General Chat

Annx, she is a woodwind player. Not basson or oboe but the full range of clarinets, saxophones, flutes. Her main instrument is clarinet and she often gets called to play with various orchestras when a clarinet is needed, particularly a bass clarinet. She also gets asked to play for shows put on by various amateur groups; some are paid, some she does for love. Tomorrow’s concert is a classical one at The Apex at Bury St Edmunds.

Oh, she can get by on piano and guitar as well.

Glad they were not too late to collect the car. Hope they can solve the problem.
Yes I saw that you had posted on the garden thread. I thought I would try and revive it.
Yes both exhibitions were really good. And I loved the fact that there were so many photos taken on proper cameras.
I meant to add that the copper wheel glass engraving is a heritage occupation now. Hopefully that skill won’t be lost.

That's good things are at least moving with the car now and they managed to get it up the ramp ok Vera. Fingers crossed it won't take too long or be too expensive to sort out. What instrument does your daughter play?

Recovery vehicle arrived earlier than expected and we had calls at different times from Volvo and from the recovery driver to tell us how far away they were. Two men, one managed to get the car in gear and inch it out of the garage and the other operated the ramp he had to drive up to get it on the truck. So the car has gone and will be delivered to Volvo tomorrow. I don’t suppose anyone will look at it before Monday or Tuesday but at least things are moving now..

Your trip out sounds really interesting AnnG. I’d have enjoyed both the glasswork and the photography exhibitions. Btw, I have posted on the garden thread but still haven’t got on to the book thread but I will do so soon.

I would have had time to cook a dinner for 6.30 or 7 pm which is our usual time but we have decided to stick with our baguette with bits and pieces and OH is sorting that now.

Afternoon All,

Sorry folks, I had almost posted this when OH interrupted me for ages, so some of you had then posted before I sent it!

Dull and dreary here too and no chance of a rainbow. :-( Did Stu enjoy your cheesy leeks Mel?

It sounds like an interesting trip to see the glass engraving exhibition at Wallsworth House AnnG and hopefully a nice lunch too. I hope your hearing aid gets fixed for you next Friday and the other is ok till then.

I read somewhere that we don't start using the caddies till April Vera. I must check if we have been left the 50 bags to go with the large one or maybe they will come later. That's good you have breakdown cover included by having your car serviced with them and I hope your OH soon gets a reply to his email. We are in a similar situation as a lot in our close are elderly as well. At least two couples in the close have children, but their children live abroad in Australia and Taiwan so not handy to help them. We have plenty of shops and eateries within a couple of miles,but I think without a car we would have to change our doctors to those in the village. Although our current surgery is only a couple of miles away, the only bus service is two buses to get there by going into the city on one and another out of the city about 15 miles. Of course once you have mobility difficulties buses are no good to you.A driverless car perhaps??

Yes rest up for the wood delivery tomorrow Mandy. It's good your head feels better now. I know I feel more tired and lacking in energy so maybe this weather isn't helping. The fields were all flooded again this morning when I went out and now it is raining again.

It's all happening here today. The text OH got gave him a link to click on. As we were sure it was a genuine text he clicked on it but all he could get up was a heading of Mobile Assistance. His phone is very old and I wondered if that was the problem so I copied this long, long link address into my computer and up came all the information we needed. The technician that was coming has been cancelled but there is a recovery vehicle arriving in around 3 hours and it will take the car to the service centre where we have taken it ourselves before. I've printed out all the relevant bits of info. At the top of the page it actually said Your Benefits and nowhere was there a price mentioned for this recovery, so I am wondering if they have found that our Volvo Assist cover hasn't expired. I think if we had to pay they would have got our agreement to a price before sending a recovery vehicle out.

Now I just have to worry about tonight's dinner. I don't want to dish it up just as they arrive but these days I am not good if I eat late in the evening. I might persuade OH that he doesn't want anything cooked. I've got a fresh baguette I bought for lunch and OH didn't use so I think we might have that with pate and cheese. I've got salad stuff and there's plenty of fruit. If we have something cold it won't matter if they come while we're eating it.

You all keep asking me about yesterdays roast. It went ddown very well he througherly enjoyed it and I even filled him up and he left a bit of chicken and potatoes and stuffing and half a pig in blanket its all gone to the birds now. Our plates were piled high even I left some for tomorrow but managed to eat two cold roasties with a bit of salt on later in the evening!!

