General Chat

Afternoon all,

My goodness Gill how good were you keeping the move a secret :-D you'll have to let us all have your new address ,it sounds like you will have plenty to keep you busy with the house and the garden to get all sorted ,i hope you'll be happy in your new place .

Thanks everyone for the info about the surnames ,not sure about the Hannah Cowling ,its quite a while since i've done any thing on my tree so i will have to check that one some time .

That was good service with the mower coming today Anng ,son got the new washer today he sent a photo of it all set up with a wash going so they had good service too.

Been shopping today all wiped and put away ,Aldi was quiet again but you should have seen the queue for Mcdonalds which is near Aldi loads of cars i expect they came straight from the school after dropping the little ones off .

Yes i remember hearing about Waggoners Walk i think mum must have listened to it .

The mower arrived at 11.30, very good service, only ordered yesterday. Nice young man asked if I needed any help with it so I asked him to put it in the garage. It can stay there until I want to open up the box. I wanted to get the lawn cut with the old mower while it was dry as rain is forecast for tomorrow. I spent an hour and a half in the garden, cut the lawn, had a go at the edges but can't use the strimmer yet, daughter will show me how when they next come. I then tidied up the bed where the dahlias were, raked it over ready to plant wild flower seeds in a week or so. Bin is full now and out on the drive ready for collection tomorrow.

We used to listen to Waggoners Walk when we were on holiday here in Devon with my first hubby. Thats a blast from the past.

Island theres woodland all over the back to us right across 80 acres so I expect it came from there.

You and me both, Island. Not much chance of it though :-( Anyone remember the old radio soap called Wagonners' Walk? I think it started up when Mrs Dale's Diary came to an end. I remember there was great excitement on there because one of the characters had seen a hoopoe on their roof. That storyline was dragged out through loads of episodes.

I wondered if your snipe might have been a woodcock Mel but don't the latter snortle around in woodland undergrowth secretively?
Get it to show it's beak next time LOL

Mind you, seeing a snipe is pretty cool.

I'd love to see a hoopoo :-D

Meant to say I have rung the bells in Okehampton many times as we used to go each week to ring there. Not that far from us on the edge of the moor.

Nice to see you pop in Island.

Frank it was a hedgehog I took picks of which should'nt have been out during the day.

The other thing I keep meaning to tell you lot is that it was not a Snipe in the garden but a Woodcock. On the papers we have from where the estate was broken up and sold it said that there was good shooting of pheasents, grouse and Woodcock so they must be still about after all these years and as there has'nt been a shoot over the back for well over a year perhaps they are coming back into their own. I do hope so and hope we see it again.

Yes I noticed that Hannah Gwyn. I did'nt know about them changing names though. Not heard that one before.

I'd go along with Island's view, Mandy.

My aunt, who married in 1951, has had her maiden name crossed through and her married name inserted.

It can be quite useful, especially if the birth name is fairly common and you don't know which was the person who later married.


On Queenie's entry, there is a Hannah Cowling further up the page.
She has birthdate of 20 January 1879, is single and shown as ' Acc'tant, Bookeeper Retd. '

Is she connected?

Morning all, I hope you are well

Just posting this before I read through,

Mandy, surnames of women who married after 1939 were added to civil reg much later. I find it really useful.
I vaguely recall the NHS involved and these amendments were made up until 1975 - don't quote me on that :-)
I hope that makes sense.

Mandy if you look at that 1939 reg again you will see further up the page they have done it again with another lady who is housekeeper. Put her down as Jury and then crossed it out and written Stanleick. probably been asked how many in the household and they said how many so the enumerator wrote three Cowling names but when it came to Queenie he crossed it out and put Saunders.

Good morning all,

Gill from what I see, you are having a great deal to deal with.I do hope you and OH manage to get through it all without too many problems, There is no was we will be moving again, we seem to be settled here, and it's a nice quiet close,with very nice people, who are aways available should you need any help.

