General Chat

Hi everybody, Welcome back Judy, sorry to hear of your problems, but pleased to hear that you're back and feeling better. It's about time June found a new house and we can have a house-warming party there. Poor old Fred was helping me out with problems with my computer, and now he has problems. I tried sending him an e-mail but even that cannot be carried out - serious this time! It is very sticky, muggy weather here today. I started my Saturday off as usual by reading the large newspaper and beginning the general knowledge crossword puzzle. Johan always looks at it after me. Only once have I won a prize, but I was thrilled, not for the money, but the fact that it is in Dutch and I've never had Dutch lessons, learned it myself by listening and reading etc. I have been baking again today, two brown bread and a white fruit loaf, pressed 5 kilos of oranges for fresh orange juice and grated a half kilo cheese. I'm making Belgian endives wrapped in ham and with grated cheese, baked in the oven and served with potatoe puree. Easy for a Saturday! I'm feeling good with my washing and ironing up to date, just some paperwork to do, but then time is my own for a change. I've finished reading the work I had promised to read and can now hand that back too. Don't know whether my grandson will bring more dirty washing round today when he picks up the other. We'll see. I was so happy to see on BBC last Thursday evening in the Proms Gilbert & Sullivan operetta HMS Pinafore. Did anybody else see it? The Gilbert & Sullivan operettas are so typically English. Well will close for now, have a nice weekend everyone. Sylvia xxx

Hi Brenda & FNW Well it is lovely to be back on the board. I've had a few unexpected days in hospital due to a very serious breathing problem but with some very TLC from our local hospital crew I am feeling much better. Concentration is a bit slow but I am catching up with all your news. June, have you found your dream home ? Kind thoughts to you all JudyNZ

Hello June andSylvia,just a few quick lines again i am sorry to say. Weather still great like you say June,fingers crossd for tomorrow.My saturday off. Have a few jobs to get out of the way tonight so i can have a day of leisure?? tomorrow.Have a good weekend/. Brenda

Hi all, It was a case of shall I, or shan't I, go to the market this morning. You see my hairdresser was coming at 9.30 am to give me a blow dry and rain was forecast. Not good when you've just paid well earnt money to have your hair looking nice for the weekend. Annemie wasn't coming and I didn't need a lot. Now, Johan decided he'd like to come with me to the market, so I went. We managed to get back before the rain came. It wasn't really a lot of rain, some heavy gusts of wind. It is very muggy stifling weather at the moment. When I came back from the market I decided to clean the windows on the balcony - enormous windows - and first had to chase about fifty spiders away. Filthy things, using my windows as their toilet! I also swept the balcony and cleaned the chairs etc. With this heat I was well and truly knackered. I then had a cup of tea and decided to clean the bathroom and toilet. Oh how I miss Linda, bless her, who is coming back today from her holidays in Greece. Anyway feels good now that it is all done. I then set on some ironing - mostly dear grandsons shirts, bless his cotton socks. I decided to have an easy dinner of grilled salmon and chips. We don't usually eat chips, but I have a packet in the freezer which you put in the oven, so are not too bad for you. June, we have not booked our holiday yet, but have sent in Johan's papers for his new driving license and are waiting for these to come back. When these things are cleared up we'll be off. On Monday we have to go to the dentist and Tuesday we are going to my eldest daughter's in Eindhoven until Thursday. We hope to visit Johan's sister of 82 years of age on Tuesday who lives an hour's drive from my daughter. We are going into Belgium on Wednesday. Am looking forward to being spoilt for a few days. Janet really spoils us. Oh it is so lovely to be able to access this site again. Poor old Fred is now having trouble. Honest Fred, I didn't do anything! Sylvia xxx

