - Hey are you retaking your vows or something simular and really romantic:o))) My son will be here on Wednesday with his wife(oh that do's sound strange) and the m.i.l. who is a very nice lady and great fun. June - you sound very cosy now in your "office", must say l am comfortable with mine,but l still need to sort some papers out. The wreath!!! well l have'nt actually started mine either but l have been to the library for some idea's,also got a book on using wire - to make either pictures & frames,baskets,ornaments,flowers etc. When l get home from work tomorrow hubby has to go into town,so l will walk Madoc in local field/park and start picking bits - will have cutters at the ready. Got 2 more bargains from charity shop today - pr of Laura Ashley baggy trousers and a Dash navy hooded top -total £6.40 - the top has a mark which could be oil/grease, so it may be for work in forest,will soak it in fairy liquid first!!! Madoc sat with me in the garden whilst l did the weeding, if he was'nt at my side he was on the lawn with an old rugby ball squezzing air out of it and then looking to see where the noise was coming from:o)))) lol - he's still limping badly as well,often walks on 3 legs - do hope he will be ok!!? Brenda - are you back yet and did you have a nice time????? Elisabeth,Kathleen,Lou,Christine,Anne(Belfast)Fred and anyone else l have forgotten - do hope you are all well and look forward to your news. Ann (Gloucester) about to email you now:o) Nite all:o) Jude sarf wales xx

Hi everyone, Sounds like you've all been busy. Lou, It's a major life change when you first start work - give Bex a hug - she'll be right:-)) It's been a pretty horrible day here today - raining most the time. Glad I was out with the grandkids. We went to a school holiday production "There was an Old Woman". The five year old thought it pretty neat. The magician made the mini giant disappear but the 7 year old and I could see him creeping under the curtain! The cast said their goodbyes at the door and my littlest one hugged them all so I think she enjoyed it.

Hi everyone, I dont think the weather has made up its mind agin but its not raining. That means Beckham will be in and all day, he keeps sniffing around the plant pots, I thought our squirrel had returned but I saw a mouse/vole on Sunday evening so it must be that he is chasing, I dont mind if the mouse stays outside but I cant stand it when they come inside. Christine, Isn't it lovely taking the children to school productions, the expressions on their faces is so funny. You are a naughty gran though, you shouldn't peek under curtains!! lol Lou,I'm sure Bex will be fine after a day or two, it is a strain though at first, you dont know where anything is and how it is done. I hope Kris is soon sorted too, its hard on young people these days with the shortage of jobs. Good news for Cliff too. Jude, Madoc sounds to have settled in well, I bet that gap between him and Mad cat will get smaller and smaller. Did you find anything for your autumn wreath? I may cheat and look in our local Dunhelm shop, but I will look around the garden first. My "office" still needs a little more tidying, but this morning I have to take Beckham to the Vet, I think his mouth is sore. I had better get going now being as his appointment is just after 9. Love June xx

Hi everyone, (cheating so that I don't miss anyone). Strange weather in Glos today, one minute sunny and warm the next overcast and chilly. Had 2 lots of washing on the line today, that is 7 loads since we returned ( had all the bedding from the family's weekend stay too), and one more load to do. Also been to the dentist for a checkup and clean (£33). Nothing needing doing thank goodness. Jude, thanks for e mail, i have briefly replied. Sounds as though you are in for a bit of expense with Madoc. did the RSPCA warn you that he had problems? They should have. Lou Hope Bex finds her second day easier. First day in a new job is always a strain, meeting new people and learning new things plus working out where everything is. Also tiring if she has a long journey. I have probably missed this but what job is she doing? Good luck to Kris too with his interview results. Christine: School production are lovely aren't they was it a production by children or by adults for children? either way the kids watching love it and see the magic in it. You are not supposed to peep. June I hope Beckham got on OK at the vet, was he as nervous as I was at the dentist I wonder? We haven't had rain here but our cat Holly has stopped laying in the garden now. All summer she lies on the lawn in the same spot stretched out. At the first sign of cooler weather she is curled up in the conservatory in the sun, and when it gets colder she will be on the settee in the lounge. It is lovely all summer because the lounge furniture is 'hair free', but come winter the chairs are covered in old pillow cases etc as she is mainly white and she moults. Hard work keeping everywhere clean. Also I am a bit allergic to her hairs so I sneeze a lot when she is in the lounge. Anyway, this thread has been a bit quiet today - must be because Jude is at work Lol!!! I will look in again later. Ann glos

Hello everyone and hope you are all well today. Just a quickie for now, I am all excited (pathetic isn't it?). I am going to meet my first real life GC member tonight. Lynda and her sister are over here in Belfast for a few days, and John and I are going to bring them up to the house for a few hours. God help them!! They may wish they had stayed in their hotel! House is in a mess at the moment, as the kitchen is about to be redecorated and we have trailed the flooring up! Still the welcome will be warm. It will be good to meet her, as we have exchanged quite a few emails. Some of our research is actually based on addresses which are next door to each other. Small world. Well will have to go now and tidy up a bit. Hope we don't give her our germs, as we have had that old virus. Enjoy the rest of the day. Best to all Anne xxx

