General Chat

Morning all,its very sunny here today ,which is very misleading as it is really very cold.!!!but it makes us feel better seeing the sunshine,How about the rest of you does seeing the sun cheer you up? had another look for a good deal for a weeks holiday in March but still no luck. Should be having another go at clearing out the wardrobes in the spare room,they seem to have become like the tardis,where does the stuff come from?? Got rid of a lot of clothes and shoes to the charity shop earlier in the week and have eventually binned some old magazines,but still have boxes of things to look at and either bin,shred or keep Thought I would be warm in here without the heating as the sun is shining but I was wrong, Fred hope you and Liz are on the mend,we found it hard getting to sleep last night due to the high winds ,not much rain but it was extremely windy. Dorothy hope that snow holds off and you get to the gym,did you enjoy your tv programme. Sylvia,sopleased you had a good day for your birthday hope your back to your old self soon, Mavis how are you all down in your neck of the woods,hope your weather is ok . John hope you are having good weather as well,how is the conservatory...my friend moved into a house near Blackpool in october and it has one,which she loves she wouldn't have one in her old house as it was too shaded by lots of large trees. Hello to anyone I have missed, Have to start lunch soon,then go to my dads,see you tomorrow,brenda.

Hi all ,coooo,i had a bit of a job finding this thread today,but never mind i did manage.That sounds like a lovely idea Sylvia the books AND the idea of norm's writing for the local paper ,he has a lot of memories and tons of experience to pass on,and it will give him a new interest which will keep him busy for some time. We have another nice mild day here again ,but it is still very windy and i don't fancy going out in it ,so i am going to be a coward and stay in the house. I see overnight that next door has lost their fence but the bit i put back up for them last year has stayed in one piece. Sean went back to camp last night for the last time in a good while,he flys out to Cyprus on tuesday and won't be back till he gets leave ,but iv'e told him to get around and fly to different parts whilst he is over there,he is within easy reach of Egypt and the gulf states now ,and it would be a shame not to do the travel bit whilst he is able to. Afterall the rich food over the holiday season we will now go back to basic ,but good for you food for a while,kicking off today with jacket tatties with a side salad ,sounds good to me. Have to go now and do my bit of housework,buit will be able to come back to a free connection now ,any time i wish lol.Fred.

Thought it was about time I came on with a few words. I had a very quiet birthday this year because of the storms people didn't like to venture out. Did have my own children and grandchildren of course and neighbours. I had 33 birthday cards and lots of e-mail cards etc.etc. 3/4 century of life is wonderful. Just hope my health picks up for me to go on further. Johan and I both had books from the grandchildren at Xmas entitled 'Tell us grandpa' and 'Tell us grandma' and Johan is so busy writing out stories. He has also started to write down his autobiography and wants it published in instalments in the Rotterdam paper. The books from the grandchildren have to be filled in by us and then returned to them when finished. I think it is a wonderful idea for the grandchildren who can then learn what our life was like, especially during the war. Johan is almost 82 so has lots of stories to tell. Sylvia xxx

hi glad to hear from fred that his wife was ok with the visit to the doctor, the meds she recieved are what they are prescribing over here for the same cold etc that has lingered on the son and heir is on the same thing steroids are the in thing in combination with the antibiotics, so she should be on the mend soon. sorry to hear that you have lost some tiles but no damage to the car that is good. frd the new car you have choosen sounds great and good milage, another crazy weather day over here the sun is hining but it is cold they say we are in for more snow during the next two days so we shall see. I am going to pop out and buy the saturday paper, and to-morrow night we are having the newest cracker on the tele looking forward to that but best of all the australian tennis starts several of my friends and I are tennis fans and just thrilled that the season has started, of course our families think we are nuts as we stay up half the night to watch there is a 16hr time differance for us. I know that we can tape the matches but that never seems the same. the grandchildren are thrill that beckham is coming to the states as that means he may play up here in toronto . the youngest has tickets from santa to go and see a live maple leaf hockey game and I have been told to stay glued to the tv as he will wave to me he has seats behind the goal santa was very good to him now he has to decide who shares the other ticket with him, it has to be someone who drives as we are one and half hours away from the stadium, I think that his mom is running a strong campaign to be the one to go with him the whole family enjoys hockey (not grandma) well off to get the paper bye dorothy

