General Chat

Thank you for your card, Mel, which must have arrived in the lunchtime post.My first one this year.

There was no frost here this morning, which quite surprised me, but boy was it cold out and there was dampness in the air, which added an extra chill.
I seem to be seeing more birds this week.I expect they are all looking for extra food. Yesterday we were visited by a lot of long tail tits, which don't often frequent our garden. Lots of blue tits were around too, but no recent sightings of our robin.

What a good neighbour you are Vera, but take care of yourselves too, so that you can enjoy your visitors.
I hope the weather allows their journey.

I hope Mandy and her OH are soon fully fit, as I can imagine that such busy people will be so frustrated if they keep having to rest.

Ann
I love to read about your walks and visits to places of interest. They sound lovely. I will check your e mails in a minute.

Mel,
That must be such a cold job gathering foliage for your Advent ring, but what a lovely thing to do in memory of your loved ones. You seem to be getting on well and I'm sure it is greatly appreciated in the church. You have made me think about whether I should make something for our local little church. Services are very limited now there. After this Sunday, the 1st Sunday in Advent, there is no service until 23rd, so the candles won't be lit each week......

Saint Andrew's day today, so we are having haggis for our meal this evening. It always seems to take ages to prepare the swede to go with it, as it's so tough to cut :-|

3pm weather check! We have tiny balls of snow falling.

I have the dome in the middle and the green and yellow fir round the edge but my fingers are so stiff and cold I have come in for a warm up once again and I still hav'nt had anything to eat so I think its an early lunch now.

I have fed the chickens and had a good wash and went and picked a load of yellow fir and ivy flowers and leaves but by this time my hands were so cold and the winds bitter out there today. I had to come in and warm up by doing the washing up. I wiped the eggs and now I am hungry.

Still have cards to write and I must get on with this advent ring but could'nt face the cold shed till I had warmed up.

Vera don't go overdoing it take it slow and steady. I hope your neighbour is better soon and he poor hubby but he is in the best place if he has to have these blood transfusions. Its so sad when two people like that are struggling but you are a good beighbour to the both of them.

Right something to eat I think. :-D

Good morning all. Don't go overdoing it Vera with all the shopping, wrapping, bed making and cooking. and if you don't have time to come on here we will 'see' you after the weekend. Hope you don't get snow to throw a spanner in the works too.
Your neighbour is fortunate in that the ambulance comes fairly quickly, although unfortunate of course to be so poorly. It sounds as if they are just keeping him alive. A worry for her and good of you to get her shopping. I hope she gets over her infections soon and do mind she doesn't pass anything on to you.

Mel good luck with making the ring etc. do you enjoy making it? don't forget a photo. I hope to send a few photos of my trip out yesterday. that will be later as I am not dressed yet. We had a a hard frost last night and the roofs are all very white this morning it is -1 degree here at the moment. Not cold indoors because the heating is on and I am snuggled in my thick fluffy dressing gown. I slept well last night, must have been the Forest air, I have more presents to wrap today. getting there. I want to finish so I can put my decorations up.

Morning all,

Dull, dark and dingy this morning 0 degrees and pc says cloudy.

Slept well and must get ready fr the day and see if I can get this ring done and out of the way.

BBL

I got your card today Mel. Thank you very much. Your trip to Holsworthy wasn't wasted then. It's always satisfying to have a bit of a spend-up.

AnnG, I think my neighbours must be on some sort of vulnerable list as they never have to wait very long for an ambulance. Husband definitely has to be in hospital when he is taken ill. He very often needs a blood transfusion and is usually in for 5 or 6 days till he is stabilised. He has got to have a transfusion again this time. The wife saw the doctor yesterday and has 2 different infections so, apart from feeling lousy, she can't go in to see her OH. I am going to do a bit more shopping for her tomorrow as she forgot a few bits yesterday and I have to shop for our weekend meals anyway.

It's been a busy day. I've done a bit of housework and OH washed the floors for me. I washed towels and got all the bedding ready to make up the bed for grandson and partner. I'm putting them in my room as it's more suitable for a cot and it has an en-suite and I'll go into the spare room. I've written more cards and wrapped 6 presents for grandson to take back to Yorkshire for me. There's still another 3 to do tomorrow.

Tomorrow will also be busy as I have quite a lot of shopping to do for me, plus a bit for my neighbour, and we are supposed to be meeting friends for coffee. That will take us till lunchtime and then I want to spend the afternoon doing some cooking.

Grandson is arriving lunchtime Friday and my daughter and partner are coming up about 5.30, so will have a meal with us and stay for a couple of hours. It's the only time that suits all of us as, of course, daughter wants to see the babe, her granddaughter. I think it's going to be a busy weekend so I am not sure whether I will get online much over the next few days.

It's been really cold today and the frost hasn't cleared from cars and roofs all day. At the moment the computer is telling me it is -3 and there is fog. We also have a yellow warning of snow and ice, though I don't suppose there will be more than a few flakes round here. I hope it doesn't get too bad in Yorkshire or grandson might have to put off his trip down to us.

Take care everyone if you are out and about as roads and pavements could get slippy. Stay warm. I'm off to fill a hotty and heat my wheat bag to lay against my back.

Went to Holsworthy quite early and had a good look around after getting the candle spikes. Ended up buying lots of Christmas presents in Mole Valley and thougherly enjoyed spending some money.

No its mine and the stand. I have done it in memory of my dad and now mum and oh.

oh must not have taken it in when you said it before. I assumed as you were looking for it at the church it belonged to them.

Morning all,

The sun is just trying to shine out the back but its very grey towards the north and pc says 4 degrees and cloudy so it dos'nt seem like its going to be as nice as yesterday was.

