General Chat

Hi all, Well Johan and I went to the wholesalers today and did a lot of shopping. I have put some things away but not everything. I found some fresh sardines. I asked the fishmonger to chop off the heads, but forgot to ask him to fillet them for me, so when I got home I had the job of cleaning them out. I fried some for dinner and the rest are in the freezer. I also bought some fresh salmon and plaice for the freezer. My turkey is also in the freezer waiting for Xmas. I managed to find a small one. I am so behind with ironing. It is all very well putting things in the washing machine, but then there is the hanging up and ironing to be done.Tomorrow I will be off to the market. I have ordered a new tosti apparatus and this will be delivered tomorrow, so I have told Johan he will have to stay home until I return. He is then going out to buy our new DVD player. - Another new toy for him! Whoever said that when you retire you will have lots of time on your hands? Today the weather was very dull and the sun didn't get through. I hope it will stay dry tomorrow. Now have a nice evening everybody. Sylvia xxx

Hi everyone. I'm still around but have been too busy to come on here. Have finished my Christmas Shopping (except the things I have probably forgotten!) Have posted all my Christmas Cards. Tomorrow we are having an early Christmas Day with pressies etc with my son in laws parents. They are off to the UK on the 14th December for 1 month. Will be 17 of us - they are a jolly bunch of people so we will have fun. I have to cream and fruit a chocolate log to take. Make prawn cocktails and a macaroni cheese. Will also make a fresh fruit salad. Last night we had a Probus Club Christmas Dinner. It was at 'Daniels' in Tauranga. A really nice restaurant. 80 people attended. Had Ham, Chicken, Chicken Curry, two different potato dishes, new potatoes, many vegetables and a salad or two. Pavlova, Brandy Snaps and fresh fruit salad to follow. Father Christmas gave out the pressies. We all bought a little gift for $2. A fun evening. The weather has been good today - warm and sunny. Last week was dreadful - strong winds and cold. Today is the 1st day of summer in NZ so here's hoping the sunshine stays for a while. Sylvia - do hope your reports are good with the cardiologist. Trust you will be feeling good for Christmas. Must go now - regards to all. Mavis NZ

Good Afternoon everyone,just have a minute or two before i have to put the tea one,but we are only having frozen Steak n kidney pudding with a few oven chips and mushy peas,and maybe some gravy.Did a lot of christmas shopping today dads is now all finished and I hav one main one and a couple of stocking fillers to get,then I can start on the food. Sylvia hope Johanne is ok with his new toy ,we have two dvd players and i have trouble with both,give me my video recoreder anytime!!! Mavis you just come on here and leave messages when you can,I will be busier than usual the next fea weeks as my shifts at work have been split so I am working almost each day. therefore I might noy be on as much as usual. Speak to you over the weekend brenda

Hi all, Well was woken up early by the post delivery service. Rang the bell several times and then phoned us. We were still half asleep so didn't answer. He is returning on Monday with the tosti apparatus I ordered on internet. Never thought he would be here at 8.00 am prompt. I went off to the shops early. I didn't need much shopping but needed to go to the post office to post a parcel and get some more stamps. It is always busy in our post office. The weather was bright but a bitterly cold wind. Is this really winter coming at last? I did see a whole lot of geese flying off, so maybe! I hope this weekend to catch up on Xmas jobs as I have done the last bit of ironing this afternoon and am not baking bread as I think I have enough in the freezer. Have a nice evening everybody. Sylvia xxx

hi brenda well I wondered if you made it to the market at bury to-day,I was thinking about you I had a very strange day the three grandchildren slept over last evening and that went well but this morning when we woke up winter had hit with a vengance it was snowing and freezing rain, the cars were sliding down the hill to the lake near me not a pretty site, we had planned todo some shopping and go to a movie but my son phoned and said the roads were to dangerous so to stay home, so that means the children are here for another night, we have palyed all the games I have they have been on the computor and watched a couple of movies they did there homework last night. to-day was a PD day at the moment they are watching the polar express on the tele and I have crept away for a quiet moment on the computor catching up with the english papers coronation street catch ups and of course this site hope to get them home to-morrow so bye for now goodnight dorothy

