General Chat

Gill I have messaged you

Another windy day here and quite cloudy. I'm still not used to it being so windy so when we plan the garden we'll have to plan it carefully so we're not in a wind tunnel.

We've had the gas around today to do the dead/live test and it's dead so I've rang Cadent to do new pipework then we'll have someone put in a gas metre outside. Once that's done we will have a boiler put in so we can have the central heating done and the gas cooker connected. It'll start to feel more like a home then. It's going to cost a lot with the gas being dead but on a positive we'll be able to extend our bathroom by about 5 foot so can have the double walk in shower we wanted installed.

I'm going to try and find a phone number for DVLA now as I'm having no luck online trying to find the page I need to change the address on our driving licences and if it's not done soon we could end up with a £1000 fine each which we can do without. I've still not heard back from any of the builders I've left messages with so I need to try and find another one now.

I'll try my best to catch up with the posts when I'm not so busy, I hope everyone is okay.
Take care and keep safe <3

Good morning to you all,

We have just had a visit from Martine and Brian with their ALSATIAN Max. What a big dog he is, He couldn't settle, so they have taken him home.

I had another bad night, pains in my back and down my right leg. I was up a SIX and now feel ready for a NAP.

Weather is cold, but dry. I think we have been promised showers later in the day.

Brian also has a scooter, so he said he would come over one day,and we could go out together. We could go unto the Football Club, so Max could have a good run round the fields.

I hope you are all well, please take care if going out. See you later. xxxx

Tesco was 15 minutes early so nearly all done now, just having a rest before going the meat as it need splitting for the freezer. No subs and

Yes Ann, David's wife is also a member. The trouble is, the only email contact address I have for both of them is his, I have reluctantly used it but I am wondering if she is not computer literate. I will have to wait and see if someone answers. I do know they have children but not sure if they are in the area.

I had my mother's day present this morning. a 'hamper' with two fruit scones, two plain scones, cream, strawberry jam and ginger fudge having put on 5 pounds since T went into hospital I will start the diet on Monday.

Morning All,

Alternate sun and dull here, not sure which will win, but not very warm.

That's an interesting idea Mel and should be effective.

What a shame another of your group has died AnnG. Did he have a wife who belonged to the group too? It will be good when your group can start up again.

I have had an email about the lecture talks at the hospital going ahead but online now. I've signed up and the first is by the lead person who set up the vaccination centres at the 3 city hospitals. She will also answer anything people want to know about the vaccinations.

I have been looking at Boots glasses online but there aren't many that I like. I thought it might help if I narrow down ones to try with all the disinfecting they have to do now after you try a pair. If they decide my cataracts need doing it might not be worth getting any yet though, depending how bad they are and how long the waiting will be. The last pair I had a year ago hardly made any difference.

It's leftover bits in the fridge with more Turkey in a cook in sauce in a risotto today. I need space for the food drop on Sunday.

I must also unpack the new router and look at the instructions and find out when they will switch us off!

I hope Mandy feels a bit less tired today.

Yes Mel, once we are able to meet again all the U3a groups will re-start. We have kept contact with group emails throughout.

Morning Anng and all,

Another day of rain and bright spells but the wind hs dropped here too which is good.

Nothing planned for me today either so will see where the day takes me after the usual daily challenges.

How sad that David should die so soon after T. Do you think when this is all over you will start the group up again?

Good morning all, a bit rainy here earlier but brighter now wind has dropped.

Tesco this morning 11-12. Other than that nothing planned.

Saw in the local paper last night that another one of our U3A garden interests group (the group that meets here monthly usually) has died. David was 85 I had not realised, he did have heart problems a year + ago but I heard from him when T died. He worked at Xerox with T as well so they knew each other before U3A.

You cheeky girl after those truffles.

Its just the head and ear as in half of the sycamore seed. I am going to thread it on a fishing line and put a pearl bead on it to look like the moon s it can be hung on a gate or a wall.

Was it the astrazenica one Mandy. OH felt very tired for a couple of days after his and was cold. With my Pfizer one it was more an achey arm in the muscles. An early night will help.

