General Chat

Just missed the post van as when I got down there he was just winding up his leccy lead. He tried but had no internet so I shall have to go down again next week. Called at Erica's but she was'nt in. I wanted to show her the rings before I took them down the church but I took them down and put them on both graves and took a picture of them so I can show her that.

Sorted the leccy bills out of the file and they went back to 2003 !! so they can be burnt.

Now going to get some lunch as oh is watching the qualifying on the telly for the race this weekend. Its the last race of the season and the championship so he is very interested to see who wins it this year.

Thats a real nuisance with oh's car Ann and I hope he can get it done somewhere soon so he dos'nt have to keep using your car. He does need to replace it by the sounds of things as he can't go on with something happening every few weeks.

Thank you Mel and Vera for your cards. I had a good pile this morning which was nice, I do love getting cards although it does seem strange not having anyone to show them to.

thanks also Mel for the news from Flappergirl, pleased to hear her daughter is doing OK.

*(hangs head in shame* No HW done here so far. I got waylaid sorting out the NHS app on my phone to access the Covid Vaccination passport. which on mine expires 9 January 2022 so that is good that is done. It took a bit of getting on as yesterday and first thing today it kept rejecting my password but got there in the end.
I also did my end of month (November) bank balance.

Hope you can get the car/garage sorted for OH's car Ann, it will be a good thing if you can change that car now, it seems to have reached the time of causing problems.

hope there is not an actual oil leak, you don't want that on your drive.

Sunny here and 5 degrees. Yes, thank you Mel and Mandy for your lovely cards! It's nice to see a bit of sparkle isn't it! :-)

OH was up early and kept ringing the garage but there was no reply same as yesterday. :-S We wondered whether they are open less hours or days now, or had even closed down, so off we went in my car to see if anyone was there. The whole place had all the shutters down, not just where they roll the cars in and no lights were on, but no notice on the door or anything and this was after 9.00am. OH is going to try them again on Monday morning as he wants them to do the work as if it is a cracked oil filter they should put it right FOC. If he can't contact them we will have to go to a local garage. We drove past the three nearest garages that do repairs and the village one was open and working so we will try there if all else fails on Monday. I hope your son gets his car fixed and can pick it up today Mandy

I see, despite govt advice some schools are sending children home early for Christmas, due to so many staff isolating and not being able to get supply staff.

I need to get cracking on HW AnnG. The oven was done recently and the microwave, but I must do the kitchen and bathroom floor today with my new flash mop to test it out!

Thanks for the news on Flappergirl Mel. It's good her daughter is doing ok now.

Lunch is nearly ready so will BBL.

Morning all ,

Dry and bright here the Suns trying its best to peep through the cloud .

Thanks Mel for your sparkly card and Fiona too for yours if your looking in .

Hope OH got through the city traffic OK Ann were you going to to bring him home or was he staying with the car in the hope they could do it while he waits .

So your on HW today Anng sparkly sounds good ,I did clean my oven the other days so that's sparkly and today I need to do the fridge before it gets really stocked up for Christmas.

Coffee first then I'll make a start .

Morning Anng and all,

Well its definately not dry here as we've had lots of haily rain this morning already and pc says 8 degrees and partly cloudy. We have also had a tiny bit of sunshine.

I must get the rings down the church yard today whether its raining hail or whatever it decides to throw at me. Also get to the shop with the two arrangements. Also need to find out if Phyl needs one this year. She's had one from me for years and years.

Must thank Mandy for her lovely card with the robin on and Fiona too if she does look in.

Hope Vera got some good earned sleep last night and sending love to Frank. <3

good morning all dry here and 4 degrees not raining. Nothing planned to day, or most of the next week actually so maybe the house will end up sparkling. (Where is the fun in that?)

Hope the car gets fixed today OK Ann, it is a nuisance when 'your' car becomes the 'family car'.

I have just noticed that there are now a few cases of the new variant in Gloucestershire, although they didn't say where so it could be over near Bristol. Up until now the SW has been free of it.

OH has heard that it is the sleepovers and parties that seems to have spread it among the children Vera. I am the same and don't like giving my phone number on websites when I'm ordering things. Surely my email should be sufficient. You did well to get all your Tesco order with no subs at all. How kind of your OH to help the 95 year old with his electricity company. I must admit it is a worry for ourselves as we get older and more things get complicated. Mind you, I don't think younger people even bother to read properly what you write either sometimes. I fully explained when I sent my Christmas tree back that it was not the one I ordered and described how it was different. The twerps got back to me saying I got the right tree as the number on the box was what I ordered. Ahem, did they not realise the tree had either been put in the wrong box or that the box had been wrongly labelled.

Oh I feel for your poor son Mandy. He's had his share of tooth trouble and toothache hasn't he. That sounds really nasty with a cyst under the teeth. I hope he doesn't get more pain with them having loosened the second tooth. Will he still have to have that one out once the bleeding stops? A lot of his face must have been numb with all those injections and he did well to go back to work. Trust the simple job on the car turning out not to be quick job as well.