Morning all,,it seems as though everyone is getting busy exepting Brenda who is always busy anyway Sees Mavis sitting in the corner ,hi Mavis [waves].and waves to Sylvia and the rest too. I am in for the weekend ,with a stinking cold and await milady's pleasure[getting up ] so that i can get cleaned up upstairs while she gets started on the decorating. I have heard from my poultry farmer who says my bird is doing well and reckons it will weigh in at around 10 Kilos' which is whats needed for my lot,hee hee,by the time i do all the cutting for all the houses we visit it won't be too big,lol,all that will be left are the bones which i use to make a nice broth up for the freezer. We cheated with the ham,bought small ready cooked joints of honey roast from aldi,at £3.50 each ,sliced it and placed it in the freezer ,22 slices from each joint,hey ,you can't buy fresh raw ham for that never mind ready cooked. We have a couple of nice pork joints too and a nice leg of lamb as a treat,so we won't be short of meat over the festive season,all i need now is some sausaghe meat for my country stuffing,and some chippolata sausages and streaky bacon for the kilties. Sean comes home for his last Christmas in this country for three years ,leaving for Cyprus in the new year,so we will be doing the rounds of all the friends and rellies before he goes. It isn't bad news in a way ,he is buying us passports for christmas ,so we can go out in the sumer,stop at his apartment and unwind,hey,i might even get a spot of good fishing in,you never know. Cor,it ain't half dark here thios morning ,half past seven and i still can't see a bat out side on the patio. Have to go now and get some brekkie.porridge this morning ,lovly stuff,but i will be popping in and out all day.Fred.

Hi all, Just a quick note as Johan wants to work on the computer soon. There is a bitterly cold wind outside so I'll be staying indoors. I think I will try and finish off my Xmas cards today. I can only post the overseas ones as for the local ones we always get cheap stamps at this time of the year. Nice and kind of our postal service! Certainly does help when you have so many. The problem is with me is that most of mine are abroad! Have a nice Sunday - first in Advent and I haven't even got my Xmas star out of storage. Well, I have to rely on others to get it out for me. Sylvia xxx

hi everyone,thought i had better bob on here before bed as I didn't get on yesterday. Yes Dorothy I did get to the market,got there at 10.10am and got a parking space really easily,but they charge £1.20 for 2 hours and £1.70 for 3 then £3.20 for over 4but up to6. I didn't have the right change and had to put £2 in ,guess what it didn't give change. Anyway I got what I went for but only managed to get round the market ,didn't touch the actual shops,can go round the shops another day when the market is closed. Had a busy day today visiting a friend in hospital,doing some of Johns christmas shopping.Came home feeling really ill with stomach pains so had a nice cup of tea and a lay down..David helped me cook the tea,then I had to visit another friend as it was her birthday .Had a few phonecalls when out so had to return four phonecalls,only got through to three .still had good chats with them all. Sylvia hope you tosti is ok and the cold is not to bad for you. dorothy,has the snow cleared enougth for you to get your grandchildren home? Fredwill be checking for Richard etc tomorrow, Have a nice day Brenda

Hi everyone Christmas in 21 days and we have made a start on getting presents. Christmas dinner for end of year groups are coming out our ears - the first one as an Over Fifties group (Companion's Club) at the RSA on 15 November. Then our home group met at our place on 27 November with members contributing dishes for the dinner - I had the job of putting a fruit salad together using fruit in fruit juice rather that syrup - we ended up with two bowls. There was heaps of food leave over. Gayle and I had fruit sald for a couple of meals. Mind you when we go anyway my favorite dessert is fruit salad. The next dinner is for the ladies Home League on 12 December which the husbands have been invited to. Once Christmas is over it will be a case of fasting what with all the rich food. Last Friday we decided to buy some plants for the garden - an azalea and lavender bush, half a dozen marigolds and dahlias - which we planted on arriving home. This Christmas will be first time my family have been at our place for Christmas - so we have been putting together a menu and different members will contribute one of the dishes. Tonight - Monday 4th December carolling begins at the first of 19 rest homes until 20th. We are also have carols in the cowshed which apparently is fun so I am told the cows moo, this events also has food being cooked in a hangi (is a Maori word meaning - Food cooked in a pit or this method of cooking; an occasion on which such food is served). There have been some good programmes on UKTV on the Sky TV platform recently Casualty, Holby City and Foyle's War, strange but true these aren't on free-to-air viewing although episodes of Casualty and Holby did screened for a couple of years and no more. John

