General Chat

I don't know how these companies work David, so will have to ring them in the new year to find out. They may buy the property off us, or it might be an advert for another Estate Agent......will find out soon enough I suppose.

How lovely to have JJ again Frank, that's nice of Tony to look after him while you are out. Pleased to hear Jan is starting to feel a bit better. She just needs to not over do things and let the medication do it's job. Hope you all have a lovely time.
Meant to say earlier, congratulations on Lewis's results for his driving test (theory)

That's nice to have your two granddaughters staying with you for Christmas Anne. That's the only problem with today's youngsters you can't seem to get them off their phones.......not sure I'd like to be sixteen again though, to much heartache at that age and any problems are the end of the world too ;-) No I like being the age I am now, me thinks lol.

I'm really tired now so I'm going to sign out and have an early night, I've got another busy day ahead of me tomorrow.....roll on Christmas day then all I have to do is the Christmas dinner then relax and do nothing....can't wait.

If I get time I'll pop in, in the morning, if not it'll be late afternoon
Sleep well, everyone
Night Night <3 <3

Hello Everyone

Just like the rest of you I have had a busy day today. I'm pleased most your problems have been sorted out hopefully tomorrow will be better for all of you.

Gill it sounds as if you have been working hard again today.

Frank what a lovely birthday you have had and a lovely surprise with birthday cake and bubbly. I hope everything went well with your spread for the neighbours.-

Mandy hopefully the tablets help ease you OHS painful knees and he wont have to wait too long for surgery.

My two granddaughters arrived yesterday afternoon to spend Christmas with us
Abbie has yet another new boy friend and spends most evenings on her phone to him as he lives in Dorchester I don't know how long this one will last, he is staying at her home over the weekend but will have to sleep downstairs,Oh to be sixteen again.

I had my Sainsbury shop delivered at 8 o'clock this morning and it took ages to put away but so much easier than getting it all myself' they had everything I had ordered thank goodness. I am going to cook the ham tomorrow and do all the vegetables for Christmas day too

Richard finished work early today and doesn't go back until after new year, so I have washed all his work clothes. Paul [the girls' dad] working for Waitrose has to work Christmas eve and then goes back on the Tuesday he will be staying over the Christmas and over the New Year as usual . He works on the main site not in the shop and isn't on call this year which is good. .

Evening all,

Sorry Ann it was my maths, I was only 77 this year. I mustn't add on the years !!!

So it looks like you are all ready for Christmas. with all this shopping and cooking. There are us two sitting around with nothing to do. I did the gammons on Monday. They are sitting in the fridge.

The afternoon went off very well. Ros has cleared away and washed up the glass's. We used Christmas paper plates and napkins, so they just went in the bin.

We haven't heard from Jan today, but yesterday she said she was feeling a little better with the medication she is taking. So as of yet, all the plans haven't changed.

Jo will be dropping of JJ tomorrow on her way to Kerry's. I will introduce him to Tony so he will know him when he pops in to let him out Christmas afternoon. We will be back sometime in the evening to sort him out before bed. We will set of for Devon when Conrad comes Boxing day morning

I hope you all have a nice relaxing Christmas Eve. And don't have too many tipples No names mentioned.

See you in the morning.

I've been getting a sensation like pins and needles in my L knee the damaged one. What would that be a sign of?

Evening all

I like those Viennese biscuits too Mandy, you're making me want to make some myself, I must resist though as I really don't have the time with everything else I need to do. I'm glad your OH got his results and there is something that can be done to ease the pain a bit for him in time for Christmas. Hopefully the keyhole surgery will help. Have they said how long he'll have to wait for that?

So Fitz thought you weren't in then Jane, at least you got together in the end. How wonderful to get the PPI windfall. I bet you are mentally spending it now, what a lovely Christmas surprise.

How nice to have somewhere close by you can buy home made food Liz, you are so lucky, wish we had something like that around here, it would save me so much time.

I didn't get the apple pie done in the end, I don't know what I did but the pastry didn't work so I've decided to do it tomorrow instead, I'm also making some sausage rolls and quiches and other bits and bobs tomorrow too, before going to mum's for lunch, got a feeling it may be a late lunch, mum has been good about it though and understands with the day I've had today that I might end up running a little late tomorrow trying to finish everything off.

