General Chat

Mel I know how hard that is. But if it is for a doctor's appointment I am sure one of your friends won't mind. It sounds as if you do need to go and see somebody.

Morning Anng and all,

Dull and dreary here this morning and its 13 degrees. When I first looked at the temp it was 14 and as I looked again it went down a degree.

Shopping comes today and no subs this week. There was one last week which I sent back.

I don't seem to be able to fill my lung up this morning and its been a bit like that for a week now. I need to get to the docs but don't like to keep asking people to drive me there.

Good morning all 11 degrees here so far so a drop in temp today. I think it is supposed to get warmer again next week but the East will be hotter than here.

Mel, I think, when the shops shut during covid some people bought on line for the first time and realised how easy it could be most of the time. Since Covid and the big stores closing like Debenhams and House of Fraser, people were almost forced to find what they wanted on line. and once those stores closed there were fewer reasons to go into town so the small shops couldn't cope with loss of trade. Not helped by large increases in rent etc. It is very sad to see the empty shops in town as visits to town are sometimes social occasions for people, like myself, on their own.

Ann it sounds as though that shopping Mall is a vistim of what I have just said to Mel. Sad isn't it. Strangely, near us they have just opened The Cotswold Designer outlet. Just a posh name for anothr shopping mall but aimed at up markey discount stores. The only large store as far as I know is M&S.
Glad that you got your return parcels sorted, but what a 'faff'.

Vera who doesn't love a rainbow. I do I bet you watched until it faded.

Yes car is back home now Stu drove it down and a friend of James came in his car and took Stu back.

I did'nt get the ironing done I just did'nt feel like it in the end, perhaps tomorrow.

Is'nt it disappointing when the shops we used to like go down hill. It all seems to be since lockdown. Holsworthy used to be bustling on market day but thats even a bit flat now even in the holiday season. Lots of the towns are like ghost towns now. I think people got used to buying things online.

Evening All,

A few short showers here but not sure it's been enough to loosen the weed roots to pull out.

Well in the end I couldn't find a small box for the second T shirt, as we took most cardboard boxes to the tip recently, so I decided to risk packing that in the bag they came in and took the box and bag to post this afternoon. The post office accepted them both without a murmur!

We went to the McArthur Glen retail park up the motorway this morning about 45 miles and called in at IKEA, intending to get a bite to eat there on the way. I hadn't thought to check and we found it doesn't open till 10.00am during the week now, so we called in the new M&S next door for a snack instead. The retail park was a huge disappointment. The M&S outlet there was poor and where it used to be crammed with clothes etc it was quite bare and all we got was some underwear. The Clarke's Shop had done away with the shelves you could walk between with shoes displayed and just had shoeboxes piled up off the floor with each shoe placed on the top. Again lots of space and little stock. I thought the Regatta shop would be good, but 90% in there seemed to just be for men. I did buy some cards in the Hallmark shop and their stock was all reduced as if they weren't doing well. We tried the food hall but instead of the lovely fluffy jacket potatoes with cottage cheese we used to get it was mostly burger or pizza places so we gave that a miss. We looked in the Suit shop and none of the suits or jackets had single vents at the back of the jackets, so that was no good for OH. We both decided we wouldn't bother going back there again. It used to be so good as well.

Fancy Jake getting all that fuss over a twist tie at Argos Mandy. It was lucky your son knew the manager and, as you say, I wonder how many other people had similar dealings with that member of staff. I hope you soon get a new wheel or pin for your garden caddy, so you can use it. Yes I hope all the cards will surprise and cheer Dougie up! I thanked him for his military service too and said he had played a part in us all having a better future than might have been.

Autumn seems to be arriving speedily now and the nights are really drawing in. I think it's the end of this month that they stop our garden bin collection till Spring so we need to make sure we fill it right up the next couple of times.

The Brewers Fayre sounded good value AnnG and how nice you had a late birthday treat from your friend.