Oh the bacon and cheese sausages would be right p OH's street Mel. I might order him some this time. Yes the seeds with the wings are just like Hare's ears like you say aren't they. Are you making whole Hares or just the heads?

We got a call from the nurse for OH and he has both a fungal and bacterial infection in his other ear!! The nurse told him we all have fungus in our ears anyway so he hadn't transferred it from the other. So off we went to get antibiotics from the pharmacy plus more eardrops. My warning light about the tyre pressures still came on even though OH checked they were correct so it must be a fault with the warning light. I might ring the garage to see what they say, but if it can wait I shall leave it till the service is due in a few months time, annoying though it is.

Off to bed now, OH has already gone as he was tired after his meeting. One of the trusts he has stopped clerking for as part of cutting back have sent him a bottle of wine with chocolate truffles to thank him for his help. I have my eye on some of the truffles! lol.

I felt very tired after mine and a bit cold too so I thought it must be the injection. Also had a bit of a dicky tums for a few days.

Glad Sandra's phone is sorted now. No news on whether the police have been round to her so called friends?

Mandy hope you feel better tomorrow, obviously just the vaccination kicking in.

Sorry to hear you're not feeling to good Mandy, I hope you feel better soon <3

Yes, Mel it does let more light in now. OH's still got the bottom half of the tree to take down but next door has got bird feeders hanging on the lower branches which is why he's left that bit for now. At least nothing else will fall down if the wind gets up again.

Problem over with Sandra, she pressed the wrong button when she was topping up her phone, so her provider has swapped it over for her and now she can use it the way she's used to. She said she tried doing it without checking her notes (she's written down how to do it) and got it wrong, so I said to use the notes in future which she said she will do. At least she gave it a try to do it on her own, but she's just not quite there yet. I'm sure it'll come in time though even if she tries but checks her notes before pressing anything.

Going to watch my soaps now

Thats good the tree is down now Gill and you don't have the worry of it falling in this high wind. Does it let more light in your bedroom now?

Was the house lived in before you bought it? or did it lay empty for a while?

Chickens all tucked up for the night and I am going to do sausages for dinner now. We have the asda bacon and cheese ones and they are quite nice.

As the day has gone on i have felt a bit off ,arm is sore and i feel so cold and really tired so i think an early night is called for .

Thanks Ann I'll go and try them now. It sounds like you got a good worker through that site. Nice to know they are all vetted to as I don't want a dodgy builder. I'm looking forward to making a start on our back garden but at the moment we can't even see the boundaries it's that overgrown, so I think this year will probably be clearing the site ready to plan it all for next year. At least OH has managed to take the dead tree down away from our bedroom window now, so I can stop worrying about it being blown onto our bungalow, or next door's property.

Update on Sandra's phone, when she topped it up she pressed the wrong button so her sister is going to top it up again with the right one this time, hopefully the drama will be over then.

That's the thing with today's generation it's the end of the world if their phones don't work. I often wonder how they would of coped if they had to go to a phone box, dial a landline number and talk to people that way like I had to do as a child. We did have a landline phone but my dad wouldn't let my sister and I use it.

I'll give her another call after I've eaten as her network phoned while I was talking to her just now.

Try the MyBuilder.com site Gill. The people used are all vetted. You just put the job you want doing on the site and people who want your job get back to you on there. We got our bottom bricks all pointed that way by a super chap who was very reasonable and swept up all the mess too.

Afternoon Everyone,

I didn't sleep well either Frank and was slow getting going today. Yes if you have any concerns about the scooter Harvey being there would be a help. I think they are easy to use though as my sister got on fine with hers and my mum managed although she had never driven a car. Mum didn't need one badly as she just got cramps in her legs if she walked far (from circulation with smoking) but was preparing for when she would need one. I'm sure she just enjoyed riding around on it, could go further and liked having something to carry her shopping on!

That's good you just have the sore arm Mandy and that you were able to go straight in. The poor car park attendant getting a soaking though. Which jab did you have?