I have just been up the road to post two parcels and the amount of water lying on the roads is dreadful with just a little bit in the middle to drive without going through the water. The lengthsman been too but the ditch, where there are ditches, are full and its just not draining away.

Had a very interesting few hours at Wallsworth House. ( Nature in Art).
We struck lucky as there was an overlap of two exhibitions So two for the price of one (6.75) and well worth it/ The glass engraving exhibition by the late Michael Fairbairn (he died in 2024) was mind blowing, beautiful, totally awesome. He was a copper Wheel glass engraver. This type of engraving makes some of the animals and other subject appear to be 3D and it is not set in the glass but engraved so it is raised and some things were engraved on both sides of the glass. He was engraving right up to the time he died in December 2024 when he was 89.

With the engraving was a Wildlife photography of the year exhibition. 100 images that ‘capture nature at its most dramatic, beautiful and raw’ Selected from over 60,000 entries.
I particularly liked to see the entries from under 18 year olds, with one of my favourites being from a young girl in the under 10 class A close up head shot looking up through his antlers, so close and so sharp a beautiful photo. I am in awe of these young people who should go far in the world of photography. And all but (I think) one were taken on cameras, not phones.

We just decided to have a snack lunch as the little cafe was really crowded so we had coffee and a cheese scone which was very nice. I will probably have bacon and eggs for a meal this evening which will be fine, maybe a few chips.

Let's hope there can be a repreave for the car then Vera, and at least that your OH gets a reply from the garage. I do so feel for you re going without the car. Although it was my choice and I am on a bus rout for some things, for others it is difficult and I miss the flexibility of being able to just pop out to have a coffee somewhere. Maybe there are local coach companies that run coach trips to places like Anglesy Abbey I know there are a couple of companies in this area which are very popular with people.

Mandy I think this weather is getting everybody down, it is almost as bad as the covid lockdown when people got stir crazy being shut in with the same one or two people (or on their own) for days at a time. did you have a doze? I don't hear any mention of you knitting anything,

Mel did the roast go down well?

I hope you're managing to get a bit of rest Mandy. Don't try to do too much, get yourself fit first.

I went out to collect my glasses leaving home at 9.40 in plenty of time for the bus. I met my neighbour at the bus stop and we both waited in the pouring rain and the bus was nearly 15 minutes late. My neighbour was just about to go back home again and I was thinking of doing the same when it turned up. Needless to say, we were both pretty wet by then. It's only a few minutes to town and we arrived with just about enough time for me to walk to the opticians. My glasses seem fine and I don't have to keep changing from one pair to another all the time. I can see distance and close print equally well. They are not quite so good on the computer. It's really clear if I sit upright with my head slightly tilted back and look down through the bottom of my glasses but that's not a comfortable position to hold for more than a minute or two. However, I still seem to be able to manage the computer with the old reading glasses so I'll keep them in the study and use them just when I am wanting to work on the computer.

OH has at last managed to speak to someone at Volvo who is hopefully sending a technician today to check just what needs doing on the car and make arrangements to get it done. As it's already 3.30 pm and they have a few miles to come I can't see him arriving today.OH mentioned our Volvo Assist cover to the person he was speaking to and was told it had expired. He was so worried about getting the car fixed that he didn't ask when or why it had expired. Something else to chase up!

We have the dogs tomorrow and tbh we could do without that right now but daughter asked us 3 weeks ago and I can't let her down at the last minute. She's been asked to play at a concert tomorrow and needs to rehearse during the day as it will be the first time the orchestra will have rehearsed together and then play the concert tomorrow evening.

OH has now come in muttering about a text he's got about a recovery vehicle which makes no sense so I am going to disappear from the computer and let him fume in peace.

Afternoon all,

Another grey day with fine rain at times ,getting fed up with it now ,hopefully we'll get a little sun tomorrow., especially as we have a wood delivery .

My head feels better but my energy levels are down ,every job seems an effort today .

Mel did you both enjoy your meal last night ,did you get the crackers out .

Think I'm going to see if I can have a doze .

Yet another wet, gloomy day. Lucky you to have a rainbow Mel. That must mean there’s a bit of sunshine in amongst all the rain; I wish the sun would make its way over here.

