General Chat

I'm glad he thought it was marvellous and liked it straightaway Mel. Hopefully I am improving with all I've been learning on these courses. We get a strange selection of photos to choose from sometimes, but I really liked this one as well. The week we did those reflections from lights, one photo was the back of a bin lorry with it's lights on! lol.

Mandy I like painting trees and snow which is partly why I chose to do this one. I don't know myself sometimes how I manage to get the right effect, but it's good when it happens. :-) :-D HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Katie :-D I can't believe she's almost a teenager!!! Where did all that time go? Do the girls have very different characters and interests?

Oh that was a nasty migraine then Vera. Good idea not to go to a noisy function as you wouldn't have enjoyed the noisy part. Were those machines that read those punched cards called comptometers? Some areas in our work read those punched cards, but not where I was. I keep meaning to ask if you got your winter fuel payment in the right account in the end?

An early night for me again. I hope this wind doesn't keep us all awake.

Evening all,

Wet and very windy here now and today has been so dark I actually closd the curtains at half past three today because it was so dull.
Katie's birthday today she's 12 today ,we went down to she her with her presents after she got home from school ,she picked a chinese takeaway for her birthday tea and they will have that once son gets home from work.

Anng I had the email too that you sent to Ann so perhaps you sent it to all of us .
I was going to say exactly the same as Ann bout the little bottles 7t seems a shame to throw them away .
He's a very handsome grandson with a lovely smile and I do think he looks like you .

Ann another lovely painting with both my favourite things snow and your trees ,I love how you have the snow pushed to each side of the path ,I don't know how you do it but it's another lively one .

Vera so annoying when the post just goes, hope your feeling a little better today .

Oh yes Island I need to get some beans ordered too what were the climbing french beans you had last year called ,they were good weren't they ?

Found my post. Here it is:

Well, I am feeling half human again. It was very definitely a migraine but the worst one I have had for a number of years. The sickness has gone now though my digestive system is still a bit up the creek and I am over the worst of the pain. I just feel as though I am wearing someone else’s head.

I was supposed to be at a Ladies’ Club Christmas afternoon tea and secret Santa today. I had been dithering about going as it is quite a big group and had decided I would go, wear my mask all the time except when eating and leave if I felt uncomfortable. However, they usually have a quiz and a game and it can get quite noisy and I decided my head couldn’t take it, so I had a good excuse not to go.

It’s been the same sort of weather here as most other places i.e. cold, wet and windy. The rain is lashing down now. Dustmen come tomorrow so, when the rain eased a bit, OH took the bin down the road and left it on the edge of the field which is what we have to do. I have my doubts whether it will still be there by morning. The way the wind is blowing it could be in the next county.

I was interested in the survey you did AnnG as between 1974 till we moved in 1986 I worked for a company that did a lot of these government surveys. I think the company is still going but under a different name. In those days we didn’t have computers to pick addresses at random. Addresses were taken from electoral registers and we had to find our starting point from a book of random number tables – I can’t remember how it worked – and then take, say, every 5th name or 7th name, depending on how many we needed to end up with. I didn’t often get involved in that part of the work though I sometimes helped when needed. My work was involved in going through the questionnaires when they came in from the interviewers and coding them all up. Originally it was all done on punched cards and was a real pain trying to peer at the little holes and work out why the answers didn’t tie up. Later we worked directly on the questionnaires and coded them for entry into computers. I worked on the British Crime Survey and the Social Attitudes Survey which are both still being regularly done and the biggest one I worked on was a housing survey with half a million questionnaires. I also had to sign the Official Secrets Act. Gosh, AnnG, you’ve brought back some memories for me there.

I’ve got a Tesco delivery on Thursday so I’ve been doing the order this afternoon and have certainly noticed how prices are going up or, if the price is staying the same, the quantity is going down.

I hope you get your scan soon Ann. Sometimes the waiting is the worst bit. Your OH has to do quite a bit of travelling around, doesn’t he. He certainly won’t be wanting the air con on!

I think I am going to have a nice, quiet, easy evening now. I hope you all sleep soundly tonight and get up bright eyed and bushy tailed in the morning.

Done it Anng.

Mel as I have not got a clue can you send it back to me please and I will sort it. Thanks. How strange though.

I don't believe it!! I was typing a post on Word and was going to c&p when it just disappeared as I was typing. Goodness knows where it's gone but I can't find it anywhere. I don't have time to re-do it as I have to go and cook our meal but if I can find the energy I will try and post later.

Ann I have just showed oh your picture and he said marvelous I like that and its not often you can look at a picture and like it right away.

Anng I think you sent a reply to me instead of Annx. Do you want me to send it on to her or will you email her again?

Just going to have a cuppa as I feel like I hav'nt stopped today witht he shopping coming late we had lunch inbteen and then I carried on and then I fed the chickens and then I cleaned out the dark hole in the corner where we keep oh's beer as it gets a bit moldy there. Then I haad to shut the chickens in and the bantam and came in and sat down.

Sorry I thought I had said. I had a letter a week or so ago addressed to the occupier which nearly went in the bin until I spotted across the envelope “on Her Majesty’s Service” so I opened it. It was basically from the ONS and was regarding a family resources survey. Normally done by phone that I knew would be too difficult for me so,I wrote back and eventually Jon the local interviewer Contacted me by email. She said she could do it by actually coming to see me providing we had all the safe guarding in place. So doors and windows open, heating off and we were over two metres apart both wearing masks. It took an hour and was very interesting and hopefully will be of use. Totally anonymous.