Off to sort dinner now, still haven't had my glass of wine yet :-(

Frankly Jane I sometimes think I'm ready for anything.
Ellen's bought 2 full shopping loads this week, but I can't find them. Could have walked over the road? Seriously though apart from any one who might pop in I'm not expecting visitors. Family has passed on or moved.
Is that how they do it Gill? You sell to them and they sell on or do they buy to let?
Would we be celebrating Christmas at all if it wasn't for Saint Paul a Roman Jew who wrote most of the new testament? You will even find the ancestry of Jesus the gospels of Matthew and Luke.

Yes, the new pong certainly overpowered the nice smell of 'new car'! I've found some clear plastic mats in the garage that I bought for a Renault 10 years ago and never used. They are lighter in weight than the rubber ones I'd thought of getting and look as if they will fit nicely so after hopefully hoovering away traces of the pongy stuff I can put them on top of the existing mats. Any nasties can easily be wiped off those with a cloth. :-)

Oh Jane, I hope Chris didn't slip because his eyes were on those half naked people instead of looking where he was going!! lol. I hope his back is ok and you can't get up quick enough when that happens can you. The last time I went down with a wallop was when I had my dancing on ice moment on the spilled blueberries at the supermarket checkout. Sounds like Fitz didn't know whether he was coming or going today!! You will have to have a 'sign' for him that someone is 'in' next time.....hang something on the gatepost! lol.

Frank, what a wonderful time you had on your birthday! <3 How nice to get a lovely surprise birthday cake. I bet it was a bit singed round the edges with all those candles though! ;-)

I like those viennese biscuity cakes dipped in chocolate Mandy. They are quite rich but very nice. I bet the home made sausage rolls will soon go too. At least your hubby knows exactly what the problem is now and if they can do a keyhole procedure he should recover much more quickly I would think. I hope the tablets help with the pain.

I hope you have got all your baking done Gill and have put your feet up now.

Yes thank you David, I think lowering the car seat might have done the trick. It's much easier to adjust and my back's felt much better the last 2 days. :-)

We're sitting having a quiet brandy just to gee us up a bit. We've had a lovely walk this afternoon, right down to the ford and back round through the pheasant pens (they're not there anymore) so it was a pretty long way!! Cas is busy with her bone, so she's happy!
I'm cooking our ham tomorrow. I shall honey glaze it, and put it in the oven to gently bake. We shall have it for supper tomorrow evening. I haven't done any baking at all this year! . We were given a cake and xmas pudding, and I've bought a few sausage rolls and mince pies from the patisserie in Malmesbury and put them in the freezer. All their pies, bread etc are home made and absolutely delicious so it's not worth making just for the two of us. We shall go out in the morning to our delicatessen to get some decent cheese and a few last minute bits and bobs. Apart from that we're up and running!!

Hi David.Are you all ready for Christmas? Do you have a traditional Xmas ?

Oh Ann,I did laugh reading your post just now..'Au de Cowpat ' sounds just wonderful.I don't think I will be rushing out to buy that fragrance.As for wiping your windscreen with sticky toffee pudding .Well what can I say LOLOL

Fitz has gone now.Apparently he did come here just before 12.30 and thought there was no-one in as there were no cars on the drive .Hannah was here waiting for him as I nipped out to get a few things.I missed him by a whisker.So he came back again with a chilled bottle :-)
Chris went for one of his walks this morning and came across a load of half naked people who had been for a pre Christmas swim in the river.He had a bit of a fall on some slippy mud and has ricked his back a bit
:-S.It's not too bad but he says he can 'feel' it.He said he did a very graceful fall but was so glad no-one saw him.
How is the baking going Gill?.I bet the house smells lovely now.I must cook the Ham .Might do it tonight or first thing in the morning.
Gill the windfall was a PPI claim We took on a Store card way back in 1979/80 but Chris had been wrongly advised on taking extra cover.

Thomas has just come in wanting food so I better go and feed him before he mithers us to death..Seems like there might not be to many fresh mice to be caught out there this afternoon.