Hello everyone,nice to see those messages,at work on tea break at minute,might get back at lunch or later tonight, Brendaj

Hello all I havent been here for ages, and thought I would pop in and wish all our friends on this thread a Happy New Year. Fred, Hello long time since we spoke, dont get on messenger or yahoo much lately, not good to hear that you and Liz are not the best, good for you in making her Dr's appointment, even if you did get an ear bashing lol. Hope things improve on the health side Cheers Sue

Morning all,Fred is still alive as you can see ,so all is well with the worldlol.It seems that tthis bug lasts about five to six weeks before it tails off ane we get back to normal,but i did the right thing with the missus,the doc said that in our sort of case ,it can hang on a lot longer ,or even get worse,and if Liz hadn't had the pnumonia jab she would have been in hospital before now.Any way ,she is on sreroids and amoxycillin again ,and will have to take it easy for a while ,but should be finein a couple of weeks,but ,she has been warned ,after this latest episode ,she either gets to the doc herself as soon as her breathing gets bad ,or I WILL TAKE HER,kicking and screaming if needs be,and i think she knows this time ,i will not take no for an answer,these women can be so difficult at times fellas ,and THEY complain about us [snort]. We happened to go pased the vauxhall dealers yesterday,and on a whim.took opurselves in ,with the result that we have found our new car. We have decided on a new Astra deisel which returns over seventy to the gallon on a long run ,and nearly fifty round the doors ,with the plus that it has the lowest emmisions of any convential petrol diesel car in it's class. The boot is huge ,which will please the daughter when we go for the weekly shop,the seats are just the right hieght for Liz which means less pain getting in or out,and it has wrap round airbags and door collision bars built in for her safety.They have said they will have a standard car on hand for a test drive at the start of March ,and from there i can get them to build a car for my specs'so that it can be handed over at the start of June. The only extra i think i will have to pay for is the rear bumper sensors for getting up close to a trailor without having to get out of the car ,but the sensors are an optional fitting so shouldn't be too costly. The people who fitted the alarm to the almeira say they will take it out and put it in to the astra ,which will be a lot cheaper than putting a new one in again,so i will go for that. It was nice and mild when i got up ,so much so ,that i took my cuppa ,and breakfast crumpets out into the garden,but sad to say ,it has now clouded over and looks like a day of drizzle. I didn't get too much sleep last night owing to the wind and a tile chorus as they chattered in the wind again,but the house is still here this morning so they built them well in the fifties lol. I'm off now to have a look around ,safe in the knowdedge that with Sean gone today,no one has nicked my connection whilst i am out lol. Have a lovely weekend all of you ,take care ,and be good to one another .Fred. updated since Fred went outside again and noticed that we are short a couple of tiles which just missed the car [whew] and a few more have kicked up. I have been in touch with Norwich Union regarding repairs ,who says you don't need insurance ? got someone coming out next week to inspect the roof.

hello one and all fred you are a good man making the appointment for the wife, as a retired nurse I think that is great some husbands would not bother, hope the both of you are doing better, I talked to anne this morning in bury brenda and she said it was overcast and dull and here it has gone mad I went to the libary this morning and it was warmish about 9 degrees the snow was mel;ting and now it is allmost 4pm my time I can' see to far as a heavy fog has decended crazy weather. my cold is on the mend I do hope so as i have missed going to the gym for my three workouts but did not think that I would be very welcome with a drippy nose etc, but I shall make up for it next week I have been looking at fares for aug/sept. though still hoping the son will come through with his idea of giving me lots of airmiles for the birthday and that would give me my air ticket, then watch out book stores and marks and sparks nothing much on this week-end but have got some good books to read and the tennis starts on monday from australia , just read the news about the pay packet for beckham not bad if you can get it i guess, though I think that sport salaries have go way out of hand, makes our pensions look sick, ah well of to watch corrie on the computor I guess tracy does the deed to-night I shan't miss charlie did not like him bye for now dorothy