We have had a nice woman move in opposite in a Bungalow that was owned by a very nice lady JEAN, she has passed away and a very nice polite lady has moved in. I spoke to her the other day, and I don't think there is a partner, I would put her in her mid forties. I said if there was anything she needed help with, to give us a call. If I can't help I can always get Jonathan round. He is such a willing chap and will do anything to help people.

Harvey's wife Julia, has a very bad shin disorder. She is on a very strict diet, and can't drink anything other than water. Harvey will have his hands full with the diet bit., as he cooks all the meals.So he will have to cook for him and Lewis and separately for Julia.

Very still morning out there today, hardly a bit of movement of any bushes. Not sure what to expect weather wise. Just a case of wait and see.

I hope you are all well, I couldn't make out what visitor Mel had. Was it a deer. ??

Catch up later. Stay safe. xxxx

\Meant to say good luck with the mower box. I'd open it outside and bring the mower through out of the box.

Morning Anng and all including our Gill,

Sunny here today after another hard frost and we have blue sky with lines of white cloud. I hope it dos'nt cloud over again like it did yesterday. Not been out yet but the temp is reading 13 degrees and 16 inside.

You'l have lots to do Gill sorting through your boxes and doing the garden in the months to come. Does it not say how big the garden is on your deeds? We would all love to see some picture of your garden before and after. You need to buy yourself a camera to record all your work.

As to your hedge down the garden thats where the hogs will be and in the fields out the back so be careful once you start to take the hedge out as this is the month they start looking for mates after waking up.

Going to try and get something done in the garden today. Don't know what yet but I think it will be sweeping up moss and leaves.

Good morning all, looks fairly bright and dry out there so far and is a bit warmer at 0 degree. My new mower is arriving between 11.16 and 1216 I am not looking forward to that as it will be in a box so difficult for me to move when they leave it on the doorstep. I will probably drag the box into the garage.

Gill with all the problems with Sandra and your Mum, selling and buying property was the last straw for you. probably one of the most stressful things to cope with after bereavement. Hopefully now you have moved in and have met some of the neighbours, you have time to draw breath. coming on here will help you to relax which is what you need to do before starting on your part in the renovation.
Pampas grass is vicious. I hope your OH is wearing gloves as it is so sharp. we had to get rid of some when we moved here, it can look pretty with all the white fronds but is such a thug. and whatever you do, be careful if you decide to burn it, it is extremely flammable and will flare up. I am sure that, once it is cleared, you can spend time on the front garden which will be relaxing for you. meanwhile you can be planning it. draw it out and roughly sketch what you would like to see where, allowing for the drive widening. Is there a lawn, if so will you keep it. It is a good time to move snowdrops, when the flowers have died but the plants are still green.

I am sure we are all excited for you and would like to be kept in touch with what your are planning and doing. Good luck with it but try and get into a good sleeping pattern.

Yes, AnnG we've had a busy six months, although with Covid there were a few delays and Sandra's flat is only just starting to move in the right direction after almost seven months. We think it's our solicitor who's taking her time.

I had so much going on with Sandra and my mum as both of them caught Covid and mum has been in hospital a few times with her heart, she might have to have a stent put in but has to see a specialist first. Then there was Sandra saying she was at her friends when in fact she was living on the streets with her boyfriend in the snow. The police were involved so we had to deal with them. Then when she was found she's been moving around a lot and had to go to a flat in Chester because she had Covid, that is where she is now even though she's tested negative on her last test. She's staying there now until her flat she's buying completes.

I've been very ill with anxiety and depression for a year and had to have counseling and now I'm on a lot of meds. I came close to a nervous breakdown and thought about suicide a few times. I've finally got my meds sorted now so feel a little better. Then I had all the packing to do with OH working nights all the time.

The day the plants went OH and I helped to load them onto the van, we had a removal firm and I ended up with a bad back so couldn't really do anything for the first week of being here, except make phone calls and now I need to chase Sandra's flat on her behalf to make sure the solicitor doesn't take to much longer sorting it out for her. I'm also speaking with her social worker tomorrow and our solicitor.