Afternoon all,

First time i have sat down all day but at least i have done all i wanted to do .

Oh Gill that was a bit naughty she could have let you know sooner that she didn't need the freezer after all and just as you wanted to get on and do your baking too.

I have made two dozen sausage rolls and about forty of the little Viennese Fingers that DIL loves .

Sounds as if you had a really good evening Frank how nice of the people at the pub getting a cake for you .
How is Jan today ? hope she's feeling a little better ,do you know if you are going away yet ?

Hubby had a call today from the doctors to say his results from his xray on his knee were in ,seems he has very severe Arthritis behind his kneecap and top of his patella the doctor has given him some Amitriptyline like i have for my knee pain and he's also going to write to the orthopedic surgeon at the hospital as he thinks hubby needs to have keyhole surgery to clean the knee out .
At least hubby knows whats causing all the pain now so hopefully these tablets will give him a little relief and he can enjoy his christmas .

Oh no Ann you'll have to get rid of the 'Eau de Cowpat smell phew !!!!
I decided this morning that has i only wanted a few last minute things that i would walk to Morrisons to save getting stuck in the traffic so off i went about quarter past nine when i plodded across the car park there were loads of spaces !! i could have taken the car ,you carn't win .
I then went to the docs to pick up hubbys prescription the doc had written for him when i got there the lady said it had already gone to boots to be dispensed so off i go to boots to find the pharmacy closed for lunch !! so back i had to go this afternoon to pick it up at this rate i will be wanting new soles on my shoes !! :-D :-D

Oh dear Jane and Ann, it looks like us girls aren't having such a good day today.

I know I shouldn't giggle, but the way you explain thing's Ann does make me laugh :-D :-D So you have sticky toffee pudding on your windscreen now LOL At least you managed to buy everything you needed, even if it was a bit like a comedy sketch ;-) ;-)

How did your drinks and nibbles go Frank? It sounds like you've having a great time lately :-)

I haven't phoned the company yet David about possibly selling our bungalow to them, I thought I'd wait until after Christmas as I'm very busy at the moment.

I never got my wine in the end Jane, mum and Sandra came back from the shops and then the first cake needed taking out of the oven, even the cup of tea I made myself had gone cold, so I'll wait until everything is finished then have one later. The last cake has just come out of the oven so they're cooling down nicely ready to be decorated and I'm just about to start the pastry for the apple pie, then of course it'll be dinner time. It's still fairly early so I should get everything finished without having to have a late night, which is good as I'm shattered already and want to get as many early nights as I can before the big day so I'm not to tired and can enjoy it.

What was the windfall Jane? Sorry to ask, but I haven't had time to catch up with everything yet and noticed you talking about it to Mandy in your last post.

Well, I'd better go and make the pastry and get the apple pie in the oven
Be Back Later

Hope everyone's aches and pains are responding to treatment Magpie I hope your OH makes a good recovery and that Mel's teeth are now OK after palette.
Did adjusting new car's seat position ease your back
I'm also hoping Frank's health is OK and that Gill's sale will soon close.
Things tend to settle down around the Christmas time, but look forward to a surge in the new year
I have been working on my tree, but in WikiTree
Sorry if I didn't mention everyone, hello Fiona.. :-)

Afternoon All

I thought Fitz was popping in at lunch time too but he never turned up.It seems a morning of mixed /missed messages.

Gill have you relaxed a bit now with your wine and ready for your BIG BAKE :-D.
I can understand how annoying that must have been this morning for you.It wasn't fair to keep you hanging on like that and not knowing if and when she would be having the freezer.

Mel it does sound to me as though Di text you by mistake lol.You hear of these things happening and sometimes causing all sorts of trouble when the wrong person reads the text !!!!!!!! secret lovers etc

Good night last night then Frank :-D :-D..Great that there was such a good turn out for the choir and then lots of fun at the pub :-D

Now more fun with entertaining you neighbours.You have had quite a hectic few days haven't you.
Well done to Lewis for passing his Theory Test..Next part the big one !!