That bookshop would be right up OH's street too AnnG. I'd never get him out of there! lol. You got some useful bits while shopping too. I could do with a new long handled pan and brush as the pan isn't flat enough on mine and bits fly under the lip. I'm glad you were able to check and hide your mobile number too.

OH is back and I managed to write a lot of Christmas cards while he was out which was good. The garage opens at 8.30 am tomorrow, so another early start to get across the city. I just hope it's a slow oil leak and he gets there without any warning lights coming on again.

Just had this from Flappergirl (Florence) hav'nt heard from her for ages but she sent us a Christmas card on the email.

Hello Mel,
This is just to wish you and the other posters a Happy Christmas and to let you have my new (well not so new!) email address. My last one suddenly refused to synchronise and although I managed to get it corrected, it went wrong again so I gave up and deleted it and added a new one which seems ok! We are both ok, daughter much better thank goodness although her partner has just tested for Covid, grrr! They're now suggesting that we move closer to them but we're not that keen, although it maybe a good idea in the future.
Best wishes,
Florence.






Making Lasagne for dinner.

Here I am again, back like the proverbial bad penny.

It sounds as though you had a nice trip out AnnG and there were some interesting shops. I like the sound of that bookshop. I would have spent hours there. If you are ever near Alnwick have a look at Barter Books in the old Alnwick railway station. It’s not cheap but is wonderful.

Your poor son Mandy; his tooth problems do sound painful. I hope everything heals up soon. I expect a problem with his car is the last thing he needs. Good job you live close enough to help him.

I know what you mean Island about GR being such an open site. I am careful what I put on here but I am sure that anyone with determination and a bit of techie know how could find out a great deal about me and my family. I don’t do any other social media at all. I do however buy quite a lot online and it makes me angry that I nearly always have to put my phone number in before I can complete the purchase. I used to get away with putting in O eleven times but companies got wise to that.

I was pleased with my Tesco order. It was big as I had all my household stuff and food for two weeks plus some Christmas stuff plus some bits my daughter asked me to get and there was nothing missing and no subs. I was puzzled as the bill said I had ordered Red Leicester cheese for £1.55 and they had subbed with Department Sale for 89p. I wondered what on earth I was getting but the driver explained that occasionally there’s a computer glitch and the price doesn’t show up on the screen in the office so the girls call it a sale and manually enter a low price.

While Tesco were here a rug I ordered that was supposed to be delivered 10 days ago arrived so I had vans queuing up in our tiny Close. Don’t think I was popular with the neighbours lol.

OH has been helping a 95 year old acquaintance who has been having terrible trouble with electricity meter readings and bills that seem to be overcharging him His leccy company keep sending him letters he can’t understand and phoning him which is even worse as he is quite deaf. So OH has spent hours at his house on the phone liaising between the company and our acquaintance. The leccy people keep emailing OH for more information but he thinks he has got everything sorted out now.

Well, I had better go and see what my casserole is doing and prepare some tattles for roasting. I’m looking forward to my meal tonight.

I was just ahead of you Vera. I seem to go to be and sleep well for about an hour, wake up and go to the loo, then take a while to get back to sleep but I have been managing 6 or 7 hours total most nights recently.

Mandy I forgot to say, in the old fashioned iron mongers they had red frills for cakes, and also in another little everything (cash only) shop they had some. So they are still around.

I am amazed that we have actually had a dry day for once. According to my weather app on the iPad it is 5 degrees but feels like 3, there are sunny spells and a gentle breeze. In fact there’s not been much sun and the gentle breeze is more like a cold, brisk wind. I have to keep reminding myself that it is December and I should expect it to be cold.

I’ve never been a good sleeper but my sleep patterns are getting worse and worse. Last night I slept from about midnight till around 1.30 am, then was awake till around 6 am when I dozed off again till 7.30. Lack of sleep doesn’t help the migraines and poor OH has to put up with me being grumpy.

I hope you’ve enjoyed your trip out AnnG? Where did you go and did you buy anything nice?

Your OH isn’t having much luck with his car Ann. I hope the garage can fix it quickly for him. Gosh, that’s a lot of Covid cases in one term at that school. It does seem to spread very quickly round the schools, then of course the pupils bring it home to their families and round and round it goes.

Tesco have just arrived so I’ll be back after the wipe-down.

Just managed to find that and yes mine was open to all so it is not any more, thanks Ann, I am sure it was originally not open to all. No wonder we get unsolicited phone calls, It was only my mobile though not the house phone.

Afternoon all,

We've seen a little sun today but we've had a little drizzle .