Hi All - Just a quickie today, just got back from Asda with Mum - have been buying MORE folders for my family tree files, I really do need to get it organised, I am getting lost. Bonnie is a Yorkshire Terrier, she is of medium build so she is quite chunky rather like Beckham. She is 13 now so she is getting on a bit but she is still like a puppy sometimes.... and of course she will always be my baby. She is deaf unfortunately now so we have to be careful in open spaces or when we open the front door because if she decides to run after something she doesn't hear us calling her back and she's off!!! ..... or could that be selective hearing ;-) She's very good with hand signals though and we don't really notice that she can't hear, I hope she feels the same. The Autumn wreaths do sound lovely, but like Mum I too will probably end up at Dunhelm, it can't be for a couple of weeks though as I am having to watch the pennies at the moment, being off sick and all. School productions are a hoot! aren't they? We went to see my step son in his school Nativity last year and he was waving and mouthing things to us all the way through, well that was in between smothering giggles between him and his buddies. I think they just about got away with it though. Anne I hope you have a good time on your night out. Jude, I hope Madoc is feeling better soon, it's such a worry when things go wrong, I remember when Bonnie hurt her knee, the vet was saying she needed an operation to save her from arthritis later in life and it would cost £600, when he saw our faces he began to back track a little, she got away with anti inflamatories and she is fine. I'm not saying he's a bad vet, he's very good and I have every faith in him but sometimes I think they get a bit carried away. Anyway I should go now, I am running late and should be starting dinner. Take care Gaynor Ann xxx

Ok trouble is here:o)))) Got ur email Ann, thank you. Well we knew he'd been in a road traffic accident,but no mentioned any other probs, there vet gave him a clean bill of health - which in away is good as far as the indurance is concerned - we get 30days free from rspca's own insurance and the girl said as he left with a clean bill of health, this prob we are dealing with now will be on the insurance - so yippeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!! (she says) The weather here has been really lovely - l worked in the forest today, had a brilliant day.We chopped and sawed and cut branches and tree's - frustrating thing though - most of them were christmas tree's!!!!!!! but the area had to be cleared for the butterflies/snakes etc, its a small biological site apparently!! some of our students will never be able to understand what we are doing or why - but they love doing what they do:o) one lad is dumb and signs,but the signs he uses are his - so its difficult to know what he's telling us.He had a carer with him which obviously helped,but even she did'nt know all the time(he's only been at the home 3 weeks) If there were'nt any branches for him to move he went off looking for some, anything would do as long as it moved when he pulled - bless:o) At break time they are all there willing to help, its brilliant. In January l suffered with a bout of depression which left me feeling anxious in the mornings, its started again since being back at work (even the voluntary job),this morning no exception - l usually have to dash to the loo 2 or 3 times before leaving home as well.l get very concerned at work that l am doing things wrong etc(no confidence) - well during work today l have felt great and l still feel great,perhaps atlast l have concured what ever it is and am believing in myself - ooooo sorry, but l do feel better:o)))))) Anne (Belfast) which Lynda is visiting you,say hi anyway. My first meeting with GC member Ann Knight (Gloucester) l was a bit nervy - but it was just so casual and friendly - the next time we met up with Daphne as well - and l have met Ann about 4 times now and Daphne 3 l think. Now l didnt get the colly wobbles when l met either Ann or Daphne and on one occasion l drove myself to Worcester from Monmouth (strange person l am). Hope the work on your kitchen is soon done and dusted, nothing worse than having to turn a room out for decorating - you have to put it all back again!! June - how is Beckham?? l am about to go out with hubby and Madoc and will bring some bits back from the field for wreaths. The books from library are really quite interesting. We ought to start a website for photo's of our bits and bats, especially all the cards Sylvia has made. Has anyone heard from her today - dieing to find out what they have been up to!!:o) Lou - tell Chris "fingers crossed" and hope Bex has a good day today, as someone else said the first day is awful, especially when ur in ur teens. Right l'm off now to walk the dog, thats if my legs will go - l'm aching from this morning!!!! lol Take care all - speak again soon - watch out the days not finished yet, l'm bound to find something else to talk about - lol Jude sarf wales xx

Anne Belfast. Have a great time with Lynda (which Lynda). It is good to meet people we correspond with on here and youw ill have lots in common. Lou did Bex have a good day today, she will feel better when she gets to know her charges more. Gaynor, My family tree stuff so far runs to 11 two ring binders, plus two shelves of reference books and loads of CDs Bonnie sounds a charmer, we had a tmin poodle who was blind and then went deaf. Unfortunately although they can cope with one or the other, they can't cope with both as they have no sense of direction or danger so, sadly she had to be put to sleep. She was 13. actually we had 2 min poodles who were blind, the other lived to 15. Sometimes I think Vets forget that not everyone can afford the enormous fees they charge. Ours is very good but always wants to suggest little extras, and it is these that mount up. Jude I am pleased that you have had a good day. Lovely being in the forest on a day like today. Can anyone ask the lad's Mum (the one who signs) for advice on how to interpret his signing. it must be frustrating for him and you not to be able to communicate. is he deaf as well? You have absolutely no need to lack confidence in your work, I have sen you with your charges and you are great. Also. they would not want you back if you were no good would they? They didn't want to lose you from Gloucester did they. do they send you on any courses? if you have the opportunity go on an assertiveness course. Meanwhile, say to yourself every morning, 'I am good at my job and I am as good as anyone else.' You give so much to people who need you. By the way deep breathing helps as well. Incidentally you didn't come over as nervy the first time we met up. And i was nervous too, it is only natural when you are meeting someone for the first time. what is all this about wreaths? i must have missed something when I was away. I have just started to think about making my Christmas cards, I usually make quite a few. Just made a birthday card for a friend this afternoon, quite pleased with it, i usually use photos but this one is a bit different. Sort of dark lilac oblongs on a pale lilac card wth a butterfly on it. pretty! Must go and see what Tony is doing, he has computer problems, downloaded MS updates, SP2 and others then his computer refused to start. So now I am too nervous to download them onto mine. Speak again soon Ann Glos

Anne,if you have xp on your puter ,don,t put sp2 on at all,it is a stop gap security programme put out by micro soft and causes more problems than it cures,it took me hours to sort mine out last month.Fred.ptfg.