Like I said before its my stand and ringwhich I have made for the church for over 25 years. I used to do a big garland over the door too but I can't manage that now. Sheila has offered to pay for the new candles and spikes from church funds.

Better get on as I want to get to Holsworthy for the candle spikes and get this ring out of the way.

Good morning all still dark outside so no idea what the weather is doing, I was awake at 0700 but didn't want to go back to sleep as I am going out at 10 oclock. So got up, I am not showered or dressed yet though.
your poor neighbours Vera, they do seem to be really poorly. Id he really in need of hospital or do they panic and call the ambulance. I suppose the paramedics must know he is ill enough to be taken in. He certainly gets good responses from the NHS. I hope he will soon be well enough to come home.

Good that your OH got the blueberry re-potted, at least you won't have to lift it.

Mel, what a performance. Do all the bits you need belong to the church or are they actually yours? worth grabbing them when they have finished with them and putting them somewhere safe.

What a pain of a day you have had Mel and now you’ve got to go out tomorrow. Send us a picture of the wreath when it’s finished please.

Covid can leave you feeling really tired for quite a while Mandy. It’s tempting when you are an active person to try to keep going but you must rest as much as possible. You don’t want to be exhausted at Christmas.

It’s nice that you had a good chat with your friend AnnG. I didn’t enjoy PE and games either and I got very artful. In the second year at grammar school when I was 11-12 I was quite poorly and missed a term of school. Even when I was back at school, for a while I had to go to the hospital twice a week for injections. The teachers were very sympathetic and I soon learnt to play on it. it’s surprising how often I had a stomach pain or felt sick when a PE session was due ;-). I was still getting away with it when I was 16-17 :-D

I’ve got a few jobs done today but not as much as I hoped. At least I wrote a few more cards and bought 2 more presents. OH repotted one of the blueberry plants and will do the other tomorrow, weather permitting.

I had a bad night last night and didn’t sleep much at all. Around midnight there were very bright lights outside and lots of clanging and I knew immediately that it was an ambulance next door. Poor neighbour is back in hospital again. He never seems to be home for more than a few days at a time. Wife is unwell too and was seeing a doctor today. She doesn’t drive and I felt we ought to offer to take her but we can’t drive her around every time her husband is out of action, so she got a taxi. I felt a bit guilty but made up for it by collecting a shopping list from her and going to Sainsbury’s. She’s now stocked up for a few days so won’t need to go out in the cold.

It really is cold now. I don’t think it’s got above 4 degrees all day and it’s supposed to drop to -1 later. Winter is here folks.

Yes Mandy we know that you always have something on the go. Are you knitting anything at the moment?

Oh Mel you have had a day of it ,I bet as you've now started making another one the other one will come to light ,it's probably been tucked away ,when they've finished with it you'll have to go and get so you have it for the next year.

Today I haven't felt as tired even though I had a bad night so hopefully I'm now on the mend ,it's a horrible feeling being so tired everything is an effort and to be quite honest I really haven't done much at all lately just been sitting in the chair and that's like me I'm usually on the go .

Iv'e had a terrble day. I went down the church to get the stand with the ring on it and the stand was there but not the ring. Then I thought I must have brought it back on its own but I have looked for it everywhere and its not to be found. I have had nearly the whole shed out where I store things and where I usually put the spiked candle holder on the pot on the windowsill they were'nt there either so it must have been tidied away when they cleaned out the bell tower. Thank goodness the stand was there. I looked in both my big boxes of flower arranging stuff and no candle spikes but I found one in the tray of ribbons. Had to ring the florist in Holsworthy, could'nt find the number and could'nt remember the name of it!!! did eventually so rang them and they have the candle spikes so she has put 4 away for me. I need 5 but have one.

I did do the foresty bit for some fir branches I use and found a branch down so I cut that up and brought that back. Since then I rang Sheila our reader and she is going down the church tomorrow to see if its been put in the shed as I can't get in there as the key is kept in the vestry. So I have started to make another one. I have to wire part of a cross in the middle of the hole in the wreath ring so I can put oasis on it for the middle candle and thatas as far as I have got. I now have to go to Holsworthy tomorrow to pick up the candle spikes and its going to be busy cos its market day.

Not done anything else.

Lovely and sunny here blue sky and white clouds 6 degrees and I wonder how long it will last?

Still waiting for the shopping top arrive............then I cna get on. I need to go up the church to get the advent ring stand and I hope its still there otherwise I will have to start from scratch.

Morning girls,

Nice brightish morning here and wjhen I got up for the loo at 7.33am there was a frost but not as hard as it was the other night. It 3 degrees here at the moment and pc says mostly cloudy.

Shopping comes today and I have two subs which may both be going back. One if the red dinner candles I ordered for the Advent Crown in the church and the other was subbed custard slices instead of chocolate eclairs. I hate custard slices so they will be going back and not sure about the candles I better take them just incase I can't get any anywhere else as I have to make that over the next couple of days to have it to the church for the first Sunday in Advent so they can light the first candle. I had ordered red ones but they have sent cream.

Morning all,

Nice sunny morning and I don't think there was a frost .

Mel thank you for your Christmas card it has just arrived .

Had a bad night I just kept waking up dropping off again and then waking again ,I did have a sleep just after tea last night as I am just so tired all the time .

Anng yes we've both had all our jabs ,sounds as if you had a nice chat yesterday with your friends

good morning all. not raining (or snowing) at the moment but very dull with a threatening sky 4 degrees.
Nothing planned for today so present wrapping I think. slept ok last night.

Had a good chat with my friend yesterday afternoon, she stayed about 2 hours so passed the time nicely. She was telling me about her time as a PE/music/swimming teacher. She is quite small, in height like me and it is difficult to imagine her a PE and games teacher. We certainly don't have that in common as I hated PE and games. :-D