Yes Mandy ,I have my mind definitely set on a few things now with the windfall.It was quite a substantial sum :-D :-D.Will have to sit down once Xmas is over and decide where and what .

Just going to do make some Red Onion and Cranberry jammy stuff.....but I see that will have to wait a while as Fitz has just arrived !!!!!!!

Afternoon All,

Oh Gill, how annoying and to not even let you know as well! What a shame trying to help has messed your day up now. :-S It's good to offer help, but as Liz says, let them do the organising and collecting. There's no need to feel guilty, you did your bit with the offering. :-)

Oh dear Mel, it does sound like she texted you by mistake! I hope you manage to catch up a bit now.

OH was late back last night, he said he hardly recognised the bit of Aylesbury he went through with all the new building that has gone on. With chatting last night after I didn't manage to be up as early as I wanted this morning. I went to the farm shop and when I saw people queuing up the lane to it I wished I'd got my veg etc earlier in the week like Mandy did! :-S I did manage to get a parking spot but when I'd got my shopping I noticed the till queue stretched nearly to the other end of the shop. Apparently one of the tills had 'crashed'. :-S By the time I'd got served and back to my car, cars were jammed up to the bottom where I'd parked so it was a shuffling and hotching job to get out and leave. Then I went to fetch the Turkey down a potholey long farm track at another farm. The nice concreted area outside was full of other cars so I had to park on a rougher part where there was a coating of manure!! :-S So my car mats now smell of 'Eau de Cowpat'. :-S Nice!!! Then I decided to wipe the inside of my windscreen in the car before going elsewhere as it looked misty. Mistake!! I used the same cloth in the car that I used yesterday to try and get the sticky toffee pudding I'd dribbled down my top off............I've managed to get smears of that on the window now as well. :-|

I thought I'd book up for January to go and see Oliver at the new theatre in the city, but it's sold out!! At least the game for OH has arrived so that will be a surprise for him. :-)

So you're having a day like me today then Mel? Hope it gets better for you.

It sounds like you had a wonderful birthday Frank. There were a lot of people at the concert by the sounds of it. That was nice of the landlady to give you some bubbly and a birthday cake, you were certainly spoilt weren't you?

I've made a start on my baking and mum has kindly offered to go to the shops for me to save me some time tomorrow morning, so Sandra has gone with her. I only need a few things so it won't take long....It's so nice to have a bit of help.

Must get on now, all the ingredients are measured out so it's just a point of mixing up the cake mixture and baking them. I've decided to make an apple pie too as I'm the only one who likes the double cream I've bought, so I thought I could use some of it on the pie, I also like to put some cream on trifle too, plus mum is hoping to get a lemon and cream cake from Iceland for me, so I'll probably put some cream on that too. Yum Yum.

It's very quiet in here at the moment and so nice to sit down in the peace for a minute or two. I can't remember the last time our bungalow was so quiet, it's really nice and relaxing. I didn't get my glass of wine in the end so might just pour it now ;-) ;-) then get on with the baking
See you all later <3

Afternoon all,

It is a quick one as we have both sets of neighbours coming for drinks and nibbles at 2.00 pm. I say nibbles I should say a blow out. There are sausage rolls, mince pies, spring rolls, cheese straws, crisps, nuts, carrot sticks, celery with various dips.

Had a great evening at the concert. I went down with Ros as she said I might not get a seat if I went later, and it was raining like mad. I got myself in a corner of a pew and the church filled up in no time. There were so many coming in, they had to get chairs from a back room. They had printed 150 sheets with what was going on and carols on the back for us to sing. THEY ran out so people had to share. I don't know what H & Safety would have said about the over crowding ;-) ;-)

When it was over Tony, Roger and I walked up to the pub. The girls went home. The landlady put on Stevie Wonders "HAPPY BIRTHDAY" and everyone joined in the singing. She then bought out a Birthday cake with candles, and two bottles of BUBBLY for me to share around. By the time I rang Ros to come and collect me. I had had a few pints and glass's of bubbly. so was in a merry mood. !!!!

Speak later.

Hi all,

I hav'nt got on very well either Gill. I have mixed up the Christmas cake but it has to stand for eight hours.