As you say Vera, you have been very supportive to the man, but you must get your jobs done now. I hope the rain doesn't stop him getting your fence finished this week. Your poor OH twisting his knee in bed somehow! I can sympathise having to be careful with my own knees and hope with careful pottering that it is much better by the time of your trip to Hatfield House. Sorry you have had tummy troubles too as they can make you feel grim and with no energy afterwards. I'm glad you are a lot better today. The rainbow sounded magical!.

Mel, a little sleep can recharge your batteries but perhaps you need to set an alarm when you have one. :-D I hope your car is back now.

I’m looking out of my bedroom window at a beautiful rainbow. It’s quite low in the sky with a wide arc and you can really distinguish the individual colours. It’s one of the loveliestI’ve ever seen. That’s made my day :-)

Just went outside and brought the quilt cover in turned round to go back out and its raining so I think the ironing is now on the cards. :-(

Told you I would send it Mandy. Suns been out most of the afternoon and I think I will go and have a little sweep out the front and then do some ironing. I was just about to do it when BIL arrived the other day and then I forgot about it.

I feel really tired today and could just go and throw myself on the bed and sleep, trouble is my body dos'nt know when to wake up it can never be 20mins.

Thanks Mel got the rain after the washing had dried and I also took the canes out of the runner beans ,it was a bad year for them for us but good for toms and cues (80 cues now) but strangely next door has had a good lot of runners but not so good for her toms ,so I don't know what to make of that .

We've had a few cloudbursts too Vera and thunder and lightning.
Oh its nice that way of the coast ,nice shops in Holt, its where the royals shop when they stay in Sandringham.
In Sheringham we like to go over the railway bridge and turn left and go down to the front that way you can park along the front and just walk under the arch and your along the front .

Friend Louise just took me out to lunch for a belated birthday treat. We went to the Whittle which is a Brewers Fayre about 10 minutes away. She decided not to go to Dundry.. It was really good, meals £5, sweets under £3, I had fish and chips and it was a good size. Louise had sausage and mash three fat sausages with mash and onions, beans and gravy, she said it was good. Then we shared a sweet.

Vera that is a pity that tummy problems have attacked you twice recently. Is ther any chance that either sessions could be a 'normal' tummy bug? anyway hope you stay ok now and glad that you are feeling better. And your poor OH. I empathise with his pain. As I can't take Nurofen, I use the gel which does help. Friend also is unable to take nurofen but was told by a medical friend of hers (Not sure doctor or pharmacist) that very occasionally if the pain was bad it would not hurt to take a dose of Nurofen at a sensible distance from her BP tablet dose. I must admit I have been known to do this.

I hgope your OH's leg is ok for the trip on Thursday.

Good morning ladies

It started bright and dry this morning but then came over black and windy and I’ve just noticed that it is now raining, though not heavily. No sign of Mr Fence Painter today. OH says that when he left on Saturday he said he would be back “sometime next week” to finish off. How vague is that! OH did politely say that we couldn’t just sit in and wait if we didn’t know when he’s coming but he said that he only needs access to the paint so we don’t need to be here. I don’t know if we will be able to continue using him for jobs. I feel desperately sorry for him as he’s had a rotten year with his own ill health and deaths in his family and, because of that, he’s struggling to get work now and I think money may be tight. He’s a good worker and his charges are very reasonable but there’s a limit to how supportive we can be when we need to get the jobs done.

I know meteorological autumn starts today but astronomical autumn doesn’t start till around 22 September so I’m sticking with that and having another 3 weeks of summer, lol.

What a performance getting your T shirts returned Annx. Why do Ebay want them back as 2 parcels when they were sent out as 1 and why do the Post Office say they have to be boxed? It doesn’t make sense. It sounds as though Jake has had problems and now Mandy having to photograph the thing she bought. I think these companies make it as difficult as possible for you to exchange your goods or get your money back in the hope that you will give up. Our surgery, like yours, contacts me every so often for up-to-date BP readings but their email says if I don’t have my own monitor to ring the surgery for an appointment with the nurse. Our pharmacy drives me mad. Every time I go to pick up my meds they offer me a BP check. I’m sick to death of saying I have my own monitor and the surgery check on me regularly. I may be wrong but I think perhaps the NHS pay the pharmacy for every check they do.

