General Chat

Good morning all,sorry to have been remiss ,but i have been a bit busy these last few days,but never mind,i have managed this morning so here we go. For those of you who never frequent the canadian thread[shame on you ,cause they are a great crowd]i will fill you in on the weekend. We got tto the sons to find he had a rescue dog in the family now,a Bitch rot' named Mia,two years old and still growing,she will never be a big dog for her breed,but is solid ,and it takes my son or me to take her out for a walk,she is far to strong for the womenfolk. It took her about half an hour to come to me but once she had bonded she spent three hours bringing me the stuffed toy she has ,for me to throw it for her[ouch ,my arm this morning].She is fearcely protective of the kids already,and hates Ann to go out of the room,and if she can't get out to go to her she sits and sulks in the corner.lol. Stephen is a little miffed cause he takes her walkies and feeds her,but iv'e told him she must be a womans dog and he should be greatfull,cause it means she [Ann],and the children are safe with her wherever they may be,which ,in todays world is as good as you can get I was playing with alayshia and pretended to smack her,Mia came straight over ,knocked my hand away with her muzzle ,and gave me a look which said clearly ,NO,so i had to pat her and say Good Girl.at which she wagged her tail and strutted off duty done,this dog and i are going to get along fine. The son and i are hoping to get away to Kielder for the weekend to give the caravan a try,i must admit i am looking forward to it as i havn't been to Kielder this year and love the area. Must go now folks,duty calls,any of you out there with a spare invite to the other site ,please think of old Fred,i could do with another bolt hole just in case lol. See ya later peeps,Fred.

Hi Sylvia, Looks as though you need a helping hand here, so here I am. Just a quick message though as I've been working on my tree and am now being nudged off my chair to go to the kitchen and bake John some granola cookies. Where's Fred; hope they haven't taken any notice of his letter! Haven't been doing anything particularly interesting Brenda; same old, same old!! A little of this and a little of that, mainly chores around the house, and my tree. Also I've got my knitting out again; had just started a chunky sweater in the spring so must finish that off first, and have about 4 or 5 other knitting projects in mind. Probably won't get round to all of them, but I'll try. First of all though I've got to plant some garlic and I bought a load of daffodil bulbs this morning, so must get them in and then put the garden to bed till February, when it all starts over again. Think I'll cement over the whole thing and just lie in the sun next year!!! lol Lucky you Sylvia, to have a cleaning lady, and a good one from the sound of it. Still it only takes me a couple of hours to whip around our suite; I just wish men would take their boots off at the door! Thanks Mavis for all the emails especially the last one. Haven't yet got round to sending it on, but will do. Meanwhile, back to the kitchen I go. Take of yourselves everyone. Hope you'll have a pleasant Fall. Love to you all, Di.xxx

Hi everybody, Well here I am a very happy bunny as my help has just gone. She has done a lot, including cleaning the windows in our sitting room. I recited the poem to her 'Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who has the cleanest windows in the land'. She had to laugh. Yes, we get on ok so hope she stays. She had told me last week that it was her birthday last Thursday, but silly forgetful me forgot otherwise I would have had a bunch of flowers waiting for her today. Anyway I gave her some money to get some herself. What fantastic weather we are having, let's hope it lasts until Xmas and then get better! See you all tomorrow Sylvia xxx

Hi everybody, I guess you are all taking advantage of the nice weather as I don't see anybody else around, only Brenda, but then Brenda is always around fortunately. I have been taking it easy and making lots more Xmas cards etc. Had a couple of phone calls from friends which was nice. Tomorrow I have my help in the house so she can do the windows in the sitting room as they do look awful now I have chased all the spiders away. She comes at a nice time 1.00 - 4.00 in the afternoon which means I don't have to rush my shower in the morning and get dressed in a hurry. The weather is going to last a few more days at least, so girls get out and enjoy it. I heard via MSN from my granddaughter Linda and she said she is so tired as she has been working 6 days a week. She begins quite early too and finishes at 6.00 pm. She is in charge of ordering and running the shop which is quite a lot on her young shoulders. I said she will soon get over the tiredness when she is more confident, but when you are learning it takes it out of you. I asked if I could help her with her washing and ironing, but she said no, so ok. Have a nice evening everyone. Sylvia xxx

