General Chat

Gwyn its lovely to think that something from my and probably most of our childhoods is still going strong after all these years. Thank you for the report.

Had lunch oh had his mussles in garlic butter and I had something I hav'nt had for over a year at least a red salmon and cucumber sandwich and it was lovely and I shall definately be having it again soon.

Its been quite bright here but the wind still blowing a hooley and the clouds keep coming over.

I am still wondering about Elizabethoftheseasons and do so hope she is well.

Mel,
Up until the pandemic, I volunteered in a primary school and they certainly used bean bags, particularly for the younger ones to practise throwing and catching skills.

On sports day, there was always a bean bag race, where each team had bean bags set out at certain distances on their route and the children had to run and collect them in turn and place them into a bucket, then dash with their full bucket to the finishing line.

Remember having bean bags at school. I wonder if they still use them in schools.

We've just had hail stones and grey sky then just as I was going to feed the chikcens it rained. Finished doing that and got wet and came in and out came the sun and we now have blue sky and thin white clouds.

Its good to know you are ok Frank even though a bit shakey. Have a nice read and get lost in your latest book.

Still very windy here today and grey now.

I am going to have a look at what I made yesterday now and maybe varnish the other sides of the two hare heads. I have made them out of a mould I made from a sycamore seed head. Tehy look just like a hares head with it very long ear.

Good morning Mel, and all,

No, not ventured out on the scooter yet. I think I will wait until either Harvey or Lewis are here, so they can keep an eye on me.

Barry has just turned up, to do the first cut on the lawns. After all that rain yesterday I thought it might be too wet, but it is cutting fine.

Have not been in the best place health wise, I have been getting those "SPIDER" Feelings down my body, and pins and needles down my right side.

Didn't sleep to well last night. I sat and watched Freddie Flintoft and Jamie Redknapp which I found interesting, and then went to bed. I was still wide awake at 2.30 so don't feel great this morning. I have showered and shaved, and feel as weak as a kitten.

I am going to sit in the conservatory and try to relax with my book, will try to get back later today. xxxx

Morning everyone,

When I started readin gthe posts the sun was shining but now it has clouded over and the sky has turned grey so I expect it will start to rain soon. The winds dropped a bit from last night as it was roaring through the garden when I wnet to bed at 1pm.

For those who need it it is THURSDAY today and I hope with all the wind last night our dustbin bag stayed where I put it or it could be all up the road by now.

Now where's our Frank??????? Wonder if he has ventured out onthe scooter yet?

Sounds like your getting there Gill. It may be because of the lockdown that the builders hav'nt got back to you and maybe you will hear soon. You're probably not the first on their lists as others will be needing them too. Stay safe and stay warm.

Morning AnnG , morning all,

What a windy old night I woke several times to hear the wind howling, this morning it's still quite strong and it keeps trying to rain .

Gill how far is your new place from your old one ,do you need to change doctors and dentist .
Did you say OH has changed his place of work too , don't forget to give us your new address .
That's good the police have things in hand it must be very unsettling for Sandra .

My arm doesn't feel to bad at the moment after the jab yesterday just a bit sore to the touch ,I went straight in which was good as it was pouring with rain ,the poor chap in the car park directing the traffic was soaked .

Got a pile of ironing to do so will drink my coffee and get on .

Gill I think changing the address on your car 'log book' will be enough for the car tax it will all be DVLA. Don't forget home and building insurance, not sure if you need to change your address on car insurance.
Look here for advice

https://www.reallymoving.com/help-and-advice/change-of-address-checklist

good way of keeping warm but do take care with the hot water bottle, I think I read they should be changed every 3 years. and put hot but not boiling water in it.

Have you got a fridge plugged, lots of things can be kept temporarily in there if you have. Make sure you are eating to help you keep warm. I know you said you haven't got a cooker (as you don't have gas) Do you have a microwave?


Anyway, good morning everyone else, raining here so in for another miserable day. Think I will change the bedding and get that out of the way and maybe make a few more Easter cards.

Sandra heard from the police today and they are looking into it. She thinks they are going to get in touch with the electric company to check the payments then she said they will speak with her friend's husband and get back to her. She said she doesn't want him to get away with it and is quite annoyed with him.

Because we're pretty much living in our bedroom at the moment I get under the covers to keep warm with a hot water bottle. The weather here is very windy and it's been raining all day, so not very warm. We've bought three heaters, two of them work but we realised one of them isn't, so OH is going to take that one back to the shop tomorrow and get another one.

