General Chat

Neil Oliver.

I can see I'm gonna have to arrange for you lot to meet him.

He comes to our Ceilidhs in Stirling so that might be your best bet.

I could sell his address and phone number to you. BIG PRICE.

PS
His wife is a Black Belt , 4th Dan, in Karate. ROFL

Morning.

I want to go out this morning Linda as well. I try to get out when it is dry out otherwise your stuck indoors and dont feel like going anywhere. once I was indoors for 6 weeks after a big op and when I was getting better I got frightened of going out. silly I dont know why? but it really affected me. so I got my daughter to walk around the lake with me. I was Ok after that.
since then I have met many people who are frightened of going out unless they have someone with them. they lose confidence.

The sun is shining but we have a grey cloud over -hanging the houses opposite me.
Maddie you have missed him .I am speaking of Neil Oliver he is chatting away on TV what a lovely clear picture.

Rita

morning all you lazy bones.

Oh Maddie
Neil is on Breakfast TV He has grown a beard for the recent filming and he looks very different. Hope you got to see him too.

Linda :o) Xxx

Morning everyone,
Smoked salmon and scarmbled eggs please.
David Suchet had that when he was on The Orient Express. It looked very nice.
No whisky for me. I've got to be bright and alert!
Down here in the South it was colder today!
I've got a cold chicken roll for lunch.
Have a good day x

Morning all
Grey here too Maddie
Hoping that Jean and Mo are feeling a bit better and that all Rita's relatives get a little respite today from all that ails them.

Hoping to get out for a walk today, not too sure as it is looking like a wet day here. I suppose I could get the wet weather gear out and put Little M in the buggy with the plastic covers over her.

Otherwise I think we are on card making today as it is her Mummy's birthday in March. Then of course we have Mothering Sunday coming up too. OOps I see me disappearing again under feathers glue and glitter !!!

Have a good day everyone

Linda :o) XxX

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Tea or Coffee

Porridge or Cereals.Fruit Juices, Smoked Salmon or Pate with Toast. Scarmbled Eggs, Bacon Rolls.

On the Hotplate.

\_/ \_/ \_/ \_/ Malt Whisky for those that feel they NEED one this morning.

God willing those that are ill or feeling down have a better day. Prayers for all and their families.

Life can be a real trial at times. As long as we rise in the morning then I'm sure the Big Man upstairs will give you the strength to see it through.

Faith when confronted by adversity is a great ally.

'God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
Courage to change the things I can,
And the Wisdom to know the difference'

Try and have a good day folks.

Catch you later.

Paint and Mrs Stephen allowing. ROFL

Thank you Stephen and Pat. I have to go for a check up on friday at the
Doctors surgery for my medication. and blood test results for my PMR

My son in Law Steve who had cancer an had half his tummy removed has to go back tomorrow for tests to see if he is OK.

I said to him we are keeping the NHS going. I forgot he had his done through BUPA

I am off to bed now. this day had made me extra tired.

nite all

God Bless.
Rita
x

Time for my shower........then bed.

What do you call a Library when there are no books in it ?

Empty !

Night all.

Sorry Rita I misundersttod. I saw that you were seeing the Consultant tomorrow and i thought it was for your results. Like Stephen said thoughts and prayers are with you.
I normally ttravel by coach! I got the train from Exeter to Axminster last year to meet an old school friend.
In my dreams I fancy doing route 66 on a greyhound coach!
Night.. Watching Murder on The Orient Express

Rita,

What a nightmare time you're having just now. Must be hard holding it together at times.

Thoughts and prayers are with you.

Patricia,
A friend did a trip on the Trans Siberian Railway. He was in awe of how efficient things went on the whole trip.

My longest train journey was from Glasgow to Plymouth. A blooming nightmare going and returning.

Although I must say I much prefer the train when travelling to London.
City Centre to City Centre from Edinburgh. Leisurely and relaxing.

I would love to cross America by train. I did do most of the journey by car one year. Time wasn't on my side so had to turn around and head back.

Time for supper.