Hello,looks like everyone has been busy doing other things ,hopefully nice things they can tell us all about later!!! i have been altering some pants and tops .visiting my dad and then had to cook a late lunch,will be going down and doing some ironing shortly,and then doing some each day and getting ready to pack. Had some great weather the last few days,hope it continues. On work 12.30 to 8pm tomorrow so might not get on here,Take care ,Brenda

nudge for later

Hello.on my lunch break so taking a few minutes to say hello.Glad everyone is back,it would be a shame to break up . Enjoy your boat Fred and lets have a piccie. Sylvia hope the new car is good as well. John hope your conservatory is finshed ,just in time for your spring and summer, Di,keep in touch which ever way you want,just as long as you do.LOL Must have my sandwich now Take care Brenda

Hi everybody, Glad to hear that you've changed your mind Fred. You cannot leave us now, we've been together too long! What fantastic having your very own fishing boat, catching all those fish for dinner. Think of the money you'll be saving on meat whilst you are eating healthier fish. Fish is good on the barbie too. The only thing I don't like doing is cleaning the fish. Can you do this Fred? Nice to hear you're staying too Di, again one of the 'old' ones who cannot be missed. I love reading your adventures with the kayaks, dog, and cat. Nice too having Mavis, who seems to be having good weather her end. We too are having nice weather, but the wind is cold. Cannot moan as it is dry. I know I should have mentioned somebody else, but like a dumbo have forgotten the name, a mans?? yes, but who, oh old age creeps upon me! Forgive me please do. I sent Johan out today and said he could borrow my scootmobile. I needed a few things for our new car, such as paper tissues, spectacle cleaners, etc.etc. Yes, we get our 'new' car on Tuesday, time is drawing near. Now time to get something to eat, must feed the brute or he will be cross. Sylvia xxx

Morning peeps,for some reason Fred is still here,so maybe they lost my email in the furore of this week,soooo ,i will stick around until i am booted off or my membership runs out lol. Now ,Now ,i hear the groans but i am unmoved ,seems as though you are stuck with me for a couple of days at least. I have to take a photo of the new boat,a 17 ft cabin cruiser which is at home on the sea as well as the broads. She is fitted out as a fishing boat ,and will be berthed at Amble in northumberland ,a very good sea fishing area. It already has a fish finder on board and a navigation computer with a compass backup,a 25 hp ouboard [volvo] and a default engine 6hp [pento ]in case of a main engine failure. There are a few things to do ,including anti foul paint for the hull bottom to keep the weed and barnicles ffrom sticking to the hull,but thats about it. Have to go now peeps, to finish the repair to the deck which i started last night ,nothing bad ,but needing done for sure footing on a moving deck lol,to cold to go swimming with a fishing rod in november hee hee. Catch yo all later [i hope] Fred.

Hi everyone The bathroom apart from new vinyl is finished and we are pleased with the result. Our conversatory is underway with a new concrete pad being laid on Friday now its matter of waiting for the framing and glass to go up. We were watching the TV news the other evening and nearly every in the opening minutes reported bad events. Hearing the deaths of two Australians - Steve Irwin a week ago and then the death of Peter Brock in car race - both names are well-known down-under. Have good two-week break Brenda, we will be still here. Take care John

