General Chat

Did'nt do any ironing or border in the end but mucked about in the shed and picked my strawberries.

Welcome Island and Flappergirl. I hope you both continue to pop into our thread with some welcome chatter.

Vera what a nuisance when you forget something. I did today too with my script from the local shop. I forgot thye now shut at 4pm instead of the usual 6pm and thought about it at 3.15pm then oh asked me for some souble sided sellotape and it went out of my mind completely and by the time I remembered it was 4.01pm. I rang them but there was no answer so I have to get up early tomorrow and go and pick it up and get oh some ciggies as he has been working outside and then he smokes more. We don't smoke indoors.

Feel really tired tonight so may have an early night for me.

Thanks Ann

Still awake in bed and doing more to my Asda order!

This is where my search ended up AnnG. I don't know why but it took a while to find it so the link may save time.

https://www.gov.uk/renew-driving-licence-at-70

Glad you said about your driving licence Ann OH needs to renew his and hasn’t had notification either. Was it the DVLA site you went on. We will have to look at that tomorrow. I did remind him a few days ago but....

Vera oh dear that was a nuisance, another journey now.
Shame you couldn’t get out in the garden today do hope that July is not going to be a wash out.

Hello Island. Good to see you. There are a few talented arts and crafts people on the thread. I’m not one of them lol. Donkey’s years ago I used to knit and sew a bit but not these days.

Awful weather this afternoon, a couple of thunderstorms and lots of really heavy rain showers. Some of our poor plants look as though they have been flattened. I hope they recover.

I’m not at all surprised you are confused by the Covid rules, Flappergirl. I don’t understand why you can apparently meet in a group of 6 with each person from a different household but you can only meet in a group of 7 if they are only from two households. That makes no sense to me.

I’m really cross with myself. When I ventured to the shops yesterday I forgot that I need to pick up my meds so I’ll have to go in to town again tomorrow.

I hope you all have a good night. See you tomorrow

Lowry did very well with his stick men Gill!! lol. :-D I wish I had a few of his to sell.

Hi Flappergirl and Island. How nice to be handy for a beach, but a worry when the hordes have descended in this pandemic. I always fancied a courtyard garden too with table and chairs and plants on the walls. The rules aren't as clear as they could be but even one night away will be a nice break and chance to see your family.

Well I was busy getting car insurance quotes when I suddenly panicked as I realised 3 years had passed and I needed to renew my driving licence by my birthday!! What a game looking it up as it appears they should notify you months before and I haven't received anything. One site said in that circumstance you needed to complete a driving licence application, but that you could only do it online if you have a valid passport (I don't!) It seemed to imply I needed a fresh photo too. Eventually I found something that referred specifically to coronavirus action (either yougov or dvla) but again said to have docs ready including a passport! I decided to see what happened when I got to that part and luckily you could ignore it if you didn't have a passport. I printed off the confirmation so I have proof, so that is that done. Phew! I expect they are all behind both with sending out forms and licences so goodness knows when I will hear. The cheapest car insurance with most of the extras including protected NCB came out at £246 with the RAC so I may go with that as I thought it wasn't bad for a Peugeot RCZ.

So no crafting again today and after little sleep last night I think I will turn in now. OH's back is aching as he had to empty the dregs and get inside one of the water butts to tighten the tap to stop it leaking. I should have been there with my camera!

:-D

Afternoon all

Lots of us doing all sorts of crafts Island. Have you thought of starting a painting thread, I'm sure they'll be lots of like minded people. We've had a few painters on here so I'm sure they can help. I'd love to paint, but I haven't got a clue where to start. I can draw a mean stick man though LOL :-D :-D :-D

Flappergirl, I think one night away for now is a good idea, until it's made easier to understand. I've noticed a lot of the rules are unclear, so you're not on your own, but for peace of mind staying one night maybe the way to go. Enjoy your time away.

It's gone really dull here after some nice sunshine, so I think we maybe in for some rain soon.

