General Chat

hi everybody,i just have a few seconds before i have to go,long enough to say,if you want to see Fred in trouble again ,check out the otherthread,the canadian one ,fred will do a shoot now before anyone has a look 'cause i'm still mortified lol.Fred.PtfA&G&G&S.

Oh dear Fred - you should have gone to Weight Watchers !!!! You'll have to be on your best behaviour now if you want Liz to help you out with that second coat. Love & God bless Kathleen

Hi everybody, Well our new television came today, so Johan is as happy as a sandboy playing with his new toy. Me, I'm more happy with the internet/computer. The weather is absolutely marvellous. Brilliant sunshine, although at night the temperature drops right down to frost on the ground. We have to have our central heating on now every night. Yesterday I made some 15 Xmas cards as I had plenty of time on my hands. I usually have the last minute panic with 80+ cards to make. I cross-stitched them all one year. What a job. I now just cut and paste bits and pieces. Tomorrow I have to go to the dentist and hope my new teeth are finished. Dying to take a bite! Haven't seen my grandson for a couple of weeks. I hope he doesn't turn up with his dirty washing the day before I go on holiday. If he does, then hard luck it will have to wait. I haven't much news today, so wish you all a pleasant evening and till tomorrow.Sylvia xxx

Hi Kathleen,Liz even put a second coatr on for me this morning while i was down in Bradford,i was half way along themain road just short of the town centre when an angry great orange airoplane arrived at the end of what must have been the end of the runway ,turning round to start it's take off run. This by the way was only a few dozen yards from the road ,on top of ground that ,it slopes down to the main road,these midland people must love to live on the edge literally,it wouldn't do me at all ,i am used to flying ,but i,m not used to seeing airoplanes indicating to turn right at the crossroad lol. The son got a bargain,with the trailer tent,it only has a couple of splits in the roof ,which i can repair with a bit of resin and glass fibre,and it's in top class codition inside ,complete with cooker and built in bunk beds and seats,no more putting up tents,and room to stand up inside. Looks as though i will have to look for a dvd for this evening seeing as there is nothing on the box again. Must go now,seeing as i hav'nt even started the tea yet. See ya all later ,have a nice evening all.Fred.PtfA&G&G&S.

Fantastic weather still so I cleaned the big white table on the balcony and brought it indoors for the winter months. Annemie's husband came and helped me with old plants putting into plastic bags and taking downstairs. I still have a few more odd jobs to do and hope to do these tomorrow and then my balcony is what I call 'ready for winter'. I also did my grandson's washing and hope to have it ironed for Linda to take away when she comes on Friday. Today Johan phoned the doctor for the result of the blood he had taken a couple of weeks ago and heard it was not good. He was going to leave it until he sees the cardiologist in October, but I made him make an appointment with our doctor on Friday. I want to know more before we go away for a week on Sunday. My neighbour who has a house in Hungary phoned today and said they were not having such good weather. Now have a nice evening everybody and see you tomorrow. Was nice to hear about your escapades Fred. Have you made your Xmas cake yet? Sylvia xxx

Just a quick answer to Sylvia,no,i think it's a little early to be doing the cakes yet,but Liz has plans to do the christmas puddings this next week,we always do the home made ones cause they taste so much better. My forte.is the main meals ,and i have them planned,the wine fed Turkey is ordered at the usual farm up the road,and i have a big rump joint from my sisters already in the freezer,all the more tasty because it is well hung before freezing. i won't be getting the pork or bacon from sis' this year 'cause she did lamb instead,only now it's fully grown sheep ,which is tastier than lamb,and less fatty. That's it for this time ,i am shattered after such an early start ths morning and i am off to bed . Fred.PtfA&G&G&S.

Hi everyone, I cant believe I haven't been on for 3 days. Every morning I get up with lists of jobs to do. I know I have only moved house twice before but I am sure that I have had never all this messing around to do, Fred, we have often threatened to get a trailer tent, they are easier to tow than a caravan but easier to put up than a tent, although these tents that go up like an umbrella are easy to put up but haven't a lot of room. Sylvia, I think you are wise to insist on Johan going to the doctor begore you go awaym otherwise you wont enjoy yourself anyway. Mavis, Its a pity they haven't a webcam but a webcam isn't any good without a PC. I' m sure you will get a lot of photos. Kathleen, I am thinking of you and Susan, I have my fingers crossed for her. Sorry if I haven't mentioned everyone, but I have to leave for a phone call now June xx