Hi everyone, I'm still here, and as I said on the Canada thread, probably will be as long as I can afford it, and as long as I remember where the computer is and how to use it!! Conflict used to upset me, especially when a specific person is targetted by a group, but I've come to realise that some people thrive on it and you can't reason with that kind of mentality; you just add fuel to their fire, so like Sylvia, I try to ignore and let them get on with it.Just hope things will calm down, so we don't lose this board, and our lovely threads completely and forever! Still, we could keep in touch via the mass email route, as we did this time. I do hope Fred will come back, but he'd have to ask GR to reinstate him; maybe we can get him to do that. He'll be such a loss, otherwise.I have my tree on the other site; took it off of here months ago as my maternal line is Jones with lots of Johns, Williams and Elizabeths, and my hot matches took forever to delete. So if and when I have time and inclination to get back to genealogy, which I probably will come winter, I'll work on it there, and visit their chat boards occasionally too; lots of lovely people, many we already know, there as well. John's in the workshop all day now, so I can get online during the day, as long as my achy neck allows! It's a lovely day here, with a cool feel to it. I spent sometime freezing runner beans, and last night Bernie brought me 5 1/2 lbs of plums from a friends tree, so tomorrow morning I shall make plum jam, and add to my stockpile. Thanks for the emails everybody; it was lovely to know we could keep in touch regardless. If I don't get back before you go, have a wonderful vacation Brenda. Hope you manage to shake that cold before you go. Love to you all, Di.xxx

Hi everyone I am still using this thread - yes come back Fred and Di and the others. Still have my cold and have a bit of a temperature today so feeling a little under the weather. Panadol etc will do the trick. Sylvia - what a problem with the smell from the sea. As you say 'poor restaurants'. It is raining here today and quite chilly. The lawns needed the rain so I will not grumble. Will write more tomorrow - the poor old head is aching!! Bye for now. Mavis NZ

Hi everybody, Welcome back to those who have decided to stay with us. Fred, don't leave us, come back, we cannot miss you. It is a good thing that GR have done something about those 'bad' threads. I think they should be stopped before being published, but maybe this is not possible. Last year my name was splashed all over a thread saying nasty things. Because I never replied it only made them angrier, but I didn't want to kindle any fires. It eventually died down. Silence is the word, don't reply or take any notice. Well it has been a wonderful sunny day here today although there is a cold wind blowing. We have a terrible smell in our harbour and it smells like rotten eggs. We have had it since the hot spell of weather. We have a blue fungus in the water and nobody knows how to get rid of it. I feel sorry for the restaurant owners as this weather you would normally see people sitting eating and drinking outside, but this morning when I went past on my scooter all the chairs were empty. I don't know whether it is because of this terrible smell but I have had a headache nearly every day this week. Now have a nice evening everybody. Sylvia xxx

Hello everyone,nice to be back,not sure what caused the shut down,but hope it doesn't happen again. looks like we have lost our Fred.he has emailed Di and said he was fed up and has left ,due to all the troubles. I will keep this going but am away for two weeks from 15th Sept and goodness knows what might happen during that time.. Brenda

Afternoon all[Fred sidles in mask ,and antiseptic spray at the ready]'cause everyone seems to be getting this bug lol. This is a new ,deadly strain folks ,passed on via a computer keyboard ,and modem[ a TRUE virus hee hee]. This leads of course to the main question of the day,whose next?oooooooer. I hope you two soon get better,i am trying to cheer the two of you up in my zany way,but having it last year i realize it's no fun,you really need to take to your bed with paracetamol or the like ,and let it run it's course.,which ain't easy to do when you are trying to run a job and a home at the same time. I was lucky ,the fumes from my job [styrene gas ] seemed to hold it down while i was at work ,and it only got bad when i had been home an hour. It's been a funny day so far,but i only have a couple of hours to do now and one full day [tomorrow] to do this week. My son and i have our new boat,a 17 foot dory,[proper fishing boat,the only trouble being ,it's in Exeter and we have to go and collect it in two weeks time at the weekend,a good chance for me to try out my pda for the first time. There is a bit of work to do on the transome ,where the last owner tried to change it to run two engines[for a fishing boat] instead of just fitting a bigger engine. It entails removing the inner transem,and wood ,and replacing it all, including the grp under and over the new wood insert,followed by a layer of half ounce tissue,but not to worry ,i used the stuff for many years ,and it will give me something to do for a few hours and keep my hand in lol,If i get myself in bother i will give Di's hubby a bell ,he has been their before me ,and i can pick his brains if needs be lol. Nothing much else to report today ,other than we are having home made soup for tea [suprise suprise] with home made bread ,which my missus makes ever so often the hard way taught by her mum,no machine for her lol. I quite look forward to this time of year with all the recipies passed down by both mums,,pan haggilty ,home made peas pudding,country soup with bacon pieces and leek in,that sort of thing, sluuuuurp. The only thing i miss is her home made jam,but at least i still get a sniff because she still makes it for the bairns. Time to go to work now so i have to sign off . Take care all and be good.Fred.