Mandy, daughter has booked a 3 bed cottage at Felbrigg which is only a couple of miles from Cromer and is just over a 2 hour drive from here. We all like the area around Cromer/Sheringham/Holt and there is plenty to do there and not too far to drive to get there, though daughter will be doing the driving. As we’re only there for a short time we’ll be limited in what we can do but we certainly intend to enjoy ourselves.

We didn’t have a brilliant weekend as I had another flare up of my old tummy problems. Sometimes I can be fine for months on end and then suddenly it all kicks off again but I’ve had 2 sessions of it in recent weeks and it does pull you down. I’m a lot better today. Then OH went to bed Saturday night, got up at 4,30 am to use the bathroom and was fine, woke again at 6 am in agony with pain from a knee affecting his whole leg. We can only think he must have turned over in his sleep and somehow twisted his knee. He did start taking Ibuprofen which made me realise how painful it must be as he won’t normally take any pills. He’s had 4 doses now and says it feels a lot better and he is now hobbling about. We’ll have to see how he is tomorrow and make a decision about a day out on Thursday. We are supposed to be on a coach trip to Hatfield House but there will be a lot of walking about and a longish journey there and back sitting on a coach. It was quite expensive and at this short notice we would not get our money back. We have been there before but many, many years ago. We are looking forward to it so I hope he is OK to go. Coach outings are the route we’ll have to go down now as neither of us want to tackle long drives any more.

I’ve changed beds, done the week’s washing, cleaned sinks, rung the doctors about my prescription and got a couple of birthday cards ready to put in the post box later. Now it’s time for lunch I think.

I did this a couple of hours ago but got distracted and forgot to post it. We’ve just had a real cloudburst. It only lasted a few minutes but outside the front looks like a pond. Now the sun is shining again.

Its been tipping it down here I shall send it over to you mandy after your washing has dried. How many squares have you done for the new blanket?

Nothing from Stu yet so I expect he will bring the car back after work.

Morning all,

Nice and sunny and 17 degrees ,I think we might be in for rain later but I hope to get the bedding on the line and get that dry ,there's a nice blow out so it should get dry.
Yes where has August gone ,the whole summer seems to have passed so quickly this year ,I don't like it when we start getting the heavy dew in the morning leaving everything so wet.

Ann I meant to say that was a lovely thing to do sending the birthday card ,imagine his face when he sees all the cards it will make his day extra special, your good deed for the day :-)

Morning girls,

Yes Anng where did August go? Everything is down hill from now on and it seems to be starting here today. Its dull and dreary, wet and windy 14 degrees and raining for most of the day on and off.I have admin to do today so that will keep me quiet and out of mischief. Got to sort the car out.

Good morning all, 15 degrees here but dull. Still dry at the moment. Kept waking last night so a bit tired this morning. Leg still not right but going out to lunch with friend who lives opposite. Just to the little nursery/gareden centre where the Butterfly gardeb is,

And another month has gone. First day of autumn today. :-)

Evening all,

It's been a nice sunny day, I got washing dry as there was a good blow ,we've just had a lazy day really ,a few little jobs like tieing a bit of rose up and watering the cues .

Vera I hope your granddaughter arrived safely and that she has a wonderful time in her new job in HongKong .
That will be lovely going away with your daughter for a few days ,where is it your going on our coast .

Oh Ann why have your parcels got to go back in boxes when they weren't delivered in a box ,that's naughty of them to make you pay for two parcels .
We bought ons of those garden caddies to use for the logs ,we have two already but one is now getting old and the other has a roller bit underneath that makes it hard to pull and we wanted one with wheels ,it came but the spindle bit with a split pin on one side was missing so we couldn't put the wheel that side ,so son sent them a massage and they wanted a photo so now we wait to see what they are going to do .