Hello everyone Haven't been on here for nine days and thought I would pop in. Like Judy and Mavis I will be glad when the NZ election results are finalised. We have had rain off and on since the weekend. Our church has been doing the 40 days of purpose campaign which was completed on Sunday by releasing about 100 balloons in the sky, only problem it rained and the release was done in stages by standing on the step and throwing the balloons. This was followed up by a luncheon. What do you think of plastic bags that supermarkets and the like give with your purchases? I find them annoying so much so we are now using cloth bags for our groceries. Another thing not all plastics are recycleable which is also a blasted pain - they say recycle only 1 and 2 into the bins, the rest end up in the landfill. So much for looking after the environment. I am not a greenie but plastic is a big problem. John

i agree about the plastic bags,i prefer the old fashioned paper ones that the americans use,you can use them more than once ,and they are biodegradable.,besides which,the world is short of oil already ,so why waste it by making plastic bags when there are plenty of alternatives. You insist on Johan seeing the doc' before going on holiday Sylvia,as said ,you will not enjoy your holiday much ,if you are tensed up all the time with wondering. The trailer tent is in very good condition ,so the son is very pleased with it,and i can see us trying it out in the next few weeks. Only just over a week to go and then fred will be terrorising the pike in norfolk,and i can't wait to get one on the b.b.q. they are said to be very tasty. The hedge got cut today,as did the front lawn,i took Liz to get the bits for the cable to the greenhouse ,and liz spotted some orphan pansies ,looking rather bedraggled and lonely,on sale for fifty pence a tray,so guess who has six trays to put in the front garden at twenty five to a tray,oh ,my poor back ,and knees. well ,i'm off again ,i am going to treat myself to some carte doore ice cream ,seeing as i have worked so hard today. I will see you all again tomorrow ,i hope.Fred./PtfA&G&G&S

Hi all, We are finding it difficult when buying goods here to be given a bag, either paper of plastic. You can buy one if you want. Now that's one way of stopping so much plastic being thrown away. In Germany they are very 'green' conscious. When you have bought your goods you can take off all the packing and leave it at the supermarket. You will never be offered a plastic bag or even a paper bag. Bring your own is the answer! I too have lots and lots of linen bags. Have now finished off my balcony making it 'winter ready'. I thought if I don't do it today then the weather might be bad when I have had my holiday and then I will regret not doing it. It's always a nice feeling when you have finished off something. I have also done my grandson's ironing - bless his cotton socks! Managed to finish off some Xmas cards I was making too. Whilst cleaning my balcony I watched the men hoeing the weeds in the bushes round our flats. The boss was a Nederlander and he had an African-looking man and two Asian-type men. Well, the two Asian men spent most of the time leaning on the van that brought them here. In fact the boss said to them at one stage 'you'll make a dent in the van'. What a lazy lot. They've left half the weeds in. I suppose somebody will come and pick up the weeds and rubbish as it didn't seem to be their work. They stood smoking cigarettes all the time, but work, no.I did wonder why the boss didn't get cross with them, I would have done! Tomorrow Annemie and i are off to the market, chattering, nattering all the way there and back and over a cup of coffee. We've not seen each other for a few days so have a lot to talk about no doubt. Now have a nice evening and see you all tomorrow. Sylvia xxx

Hi Everybody Well I've not much news but thought I had better make an appearance and not let the team down.I do so much love reading about all your very active busy lives. Fred where would we be without your hilarious accounts but I must admit keeping up with your 'sore bum' takes a bit of doing but I am getting the hang of it,jumping from thread to thread ! Must admit it would be a bit of a shock seeing a large airplane at the bottom of the street.Yesterday we watched on CNN the emergency landing made in LA by the Airbus with faulty landing gear.What a lovely piece of flying demonstrated by that pilot and what a terrible nerve racking 3 hours those passengers went through. John,I agree with you about plastic bags and to make it worse people are sending their rubbish in large plastic bags because they are much cheaper than paper,what a futile exercise in waste management and lack of leadership by our politicians. Sylvia I do hope Johan has a good report from his doctor,it would be a shame to miss your little break away. Regards and happy thoughts to you all JudyNZ