Sorry to hear you had a bad night Ann, I didn't get to sleep until almost 7am, needless to say I slept all day, so will probably have trouble getting off to sleep tonight. I hope we both have better nights sleep though. Your treats for your birthday sound lovely, it's my OH's birthday this month, I'd like to make it special for him, but am limited for ideas as he might be in work and if he isn't we're still not going out yet. I might make a nice meal for him and bake him a birthday cake. Luckily I already have his birthday present and card. I hope you manage to keep your hair appointment or if not, have another one really soon, I know how long you're been waiting.

Did the rain stop so you could go up the border Mel, it's much better than the dreaded ironing. OH and I moved a few more pots around and put the Fuchsia's in the bigger border for a bit of colour. It looks much better now.

I haven't had chance to catch up with all the posts so hope everyone is okay, our meal is ready so I better go and dish up.

Hello Island good to see you. Was it the hobbies board where you mentioned painting, I am afraid it is a struggle to get anyone to post on there. Several on here interested in crafts and we will chat about anything so you are very welcome. We are a very non confrontational group so it is relaxing sometimes to escape here. You probably know (or maybe not) that my interest is card making I am just trying dipping my toes in the water with painting.

Annx and Mel are multi crafters. Mandy doe crochet and needlework and I think other things too.

Hi All
I don't think I've looked in here before but was drawn to 'flappergirl' wondering if it was someone for way back.
Had a quick scan and see - so this is where the arty folk hang out! I gave up broaching on painting and craft elsewhere as it drew a blank. Anyone???? :-D
I don't bite.

Thanks very much for your help. As you say it isn't that clear as overnight does imply one night, but then what about hotels?!! I think we shall play it safe and have an overnight visit and plan for longer when things are clearer.!
We live in Weston-Super-Mare Mel, retired of course but still pretty active! We have a ground floor flat with a pretty courtyard garden, + a garage, which was once part of a big house, over the road from a Park. Back from the sea front but convenient for town and shopping. Luckily neither of us were shielded so were able to make use of the early morning shopping slot at the supermarkets set aside for the over 70's! We do a big shop about once a fortnight and it has worked really well. With relaxation we have ventured a bit further!!! but we are being careful!!
Again,thank you for your replies.

Annx Ooh that sounds really painful. cramp is horrible anyway but that sounded worse than normal.

I did see where there were verbal reprisals against some of the people thought to have caused the lockdown. That is the problem when it is done for a reason people will turn against everyone from the area thought to have the problem people, whether they are involved or not. It is horrible all round so best you stay home I think.
do hope you can get your hair done ok after waiting so long.
Thank you for the email it was a great help. I will have a good try with the cheaper paints then I have not lost a lot if I am (as I anticipate Lol!) no good. In which case I shall stick to my camera and card making. :-) :-)

Morning All,

Showers and now sun so it's a bit mixed but quite warm outside.

Frank I had a bad night too and was still awake when I heard the birds start singing at 4.50am. I ended up adding things to my Asda order in the end, especially some treats for my birthday, a nice desert and some choccies for a start. Then about 5.15am I heard a car and someone come up our drive. I thought it must be the local paper delivery and wanted to see who it was, so I threw back the duvet and lifted my leg quickly to get out and go to the window........oh what a mistake that was!! I suddenly got paralysing cramp in the leg that was in the air and daren't move. My arms started aching as I was leaning back on them, so I gritted my teeth as I tried to slowly straighten the afflicted leg........second mistake! The cramp then shot right up my thigh as well (that hasn't happened before) so I just had to bear it with my face screwed up till it eased enough for me to slowly get the leg back into bed!! Even when I got up later the leg was sore and still is a bit so I am not attempting any gardening today.

Frank I think you have forgotten that our lovely Maureen that used to be on the thread also painted in acrylic paint. Remember the christmas cards she painted? It was Maureen that encouraged me to have a go at painting. She used to tell me that if she could do it anyone could, but I didn't believe her then! Yes Ros's arm must be rally bad for the GP to say that. A break and change of scene will cheer you up I think and hopefully the patio is finished now!

AnnG I can't be of much help really as I still use my paints and brushes from the Works, but have bought one or two brushes from W H Smith for fine detail. I have emailed you with some things that might help.