Morning everyone,what a difference here this morning. It's still a bit breezy but is dry and a lot warmer than yesterday,so i have been out already and fed my feathered friends,and mouse. It looks like being a nice day,the clouds have gone and the sky is blue[sure there is aa song title in there somewhere lol]. Nice to hear from you again John,it must be nice to be able to plant Dahlia as soon as you buy them,i'm afraid mine have to stay in the greenhouse till spring,but at least i have said house and can start them off in pots in early march instead of having to wait until may. The cold has moved to my chest now ,which i prefer,no aching head or joints ,and i find as long as i drink plenty i can throw off a chest cold in a few days and then will be back to normal. Thanks for the help Brenda,i have another mate on here that is going to get me Edwins birth certificate when she goes to Aylesbury in the new year,to make doubly sure Richard is the dad,but i'm already sure he is,what i am really after is Finding HIS dad,which will take me back into the 1700s . I havn't seen any sign of Sylvia and norm these past few days,so i hope that means they are enjoying having the bairns stay over,it should get norm out of his shell hopefully ,and make life a lot easier for Sylvia too. Everyone seems to be getting geared up for Christmas,myself included,we are getting ready for Seans arrival,on the 17th of the month but still havn't heard wether the ice hockey match at Brize is on or off,i do hope it's still a go seeing as i wanted to call in at wycombe and the graveyard on the way home,i would be lot's happier if i knew where my grandads grave was,i still feel a bit guilty having found dads grave and paying my respects and missing my granddad who was so good to me when my mum was so ill. I think i may take the shears out front if it stays like this and trim the hedge top to tidy it up a little,hee hee,at tthe moment it looks like oor wullies hair out of the comic strip,but it isn't worth getting the gear out because it's only the top that need doing ,the sides are okay. Well,i'm off for now,have a great day all,.or a great evening depending where you are lol.Fred.

goodmorning brenda glad to hear that you enjoyed the market, yes I did get the children back home on saturday, as the snow had stopped and by sunday there was just a light dusting left to the strong winds we had . but this morning I woke up to a lot of the white stuff again I cannot see to far the hills are nowhere to be seen, I guess the snow is coming of the kempenfelt bay which is a part of lake simco, they say the driving is bad on the highways but no school bus cancellations, I am hoping that it will clear a bit by 10-30 so I can get up the hill and pop inot the gym I am determined to keep up with the gym. later I am going over to be there when the children get home from school. andrew is off travelling to some meetings and Lindy has lots of studying to do so this will mean I am on call all week, but I don't mind it is kind of fun and if the weather turns bad I can always stay there for the night and head home in the daylight will have to leae lots of dry food for the cats just in case. it was fun reading fred and johns comments I eel like I am getting to know so may nice people well thats it from me hope that you are feeling better bye for now dorothy

nudge

just about to finsh work and the heavens have opened,not sure i will get on later as I have had to change my shift tomorrow and will have to do the ironing tonight not in the morning, Brenda

Hi all, Here I am Fred back again. Had difficulty accessing the site again. Today I went into town to do some Xmas shopping with my scootmobile. There were really gale force winds blowing and I was glad to take cover in one or the other shops. Johan was going to come with me but stayed behind to try and programme our new DVD player. He still hasn't managed it. The only thing is me going into town on my own is when I want to go to the loo. I waited for the library to open and then I had to take all the bags of shopping off the scooter before entering the loo because of thieves. By the time I had got the last bag out I had nearly peed myself. The joys of going alone. Also I couldn't find a place for coffee on my own. They have been moving all the big stores around in our town and one is not certain where everything is. I have been trying to buy myself a waterproof cover with fur lining for on my scootmobile in the winter. I have tried on Marktplaats, a bit like E-bay, but the bidding went too high for me. I have now made a bid on another one. I have had the scootmobile 6 years now and never had one before, but sometimes it gets very cold and wet in the winter. I will have a new scootmobile in the New Year as I am allowed a new one every 6 years. Now have a nice evening everybody. Sylvia xxx