On a positive I've been sorting out the packing boxes today and can now see our hall lol. We've even managed to put three cupboards in there, which I'm gong to put some food in as we don't have a kitchen yet. The hall looks so big now. OH's put most of the boxes in the loft for now with us wanting to take out two coal fires and a chimney, we don't want all the coal dust getting on everything so thought it best to leave the boxes packed until all the dirty jobs are out of the way.

I'm going to have to look again for a builder. I managed to speak to one the other day and he said to put the job into a text which I did but he never got back to me. Before I rang him I'd rang another builder and left a message, again he didn't get back to me. At this rate I'm never going to get the jobs done. So it's back to the drawing board tomorrow to see if I can find another builders number. I must remember to change our address on our driving licences and the log book for the car, I'm not sure what happens with the car tax as we pay that in one go and don't know who to get in touch with to change the address.

I got a text off Sky today asking if we'd like them to come and put our TV in earlier than the first week of April and if we did to go online to track the order and change the date. I went online and it said there wasn't an order, so now I'll need to ring them again. I'm not having much luck am I lol.

Off to bed now, I'm pleased G had a nice birthday Ann.

I do actually feel very grateful. I remember when in Tenerife so many people were very poor, no unemployment benefit and not sure what their pensions were. Maybe it has improved now but from my point of view the system is/was very good. I know things have changed but T drew his DSS pension for 26 years I think then was in hospital for nearly three months with not a penny to pay. Really can't complain at that.

Yes I love that the shrub flowers early (Viburnum?) so don't like to prune it till we've enjoyed them, but by the time they have finished, the biters have moved in and are all over it and they seem to like me.

Ah Vera, I must try some King Edwards then and see what they are like as roasties! Today's were a jacket potato of some sort that was left over. OH came in here just before his zoom meeting to say he'd had a lovely birthday. It was a bit uneventful really, but he does enjoy his food so that was all a hit!

It sounds like a bit of an ordeal the new regime for your colonoscopy. OH has had them, but obviously under the old regime that seemed simpler. As you say though, it is good that they can do these checks and at least you don't have to stay overnight. The others have heard this, but years ago I was sitting in a hospital waiting room with OH waiting to see someone about his endoscopy, having already had his colonoscopy. Out of the blue he came out with 'I hope they don't use the same tube'. :-D How do you keep a straight face when he says things like that!

Yes it was nice to see a colourful butterfly Mel. It made us feel Spring and Summer are on the way. That's nice having your OH get a meal and not having to get it yourself. Meals you haven't cooked yourself seem to taste better somehow. I'm grateful (and lucky!) to get beans on toast! lol.

That's good your finances are getting sorted AnnG and that you have your 25% reduction in council tax. When I first joined the CS I dealt with those pension adjustments! I bet the computer does most of it nowadays. If your own basic state pension was less than your husbands it was topped up to his and then you got half of his other entitlements.

Vera that sounds a hard thing to do and drinking all that water too.

Dinners nearly ready and its smelling good.

Poor butterfly if it is out in the weather we have had today. I hope it found shelter.what flower is it on?

As I said in the email lunch looked tasty. I like Maris Piper to roast as well.

Vera, that doesn’t sound very nicehope it all goes well for you.

I am not sure how I would feel about visiting places we had planned to go to together. I suspect it depends how far in the future it is. I think one of the main thoughts is that I won’t get to go many places at all as T was the driver right up to when he went into hospital, if we went anywhere he drove. I literally only drive local roads and have not driven on the motorways since about 1978. Unfortunately train travel is not good from Gloucester and I am not a fan of coaches really.

Never mind obviously not the end of the world I will cope.

Is'nt it a lovely butterfly Ann. A good pic that and on some early flowers too. Great.

I loved the look of the birthday dinner. I could just go that now but we have meatballs and oh is cooking.

What a very cold, wet, windy day it's been. The wind seems to be picking up even more now.

I've had a really lazy day. I haven't felt inclined to do anything. I watched something on iPlayer this morning and I've never done that during the day before.

My pack from the hospital arrived at lunchtime and I think my colonoscopy prep. is even worse than before. The diet sheet is totally different from the last one I had. I have a very limited list of non-fibrous foods from which I can have 3 meals on Monday, on Tuesday I can have a light breakfast from the list, then nothing more except clear liquids until I get back Wednesday afternoon and missing a meal is a migraine trigger for me. 5 pm Tuesday I have to mix up a litre of gunge and drink a glassful every 15-30 minutes, followed by half a litre of water. That will probably take me to near 8 pm when I have to do the same all over again. I am probably going to spend most of the night in the bathroom. I have to say I am not looking forward to next week at all, though I know I should be glad that medical science has advanced so we can have these procedures.