Morning all:o) l do hope you had a lovely birthday yesterday Sylvia:o) l forgot to say it yesterday, sorry:o(( l did pop in and had a quick look here, then popped straight back out again! lol Fred are'nt you brave setting up a docs appointment for Liz, but very cleaver too, l think l would have done the same. Please let us know how Liz is and whether you are still alive!! lol Good luck to Shaun when he's off on his duties again:o) Is this THE BILL from Oz we all used to chat too, well l beeeeee!!! He's still doing his travels then. Oh gawd this weather - its pouring here,its that nasty fine stuff that creeps into every nook and cranny:o( Now l'll have you all know that l was up and dressed by 8am and went out with Vic and Madoc for the morning walkies!!!!!!! wow'l'm still in shock. The dog did'nt know what to do with himself. He was soooo good on the walk, mind you we did'nt meet any other dogs,but all our commands were responded to, and all but one instantly. Indoors with sit and stay,wait,leave he's brilliant and still at night we've not had a prob - he has his dummy !!! lol (kong with paste) and he's fine - last night the cat was out when we went to bed so he ended up on our bed (cat, not dog). When we go from room to room through the doors Madoc knows he has to go after us and now just walks round the back of us and then follows - oh bless bless bless bless him!!! Right l'm off now to catch up on the ironing - we're off in 3 weeks to USA and l must be organised (yeh right!!). Have a good day everyone.Take care:o) jude sarf wales xx

Morning Brenda and Dorothy,fred has a few minutes before attacking the tiger[ getting Liz out of bed] early to take her ,and myself to the doc's hee hee,she dosn't know it yet but i made an appointment for her too seeing as she still has this chest infection since before Christmas ,and refuses to go . My excuse is ,she needs to get this sorted and i had to go for my diabetic review anyway, when the nurse calls her name out ,i will drag her in if i have to I am taking Sean to the metrocentre this afternoon,Liz too if she has finished sulking by then lol,seeing as he goes back tomorrow and it will be his last chance to go for some time. I think he is after a few games for his computer,so he has something to do in the evenings when he is off duty. At least we will be able to keep in touch via e,mail and messenger ,more reliable than the phone and free to boot. We got hit pretty hard again with the wind last evening ,but again it seems that the region got off lightly ,not like a lot of areas which have been hit by floods yet again. We are in some sort of pocket here ,we seem to miss the worst of the snow ,heavy rain and winds whilst all aroud it's mayhem and misery for lots of people ,so i ain't complaining,even when once in a while [very occasionally] we do get hammered.. Time to go peeps,but at least ,tomorrow i will have my connection to myself again lol,it's nice to see the lad but my online time does suffer a lot .See you later ,i hope .Fred.

Well here i am ,all on my ownsome,off to travel th web in search of any rellies lurking there. See you tomorrow?????????????????????? brendaj

Just popped in on my lunch break.Might see you all later. Brenda

Happy birthday Sylvia,hope you are feeling better today. John please tell Bill I ahve been thinking about him and hope he is better and makes it back to NZ very soon dorothy ,managed to get to Bury had a walk round the Market and the rain started again ,had to stay in the shops then . got a few tops and some pants for work so was feeling ok with myself.Bought John some black puddings so he was happy as well. Fred still no montior,my son will be giving me something towards it ,but not as much as I asked him for, Mavis what a shame about the adoption,your daughter and the rest of the family will really miss him when it does goe through Jude,glad to see the training is coming on,we should have done that with Max ,might still try and find some one . Off back to bed as I am working tomorrow. Brenda

hi sylvia I do hope that you have a happy birthday 75yrs young, and that your health problems will soon be solved take care best wishes dorothy canada