Hello everyone,we have had rain,rain sunshine and then more rain today,sat looking at a rainbow in my dads house this afternoon.Just wish I knew where that pot of gold was.!!!! Perhaps I should have bought a lottery ticket on the way home. Will be starting to do my present wrapping tonight ,I have an idea thet a few of the things I have bought might be a bit awkward. Do hope you get ypour fur lined waterproof cape Sylvia ,sounds like you need it . John hope the carolling is going well ,sounds so different yet the same having carols in the sun at christmas.!!! Mavis ,when do you come over to visit ,I'll have to get up to Bury to meet you. Need to get the tea on now ,then start that wrapping ,see you all tomorrow . brenda

Morning all ,wow ,what a wet morning [ugh],i think old Fred will be stopping in the warm today,getting rid of the last of this perishing cold. Hiya Sylvia,nice to see you pop in again,cor ,you reckon you have puter troubles lol,every time i left click on the mouse ,while using msn my computer tells me it has a fault and neds to shuit down which is most annoying when you are busy doing research,or doing something really important like playing bingo lol. Funny though ,if i am using explorer though there is no problem, i think Mr Gates has problems again hee hee. I think i should get the boat out of the drive ,the builders over the road have bust the mains again and we can't see the road for water,these ruddy builders are a pain in the asse,they can't even clean the road of mud properly and the cars are sliding everywhere on it.. We got the toasting machine out last night and i made some lovely toasties,a couple of chicken and dutch cheese ones that the missus loved. I made a little thick cheese sauce up ,.thickened it even more with dutch cheese and then added the chicken strips charboiled in b,b,q,sauce ,mixed it all together and left til it cooled,placed it in the bread pockets ,added the loose cheese i had left from the mix ,then slapped the bread over the top and bought the lid down and cooked for five,wow,they came out golden brown ,hot and very very tasty. The wife is making a little stir fry for dinner ,so i think i may do stuffed jackets tonight ,something hearty and hot on a horrible day. I think we will be on wrapping some Christmas gear this afternoon seeing as we will be in all day,but never mind ,it's nice and warm in here ,so ,stuff the cold lol. See you all later ,Fred.

Who will cook the turkey? Yes, if I have to go into hospital for Xmas I need volunteers to come and cook my turkey. Actually the same thing happened a few years back when we were in Spain and I had defrosted our turkey for Xmas and Johan was taken into hospital on Xmas Eve. Fortunately I had an English neighbour who cooked the turkey for me. I also had to phone friends who I had invited to dinner. Now I am prepared! The reason for me saying this is I saw the cardiologist today and he tells me that I am very anaemic. My blood count is 5 and should be 10. No wonder I have been feeling tired and keep falling asleep. I am sitting talking to friends and fall asleep, at the kitchen sink, at the television and even here at the computer. Johan laughs at me, but we now know why. I have made an appointment to see my own doctor on Monday to discuss what they are going to do. Fortunately my cystitis is feeling a bit better, although the tablets I now have make me feel sick so can only eat spoonfuls of food. A good way of losing weight girls! Tomorrow I have to go out to the shops on my scooter so hope it is not as windy as it has been today or I may get blown into the harbour. My daughter has already bought her Xmas tree and it is all lit up in her sitting room. I still have to buy ours. Now still have a few jobs to do, so till tomorrow. Sylvia xxx

Hello everyone,its taken me ages to reply to some emails,andwe have been out visiting friends before that.So I am now going for a nice long bath.See yu all tomorrow.brenda

just a quickie again as I am working and for some reason this lunch time is so quiete. Hope you are not too frazzled with Christmas preparations.Speak to you tomorrow. Bremda

hi one and all I am snowed in at the moment and reading freds message I must say his sandwiches sounded smashing ffred you sound like a great cook, sylvia I do hope that you don't have to spend xmas in hospital and that they get your blood count up for you, I am waiting for the snow plows to clear a way out of the complex parking lot then I shall go to the gym and perhaps get some shopping done, groceries are running low, plus the lady at the english shop gets a new load of goddies in every friday and the stuff she has in for xmas is great, some marks and sparks goddies, I spend far too much in her shop . brenda take care it sounds like you have a very busy life, bye for now dorothy