Had to pick up son from the garage today his car had to have a new exhaust so after picking him up I went shopping then back to his to pick him up as they said it wouldn't take long to do but as I sat having coffee with them the garage rang there was a problem as some bolts had sheared off and there cetalyn welder had packed up so they were going to borrow one from the garage round the corner but couldn't borrow it until later .
So son kept our car as he had a dentist appointment to have more teeth out ,he rang to say she had taken one out the other one she loosened but he was bleeding to much to take it out ,he had one big cyst under both of the teeth ,he had seven injections but said he could still feel it ,shetoldhim if she took that one out it could affect his sinuses.
So now he's gone into work and he'll pick me up later to run him to get his car .

Ann thats good that isn't a school OH goes to with all those cases it's a wonder they are still open .
Bit of a worry having to park a car in a dodgy area hopefully it will be ok now if he can park in a locked up car park you'll be glad when he's home .

I am just home from my magical mystery tour.

Anne decided that she wanted to go to The Red cross book shop which is in Bath Road Cheltenham. Well, I knew Bath road existed but didn't realise what a little hive of activity it is, lots of old style old fashioned shops, including a proper old style ironmongery, cook shop everything shop where I managed to get a medium sized whisk and a replacement long handled dustpan and brush.

The book shop is huge so I had to buy a couple of books. Had a coffee in a well spaced out independent coffee shop. Drove back via Morrisons because Anne wanted a non orange marmalade and Tescos or Sainsbury's didn't have any. she managed to find a three fruit one, and some cheese and various other bits and I got a craft magazine. It is a big Morrisons store.

Then we drove back to the Old Elm which isdown in the village, a pub that we had never gone into, I bought her lunch, we both had jacket potatoes with beans and cheese, it was very nice, tables spaced out and nobody near us and the waitress wore a mask.

It was a good trip and I really enjoyed it, especially as she drove to Cheltenham a way we would never have gone.

Afternoon All,

It says 6 degrees and sunny here, but it isn't.....sunny that is!

We were up early, thanks to me waking OH to ring the breakdown people, but they still couldn't come for over 2 hours. Then they got held up crossing the city. I thought it must be Christmas shopping traffic, but the mechanic said he had had trouble for a while as they have altered the city traffic lights to only let a few cars through at a time. :-S OH had the same trouble a few days ago. The mechanic couldn't fix the car, but thinks it is leaking from the oil filter, but topped the low oil up so hopefully OH will get it to the garage, which will have to be in the morning as they have finished at lunchtime since the first lockdowns. It is only a matter of weeks since the car was serviced so if that does turn out to be the reason, it might be that the new oil filter wasn't tightened properly. :-S So he will be using my car again tonight to go to that grotty area, although he has said that he can park in their carpark which they lock till after the meeting so that would help. I just hope they can sort it quickly, as OH just assumes he can fall back on my car whenever he needs it and never thinks I might need it! I had plans for being somewhere early tomorrow morning to get something, but they are scuppered now and I couldn't do it this morning as I thought he might need a lift.

Well, we get overwhelmed with info on screens Island, as well as all the hidden menus as well. :-D Yes, that's what annoyed me that they put the number on without me knowing. They shouldn't do it without permission, not just expect you to know and remove it yourself. I agree with what you say about GR too and don't know why the threads are accessible to all instead of just those who subscribe.

I don't know what a dress apron is like Mel. Is it like a tabard or tunic that buttons at the sides? If so, I could do with one for painting in. :-) It's a good idea for a Christmas present.

You soon got Lewis's scarf done Mandy and lacey's will be pretty in pink. I wish I was faster at crochet. I thouht that was a lot of covid for one term at the school too Mandy and it isn't one OH goes to.

Enjoy your mystery trip AnnG! I bet you will find something to get as well as your friend.

Hi to Island~~~~~~~~~~

Morning all

Annx, I don't know how I missed those FB headings LOL I was looking further up at the icons. I told them nothing but I am alarmed at the info others have put on there.
Unfortunately the onus is on the users to hide things but why put it on there in the first place. Aside from that, I can't believe how much info people give away about themselves and their families.
TBH I feel a bit uncomfortable right here on GR with the number of anonymous people reading the threads - you don't have to pay to do that so who knows who they are? TMI I think and some still have their real names easily seen.

Sorry to be heavy but I've never had a problem with FB but I have on GR.

Enjoy your trip out today Anng.

Morning Anng and all,

Dull and dreary here this morning nd 5 degrees pc says sun and cloud!! have seen the cloud but not the sun this morning yet.

Want to get on with the arrangements today.

Just ordered myself one of those dress apron for when I do crafts or messy things. I wanted one last year and did'nt buy one then thought I would ask oh for one for Christmas and forgot so its now on order in a dull red as oh said something bright.

in my sideboard drawer I still have a red cake frill. I have no idea why I still have it many years since I decorated a cake.


Good morning all 3 degrees out there at 0745, very grey looking but I think it is dry. Going out with friend this morning but not sure where we are going she has a couple of Christmas presents to buy.