I hope the glass engraving exhibition was good Ann. I expect you’re having your lunch while I’m typing this. That’s a pity about your left side hearing aid. I hope the problem can be quickly fixed when you go for your audiology appointment. You are right – of course life will carry on without a car but it will be restricted. Our friends are nearly all our age so either only driving locally or giving up driving altogether. We have often been the ones giving the lifts to others. Also several of them have family close by so there is usually a son or daughter available for things like hospital appointments. To be fair to her our daughter has always said that we can call on her to drive us anywhere but she lives 25 miles away so we can’t expect her to keep running up to us every time we want to go anywhere. We know giving up the car has got to come sooner or later but we’ve always been independent people so it’s hard. We will miss going to places like Anglesey Abbey which we used to go to 3 or 4 times a year but there is no way of getting there by public transport.

Annx, I think I knew that it was Ankylosing Spondylitis that OH has but it had gone completely from my mind. Our breakdown cover is Volvo Assist which we get free if our car is serviced by Volvo. We’ve used it twice in the 18 years we have had the car and they have been very good. At the moment OH is waiting for a response to his email and is wondering if they will bother to respond at all. Regarding the horse, I am not sure of the situation at the moment. I must ask granddaughter. She and her partner moved a little while back and the last I heard was that the horse was still in the original livery stables which were now a distance from granddaughter’s new home. I know she was sent somewhere else for some professional training.

OH has just called out that lunch is ready so I’ll post this and come back later to tell you how I got on with my glasses.

I have a wonderful rainbow right over the garden to the north.

Morning Anng and all,

Dull and sreary again here this morning and pc says rain coming so no change there then and its 8 degrees.

Have a lovely time at Wallsworth House, and what a shame your left hand hearing aid is playing up but I do hope you will manage ok today.

I have a sore gum this morning and I had it yesterday too. My bottom denture seems to be rubbing on it a lot.

good morning all 7 degrees here at 0700 so not too cold, probably wet but too dark to tell. Being picked up at 10.30 as three of us are going to Wallsworth House (Nature in Art museum) to see a glass engraving exhibition and then have lunch. Should be interesting.

I am struggling a bit as my left hearing aid stopped working yesterday. Strange as when I went to audiology before Chhristmas it was for the right hearing aid problems. Nothing I can do except hope the right hand one keeps going. I have an aufiology appointment next Friday (13th!!) for a hearing test so hope they can also find what is wrong with the L/H one. There is actually a very small amount of natural hearing in that ear.

Ann that is a shame about the factory shop, as it is with all these shops when they finally give up. That jacket sounded a bargain and a shame it was not your size.

Vera, that is sad that you have lost another friend. Yes it gets a bit scary when you get to my age. I try not to dwell on it but sometimes the thought crosses my mind when I go to bed ('I wonder if I will see the morning?'). I do try not to dwell on it.

Ah that is not what you want now is it? For your car to start having problems. That is a hard decision to have to make if the problem proves to be expensive, or worse. Your OH is going to fight against having to give it up. I can understand how you feel but I think, as you obviously know, the decision will have to come from him. There is life to be had beyond the car but it does take a bit of planning and help from friends.
Hope all goes well with getting your glasses.

Vera he has a different arthritis called Ankylosing Spondylitis that mostly affects spine, neck and pelvis. This will be self injections from what she said and he hates having any kind of injections or needles. This was due to further changes on the MRI scan done last year. He will be meeting up with a retiring member of his staff at her retirement do on Saturday and last time they all met up she was telling him about her husband's similar treatment which didn't sound great with the side effects and weakens your immune system. OH's doctor was more reassuring about that as he said that because your immune system is overactive with the condition, the treatment should be making it more normal again rather than weaken it. It's good your OH got another appointment as quickly as I thought it may be a few weeks.

My memory is bad too as I remember now you choosing some cheaper frames as you will need more glasses once the other eye is done. What a nuisance about the car playing up now. If you have breakdown recovery that includes home recovery, it might be worth giving them a ring. Ours covers breakdowns at your home, so if yours does they might take it on their truck to the garage if you say it is unsafe to drive? It would save some of the cost if they do. I know what you mean about losing friends and aquaintances. OH had two phone calls this week in connection with a meeting he's going to next week, one to say a colleagues husband had collapsed and was in intensive care and another whose husband literally dropped dead unexpectedly last Sunday. Neither were elderly either.

I keep meaning to ask whether the horse is ok to be ridden yet?

AnnG, I have been keeping an eye on the book thread and saw the latest posts from you and Tabitha but I haven't got around to adding a post. I'll put something up in the next day or so.

You did well to get those sausages Mel. I like the sound of your creamy leeks recipe as well. I've poured a cheese sauce made with milk over leeks and put them in the oven but I've never done it with double cream so I might give it a try some time.