Hi everybody, Well Johan went to the doctor today and she told him that he hadn't got worse and the impurities in his blood show that his heart is not functioning optimally. We have decided to go away for a week and forget things. Had a busy day, but done almost nothing. When I got back from the market with Annemie my granddaughter Linda arrived to help me in the house, and then her father turned up for coffee. No sooner had he gone then my hairdresser came, followed by Annemie again to show me photos of her granddaughters christening. What a day! It really is beautiful weather here that it is a pity to stay indoors. I watched a very interesting documentary programme on Belgian television last night. It showed lots of old photos of Belgian soldiers working in England making shells for the war. This is World War I. 1915. Apparently they set up a village, building lots of houses for these soldiers and a factory. They later even had a school for the children and their own shop. It was like a getto really as they were not allowed to go out of this village and the local folk were not allowed in. They had guards at the gates. The local folk didn't like this very much, especially as they had better houses than they did, with flush toilets and electricity. These soldiers were those who had been injured in the war and couldn't fight any more but could do other work. There was some friction among the soldiers as they were frustrated when doing a day's work that they had to stay in the village. One soldier wanted to go back to Belgium to visit his family, but when he applied wasn't dressed 'proper', the wrong hat on or something silly like that, and that set off the fireworks. They started breaking up everything. The result was that they could mingle with the local folk etc. This place was called Birtley, Co. Durham and the village called Elisabethville. They have lots of streets there with Belgian names. I wonder whether anyone on this Board are descendants of any of these Belgian soldiers. I thought you might like to read this. I had never heard of this before and once had a penfriend in Birtley, Co. Durham. Now see you all tomorrow. Sylvia xxx

Hi Sylvia,your little village has now been swallowed up by birtley which is now a pretty big place,overshadowed by the angel of the north which is just over the motorway on the southbound side. It's a pretty airy place despite having a very large trading eastate ,where they make everything from ammunition,to childs toys ,building site machinery like j.c.bs,to caravans. There is also a museum [beamish] not too far away,which is a step back in time ,showing streets frfom the last century ,trams,steam engines through to a victorian fair complete with a steam driven merrygoround. they have a drift mine there too ,which was in use till twenty years ago ,you cn even take a rip into the shaft,under supervision of course,so your pen friend no doubt told you of many of these things,and of a very friendly population. i did manage to get one of those punnets of pansy in before the heavens opened ,so the rest will have to wait till the weather improves somewhat. i have managed ,with the help of my youngest son ,to get the honeysuckle plant out,it was a bit of a job,but it's done now.. I went and got the rest of the stuff for the greenhouse today,so i reckon i will be starting on that next week,so that i can get the het and lighting installed before i have to start putting the new seedlings in. I am a little depressed today folks,i have heard that i will never be able to return to work ,owing to my illness getting worse,not better,but i will get over it,at least i am still mobile,and i suppose it's just a matter of flinging myself more to do ,to keep me busy,maybe annoying you lot more to fill in the time lol[you have beeen warned] . well ,it is my turn to do the tea [and washing up ,more gloom],hee hee,i asked for a dishwasher ,but the lass says i have two,[my hands] rotten to me she is lol.Syal.Fred.PtfA&G&G&S.

Hi everyone, Today isn't as good as we have had for the last few dats. Its been raining on and off all day. I have been adding a bit more to my memories, some people on Genes have been writing their life stories, I decided to have a go. I dont intend publishing it but thought I would put it on a CD to pass to my grandchildren or maybe grandchildren. Once you get started one memory leads to another, Sorry I have to leave now, will try and get back on later. June xx

Hi everyone. While I write this most of you will be sleeping! It is 1.30 p.m. here in NZ. Sunny start to the day but is now cloudy and dull. June - What a good idea to put 'memories' on to a CD for the grandchildren. I shall have a go. Fred - could do with your help in our garden! Good on you for keeping busy. Sylvia - Found your little bit of History re Belgian Soldiers very interesting. Always something to learn! We went to my son in laws brothers 40th birthday party last night. Had a lovely time. They had a large spit with a whole lamb on. The meat was delicious. Lots of people there - young and old! The music was a little bit 'boomy' for us oldies! My son in law has pulled a muscle in his lower back - is having physio but unable to work. He is a bricklayer. Any suggestions to ease the pain? He is on Voltaren. He is self employed so not being able to work is a problem. All for now Mavis

Shame on you lot,a new face on the board and no one says welcome? that will never do ,welcome Mavis and please do come back,we could do with some more kiwis on here. I guess you are all getting ready for yoursummer which is somewhat harsher ,and longer than ours I have been checking the winter woolies [and other things] to make sure the moths hav'nt been having a chew,and everything seems to be okay. I have been looking at the emergency heaters too ,and have got in two full bottles of gas ,in case we loose the power again as we did last winter.I also have the gas B.B.Q.out back ,and the gas cooker [camping stove ]in the shed .so we won't starve or freeze,i even have a paraffin heater in the greenhouse to protect my plants ,so they will be fine too. We lost our power for half an hour this afternoon,so i spent my time till it came back on choping the huneysuckle plant up and getting it into a big plastic sack ready for the bin men tomorrow morning,which means the garden is ready for the spring.cor,i am starting to envy you now,plenty of colour in the garden and all. I'm off for a look rouind the boards now ,but may pop back later in case someone else shows up ,heeeelp,Sylvia,June,Kathleen ,ANYONE,lol.Fred.PtfA&G&G&S.