Hi everyone. I now have the dreaded cold - eyes and nose streaming - third day now so hopefully tomorrow will be better. Living on Lem sip and Panadol and lots of fluids. Had rain last night but today it has been quite nice again. Should be fine tomorrow so maybe I will feel like sitting in the sun for a while. Last Sunday was Fathers day and we had a lovely afternoon plus eveing meal with my daughter and her family. Kevin (son in law) had been to Church early in the day for the fathers day breakfast. Had quite a feast too. I have had to miss my indoor bowls and Mahjong due to my cold - don't like to mix with others and pass it on. Just hope Pip doesn't get it - his breathing is bad enough as it is. Not much to report this time - enjoyed all your info everyone. Regards Mavis NZ

Good evening ,I am sorry but once again i can only say hello and goodbye,as I feel rotten again,headache ,sore throat tight chest,and now my ears ache as well,think I might have picked up the virus that seems to be going round the libraries.Need to get rid ,as we go away next week. Fred ,glad you are seeing sense and slowing down,sorry about the B.I.L but he's not helping anyone really.I thought our garden had got another life the hanging baskets and tubs are brimming again. Sylvia,trouble is I am not fitting it all in I really must get organized after my holiday ,so I know when certain things have been done etc.I am going to ask John and david to do certain things as well,after all we all live here and work.well some of us work ,and John has been doing a lot of renovations lately in the house.. Going to get a Lem sip now and then one before bed. take care ,Brenda

Morning Sylvia,i have a few minutes before going out ,so i will reply to you before doing so. I know i wen't to bed very early last night but feel sooooo much better this morning because of it that i think i will do the same until this job finishes ,no burning candles at both ends lol. Sounds as though you took a dose of your cleaner fluid fumes ,or dust while you were sweeping. For a person with C.O.P.D ,that won't do you know,you need to keep fumes well away from your mouth and nose ,and dust ditto,a lot of people actually catch ashma from those two items. You need to go to a do it yourself store and buy three of those dust nuisance masks the handypersons use ,and wear one while cleaning around the house and steps outside,it is'nt very elegant for a lady i know ,but a lot better than another attack like that ,or worse. I will have to take the car this morning seeing as it's pouring with rain,i don't fancy getting soaked . I did notice out back this morning that everything in the greenhouse has now started to die back,and that there is a huge bowl of tomatoes in the kitchen,so i reckon it's tomatoe soup for tea tonight ,with home made wholemesal bread ,loooooverly. Off on duty now,but will be in around dinner time take care all.Fred.

Hi all, Poor old Fred, it's all work and no play for some of us isn't it? Brenda, how on earth do you manage to fit in everything? I do wish I was fitter. Today was lovely and sunny so decided to finish off the balcony, cleaning, sweeping etc. and got a terrible scare tonight when I was fighting for breath. I do have an inhaler, but I have never had an attack like this, made me feel real scared. I have now had a shower and relaxing on computer etc. I am not used to taking things easy. I also used to work a whole day and then sometimes typing at night and gave lessons in English. I also did bed and breakfast. In fact I was a workaholic too. Tomorrow we have to go for control for diabetes. Just routine I hope.I think I will go out on my scooter too if the weather is as nice as it has been today. Now see you all tomorrow. Sylvia xxx

Afternoon all,i have just come in and am off to bed for a couple of hours before i go back again. The hospital was not pleased with Bro' in laws hand ,it seems as though he has been trying to do bits and pieces around the house which has ,put his recovery well back. He has now to wait an extra six to eight weeks before he will be passed fit . All i can say is ,roll on my week off starting on the 2nd of next month ,when Fred will be north bound at a great rate of knots with his fishing rod bound for the west coast past castle douglass to a well known holiday park. See you all this evening ,sorry to be so quick and all ,but i am feeling rather washed out ,but a couple of hours sleep will work wonders.Fred.