General Chat

Afternoon All,

It's a balmy 16 degrees here and dull now. I was hot in the night and found the 3.5 tog duvet plenty hot enough without the fleece throw I'd pulled up earlier.

When I told OH about partners doing all these DIY jobs he chuckled and said that you'd be waiting a long time here!! I know what you mean though as first OH could mend/make or repair most things. What I missed was having things custom made, like lower worktops and cupboards the depth I wanted instead of having to have standard sizes. It's not so easy to repair things yourself now with special tools needed or computer repairs on some appliances. As men get older they can't do what they used to be able to do either, so I think we all end up getting someone in for some jobs. The problem is contacting them to speak to and fixing a date. You do get left in limbo wondering whether to try someone else.

Ann, we have a built in dishwasher like yours and it should be easy to remove I watched when ours was put in and the plinth at the bottom just pushes in onto clips that hold it so I think they will only need a screwdriver to flip it out. If it doesn't heat on any program it perhaps just needs a new heating element. I would be lost without my dishwasher and was glad of one when I lived on my own too. So much time is saved. OH still washes the bulky pans and measuring jugs we use most days as the D/W isn't on every day. I wait till it's full.

Well I have thrown myself into getting some jobs done that have been waiting for me for ages and at last had the phone appointment with the endocrinologist. The good news is that there is no disruption to the hormone output and it is just a harmless fatty lump, similar to the makeup of glands anyway. Fancy it taking a year of tests to be sure though, but now I needn't worry about it, it won't grow or need anymore watching which is good. That's enough of medical things for now as I could spend a day on those! lol. OH is doing well though, but still some pain at times which at this stage is to be expected.

On the subject of less birds in the garden, we have noticed less too, particularly the small ones and a lot of the ducks have gone from where we walk, but I expect some of the youngsters will have left home. I have put it down to bird flu here as there have been several outbreaks in the county and dead birds including Swans have been found almost daily at or near the waterways. Farmers are having to keep all their birds in now and 2 Peregrines that nest at the Cathedral have succumbed to bird flu as well.

Like Mel I had a 'tech' headache this week. I switched the laptop on to start my painting course and the taskbar with the start button was all greyed out and didn't work! Luckily I'd saved a desktop shortcut for my course and thought I might just have to watch with no sound as I couldn't change that, but when I logged into it the sound was on which was strange, a bit quiet but I managed! Afterwards I rang our support people which have now changed to Curry's and is not as friendly or good as before. After the usual of giving them all the security info they wanted (enough to also clone me if they wished!) I needed to log on to their remote control which the PC then wouldn't allow! I was told then that I needed to phone my internet provider and ask them to switch off something as my particular provider would often block their site. Well that was easier said than done as various attempts led to lengthy waits on the phone and still not getting through. I then went online and found their 'chat'. They were very unwilling but I persuaded them to switch off the block which they said stopped spam. Then guess what, as soon as they had done it for me my taskbar and icons all came back! I told the chap and that I thought my PC problem must be to do with some of their updates and he agreed and decided to report it higher up. So, after all that, the problem had gone and I didn't need the remote access!! What a waste of time these things are.

It's good you are managing to do a little posting now Mandy and the improvement with your wrists must be cheering you up now you can manage more. I can imagine that showering and washing your hair would have been so difficult and still not easy. Are the stitches out now and how long will you have to use the splints for?

Sorry you and OH had covid Vera, but it sounds like you are much better apart from the awful tiredness that takes a while to go. I still have bulbs to plant too, but only a few so I'd better get them in soon.

Best be going for my walk now before I write too much.

16 degrees here and bright and dry. I have spent ages trying to phone the domestic repair place but nobody is answering the phone and it doesn't have an answer phone (which I find strange. I guess it is a one man band. Anyway I have texted him on his mobile and asked him to call my landline. I find it very difficult to hear people when they use their mobiles as they sound so quiet. (strange when I can hear every word when they use them on the bus.) if they phone the land line and not the mobile I can hear much better as it has a very good speaker. (loud).

Mel, yes it is a real pain. I always did appreciate that T could do anything in the woodwork line and anything electrical (that was part of his RN trade) But it is so time consuming trying to sort out somebody to do these things. I don't mind paying but it is just getting in contact with people.

Goodness Vera, you could have a stall with all those bulbs. But what a glorious sight in the spring.

Morning all,

Cloudy here but quite mild out for November.