I have a feeling that when we signed off the OSA there was a phrase reminding us that we were bound by it for life. In the MOD we still had to get permission in those days (2000). To go to Southern Ireland.

Cold? Cold!! Certainly is :-0 and wet and windy :-( I need some fleecy trousers with built in feet.
Two weeks to the tuning point and time to look forward again.
Must get the bean seeds ordered, I've spotted two other climbing types too which I shall get but I can't decide on which toms will be best for outside. Yes, I'm thinking ahead but I really don't like the dark days - who does?

I think I missed a post too Annx - I also thought Anng's grandson is a good looking smiley fella but as I said to Ann how much he looked like her I didn't want to make her blush :-D

I hope Vera isn't poorly :-(

Afternoon All,

Brrr, only 3 degrees this morning. I slept well till the lights from over the road were dancing across the bedroom walls at 7.00am, swiftly followed by the beeping and clattering binmen. We both got up at 8.00am, showered and I got lunch all ready before OH started his zoom meeting. I sorted out all my paintings and tidied them away, then a pile of magazines and papers, throwing out what I could and any junk mail, so that has pleased me. It's got windy here now after a calm start like Gwyn had, but rain is lashing down now. OH has set off on a 17 mile trip to see someone at a new school and I think he will get soaked in this lot. Then he has 2 meetings at a council in the next county afterwards and won't be home till late tonight as it is a 30 mile trip home. At least it is his aircon not working and not the heater in his car!

Nice to see you Island.......wave........wave.

Those little bottles are too nice to throw out after the contents are gone AnnG and your grandson looks a lovely, handsome chap with a nice smiley face! Have I missed a post? Where was the interviewer from and why did you get a visit? It used to amuse me that not only did we have to sign the official secrets act, we had to unsign it when we left. It sounded like you were free to go and blab then, which you weren't! We couldn't even take up certain kinds of employment after for a number of years.

I hope your food is all sorted now Mel. It's not often that I don't get subs, but at least they are good with refunds.

I just rang the doc and then the hospital to see where things are with my urgent scan as it is a month now. It looks like it may be after Christmas, but they said they will chase it up anyway. The new variant could make it even later I expect.

I hope Vera is feeling a bit better today.

Interviewer has just gone, she was here exactly an hour. wore a mask (as did I) but was clear and easy to understand. And sat over 2 metres away from me by the open door

Basically it is all to do with child (and any other) poverty.

Lots of questions (all this is anonymous) on education/qualifications, finance etc stretched my brain going back to thinking about working days and qualifications.  Quite interesting and I did make sure that it has no identification attached.  finance was interesting, some things I answered details of exact amounts of savings I didn't but agreed to a bracket. One question i didn't answer. " talking about your last job, Mod was it? How many people worked there?"  Answer Erm I have not a clue, but even if I did I am going to throw the Official secrets act at you, I can't answer that question.

She was actually very good and interesting, she knew her subject and I would think it is a very interesting job. she said one of the interviewers was 80.

I worked out that they have random addresses (done apparently by a large computer program) because they use people like me to balance against those who are in poverty. she did say that some finance questions if the income was low would then branch off into 'Have you used food banks etc' type of questions.  But it is all about things like are people better off because of education, health what jobs they did etc.  Yes quite an interesting afternoon, if a bit chilly. I had my weird fish thick top on with a padded gillet over the top. Luckily the storm calmed down so it was ok with the window and doors open. Apparently I was the first face to face interview that she had done

Let them eat cake Mel LOL

My shopping is going to be very late today and I need the bread for lunch!

The suns come out here and the wind has dropped a bit.

The wind is really high and blowing everything around.

Morning Anng, Gwyn and all,

Dull dreary wet and windy that just about sums up today so far but I suppose it will get windier later on or when the tide changes as that seems to affect us sometimes too.

Its the big wipe down today and I have two subs, instead of my hovis granary which I can eat they are sending a hovis multi seeded which I can't eat and I already have one in the freezer cos they sent one before and I forgot to send it back as the driver was very chatty.

The chickens will have it in the end I suppose. The small seeds get under my plate and make my gums sore. Can't remember what the other one was already and I only looked a little while ago. O yes Platinum wash up instead of lemon and the lemon is the only one I can use because I don't get on with the smell of others. They can have that back too.

Good morning Ann.

Not too bad at the moment, just dull.
Being in the far south east, I expect the edge of the storm will reach here much later, but no doubt there will be wild winds whistling through the English Channel, so we will feel the effect of that then.

good morning all, windy and sort of yellow grey out there. forecast of storm approaching and it does look very threatening. Pleased I don't have to go out.

I definitely did not add that more than once. And I have only had the same amount as usual

Do you think Anng is catching up a bit too quickly? Could that be three today and three tomorrow and two the next day? Made me laugh when I saw the three posts. :-D

Oh dear Anng :-D how many have you had :-D your repeating yourself now lol

Yes Ann it's been gloomy here too all day and I don't think tomorrow will be much better the wind should be getting up .