Hi all, Well I spent hours at the hospital yesterday and the internist told me that they couldn't find anything wrong in the last examination I had for my bowels. They are still trying to find out why I am so anaemic and lacking vitamin B1 and lost 8 lbs in weight. Got lots more to lose, but not like this. The specialist is now going to give me an examination where they put a camera inside, via your anus. I have so many tablets to take now and this tablet must not be taken with that tablet, this tablet an hour before meals, and that tablet an hour after meals. I am going nutty. Now I have to see that my 'innerds' are clean again, so more medicine and tablets. I am busy the whole day just with myself. My neighbour Annemie took a whole lot of ironing off my shoulders for me. I think there were 6 of Johan's shirts to start with. I wanted to do them the other day but was so exhausted just lay down and fell asleep for a couple of hours. Usually I bake cakes etc. for my birthday, especially as it is a special birthday - what we call a 'crown' year. Yes, you've guessed, tomorrow I will be 75. Don't look it, but feel it at the moment. On Monday my help in the house came and she brought her little girl of 12 here as she had still free from school. I saw with her and she made a birthday card for her grandpa's 93 birthday. She loved making this card and I enjoyed watching her. I went out on my scootmobile today to do some shopping. I had not been out for days because of having to take medicine to empty my bowels. I didn't dare leave the house. I nearly got blown off my scooter. Fortunately just a few drops of rain. My daughter will be here early tomorrow and will bring the cake with her. I hope not too many people will come as I don't really feel up to it. Jude, don't you dare leave us again. We do so love your stories of Madoc and madcat. Now probably won't see you tomorrow, so here's to Friday. Sylvia xxx

hi brenda and all it is 3-30pm wednesday and I am loooking out the 11th floor window at a a solid wall of the white stuff yes the snow has hit us, it started yesterday causing about 300 accidents on the 400 highway between toronto barrie and orilla people forget how to drive on the snow, the ski operators wil;l be thrilled, the children will be walking home from school about now unless the other grandma has gone to pick them up in the car.we get these streamers of the lake and visability disappears for a while then it is clear as a bell. I rallied from the sick bed and went out and cleaned of the car only took about 15 minutes about a foot on the car but not that much on the ground I guess it blew around.. so brenda you might go to bury to-morrow I shall think of you and see it all in my minds eye. actually I must go on line and read the bury times later, tried to watch corrie but to much traffic the site was overloaded anyway back to watching the snow flakes the cats are trying to catch them as they hit the big balcony window but not having much luck, I hope it stops to-morrow I am on baby sitting duties to-morrow evening for swimming lesson for the three of them bye for now dorothy

Hi everyone. Sylvia - do hope you are OK. We are missing you. Fred - a friend of ours bought a Kia car end of last year. It is really comfortable and as you say economical to run. I can't remember which model it is. Our foster grandsons adoption has come to a 'stop'. Another court case etc. etc. He needs to be settled with a family soon. He is getting very attached to my daughter and family. Rained hard all day yesterday but today has been sunny and warm. Very humid. We have a wonderful crop of Runner Beans this year. Will be blanching and freezing for ever. The neighbours look forward to them each year. In return they give us Tangelos, Lemons, Oranges and Persimmons. We seem to get the better end of the stick! Tomorrow I have to see the Dr. Have a very itchy lump on my leg. It has grown just lately. Maybe it's just a rose prickle or the like!! Love hearing about the doggy and catty antics. We always had animals in the UK but resisted when we came here. Very tempting at times to get one but such a tie. With Pips unexpected trips to the hospital at night etc it would be a problem. Our friends are here from Canada. Lovely to see them. They have a couple of houses here in NZ. We are thinking of buying their camper van. Depends on the price!!! Must go. Love to everyone. Mavis NZ Must go now.

Thanks for the update on Bill John,it's good to know he is out and about again,even if he is stuck at the moment,but hopefully he will be back home sometime in the next couple of months. Madoc is as lively as ever i see ,he is a real character that's for sure ,next time i am over that way i will be watching out for daft dogs on the beach just in case it's him lol. Short and sweet this morning as i am now off to the doc's to see if i can get rid of this infection. It's lioke a spring morning here so i think i will walk down to the surgery instead of getting the car out. The son came last night and took the boat away and by now it will be moored up in Hartlepool where it will be used for our fishing trips in the spring and summer.. See you all soon .Fred.