We've been out in the garden cutting a few things back well I say we but I mean OH ,I held ths bag open to put the bits in ,he gave the grass a cut my goodness if was long and the mower was struggling but it's done now so thats good .

Anng I hope you can find someone to sort out the dishwasher ,has any of your friends had anyone they could recommend you do miss these things when they go wrong .

Mel its a while since you've had a stall ,it's so hard to price things but if you can cover your materials and make a little extra for labour that's all you can do ,things take a lot of work and if you had to charge for all your time you wouldn't get your money back and these days people don't have the money and don't realise all the work that goes Into making things ,I hope you have a good day selling though as you make some lovely things .

Vera I hope your tummy soon settles ,your garden will look so pretty when all the bulbs flower.
It's been fun and games here when we've changed our king size quilt cover with OH pulling one way and me trying to help with my splints on.

Good morning AnnG, Mel and all

I hope you can get your dishwasher sorted out soon AnnG. I'd hate to be without mine though I know I could manage perfectly well without one if I had to. I think we all have one of those kitchen drawers that hold a bit of everything. You've reminded me that I have to go and sort through mine to find some batteries.

Good luck with all your pricing Mel. It's a difficult job as you know the hours of work that have gone into making the stuff but charging a decent price for labour will often make things too expensive for people to buy. It's quite hard to find a happy medium between practically giving things away or making them too expensive.

Yesterday, I changed all my bedding - I hate changing the covers on king size duvets. Then I got on with more bulb planting. I still have loads to do. I've had a few pots of bulb plants as birthday presents over the last few years which accounts for some of them but it's the mini tulips that amaze me. I am sure I originally just had about 10 each of two kinds but I've had them for several years and they seem to increase in number every year. One sort I've probably only got 20-25 bulbs now but I have dozens of the other sort. It's getting to be hard work planting them all though I love seeing them when they are in bloom in the spring.

At lunch time we picked up our friend and took her to have her tooth out. Her husband came as well so that he could be in the waiting room with her. He can't drive now as he has sight problems. We waited in the car in a car park which was right by the dentists. It was a difficult extraction and a specialist dentist had come down from the hospital to do it. She was OK but a bit groggy when she came out so I was glad we hadn't let her drive herself.

While we were in the car park a message flashed up that the battery was low. The car hasn't had much of a run out for at least 6 weeks so, after we dropped our friends back home, we went for a long run around to charge it up a bit.

Right now I am supposed to be having a haircut but my inner workings are playing up again so I've got a fair bit of pain and have had no sleep. I couldn't face getting my hair done so I've cancelled the appointment and they are going to reschedule it for Tuesday.

OH needed to go into town to sort out a new security light for our back door as the old one isn't working properly so he said he would pop in the phone shop and see what's happening as I am still without my phone. The chap ordered a connector thing that goes in the phone on Monday and said the factory usually post stuff to him and it often arrives the next day but of course Royal Mail have been on strike. He did say he would phone OH when the phone is ready but OH is going to go in and try and chivvy things up a bit.

The computer is telling me it's 14 degrees and sunny. Strange as I was up at 7 am and I haven't seen the sun yet

That's it for now. Have a good day. whatever you are doing.

Morning Anng and all,

Dull and grey here this morning and its 15 degrees.

Why is everything so hard to do when your partners gone? They would'nt think anything of it just get on with the job. Thats when we miss them the most Anng.

I have a bit more pricing to do for tomorrow and I want to wash my hair today and thats about it apart from do the girls.

Good morning all 14 degrees here so mild but grey and so far dry.
This morning I have to try and get someone to look at the dishwasher. I also need to sort out a big deep drawer in the kitchen which is used for all sorts (you know the type?) That is because the plug (I thin it is the one) for the dishwasher is behind this drawer. I have realised that, if I need to replace the dishwasher, I will need to have a kick board (part of the fitted kitchen) removed plus the dishwasher has a cupboard front attached to it in some way. This is, as usual, a much bigger job than expected. And if T was here it would be so much easier.

Glad you enjoyed the meeting Anng.

Em rang this evening and we chatted fro 38 mins. Its Sam's birthday on Monday so I must get him a card and do his present up.

Back now, was a good meeting.

Now I have to sort out somebody to come and look at my dishwasher which seems not to be h.eating the water. So back to washing up by hand which is a pain.

Just you and me again Anng and your out.