Hello everyone
I dont get the results of the scan till ten days time Pat. that is the worse part having to wait for the results.

My son Mike isnt too good at the moment my daughter and her husband went to see him today at his house. she said he looks very white and his cheeks have suken because he has so much pain, they cannot find anything that will give him relief.Morphine had a bad reaction on him.
The district nurse goes in everyday as he has an infection with one of the metalclips when taken out and left him with this infection..

My Great Grandson who was 9 a few days ago Ryan fell over and broke his ankle the hospital kept him in overnight but they didnt plaster his ankle they said they dont for young children as their bones are soft.
that is the first time I have ever heard that.

so we are a family of invalids at the moment .

Rita

I think it's cold now.
I stapled up ther bag because I didn't want the smell lingering in the office!
Fluffy Paws would have a field day!
I'm watching David Suchet on the Orient Express and then there's a Poirot afterwards.

Patricia,

Is that Chicken still warm ?

Think I'll hop on the Broomstick and pop down for a piece.

Another wee drop paint to put on then I'm going to stop for the night.

Where is everyone tonight?

Coffee please Shelley!
Get well soon Jean.
I hope your ribs aren't hurting too much Mo.
Rita I hope you get good news tomorrow.
Dermot I liked your story about Sundays and Holidays of Obligations. i can't remember the last time I was out til 1am.
I've got a lazy dinner. I was in S'brys and they reduced their whole cooked chickens. There were only 3 there and I happended to be int he right place at the right time. I'll cook some noodles to go with this chicken.

OMG some think want rong with the cups
now it looks like we have enuth tead for the hold of GR members

evening all

its nearly time to put the dinner on
im going to do chops but dont no what with yet
havent made up my mind


tea for every one as some of you need a cuper right now


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GET WELL SOON !

Rita, Mo, and Jean

Hope things get a lot better for you all soon.

Yvonne,

Best jumper I ever had was knitted in Norway. Had socks to match.

Those folk who jump with horses always have my admiration.

Dressage is great to watch. What grace and skill.

Work finished for the moment. Coffee and a relax. More work later.

Sundays & Holy Days of Obligation.

Stephen’s reminiscences of his church & school days posted a few days ago prodded my own recollections on these subjects & I hope I’m not repeating myself here. I have a photographic memory that needs developing sometimes. Most of my images are in black & white. No matter!

As a youngster, Sunday was always regarded as a day of rest. That was the law of the Church & was strictly adhered to - more so than State laws sometimes. Didn’t the Bible say that we must work with the sweat of our brows for six days but, on the seventh day, we must rest. It should have gone on to say - ‘with the exception of MPs & Civil Servants who are required to work for five days only’. But it didn’t & they do!

Our clergy were in full control & if the sanctity of the Sabbath was violated by some unfortunate, the offender’s name soon got to the ears of the priest. It was regarded as a family disgrace if your name was called out from the Altar on a Sunday morning - much worse than appearing on any tabloid front page or page three either.

The only time the law might be relaxed was at harvest time. If the weather was inclement, as it often was particularly in the west of Ireland and the crops were in danger of being lost, only then would permission be given from the pulpit for farmers to work on Sundays to try to save the crops. Otherwise, Sundays were a respite from daily toil for man & beast. The beasts on our farm couldn’t care less so long as they were fed & watered - Sunday or not.

But, Saturday evenings were important too as far as the Church was concerned. Catholics were encouraged or browbeaten into confessing their sins on a regular basis. Saturday afternoons or early evenings were set aside by the Priests for this particular purpose, in readiness for Sunday morning services.

In my young days, there would be a queue sitting on a bench outside the Confessional Box waiting for their turn for the Priest’s individual attention. The only queues I see these days are at the local superstore. The Confessional Box was inside the Church - about the size of Dr Who’s Tardis without all the technical equipment - dark inside too. It was divided into two sections - one where the Priest would sit ready to hear the awful sins while the penitent parishioner mustered up as much sorrow for his/her misdeeds which he/she was obliged to declare there & then in the dubious privacy of the Tardis - sorry, I meant Confessional Box. You tell Priest you have been naughty. There are grades of naughtiness too. The Priest would absolve the sins with encouraging words in Latin & for penance, he would ask for a few prayers to be recited.

