General Chat

Good to hear from you Gill and catch up with the news of your bungalow. You certainly work hard. It’s a shame that the local traders aren’t so conscientious. It’s infuriating when they say they’ll get back to you and never do. You’ll get it all done in the end and then you’ll have a really lovely house and garden. It’s good to hear that Sandra has settled well in her flat and I hope her heating and hot water gets sorted out soon.

I hope you’ve had an enjoyable day with the family Mandy. I bet Max loves having everyone around.

How lovely to see the plants you planted with T. are thriving AnnG. That must have pleased you.

I’m sure your snowdrops will be lovely Mel. We haven’t got any snowdrops here but I noticed the little miniature Iris in a pot are poking through and are an inch or two high and there are some mini tulips in a trough showing as well. Spring is on the way :-)

We had a lovely afternoon with our friends, just chatting and laughing, with tea and cake. The two men also managed to wish each other a happy new year with a glass of whisky, lol. I had a heat pad on my back and took a couple of strong painkillers before I went, and sat in a firm, upright chair. I didn’t feel too bad at all until we got home as by then the painkillers had worn off. I was glad I went, it cheered me up.

I hope you all sleep well tonight. Sweet dreams.

I didn't spot your second post Gill! It's a real uphill slog with getting workmen to do your work isn't it. I suppose they are spoiled for choice with all the new houses being built as well. Maybe if someone does give you a quote and come to do the loft, they could do one side then you or they could move your boxes to the part they have done to enable them to finish off? I don't blame you for wanting to at least get some of the rooms sorted so you can unpack properly and be comfortable in part of the bungalow. When we did my last house, my then OH built in wardrobes in the bedroom first so I could decorate. At least we could shut the door on the rest of the mess at night then. I'm glad you had a nice relax today........we don't often hear you say that do we! lol. I'm sure you'll find plenty to do when the hall is finished. It's good to make a good job of all the filling as it will be much easier to decorate the next time if you do a good job now. It's a shame you couldn't get that pipework sorted and the plastering done though as that would have meant you could get on with the bathroom and kitchen.

No I didn't go out in the end as I got engrossed in trying to find out how to remove this wretched 'onedrive' on my PC. It copies and saves all my files/photos and is now full and not showing pictures of my photos anymore. If I delete files in it, it says it deletes the originals on my PC too as they are linked, so I can't just uninstall it without losing them. :-0 I've watched a few videos on what to do and the first thing is to save my photos, documents and files to my external drive I think, in case I lose them on the PC. All this is a ploy, as it is ready installed with Windows 10 with a small, free amount of cloud storage and when you have used that up they want a monthly sub from you to give you more!!

What kind of dog is it AnnG? It sounds very energetic. It's a shame it was too overcast for decent photos. I was thinking it wouldn't be the best light for them here.

OH has had a migraine and had to go and lie down for a while, but is ok now apart from feeling tired. I think we'll be having an early night again. It's back to the food drop tomorrow and I will need to help OH carry the bags inside this time so as not to set his hernia off again now it's settled down. I think it's forecast heavy rain here too. :-(

Nice to see you on here again Gill, we miss getting catch ups on the bungalow. It sounds as if you are making progress and soon looks as though you can start to get straight. Hope OH doesn’t overdo things when he should be resting and recovering from his infection.

Did you get out with the camera. I did take a few photos today but the light was not really good enough.

Dog is having a mad few minutes encouraged by SiL. :-)

No Mel the bathroom still needs plastering, we still can't get any workmen here so we're not sure how long it's going to be until the bathroom is finished. Because some of the bathroom pipework comes from the kitchen which needs moving we can't sort the kitchen out either, so at the moment we still have no new kitchen or bathroom. We're getting used it to though and when they are finally done it'll feel great. We had two workmen come here and measure for loft boards telling us they'll get back to us with a price, they then said they needed to measure again, not sure why, so they came back but we still haven't heard back from them with the quote so OH has put some things in the loft so we could make room to get on with the other jobs we've done lately. If they do get back to us they'll have to wait as we have no where to put the things out of the loft now. To be honest we're thinking of leaving the loft boards as we'd rather get some of the rooms finished so we can unpack and stop living in one room. We've been here almost a year and haven't unpacked properly yet, all the boxes have dust on them so I hope the items inside aren't ruined. Like I said we're getting used to living like this now. I'm looking forward to the spring then we can go outside and do the gardens, at least then we won't have to look at the inside then. I'm still plodding away at the hall, the ceiling needs sanding again and the new wall needs a bit more filler, then it'll be ready to paint. I've got used to doing the hall when OH is in work at night so I don't know what I'm going to do once it's finished lol.