I'm hoping this lockdown will be lifted in time for my hair appointment or shortly after as I can rebook. Wait and see now I expect. Local places just outside the lockdown are telling people in the lockdown to keep away. I read somewhere that council tax bills will have to be produced at some places before you are allowed in! Letters in the local paper are expressing anger at those who haven't followed the rules causing us all to be punished. The rules are getting quite complicated now some areas will be locked down and others not, which won't help people follow them.

I've set up another zoom meeting with the beading ladies tomorrow. Two are locked down and two aren't.

That's a good idea to make your OH's toolbox mobile Mel. Shame about some of your roses though.

I better start tackling this list of things I need to do. OH is catching up with work and I want to do some craft stuff later. :-D

I hope it has stayed dry for Jane and Fitz.

Its raining here too but only lightly and I wanted to go up the border this afternoon but I suppose now I shall have to do the ironing.......boo hoo. :-|

I cleaned the little loo this morning and cleaned some mirrors so thought I had done enough HW for today.

I must go and get my script first though as I hav'nt been up there yet.

Flappergirl where abouts are you in the country?

From 4 July:

you can meet in groups of up to two households (your support bubble counts as one household) in any location - public or private, indoors or outdoors. You do not always have to meet with the same household - you can meet with different households at different times. However, it remains the case - even inside someone’s home - that you should socially distance from anyone not in your household or bubble. This change also does not affect the support you receive from your carers

when you are outside you can continue to meet in groups of up to six people from different households, following social distancing guidelines

additional businesses and venues, including restaurants, pubs, cinemas, visitor attractions, hotels, and campsites will be able to open - but we will continue to keep closed certain premises where the risks of transmission may be higher

other public places, such as libraries, community centres, places of worship, outdoor playgrounds and outdoor gyms will be able to open

stay overnight away from your home with your own household or support bubble, or with members of one other household

It will be against the law to gather in groups larger than 30 people, except for a limited set of circumstances to be set out in law

Moving forward, from 4 July, people will be trusted to continue acting responsibly by following this and related guidance, subject to an upper legal limit on gatherings (as described above). The overwhelming majority of the British public have complied with the regulations, and the wider guidance on how to keep them and their friends and family as safe as possible. Taking this into account, we trust people to continue acting responsibly, and to follow the guidance on what they should and should not do.

You should not:

stay overnight away from your home with members of more than one other household (your support bubble counts as one household)

As hotels re open I assume you can stay overnight there and I can't see anywhere it says only one night.

Hope this helps.

I spoke to soon. The rain and hail is one of the worst we have had in a very long time. The win is bouncing off the road unto 6 inches high.

Flappergirl, I think if you are staying in one residence with family, you should be alright. We are going down to Devon for few days to stay with my DIL on Sunday. So if I am wrong, then I am breaking the advise given, but I think I am safe to do this.

My dear Ros has prepared the meal for this evening. Pork chops, home made stuffing (her dads receipe )New potatoes, peas,carrots, runner beans, and a few broard beans for her. I have never liked them.

Well the storm is finally going over. The poor guttering on the conservatory, just couldn't take it. It overflowed everywhere.

I wonder if someone on here can help with a query?! OH and I are desperate to visit our daughter and our grandchildren! They live a quite a long way away so we would stay overnight which we know we can do! OH is certain that overnight means that we can stay for more than one night, but I think it's only one! Government advice does seem a bit ambiguous as no one seems to quite know! Any ideas would be welcomed!!

So Frank you don't know Ann then or me cos we both use acrylic paint. Its not much different to watercolour but with the thick ones you can get texture like oil paint.

As to brushes the best ones are sable brushes. Oh bought me some nice pointed ones for Christmas but they are what I call plastic bristles and they don't hold the paint like the sable ones. Its well worth buying good brushes. I have loads of sable one for when I used to paint the minitures for the dollshouses.

Still no rain here, but as BLACK AS YOUR HAT.