Good morning Mel and all 13 degrees here too and grey but so far dry. Garden interests meeting this afternoon but not here this time as someone else has offered to host it. Not that there is a lot going on in the garden it is so very wet out there. I did pull up some huge grass weeds yesterday that had grown in the pots planted with bulbs. In fact while it has been wet and mild the weeds have really grown which is frustrating as it has not been possible to get out and pull them up. and some plants in pots are looking sad from all the wet weather, I guess a few will be lost. The sedum particularly look sad but I have not grown it in pots before and it does die down over winter so I will have to wait and see next year.

Morning all,

Dull as dishwater here this morning and not very warm with it . More pricing to do today ready for Saturday. I had a day off yesterday and did my craft.

13 degrees the pc says but it feels more like 10 as its quite chilly today. Pc says mostly cloudy with a 15 degrees high and windy.

Best way to price things Mel is to be honest and think what you would be prepared to pay. Or have you sold anything similar in the past. The trouble is people buying hand crafted things are never prepared to pay for the time it took to make things. But good luck. I suppose you are getting nothing for them sitting in a drawer. I think we paid about £40 for a hand turned clock but that would incude the clock workings.

Vera, the time goes so quickly that your brain skipped a day. But you seem to be getting on with the bulbs. I don't have any to plant but I do have pots to move. As it is sunny I might just go and look at those.

I did walk round for my prescription. That is the last lot this year next lot due in January and it need the Pharmacist nurse to sign them off first. As I had a blood test a submitted a week of BP readings in October I am hoping he will do that without me needing another blood test.

Iv'e done a bit of painting this morning of a father Christmas miniture and fed the chickens. Then I went up the post van to get some cash out and buy some stamps.

Vera you've been a busy girl doing all those pots of bulbs and some ironing.

Rescued big china elephant from the workshop as BIL is bound to break it and am just hoping I don't when I clean it up.

I am now going to have something to eat and get set on pricing oh's turned goods. Wish me luck as I have no idea what the things are worth.

Morning all (It was still just morning when I started this)

It was wet and grey first thing but the sun's had his hat on for a while now and it's fairly warm.

I hope your poor bruised arm is not too sore Gwyn. It's lovely that you volunteer at your local school. You probably get almost as much out of it as the children. I have often thought that I should do something of the sort but guess I have got old and lazy. I used to help in all sorts of ways at the primary school my children were at and when they went to secondary school we were parent helpers on outings and trips. After one horrerndous trip when I was allocated a group of exchange visit stroppy French teenagers to take round Audley End I did say "Never again!" . ;-)

I hope you do well with your craft stall Mel.

I thought I had posted yesterday but I must have had a senior moment. They seem to be more frequent lately. I had quite a busy day. In the morning I went to the chiropodist and then came home and did some ironing and prepared our evening meal. I was going to clean the fridge out in the afternoon but OH offered to do it for me. It's a lovely fridge, a big American style one, but it is a real pain to clean and takes me ages, so I was really glad of his offer. While he was doing that I went on the computer trying to sort out some family history anomalies. I don't do much FH these days but every so often I have another look at dead ends and oddities.

This morning I have had a general tidy round and then decided to try and get some of my bulbs planted in pots. I have so many that it is ridiculous and I really ought to give some away. I now have several big pots available but some of my bulb plants are only a few inches high and look better in smaller pots. I managed to do 4 pots of mini tulips, 1 of muscari and 1 of Squill. I still have loads of mini tulips so they might have to go in troughs. I've found a spot in the garden for some tete-a-tete daffs and then I have 2 sorts of tall daffs and some lovely tall white tulips that can go in bigger pots when I can manage to get them planted.

This afternoon Sainsbury's are delivering enough stuff for the next 3 weeks or so. There are just 2 subs, both acceptable, a different jar of marmalade and a different quiche, but still a veggie one. I now only wipe down stuff that I am going to use straighaway so it shouldn't take me long to put it all away.

Now I must ring a friend that we are taking to the dentist tomorrow to find out what time to pick her up. She was going to drive herself but it's a broken tooth and it might not be an easy extraction. She could feel a bit groggy when she comes out so we persuaded her to let us take her.

I hope you all enjoy the rest of your day. A quick wave to everyone who sometimes posts on the thread ~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Morning all,

Sunny out the back and when I walked into the kitchen it started to pour with rain so we had a rainbow out over the wall. Its 12 degrees here and pc says humid!!!!!

Must pop up the post van this morning for some cash and the shop to see if my scripts are in.