Hi All Fred, if you go back about 1 page, it will refresh your memory as to when Mavis showed up and you may be a bit forgetful, suffering from CRAFT again, as it was around the time your grandson was leaving, but quite a few of us welcomed Mavis, like myself Judy, Kathleen, June and you was actually the first to welcome Mavis!! Are you sure you only landed on your rear lol. All jokes aside I hope you are going ok with not being able to return to work. My Dad had a Quad bypass a few years ago and it wasnt as successful as the Doctors had hoped, he retired from work, but he doesnt let it get him down he tries to keep active and goes for walks every day, when he isnt getting too much trouble from his legs. Mum and Dad also go on short holidays to the mainland or to NZ. I haven’t been on for a couple of days as I have had up to 6 children at home at one time and no less than 4, as David’s 3 are over here on holiday until tomorrow. We in Tassie are also trying to change from plastic bags to cloth ones, you can buy them at the supermarket when you get your groceries, They have these new type of plastic ones that are supposed to decompose better than the older style ones but they are so weak that they just rip, and you are better off with the cloth ones. I suppose it is one way of getting everyone to convert to the cloth bags. We have one town that has won an award for being totally plastic bag free you go even into the corner shops and they don’t have plastic bags, you either take your own or you can buy a cloth bag at the shop. Well I will get going before I have a child looking over the shoulder waiting for their turn on the puta. Hope this finds you all well.

Hello all, Sorry not to have been around for a few days. Was a busy week, several visits to the hospital for Susan's blood tests. Happily she has now had her last chemo, a bit worried that they might not do it because her bloods were not too good but they did and though she is feeling rather poorly is looking forward to feeling better as each week passes. We will know if it has all been succesful about November - it has been a long, hard year for her. Also fitted in a couple of days of 'me time', took charge of Gaynor Bear for a couple of days. Met with a lovely lady Kim in Runnymede and had a nice afternoon. On Tuesday took GB to London to meet CB and Daisy and had a wonderful day visiting Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar Square, St.James Park and many other places. Saw the Horse Guards - the young guardsman on his horse was obviously intrigued as to why he was having his photo taken with a big pink Teddy dressed in a lovely pink ballgown, ermine cape and tiara!!! The weather was brilliant and I arrived home with aching legs, tired but happy to have enjoyed such wonderful company and a really lovely day out. I had taken GB around with me whilst I was working and managed to collect a few pounds to help swell the Cancer Research Funds. Mind you quite a few people thought I had completely lost it carrying a pink Teddy around with me everywhere. I don't care, those who troubled to ask why put their hands in their pockets and gave a contribution. I recently found that I have a distant relative (through marriage) in Australia which is exciting. Think she is a fifth cousin 3 times removed - not too sure if that is correct but near enough. Have to concentrate on sending her details and learning a bit more about the family that emigrated. Off to my bed now, I have read all the messages from Sue, Mavis, John, Sylvia, June and Fred, sorry if I have missed anyone. Now that winter is coming will look forward to hearing from those who are having spring and summer to help brighten our days. God bless Love Kathleen

Hi Everybody Glad to hear your news Kathleen and we will all have positive happy thoughts for Susan. Sue,you must be exhausted with 6 little 'darlins' to keep fed and amused.I think as you get older the patience gets thinner,I love having my grandchildren to stay but as an elderly Aunt of mine used to say 'The little darlings bring their chatter and energy with them and thank goodness take it with them when they go'! Fred,what a well organised fellow you are.My husband also keeps his gas bottles,lamps,cookers etc handy in case of emergency,must be a fisherman's trait ! Well we are into Spring but as I said before the days are more like Summer and the poor birds and plants aren't too sure what to do.It always seems such a pity that flowers like daffodils and freesias have such a short flowering time here.Next weekend our daylight saving starts and we can look forward to the BBQ and those lovely fresh salads. Happy thoughts to you all JudyNZ

Hi June, Fred, Judy, Sue, Sylvia, Kathleen, Mavis, Sylvia and Norman I always read the thread but usually add to Canada and then head for bed! On holiday this week before Axel comes to stay. Kathleen, lots of thoughts for you and Susan, along hard road. I loved your photos with Gaynor Bear. Sue and Fred the currawongs start before dawn here, along with the cock who usually starts about 4 am. Here comes the meowing Mr D. Hopefully he will settle on the chair next to me. Sue the old ticker box is doing fine. Will you have a quiet house after tomorrow? Take care all JA