Yes I'm hoping the gas is uncomplicated, but at least we have a shower for hot water and a few electric heaters to heat the place. The warmer weather should be here soon and we're getting used to it being a bit cold now. OH said it was warmer outside the other day than in here lol.

I've just had a lovely shower. I can't seem to sleep very well when OH's at work with being in a place I don't know yet, so I'm busying myself unpacking boxes to give me something to do and needed a wash as they are a bit dusty. I've just done a load of washing so that's in the dryer and I'm now going to dry my hair and watch Dancing on Ice on catch up. OH's working almost everyday this week so being asleep during the day when he's asleep is normal for me now, although I do get up before him with going to sleep earlier than him.

Well, I'd better go and dry my hair. I hope you all have better night sleeps than me. I suppose it'll take time for me to get used to being here. I'm not used to it being so dark and quiet with our property backing onto fields and our bedroom being in the back. It feels strange not having a street light glowing through the curtains and hearing cars going down the road all the time. We're in a cul-de-sac now with only 8 properties in it, so very small and quiet. The neighbours are lovely and the woman next door gave OH some hedgehog food as he came across some hedgehogs in our front garden when he was cutting the pampas grass down, so that was nice of her.

Everyone we've met so far, which is half the close, have been very friendly, which is nice. The neighbour on the other side of us to the woman who bought the hedgehog food told OH his wife cheered when he took the pampas grass down, apparently she hated it. He told OH it had been there for almost 50 years. I didn't realise how big our front garden was until it was cut down, they are massive so will take OH a few weeks to get rid of completely, but then he can extend the drive as it's quite narrow which makes parking the car a bit tricky. The other half of the garden I'll be putting some plants in. I did notice today there is a lovely large patch of snowdrops, so I'm going to split them and put them around the edge of the garden as it's right in the middle at the moment.

I'll try and come on here more now I have a bit more time, then I can catch up with the posts. There's not much I can do until all the structural work has been done. It's still a bit to cold for me to start on the garden and the big hedge needs taking out first, so we can see how big the garden is. I'm looking forward to planning the gardens and making them pretty. I'd like to have lights put in to highlight some of the plants if I can and maybe a summerhouse.

I hope you are all keeping safe and well. Going to dry my hair now as it's getting late.

Wow Gill you are having an adventure, you obviously have the vision to see how you want it to be and you are young so have the time to do it. I bet you were tired after moving all those pots. Did you hire a van to do it?

Let us hope the gas is Uncomplicated so you can move forward With it.

So all this was going on for six months and you managed not to say anything.

Oh forgot to say, it took us two days to move as all the pots (over 500 of them) were moved the day before we moved in. I still had some packing to do so never slept the night before we moved, neither did OH, so as soon as everything was in, I made the bed and we went to sleep.

We decided to sell our old place not long after Sandra arrived last September and sold to the first person who looked at it and for the asking price which was over £40k more than an offer we had a few years ago when we pulled out of the sale, plus we wanted to take advantage of the stamp duty holiday.

We all hoped Sandra would of got an assisted living flat but she didn't qualify for one in the area she wanted, so her only option was for us to sell the old place to enable her to buy herself a flat. It was our idea, although at first she thought it wasn't fair on us to sell our home, but now both girls have moved out we didn't need such a large property and have now moved to a smaller bungalow, not far from where we were before.

Because of Covid it took around six months for us to move. We had hoped we could of all moved on the same day but there was a massive hold up with Sandra's flat and the solicitor has only just received the management pack. Now she has that she'll make a report for Sandra to sign then hopefully it won't be to much longer before she can move in. There's lots of furniture and bits and pieces which the vendor has said she's leaving so Sandra won't have much to buy so long as the vendor doesn't change her mind. The gas cooker is faulty so she'll need to buy herself a new one and she'll need a sofa, but apart from that there isn't much left to buy apart from maybe some ornaments and pictures as the vendor is leaving all the dishes and pots and pans, even the mugs, microwave and washing machine.