Anng its only at the top of our road at the village hall and it holds a big breakfast in aid of the hall. Its well attended so I may have some luck with different people that go to the local shcool which is where I have had stalls in the past.

good morning all, drizzly rain here even though the forecast was for a dry day PC says rain off and on. I think I could write that info for them!!! 8 degrees so a bit chilly.

Mel, that is good that you are going to be having a table for your crafts again. good luck with it.

12 degrees here now and its been raining quite hard. Shopping was really late and it put me out for the rest of the day. I do hate waiting for things to arrive or people to come. The driver took two baskets out of is van and put them in my box and said to me thats it. No its not says I where's the butter and broccoli? O he said perhaps theres a basket in the cooler, and there was with the rest of my order in it. He had the butter back as it was'nt my usual kind but Asda's so that went back and a £4 refund.

Had just got into some painting and crafting when next door but one rang to ask me if I had thought any more about having a stall on Saturday and I said I was. Between you and me I thought it was on Sunday so that was a good prompt for me to get some stuff priced. I did all my craft stuff as I am going to take that too. Got to take advantage of a free stall and I may not do the Christmas one. I'll see.

Going to cook a big pot of mince now so I can make four dinners out of that. I can have one tonight and three for the freezer. I also have some nice spring greens which I love so I'll cook some of that and the rest can also go in the freezer.

Good afternoon all.

Not long back from a morning volunteering at school.
I listen to children reading.
Heard 2 different year groups today, so quite a range in abilities. It's great when some are eager to read more pages than required.... sometimes so that they can finish a book and get a new one issued.
Lovely to see them progress.

My arm is looking a bit battered today, after I saw the GP's nurse yesterday for my annual review and she took blood. Funny how sometimes there is barely a mark and other times I end up technicoloured. :-0
She went through various questions and one of them was
"Do you smoke?"
I'm glad she asked, because one year, about a week or so later, I got a phone call to contact the surgery. I wondered what on earth they had discovered at the review and when I got back to them, they said they wanted to know if I smoked, because they had forgotten to ask.
Not sure why they would think that I might have taken up the habit in old age having been a non smoker all my life :-S

It's wild, but bright here. The ground is water logged, but no flooding or surface water locally.This area has never flooded to my knowledge, but Government maps show us to be a flood risk area, due to height above sea level. House insurance requires ringing around or online searches to see the best rates for suitable cover.
Unfortunately some companies won't even think about insuring properties with local postcodes :-(

Well PC says raining now, but in fact the sun is shining brighter than at any time earlier today :-S
Not going out, so it doesn't matter whichever is right.

Morning Anng and all,

Was wolen at 7.23am by Asda ringing to say I had two subs. Got up and came to the pc and looked at my order one sub was for spaghetti which is ok and the other was for Asda butter instead of Anchor so thats going back.

Its the usual day here brightish then dull and very windy but the sky is blue with white clouds out the front and so I am hoping for a better day weatherwise than the miserable one we had yesterday. Pc says rain coming so maybe not better than yesterday after all.

Had an email from cousin Hilary in ohio this mroning so I must answer that and then the shopping comes today so have to deal with that although thats not too bad now with only one box to cope with. Still not had my winter fuel payment and I have order oil for the first time through Keith at the shop who orders for the village so we get it cheaper cos he goes around and sees which company has the best price for however many litres we all need put together.I was in this years ago but they did'nt have enough people who have to have the small tanker to get to the properties.

Well better get on and I hope we hear from some more of our clan on here today please. Anng Vera and I are getting lonely.

Sending love to all and hope those in pain are slowly getting better. <3

Good morning all still grey here but dry here and a small patch of blue sky nearby. I think it is supposed to be mainly dry but showery today. I do need to walk round to the chemist for my prescription so I will see if it stays dry.

Vera it is strange how we soon became reliant on having mobile phones. but, as you said, I do think that is connected to the demise of the phone box. Hope yours is soon fixed.

You do seem to be gradually regaining your energy, even though at the end of the day you are tired. Think back a week when you were doing practically nothing because of no energy. hopefully you will soon be back to 'normal'.
That was annoying to lose your slot, especially as it was their fault. I usually book my slot, order a couple of things and immediately check out before ordering the lot. Then the slot is confirmed. But that is with Tesco I don't know how Sainsbury's works. At least you were able to get another slot.

Mel, good that you were able to get in touch with EE in the end.
Yes it has been very quiet on here, just when we are tending to stay in and could do with the company.