This task seems to be an extraordinary event as far as some non-Catholics of my acquaintance are concerned. They just cannot understand the theory of admitting our faults & failings to another human being & receiving a pardon. It’s not easy to explain & mostly I don’t try. So, I had a wry smile this week when I read in one of the daily papers that Catholics may be allowed to confess their misdeeds using their iPhone. Text me Father, for I have sinned. Receiving an electronic absolution without the usual embarrassment of having to face a Priest - sometimes one who knows you & your family very well - sounds like the answer. But, I suppose we’d still have to watch out just in case WikiLeaks steals & publishes our sinful minefield. It’s not April 1st yet - is it?

Sunday Mass in our Church at Aghamore started at 9am when mainly mothers & young children attended. It was a golden opportunity for meeting other villagers & many would dally, talking to people & catching up on news or gossip from the locality. A second service at 11am was usually where older children & men would reluctantly show their faces - a strange set-up. It was sometimes jokingly referred to as ‘the dead Mass’. I’m sure the men didn’t go to this later Mass on the basis that the nearby pub would be opening its doors just as the Church service came to an end.

No Catholic service is complete without having a collection. The collection basket is passed around the congregation & the proceeds go to the general upkeep of the building. At Christmas & Easter, the collections are specifically for the Priests’ own personal use. How do you think they can afford to employ a housekeeper & have thick-piled carpets in every room of the big house? He might even send on a donation to Rome to help the Pope & Vatican running costs. Imagine that - poor parishioners in the Aghamore backwater helping to feed His Holiness & his entourage in Rome. It’s expensive being a Catholic!

On those two occasions, it was customary in my young days to hand over your donation at the Church door, almost the same as if you were going to the cinema, where it would be recorded with your name & address. Addresses were important to help identify, for example, one Pat McLoughlin from several others with similar names in the parish. To make matters worse & causing some embarrassment, on the following Sunday, the Priest would read out each name with their contribution. As ever, the biggest donation, if my memory is correct, used to be £5, a sizable sum in the 1950/60s from one of the village shop owners.

Human error might appear occasionally in the recording of the donations - too much chatting at the Church door no doubt. So, the Priest would apologise something along these lines: “Last week, I said that Michael Murphy of Aghamore donated 5 shillings & six pence. Sorry - this was a mistake - Michael gave 10 shillings”.

For Gaelic amateur football & hurling, Sunday afternoon was a busy time for games. It was an honour to be selected to play in your local parish team and, if by some miracle you were called-up for county duty, well that really was it! No wages ever changed hands - everything was & still is achieved on a shoestring & you were only allowed to play for the county you were born in. So, no transfers, transfer fees or transfer windows - all these were alien to the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA). How many obituaries have I read when playing for the county was a highlight of the deceased’s sporting life!

Sunday night was dance night. Before we departed for the dance hall some 6 miles away, mum ensured we had a good supper. A special treat would be hot potato cake, baked on a griddle on the open hearth with lashings of home-made butter all over it. It was delicious & was always appreciated especially by the loads of youngsters who would meet up at our house, the starting point of the night’s excursion. Off we all went then with bicycles & bicycle lights being shared if necessary to enjoy whatever the night at the dance had to offer & dancing would not finish up till 1am.

The only time I might be up at 1am these days is when nature requires a visit to the loo.

Afternoon all

Mo I hope you are feeling better and Jean hope you will soon be on the mend

Cath pleased your grandaughter and your dog are ok.
My dog got into a bit of a scrap yesterday with our neighbour's Yorkie, no damage done to either dog thankfully

Stephen, in answer to your earlier post, I like watching the Xcountry, I have only ridden small courses not half as big as in the top competitions. I prefer dressage and show jumping, a horse I had a few years ago was a good jumper.

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