Jake bought a microphone for his computer from argos ,got it home then decided he didn't want it so packed it back up and took it back ,when the lady unpacked it she said it needs to come back in the condition you bought it you haven't got the twist tie on the poly bag :-S a twist tie !!!!!! then she said this code on the box doesn't correspond with the one on the product, so Jake said well, that's the one you sold it to me in ,son was with him and he said he was getting ready for them as it was getting ridiculous, as it happens when the manager came over it was a girl he went to school with and she soon sorted it ,told the cashier woman that the numbers didnt have to match ,how many has that happened too ,think they need to train them a bit more.

Afternoon All,

I wrote a long post yesterday and whoosh it was gone, so I gave up then. I know I should C&P, but you think 'just this once' and it's when it all goes wrong! Windy and cloudy here, oh and I can hear rain on the window so that will be good for the garden. Crikey I think it's stopped again.

My car MOT isn't due for a few weeks yet but I get it done early. If it fails but is still roadworthy eg things like brakes ok and no bald tyres I can still use it then till the old MOT runs out and it gives me time for it to be fixed without being off the road. They still start the new MOT from the date the old MOT runs out. I said in the lost post yesterday that Stu would know if the car was ok for Mel to potter up and down her drive and I see he is bringing it back for her. Don't forget to claim back the road tax Mel as a new month starts tomorrow. It looks like Stu has found some potential replacements already so fingers crossed one is okay and you will soon be mobile again.

Ebay and the Post Office are upsetting me now! I bought 2 items on Ebay from the same place with free postage and they were sent together in a polythene bag. They both need to be returned and I was going to return them together like they were sent to me and in the same bag. Oh no, Ebay deals with them as 2 seperate parcels and I have to pay postage to return each one seperately. Then the Post Office say each item has to be returned in a BOX, so I need to find 2 boxes as well. (They are fabric T shirts so not breakable).

Mandy you will have to mix making the squares with sewing them together won't you to ease your back. It must be nice to be using different colours now. I see you got stocked up with meat, but no crab as it was a wrong day for them.

Vera that will be a nice treat to have a break in Norfolk and see your daughter too. A nice change of scene before winter starts. I hope your chap has managed to finish painting your fences now. After never, ever reviewing my meds by any contact with me in the past, I got a text yesterday to ask me to send a BP reading before they could issue one of them. The best of it was as well, they said if I didn't have my own machine to do it to go to a pharmacy to get a reading. I thought that was what the surgery nurses did!! What if I couldn't or didn't drive which may be the case in the future. Will we all be expected to pay for taxes out of our diminishing income as the govt keep taking from us? Then I had to complete an online survey to notify my BP, with many questions that simply didn't apply to post menopausal women, like questions about your periods!! It's all a bit worrying as we get older as even if we can manage to use the internet now it isn't a given that we will always be able to manage to.

Waiting for the food delivery now. For the third delivery now they have no chicken and bacon salads that we ordered and for the second time they have substituted a half cucumber for the cress we ordered, although there are already mini cues on the order. :-S

Good morning Mel and all 15 degrees here and a bright autumnal morning.

Have to have a think about what need doing today. I did catch up with my ordinary mail, wrote four letters yesterday. Not sure what else needs doing

Mel will you just keep the car until you get another one to replace it.

Morning girls,

At the mo its a nice bright sunny day and its 16 degrees pc says mostly sunny and now its changed to rain coming!!!! In that short space of time between starting my post and now ( 8.59am)

Can't wait till tomorrow to get my car back outside so at least I can go up the top and pick apples and get the bins out..

That was a nice surprise Vera and something to look forward too not too far away.

That will be a lovely break Vera and not too far to travel from yours.