Hi everyone After almost a week of sunny days the rain is back and will be with us through to the weekend making it quite humid. We had a great Christmas at home with all the family coming to our place and once presents were opened, the thirteen of us found a spot either on a chair or the floor to eat dinner. Have just heard from Bill in Oz says 'I am stuck in Oz, having no transport, and the holiday period makes it harder to get things done, I still have to sell a lot of my stuff, ship a lot of stuff to NZ, Sell my Caravan. and catch a Freedom Air plane to Hamilton. hope it can be done in a few weeks. The atmosphere here is thick with Polution from the fires, which continue to Rage around us. good job I moved out of Omeo.' No doubt he will be in contact again soon. John in NZ

Evening all - l've been on the boards a few times today with the intentions of adding to this thread, but l always seem to get carried away with other threads. Fred the wind is getting up here this evening,its tiddled down ALLLL DAY, well for days now and l'm fed up with it now. The river Wye is really high again today too. We popped out on Sunday for a drink at the local (as usual!!:o) and when we got back Madoc had found a bag of knitting wool and one of my bum bags and put them in his bed. The bum bad probably smelled of his treats from training but gawd knows what he wanted with wool - no damage done. He's always been very good in that way, the only time he's made a mess is with the carpet at night and occasionally got the rubbish bin over cause he can smell something nice!! His training is going very well - the past 2 days he's met up with one dog each day, both he knew but as he was on a lead he still did his usual - but as soon as Vic said leave, clicked and treated he stopped - Vic was gobsmacked, so am l!!!! We do a couple of practise bits most days now, one is where you put your thumb and first finger together forming a circle and hold a piece of treat (jerky - dried pigs lungs yuk) between these fingers - you take the fingers down to the dog (you have to look through the circle at the dog) so he can see and smell it saying 'watch' as soon as he looks at you, you click and treat, gradually you bring the fingers with treat closer to your face. Keep doing this say 'watch' when he does you click and treat - now l say 'watch' and he looks straight at me - yehhhhhhhhhhhhhhh - the idea being he should do the same in a tricky situation, as with leave!! Vic can say 'watch' when he's on a lead and he 'watches' brilliant. There is another one for leave which involves small and larger pieces of treat but l can't remember how it goes now - dowwww He was fine again last night, but then he had his kong toy covered in paste and Fat cat for company. We stopped the bones for abit, so much mess and the smell!! Oh yeh another thing we give him to add abit of variety to his dinner are chicken wings UNCOOKED, they must be uncooked. There isnt any fat to them so don't add any weight to the dog and the bones are very soft but its a lovely treat. The first time we did it poor Madoc did'nt know what to do with it - he brought it into the lounge and left it at Vics feet, then he's take it to his bed or carries it around with him. Even now he sits and looks at it for a while and then eats it - whats he like!!? Fred you may be right in that he's always going to be wanting to be with us, but he's improving in other ways now. Funny though how it goes, somedays it all goes well then we get very off days, but l suppose like us humans he can't always be onform. His next session with the trainer is 23rd Jan. We're away for 3 weeks in Feb and he's staying with a couple who take dogs into their home whilst the owners go away - he's been up there loads of times now and he loves it - walks in the woods,doggy friends to play with who would'nt - but he wont be getting the training and its difficult to explain to people what we have to do everyday - we'll try though. Lets hope he'll be ok. Guess where we both went this morning???? The gym!!! l started going last Jan and stopped in Sept, but have put on some very unwanted weight, so l managed to persuade Vic to come along as well. l think he quite enjoyed it he's signed up for a month!!!! lol Brenda hope youre feeling better now and get the monitor sorted. Fred l hope you're not paddling in too much mud. Sylvia are you ok?? Take care everyone:o) Jude sarf wales :o) x