Did you have a run out with your camera Ann? We've had lovely sunshine all day so if you had the same you should of got quite a few good photos.

Your walk sounds lovely AnnG shame it was overcast but at least it wasn't raining. What a lovely surprise to see the plants you and T put in, are thriving.

I heard on the news the test kits were hard to come by Vera, I hope you had a lovely day out.

OH and I have had a lovely relaxing day today, I took a quick look at my family tree but gave up when I came across the same brick walls I'd forgotten about.

HAPPY NEW YEAR Gill. Nice to see you posting and to know Sandra enjoyed her first Christmas with her boyfriend. You have been a busy pair by the sounds of things and at this rate you will be ready to paint by Spring. Is the bathroom finished now?

Still dull and dreay here and had no sun at all today again. The winds up a bit now too and pc says 12 degrees.

I had a look at the snowdrops in the orchard and they seem to be behind other years as they are usually up by now but they are only just showing in the grass.

Afternoon All,

It's 13 degrees here and feels very mild. We had lots more fireworks around here once it struck 12 but they didn't last as long as in previous years and they weren't loud ones.

Well how lovely to hear from you Gill and <3 <3 HAPPY NEW YEAR <3 <3 to you as well. It sounds like you are making good progress and that this year you will eventually be getting paint and brushes out and your rooms and furniture sorted out. Possibly a nice front garden too with Glyn getting it all cleared. I hope he feels better soon and he mustn't overdo it while he's recovering. It's good to hear Sandra is settled too and I hope she soon gets hot water back again.

OH changed his mind about going to a match and so footie is blaring from the tv here, to be followed by darts and I am almost tempted to escape with a run out in my car with my camera! Our ham hock lunch was very nice and we have started the last box of chocs, although I only wanted a few as most were creams and I don't like those. I will be glad to get back onto less rations from tomorrow now.

That must have been a nice little walk AnnG and at least the dog would have used up some energy chasing a ball! That must have been nice to see the plants you and T put in are thriving too.

The close looks very quiet today, hardly any visitors. Mind you there are over 1,400 new infections in this small district in the last 7 days. It must be more with no tests being available too.

Good afternoon, it is a drowsy day today, got to bed about one last night, nice evening, a bit chaotic with over excited dog but nice to share the evening with Joe’s girls.

Today we have been for a short walk along the side of Windermere, just four plus dog as younger daughter and her boyfriend have gone home, very mild but overcast. Lots of people out walking or cycling, some brave souls paddle boarding and one group had a canopy erected and were picnicking. We only walked 1.66 miles but Amber, the dog managed 2.9 while chasing her ball.

Came back to the apartment and daughter and I had a walk round the garden to see what had changed. Good to see Helebores and hardy geraniums still thriving that T and Inplanted here from our garden about eight years ago.

<3 <3 <3 HAPPY NEW YEAR <3 <3 <3

Bright and sunny here and quite warm for the time of year. There were a few fireworks going off at midnight but they didn't last long.

OH's been off work for two weeks with a chest infection, he'd had a week off a couple of weeks before then with a chest infection but it hadn't cleared so the doctor gave him a sick note for two weeks which meant he was home for Christmas and New Year. He hurt his shoulder again so the first week he was in pain, but the second week he managed to finish taking the rest of the grass up in the front garden so that's all cleared now ready for us to make a new garden in the spring and he helped me put up the architrave and skirting boards in the hall, we used some skirting boards out of the kitchen so they matched and also took the architrave off the kitchen door so all the doors matched in the hall as we couldn't find any architrave to match, we also took some skirting board out of the bathroom to put in the living room as I blocked the chimney yesterday, we were fed up of the draft so that needs a bit of filler and a paint ready to decorate. We're thinking of using that room as a bedroom as it's bigger than the original bedroom and we have more bedroom furniture than living room furniture. Luckily there's enough room in the kitchen for the dining table and chairs so with a bit of luck all the rooms will be the right size for the furniture we have. If the original bedroom is big enough to have as a living room (we won't know until the furniture is in there) we're going to have a flu less gas fire put in there.