Hi everyone, Its another lovely sunny day but today we have a little more breeze than yesterday. I haven't done anything very exciting since last Thursday when I went to the Leeds Meetup. Last week I also met up with some old friends for lunch so last week was busy and this week is quiet. I just keep packing things in boxes. On Wednesday, my daughter and her husband went to Chester Zoo, on the way back the motorway was closed, they travelled 14 miles in 2 and a half hours, Apparently it was a bomb, they did hear 3 loud bangs but we haven't heard whether it was a hoax or the real thing. I suspect it was a hoax. Joyce, Welcome to the thread and thankyou for the message from Sylvia. Please come back again. Fred, I have windows millenium on my PC, I did have XP before all the performance with Norton. I cant make up my mind whether to leave things as they are. I would really like a new PC but with the moving of the house, I will just have to wait and see. My laptop has XP on it, I have a lot more on there than on my PC now because it has a bigger hard drive. Sylvia v O, Its lovely to have you back. Yesterday I couldn't get on to Genes and then when I tried a couple of hours later, I managed it straight away. I see you are as busy as ever. Have you got your holiday sorted out yet? Brenda, We have another lovely sunny day but not as warm because of the breeze. I get so fed up of all this form filling, you would think it would be easy enough to transfer things over in these days of modern technology. Well I had better see what else I can put in boxes, I think things are moving at last, touch wood. June xx

hello All,we have had a really nice day here today ,bet it will not last until saturday when i am off work.!!! Went to the dentist yesterday for my check up,the practce has changed hands,so I had to fill all new medical forms in.I only needed a scale and polish ,but with one thing and another it will be Oct 6th before I get them done. I am glad you are back on board Sylvia,missed you. Fred I can't get on the new msn either ,or get rid of the old thing ,which i can't use aswell. June,I think the sun just refused to stop here the other day,as it passes me to get to you really ,I think!!?. Sylvia in Oz,hope you had a good day off and got tucked up ok with the hot water bottles.Hope your not like me and loose the tops all the time,even after tying them on the bottle.!!! Just been called for my cuppa ,so I am off down stairs and then have to call a friend.Her emails aren't working and I cannot wait and email her in work to morrow, Take care ,Brenda

eeeeeeee Sylvia i have just sent you an e/mail ,after asking Maz for help ,and here you are and maz and i need'nt have bothered. Never mind anyway ,here you are at long last,now just you leave those buttons alone you hear lol. I have spent all afternoon putting a new sound card in the puter cause the onboard one was crap,andi could'nt chat to anyone cause there was a load of interfearance ffrom the mother board,so now i am casting my beady eye around looking for a mu----eeeeer i mean a volenteer to try it out.. i Have a few more photo's of the little picnoc at whitley bay ,and a couple of The lighthouse at last ,so i may set the printer up and put a couple of them onto paper. Other than that i hav,nt done a thing today ,we have been getting the house ready for the grandson arriving later on this evening.syal.Fred.PtfA&G&G&S.

Hi everybody, YES IT'S ME I'M BACK! I 'phoned my youngest daughter and told her my problems with getting into Genes Reunited and she told me to type http://www...................... well I did and here I am. Why oh why couldn't I get the site like I always used to do? Anyway, none of that I'm back. The sun is shining today and we gave our car its annual wash, at the washing saloon. I then vacuumed the inside and washed the T-shirts which we have covering our seats. We even found bits of Xmas tree inside, so you can tell how long ago we cleaned inside! Yesterday I made my own pizza dough and made such a big pizza that we have only eaten half, so today I have an easy day, just made some pesto sauce to go with it. I'm so thrilled to be back, so have to stop now and read through some old messages. Ta ta for now. Sylvia xxx

hello everyone sylvia van oosten.has ask me to let you no why she has,nt been on the board.shes having problems getting onto genes,so if any of you can help her please do,have anice weekend.joyce from holland

In reply to the whereabouts of Sylvia v.o. i have just had an e/mail ffrom the lady ,it seems she is unable to log into G.R at the moment ,for whatever reason.The lady in question is very annoyed and frustrated ,but is waiting for her ggranddaughter to come and sort the problem out again . I will not take the mickey cause i often have to ask my son to do the same for me,it took me an hour this evening to find out how to shut down the old msn messenger so that i could use thenew one [deeeer]I'm off to do the fish and chips for the tea but will be back later.Fred PtfA&G&G&S.