I'd forgotten all about the bean bags at school! I do remember thinking a ball would be better though, although you didn't have to chase a bean bag. I can't really remember what we did with them, but I see Gwyn has seen them used on Sports Day at the school she goes to. Nice to hear from you Gwyn.

No prizes for guessing what we had for lunch. The Turkey will be like Vera's chicken and re-appearing in a different guise for a few days!! Today we had it cold with coleslaw and salad in those cook at home baguettes. I have frozen 4 meals worth too which will save some time on other meals and there is still plenty left for tomorrow. :-) Oh I like a salmon and cucumber sandwich Mel, tinned or fresh!

We had a strange email from Talktalk the other day that said they were sending us a new router and would double our broadband speed at no extra cost. We wondered if it was spam so didn't click on the links, but a talktalk parcel has arrived with the router in so it seems ok. I checked the email address and it seems to be their marketing email address. So what's the catch I wonder? Extra cost when our contract is renewed? I know there are price hikes for broadband due according to Martin Lewis due to everyone's increased broadband use the past year.

It sounds like you are getting a bit of organisation going Gill which will be a temporary help while you get started on your alterations. I remember having taps at the ends of pipes dangling in the kitchen after we took the wall behind them down. I find some builders aren't quick getting back to you. Sometimes they are very busy (which is a good sign people want them) but it is a good idea to get a few quotes anyway. I will see if I can dig out a few photos of my old place as we were doing it, most are garden ones. I drew the garden out on squared paper, then cut out things we wanted in it from the squared paper like a summerhouse or different sizes of flowerbed. You can try things in different positions then. Don't do too much while you aren't well though.

I've just sent my address to everyone, if I've missed anyone out could you let me know please and I apologise now. I think I've sent it out to everyone apart from you Island as you didn't have my old address. If you'd like my new address let me know and I'll PM it to you.

Sandra's phone is playing up, she managed to get through to me but we got cut off, the poor girl is in tears like it's the end of the world, so I'm going to call her now to see if I can get through, if I can then it's her phone but if I can't then it might have something to do with the network with the bad weather we've got at the moment.

She has another phone but doesn't know how to transfer her sim card and she can't get on the Internet on the other one so is reluctant to use it. She's got herself in a bit of a state but hopefully I'll get through and be able to calm her down.

Thanks for the check list AnnG, there's a couple of things on there I forgot about so will need to contact them.

I've been on the phone all day trying to get hold of a builder, one said to ring back in an hour which I did and he never answered, that's the third time I've rang him so OH has said not to ring him again. OH was given a bricklayers number off a workmate last night so I've rang him and left a message, hopefully he'll get back to us as all the bottom couple of layers of bricks all around the property need seeing to and last night with all the rain I noticed the rain was coming through under the front door into our hall. It's a good job I sorted the boxes out yesterday or I wouldn't of noticed it. Thankfully it wasn't much and hasn't done any damage to the floor but if it's left it might rot the floorboards over time.

I'm just going to go online now to see if I can change the address on our driving licence. Not only have I made lots of calls today, with no positive results I had BT ring me to book in the engineer to set up my new router for the Internet, so I've been really busy and still have lots more to do.

OH was going to take down a dead tree that's right outside our bedroom window but it started to rain just as he went outside. He's keeping an eye on the weather as the tree has to come down because a big bit of it broke off with all the wind in the night and we don't want it to come down on our bungalow, or worse still land on next doors conservatory.

I'll PM you all my new address, I don't want to put the area on here because none of our family know we've moved. I've had so much trouble with M&M over this past year we don't want them to know we've moved, so if you all don't mind could you not mention the area we're living in when I give you our new address please.Thank you. Sorry to ask, but I've been really ill for the past year and I'm only just starting to feel a bit better and don't need the stress off the family. It's so nice to feel relaxed, rather than worried all the time now. All I need now is to find a builder then my life will be perfect lol.

I hope everyone is okay, I'm so busy at the moment I've not had a chance to read anyone's posts yet. Hopefully I'll be able to catch up soon.