We have confirmation that our booking at the TOBY will be waitress service, and not SELF SERVICE. Great idea, I just hope they have enough waitress's to cope. If it looks a bit IFFY I won't take the chance of going in to eat. Instead we will drive to Devon and eat when we get there. We can phone Jan, so she can prepare a meal for when we arrive.

I do hope that everyone adheres to the rules,and I am sure it will be safe to go about your business , as normal as possible.

AnnG, I hope you can get all the advice and information you need, regarding ACRYLIC painting. Tony next door is an excellent water colour painter. We have a few of his paintings on our lounge wall. I don't know anyone who paints with ACRYLIC. So power to your elbow. lol lol


Our dear neighbour Jean was cremated yesterday. There was quite a gathering on the corner of the close, to see her off. Ros and I stood on the doorstep right away from people. Better safe than sorry.

I think it's time for a coffee and something to eat. No breakfast again. Ros had her crumpets and marmalade.

Still thinking of what to do about food for this evening. DECISIONS,DECISIONS. lol lol

See you later.

Good morning all, showery here with a little bit of sun. One load of washing in the drier and the slow cooker on cooking a bolognese type sauce for dinner tonight. smell alright!!!

OH ordered a new computer screen yesterday as one of his went wrong, he bought that one a few years ago second hand and very cheap because it could be used for a TV and CCTV screen, ordered it late yestrday afternoon and it arrived before 11am this morning. Couldn't ask for better service than that. He is now trying to fix it, the instructions came on a disc, luckily his (and my) PC has a disc reader.

Annx We won't be travelling anywhere tomorrow or Saturday (I think people will jump a day for overnight stays, most people want to go for a weekend. We will wait until the end of August before going anywhere.
I have just seen that Merseyside has a lot more cases than thought because of the lag in the reporting of cases from the testing by the private firm. Pillar one tests are the hospital and those are the results we get quickly but Pillar 2 ar the private firm and they don't return results very quickly. It all seems to need sorting out I think

Regarding the Acrylic painting. I have not had a go yet, could you sometime email me the things to look out for, differences from Watercolour etc, the right paper to use, best brushes etc. So far I just have some cheap brushes and 12 tubes of paint and watercolour paper. I have never used Acrylic paint so not sure what to expect although I have watched a video on it. If it is on here I will lose track of it so if you could email it please.

Mel, didn't sleep too badly slept from ab out 11pm to 0515, then lay awake or dosing for about an hour and then slept until about 8am so not too bad. did you get your script ok. Life seems to consist of food, picking up scripts, housework and gardening at the moment doesn't it?

Frank Sorry you had yet another bad night, it is awful to need sleep. Have you asked the GP again re not sleeping. I am sure it is probably not getting any exercise but not sure what you can do to help that.
I expect Ros keeping on with ironing etc takes her mind off her sore arm. It must be bad if the GP said so.

I won't say GOOD MORNING. I had the worse night in years, last night. I went to bed soon after 10.00 pm. Laid and laid, Ros came in at midnight, and still I was wide awake. I finally got up at 2.00 am and red my book until 3.30. Went back to bed and was still awake at 5.00 am. Eos for out to the loo, and I said to her don't wake me I need to sleep in. Oh Yes, 8.00 am was awake and as bright as a button. (NOT)

I have showered and dressed, now ready for another day in paradise, sitting doing nothing.

Vera, Ros's arm is all the colours you can imagine.The local Drs. couldn't believe how she could be so bruised from have an angirame (sp)I must look the spelling up. lol lol. She is putting ARNICA on it 4/5 times a day, but says it's very sore to touch.

The clouds are building up again, so I expect it will be rain,rain, and more rain.

Ros is now standing doing the ironing. I said I would do it, but it's all clothing and needs doing properly. (AS SHE SAYS) !!!

No Idea what we will eat tonight. I think a delivery might be a good idea, as I don't feel like cooking, and I'm not sure that Ros doesn't either. We could pop to Towcester for F & C as we haven't had any this week. Will see what MADAM says.

Carolyn is going to water the greenhouse next week, so we will water all the pots well on Sunday morning, and they should be O.K.

I think I will sit in the conservatory, with my book, and get forty winks while I can.

Keep sake dear friends. xxxx