So as you can see we're been very busy but at least most of the bigger jobs are out of the way now and I can do the filler when OH is back in work. He's going back to work tonight but my arms are a bit sore with all the work I did yesterday so I'm having a day off.

Sandra is doing well in her new flat and has just had her first Christmas with her boyfriend there. They didn't go out last night as they both have colds so Sandra said they were going to dress up and have a candle light dinner at home. She's still waiting for her new boiler, it's been almost eight months without hot water and central heating, but because it took her so long to contact anyone about it she's having to wait until they are back at work again. Hopefully it won't be to much longer and her friend is letting her have showers at hers, which is nice of her.

I'm going to take a look at my family tree today, I haven't had any spare time to look at it and it's been ages, so it'll be nice to do something other than DIY. Does anyone know when the 1921 census is being released?

I hope you are all well and 2022 is kind to you.

Morning all,

We too had more fireworks here than we have had in previous years ith about three or four lots going off in all directions. The first lots did'nt last too long and I could'nt see anything. The next lots must have been in Shebbear and the farm up the road and those ones we could see.

Its 12 degrees here this morning but cloudy and grey sky and with a little wind.

Enjoy your day whatever you are all doing.

Happy New Year to you all <3 <3

I hope it is kind to all.

A truly beautiful morning to start the year here, - blue sky and brilliant sunshine and just a light breeze. Just the sort of weather that would be lovely for a walk near the coast....maybe later.

Nothing planned other than making a large pot of vegetable soup to enjoy. We still have some of the root veg bought just before Christmas, so don't want to waste them.

<3 Happy New Year everyone <3

Morning all,

Just a quick look in as we have the family coming ,I had just dropped off when the fireworks started here but they didn't last long and I soon dropped off again .
Very mild here again and I can see some lovely nice sky and a bit of sun.

Have a good day everyone what ever you are doing and I'll get back after after the family have gone and I've cleared up .

Posting this as I don't want it disappearing like yesterday's post.

Happy New Year everyone. A pinch and a punch, the first of the month. It’s a very mild start to the New Year. It’s about 12 degrees already.

I went to bed around 10 pm and read for a while and was just dropping off to sleep when, on the dot of 12, the fireworks started. As far as I could tell, there were just 2 houses letting them off and they had all finished by 12.15. There was no other noise and there didn’t seem to be anything joyful about it at all; a far cry from when I was young and everyone went out into the street and the boats at Greenwich would be sounding all their foghorns and hooters. There’s a memory from the past :-)

This afternoon we are going for a New Year cup of tea to our friends M & V so OH is doing a flow test at the moment, then it will be my turn. Yesterday OH picked up my meds and then went to every outlet for a few miles around to see if he could get new test kits but nowhere had any. I think he went to 6 pharmacies and 2 libraries. What’s the point of the government telling us that we must test if the kits aren’t available?

I’ve been awake for a couple of hours and have had some tea but I am still in bed so I’d better get up and start the day. Have a good day everyone and enjoy whatever you are doing.

<3 <3 <3 <3 <3 HAPPY NEW YEAR ALL <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

Here's wishing everyone a HEALTHY and HAPPY NEW YEAR! <3 <3 Let's hope 2022 will bring some improvement on this one for us all.

Fireworks have been going off all evening here.

Sorry you haven't had a brilliant day Vera and I hope tomorrow will be better.

I haven’t had a brilliant day today but it’s a new year tomorrow and a new start so things are bound to get better for all of us.

For everyone who looks in - I wish you and yours a happy, healthy and peaceful New Year <3

And the same to you LaGooner.

Happy New Year All and I hope too its better than last year for everyone.

You all know I shall be up at the change over to 2022.

Love to all of you <3 <3 <3 <3

See you in the new year.

A HAPPY and HEALTHY NEW YEAR to you too LA Gooner.

Thanks for that Mandy, I hadn't noticed it was on.

Just dropping by to wish you all a healthy and Happy New Year <3 <3

Oh I meant to say there's a new series of Pottery Throw down on Sunday 7.45 on channel 4.