Had a text from di yesterday to say she would be here at 10.30am. I waited for her to come without goig to the shop and not starting my baking and waited till 11.15am and rang Tim her hubby. He said she had gone to Torrington so I wonder if she had text the wrong person and it may have been her sister she meant to text. I replied too.

Must away and get to the shop before lunch.

Hope everyone else has'nt any probs and you are all rested and well today.

BBL if poss.

I'm so cross right now, I've tried ringing my mum to see what's happening and there is no answer, she has her sister coming round today so it looks like they have both gone out somewhere, so I rang her cousin only to be told that she didn't want the freezer after all.....why she couldn't of rang me to let me know goodness knows. So I've spent all morning clearing the garage so we could get to the freezer, for nothing. I've still not starting my baking, so now I've decided to bake 2 large Victoria sponges instead of the small fairy cakes I was going to make as I don't have enough time to do those now. I'd have rather had the small cakes as they would of lasted a bit longer. Why can't people communicate properly, if mum's cousin had rang me like she said she would I could of got on with today's baking and been able to make the cakes I actually wanted.

I'm just wondering what else is going to go wrong. Thankfully I've nothing planned for Christmas day or Boxing day so I'm looking forward to just relaxing quietly with OH and Sandra. I can't wait, it'll be so nice to do NOTHING for a couple of days, with only the Christmas dinner to think about. OH and Sandra have said they will do the cooking on Boxing Day, but to be honest I'll have most of the food baked and in the fridge anyway (I'm baking the sausage rolls, quiches etc... tomorrow) so I doubt they'll be much to do, but it was nice of them to offer.

Going to get a glass of wine and calm down now, sorry for the rant.
I still haven't had time to read the post yet, apart from yours Liz. Thanks for your support, I really should learn to say no sometimes, but then I would probably feel guilty if I did.....never mind at least I know what's going on now, so can finally get on with what I wanted to do today.

To be honest Gill, if it were me, I'd ring your mums cousin, or whoever, and tell them firmly that they are more than welcome to borrow your freezer, but that they will have to see to having it collected, as you have a very busy day and you must get on. Then get on with your baking as you've planned to do. You can't be expected to have your arrangements put into chaos and risk making yourself exhausted and upsetting Christmas day for all three of you! or missing out on tomorrow's get together. You can't be messed about like that, it's simply not fair, and if people want to borrow whatever, then they must take responsibility for arranging it. I really wouldn't put up with that!!
Just about to wrap the final few presents, and write out four cheques, so must get on!

Morning all

What a morning and it's not even 11am yet. I got a phone call off my mum, her cousin's freezer has stopped working and all her food is thawing out, so mum's asked if she can use my spare one that's in the garage, the only problem is, how to get it to her cousin's as my OH is in work today and won't be home until nearly 9pm tonight.

Her cousin rang me and said that her Son In Law might be able to fix the problem but she won't know until around 5pm tonight. The problem is mum's cousin tends to change her mind a lot so could ring at any moment needing the freezer straight away, which means I don't know if I can start my baking yet or not.

I'm suppose to be going to mum's tomorrow for lunch as my sister will be there, she's staying at mum's over Christmas, but if I don't get the baking done today then I'll only have tomorrow to do it in time for Christmas and I really wanted to go to mum's.......hope the freezer problem can be sorted soon then I can get my cakes done and do the savouries tomorrow morning as planned before going to mum's. So all in all I'm not sure what's happening yet.

My sister's friend Tommy is bringing her to mum's this morning so I might suggest that he comes here and I'll help him get the freezer into his car and take it to mum's cousin's then I can come back and do the baking this afternoon, rather than put it off until tomorrow.

I can't believe how many problems I'm having this year, trying to sort out Christmas, there just seems to be one thing after another going wrong and slowing me down. Hope it's not going to be another late night for me. At this rate I'll be sleeping all through Christmas day if I have to many late nights, or should I say early mornings as it seems to be the early hours of the morning by the time I'm finally getting to bed lately.

I haven't had time to catch up on all the posts yet, so I'll do that later.
Hope everyone is ok and having a better day than me
See you all later <3