She's getting really fed up of waiting now so I'm going to ring the solicitor again tomorrow as the report should of been here by now. Sandra wants us to help her buy her flat as she's not sure what she's doing, so her social worker has now been informed of what's going on and I will update her with the process. Her social worker is ringing me again tomorrow for an update so I'm hoping the solicitor has done the report then OH can go and pick it up to save some time. OH will then take the form to Sandra for her to sign.

Sandra's social worker is going to help her with her finances with her bills as she's in contact with her everyday and we thought she'd be the best person to help incase we can't get to Sandra straight away with OH working nights. Sandra can cope on her own otherwise, it's just bills that she'll need help with. She's living on her own now and loves it, but can't wait until she's in her flat so she can unpack properly and get herself settled.

OH's seen her flat but I haven't so it'll be nice to see it once I've had my vaccination. OH's had both his jabs now but I still haven't had my first one yet so I'm at risk if I mix with to many people or go to another area. I did get a letter off the doctor asking if I was still a carer so I could have my vaccination but I'm no longer Sandra's carer so I'm not sure how much longer I'll need to wait.

As for our property it was sold as a renovation project and it needs quite a lot doing to it, so that'll keep us out of mischief for a while. ;-) I'm looking forward to sorting the gardens out and decorating inside but for now I'm looking for builders to get the structural work done first. We want to extend the bathroom out into the hallway as it's set back about 5 foot, that way we can have a walk in shower installed instead of the cheap one we've had put in over the bath which isn't very good. At least it's hot water which is the only hot water we have in the property at the moment as the tank was leaking in the loft so had to be taken out.

We got a key undertaking to have the tank removed and the re-wire done. A key undertaking is a legal way of us doing work on the house in between exchange of contracts and completion, so at least we had safe electrics when we moved in and weren't living in the place while the walls were being chased out. OH had two weeks off work just before we moved and when the key undertaking was being done so he painted everywhere white until we can decorate properly. Unfortunately it snowed and some of the paint in the back two rooms never dried and dripped onto the floor so he had to wipe it off. That needs painting again when he's not so busy.

I've not been able to unpack most of our things as we need to have two coal fires removed and a chimney breast taken out in the kitchen so they'll be dust everywhere. I thought everything would be a lot cleaner if I left it all packed, so at the moment we're living in our bedroom as there's packing boxes everywhere else. This place has two rooms less and boy do we miss them, but once all the work has been done and we can finally buy carpets and unpack it shouldn't be to packed with boxes.

I had Sky round a few days after we moved in but they said they couldn't put Sky in as it meant drilling from inside the property and because of Covid and the lockdown it was Sky's policy not to do any in door work, so it's been booked in for the first week in April. I'm using a freeview box at the moment with an aerial on top of our wardrobe as there wasn't an aerial when we moved in and the freeview box keeps going off so I'm watching quite a lot of programmes on my laptop at the moment.

We've got the gas people coming here on Friday to do a test to see if the pipes are live or dead. Apparently the previous owner didn't like gas so she had the gas metre taken out and the pipe capped. If it's live then we can't extend the bathroom as much as we'd like. There are two cupboards outside the bathroom and the gas pipe is in the cupboard furthest away from the bathroom, but at least we'll be able to extend it enough to move the sink to the bottom of the bath instead of to the side of it which will enable us to have a shower screen fitted without it hitting the sink when it's open. Because we'll only be able to extend the bathroom around two and half foot instead of five foot if the metre has to stay in the cupboard we won't have the room to have a walk in shower, so at the moment we're not sure how big the bathroom is going to be so can't have a new bathroom put in or tile yet.

So that's where we're up to at the moment. Total chaos, but hopefully things will be better in a few months.

Oops How did that happen then? You know me, Ann, I can always fill a page or two but I don't usually leave a ready space.

I've just been doing a bit more on my Russian holiday write-up. I am on page 18 already and I've only done about a quarter of it. I have put in quite a few pictures so it's not all my boring ramblings.