Hi everyone, Its lovely and sunny again today and very hot! I cant believe I haven't posted a message since the Saturday 14th, I know I posted on Monday 16th but where has it gone? Gremlins at it again. There is definitely something funny going on because I posted a message for someone's wedding anniversary, if you look now on General Topics, the one from 2004 is on the board as well as the one I posted this week for 2005. Brenda, As if I would Hijack your sunshine, lol! I hope your friends have sorted out the holiday. (I wrote this same message the other day, lol) Kathleen, So that's the secret of finding some rellies, you just threaten not to renew, lol. I must try that one when I am due to renew in February. Sue, I would try new batteries in the door bell, no wonder it takes you a while to get back to sleep. Sylvia from Perth,Oz, You are having unusual cold temperatures aren't you, no wonder you dont want to go in a cold bedroom to post messages. I hope you enjoy your day off, whatever you decide to do. I'm glad both you and Norman have enjoyed the cricket, yes build your strength up for the next match. Where is Sylvia v O these dayes, I haven't seen her for a while, I hope both her and Johan are well. Right off for some lunch now, see you tomorrow June xx

Hello Everyone, Sorry I haven't been here for a few days, but the computer is in the bedroom and it is so cold in here that I don't stay for long. The temperature has been 15C today, which is cold for Perth and is going down to 14C tomorrow. I must get the hot water bottles out for tonight. As you all know, tomorrow is my day off, and I don't know what I will be doing, but I'll enjoy it anyway. Is anyone interested in the Cricket? Norman and I have been staying up late watching it and it was after 2 o'clock am on Monday night(Tuesday morning) when we went to bed. It doesn't start again till next Thursday so we shall have to get some rest in before then. See you all again soon, Love from Sylvia XX

Hi Kathleen,so pleased you are staying,Have sent you an email about not getting yours to me. Sue,hope you sort out your bells ringing,nothing more unnerving is there. Don't know where everyone is,but hope they are enjoying it. See you all soon,Brenda

Hi All I hope this finds everyone well. It seems like the thread has been quiet for a while, I guess we are all busy trying to take photos or chase those elusive relies or sorting our house out ready to move. Well I had a restless sleep last night. I was just nodding off when the phone rang at about 10.30pm, and as usual when I got to the phone to pick it up they hanged up. I checked the number and didnt know it. Then I finally got back to sleep after about an hour of laying there and at 12.20am the doorbell rang, but no one was there. Well it isnt the first time that has happened but other times it has been during the day. I left a message on the message boards as I am starting to think we may have a ghost as there has been a few strange happenings!! As when the doorbell has rang there is no one there. It is a wireless battery operated type. Well I have re charged the batteries and also checked with the neighbours incase they have the same type of doorbell and they are setting of each others, as there is a warning about that. When it went of early this morning I jumped out of bed and went to the bedroom window, which I can see down the drive to the road and across the front yard, while David went to the back door, where the doorbell is and turned the back light on. Neither of us saw anyone running away, and there was no one at the door!!! So now I feel really tired as it took me a while to get back to sleep again. Well I am going to have a coffee now and put Dannielle on the bus for school, then I think I might have a lazy day, probably have a snooze, I bet David will be tired when he gets home from work as he had to get up at 5.40 to get ready for work.

Hello everyone, I'm back now for another year. It happens every time when my membership expires or is about to - I get a positive contact and this time was no exception. Also going sideways in my tree and have now discovered that I have connections in Australia. It's all very exciting to discover new relatives no matter how distant. I haven't worked out the relationship yet but it was my gt.aunt's sister-in-law who emigrated. June, I turned out my airing cupboard it is now all neat and tidy - but there isn't enough room to put everything back that I took out. Happens every time doesn't it? Hope the move goes according to plan and that you are all settled into the new house soon. I sent an e-mail to our Fred - but got muddled with my address book and it went to the wrong Fred!! No idea who the Fred is that received the e-mail and I bet he is wondering who sent it to him. Also tried to send it to June and Brenda but I had mistyped June's addy in my address book and got the message that Brenda's was not accepting mail from my address. This has happened before when I've tried sending to several addressees, there's always one or two that won't go. Must go and sort out all the information for my new contact now. Sorry I haven't mentioned you all by name, I do read all the messages but I tend to forget who said what by the time I come to put one on myself. I hope you are all keeping well in spite of the snow, rain and wind that seems to be affecting most of us. We are promised some finer weather again for next week, hope they are right. Take care all of you, have a good day or sleep well. God bless Love Kathleen