Gill, I know it's easy to say but try not to get too stressed. You are doing all you can possibly do to help Sandra and it sounds as though she is managing to cope quite well. I am sure the hospital will manage to sort your mum out. Do try and stay warm. If the house is cold put lots of clothes on. It won't matter if you look like the Michelin man, just keep yourself warm.

Your turkey sounds as though it was a success Ann. I hope G has enjoyed his day.

It's still early days yet AnnG and you are bound to feel down from time to time. You may not want to go to the places you had planned to visit with T but you will get out and about in time and you'll make new memories. At least it's good news about your finances which seem to be falling into place for you.

Your email has just come through Ann. That's a very early butterfly but now I feel summer might really arrive one day. Lunch looks tasty and I am sure you both enjoyed it but I'll take issue with you over the potatoes ;-) Maris Piper are my second choice if I can't get King Edward's which make by far the tastiest, crunchiest roasts. Now you've made me feel hungry so I'd better go and sort our dinner. Nothing as yummy as turkey for us, just a boring shop bought meat pie and veg.

Well I have made three Easter cards today so that is progress. I have also been pleased by the fact that One of T's golfing group has approached the club to point out that he bought £150 worth of points (He joined a scheme whereby you pay so many points a game as he knew in August that he was not going to be playing so much. and didn't play at all) And didn't use them as he went into hospital. The club are refunding the money.

And another good thing DWP have sorted out my new pension adding mine and my part of T's due to me and have paid up what they owed to date. Of course there is tax to pay so my company pension will take a bit of a hit next month until I get a form to complete from the tax office.

And my council tax is in and they have adjusted it to single occupancy. So all go here in the finance department. It is going to be a few months before I am straight and can see what I will be getting regularly I guess.

Yes Annx I hope to be going places with Lyn and Joe, although not when they go abroad as they will be doing. It was just the thought of the two of us that were looking forward to going to places. It shows you should not assume, no matter how healthy we are anything can strike at the last minute.

Oh yes our Christmas Turkeys weren't good were they Mel. We threw ours in the bin after Christmas Day! lol. This was a fresh one I froze and I was a bit worried it might not be good either, but it is quite tender and very tasty. I did have to cook it longer than it said, but then I always seem to with this oven. Cakes cook perfectly but not Turkey! It may be because we keep our fridge so cold too that it takes longer to warm up.

I feel tired after our lunch and then icecream so haven't done anything since then. We had a lady call to ask if we wanted milk delivery as she is doing a round. At the start of the pandemic I would have said yes as we could have just ordered extra if we needed it, but once things are more normal and we will be out more I don't want milk sitting outside in the sun for hours.

That sounded like a good programme AnnG. I forget which prog it was but I watched one last week where a couple with a toddler sold up their small farm to move to a bigger one in the Isle of Bute. I thought what a huge change that would be! Don't talk yourself into thinking you won't be able to go to lots of places again. Just give yourself time and you may join others in some new activities like card making or something new and will add some new friends, you don't know where things will lead yet.

I hope you soon feel better Gill. It won't help with having no heating so wrap up well and try to get enough sleep at night, not easy when you are worried about Sandra and your mum. You are doing all you can for them, so just focus your mind on the bungalow and what you can do there to be ready for the builders and the alterations.

I think some warmer weather and being able to potter in the garden more will do us all good. I noticed this morning that although Mrs O opposite has cleared most of the perennial plants she put in her border on the left last year, she has a lovely row of white heathers in flower the opposite side along the driveway.

I love Adams farm on Countryfile Mel, that is somewhere else we were going to go after lockdowns etc. We had all sorts of UK places lines up to take the place of Lanzarote, Tenerife and Spain holidays. Probably none of those will happen now, or if they do won't be the same. Can you tell I am having a 'feeling down and miserable' day today?

Well I have made one card so that is something.

So he was pleased with his present Ann. Hope the turkey is nice and not hard like ours was at Christmas.

Surprising what you find when you have a sort out Anng and I am sure the tools will come in handy at some point. I love my toolbox. Oh bought me one when we were first together and lots of tools too. Then there are my craft tools all in the lounge near my tables. I like to watch farm programs and do watch This Week On The Farm on a Wednesday evening. Its quite fun with Jules Holland and Helen Skelton. You see all the new babies and they have lots of different animals on there not just the usual farm animals. I think its a place you can visit like Adam's Farm on Countryfile open to the public.

Still windy grey and wet here.

Time to get lunch now and watch Doctors.

I hav'nt touched the ironing or the bathrooms yet as I got sidetracked by my poly clay. :-D