Afternoon all,we have had a bit of a grey day really,think June must have hijacked the sun!!!before it got here. Had done all my washing so just need to iron it. went tosee my dad today as I do most Sundays.He cooks sunday lunch for my two neices ,as thier parents work as carers in old folks/special needs homes.so they work shifts . even when he was having chemo he insisted on doing it,to help him stay 'normal'. My son has just got back from a weekend away in Leicestershire .he went to a friends wedding.He said he had a brilliant time. Need to recheck our holiday plans on the web site for the holiday company ,some friends have been trying to book to come as well.But the hotel is full,they can get the same flight but not th e hotel. Hope you all had a good weekend,take care Brenda

Hi everyone, Its brilliant sunshine today, so hopefully it will stay that way. Yesterday we had lovely sunshine one minute and heavy showers the next. I did manage to clear the airing cupboard though so I now have boxes nicely labelled with the contents in, especially a box of curtains, I dont know what curtains they will be leaving, if any. Lynda (Qld), I hope your father is continuing to make progress, it is much easier when they are home. Your house sounds a happy place to be, families are very important, doesn't matter if they make a mess, it will always clear up. All these different languages will help the children education wise. Linda, Sorry to hear it is cold and wet in Perth too. Glad to hear you are making progress with your tree, I'm at a standstill at the moment with mine, on one particular branch I am back to 1604, but have been at that point for at least 6 months, I am dying to find his father so that I can say that I am back to the 1500s. Fred, I agree, it would be lovely to go and sample Sylvia's cooking, what a good idea! Lucky you, having new names coming into your tree, its so exciting when that happens. I am at a standstill at the moment, I think when I have got this house business sorted, I will have to have a few days away, visiting grave yards. Let me know if Liz's rice fields come along, I will be your first customer,lol Brenda, I am lucky to go sideways with my tree at the moment. I dont seem to be going anywhere. Sue, I'm pleased we will still be able to chat, it does sound quite chilly where you are. I dont think I would leave the heater just yet to sort out everything, leave it until the weather gets warmer. Sylvia in WA, It certainly sounds cold and wet, the weather seems topsy turvy at the moment. Glad to hear both you and Norm are doing fine. I think I will go and make another cuppa, everyone is still asleep so I cant make any noise yet. June xx

Hello Everyone. Hope you are all OK. Sue, Norman and I are fine at present, thanks. The weather here is not very good at the moment. It's very cold and wet and was very windy last night. I don't suppose it is anywhere near as cold as it is over there though. I hope you are keeping warm.Take care! Love to all from Sylvia in WA XX

Hi All I have been a bit quiet for a couple of days. Too busy sitting by the heater lol. As you have heard that Tassie and Victoria had a cold front that bought snow in some places and very cold temps in other places. The mountain near Launceston that is a popular Ski place finally started there ski season with the coldest temp being -8 at the coldest period during the cold snap. It even snowed in some suburbs of Hobart, where it hadnt snowed for about 20 years in that area. A lot of children loved it as in many areas they stayed home due to the roads having snow on them and even though the snow wasnt deep, they stayed home incase it got worse. Sylvia in Aus, What is it like at the moment in W.A.? I hope you and Norm are ok. June sounds like you are very busy packing. Our landlord has talked about selling the house we are in and buying another one, which we can move into. They asked us if we minded and we had no objections, he is pretty good to us and if and when he buys a house he will keep in mind that we would love to stay around the same area due to work for David and School for the kids. Then I thought gee I will have to sort all this stuff out and think about getting things ready incase he buys a place, So I might give the place a real good spring clean and try and throw some things that are no good or donate the items we are not using. Fred, I didnt get to look on the snowcams but I could imagine it would be plenty of snow around. Also I sent you a message in regards your last posting, I may be able to help you out. Well Hello to everyone else on the thread that I havent mentioned. Ooh just before I go I had better mention that I am going to be around for a while yet as David renewed my membership the other night so I am paid up until September 2006.

Just a quick line as it is so late ,like fred I have been putting a few names on my tree,decided to go sideways on a few names as I was getting nowhere going back!! Might go and have a cuppa before bed as its more like winter than summer again.If I still can't sleep my friend has told me to start ironing as it makes her tired almost instantly.!!!! Take care Brenda