I wonder what treatment the nurse will sort out for OH, Annx. My memory is getting bad these days; is it osteo or rheumatoid arthritis your OH has? One of my friends with bad RA has to self inject to help keep things under control. I have already chosen my frames, I was waiting for the finished product to be returned to the optician. I say "chose" but actually I said I wanted the cheapest frames that were suitable for me as the chances are I'm going to have to get more new ones in a few months. So you now have your waste food caddy. We haven't heard when our extra bins/caddys are coming but we were told it would be 2026.

My OH has heard from the hospital with a new date of next Thursday for the procedure he couldn't have on Monday when the computers were all down, so not too long to wait.

Just 6 of us at our coffee meet-up this morning but it was all very pleasant. Just as we got home my phone rang and it was another friend telling me of the death of a lady who lived round the corner from us and for donkey's years was a member of the small club we go to. She didn't drive so we usually picked her up for any club meetings and outings etc. I think she was in her late 80s and apparently died in her sleep. It's sad when you see your contemporaries dying around you and your friendship group shrinking.

I can't believe it was last February that all our problems with plumbers, loft boarders, painters etc started. Where has that year gone? Our troubles haven't ended yet. Now it's the car. At the end of last year we had a bit of trouble with the clutch and took it in to the Volvo place. They couldn't find a lot wrong with it and maybe just tightened something up as it seemed better after that but it's getting bad again now, so bad that OH thinks it is dangerous. He's been ringing Volvo this afternoon and keeps getting a message that they can't come to the phone and to try later or email them, so he has sent an email and told them it will need a truck or something to collect it because he isn't prepared to drive it to them. We're waiting to hear from them but if we are going to have to pay for a vehicle to collect it and then have a new clutch it will be expensive. It is an old car and I tentatively suggested that this might be the time to give up the car but my lord and master was having none of that.

Of course, I now have to get to the opticians by bus tomorrow. The online timetables are a nightmare to work out but I think I can get a bus that will just get me there a bit early but you can bet I'll leave the opticians just too late for a bus back and have to wait an hour for the next one.

Right, I had better put the oven on to heat up and start cooking. Meat pie tonight.

Afternoon All,

Very windy and rainy first thing but now it's less windy with a bit of drizzle.
I was surprised you knew about the stabbing in the city as they happen so often there now, but it being a student who was killed made it more shocking. It happened quite close to where I took OH to the hospital eye clinic the other day. OH was at a meeting in the city, but not near where the cordons were.

He's just had a phone call from the hospital nurse about his appointment next week and it's with her not the rheumatologist. Despite having less pain lately it seems the MRI scan he last had shows the arthritis is active and needs treatment and she is going to talk to him about it next week.

I'm glad you found the kitten Mel. I wonder what you are doing with those? Those sort of carpets are a nightmare when you drop small beads too! I have those lamb shanks too and add my own gravy to the sachet sauce as well. I must try doing them in the microwave though as I usually do them in the little oven and the microwave would be quicker.

I don't use softener for clothes either Vera and AnnG. I've read it makes fabric more flammable and I don't like all the chemicals in it. I tried some microfibre towels during the pandemic and am still using them. You need to pat yourself dry rather than rub, but they do dry quickly after washing which was why I tried them. OH still prefers ordinary towels though.

Good luck sorting your new specs tomorrow Vera. I hate choosing them and take ages! Your artist speaker makes some interesting sounding things and the invite to her garden should be good. I sympathise with you re the kitchen design. First OH built my kitchen in at my previous house and I got him to move the sink from under the kitchen window (I know most people like to look out of it at the sink) and to make a worktop upstand about 4 inches high all along the back of the worktops to stop dirty grout with all the wiping. It was tiled down to the upstands. He also lowered everything a couple of inches for me being on the shorter side which made rolling pastry easier! This kitchen has the sink under the window and the window gets splashes from the sink on it all the time and I have to stand on something and half sit on the worktop each side to reach it to clean. The grouting and sealant behind the taps get grubby and the sealant needs redoing. These are problems I never had at my old house and I have thought about sticking a sheet of cardboard behind the taps when OH washes up the things in daily use.

It's good your BP and blood tests were all good AnnG and you got some good savings on your purchases on your trip out. My foot was ok for the trip to the factory shop yesterday (you can park right outside in their carpark) so OH drove me there. Well what a shock as we walked inside as two thirds of it was empty! Some, but not all the things were being sold off and I was tempted by a grey and black waterproof anorak with detachable black gilet inside, but decided it was too bulky for me with the gilet and too big for me without. The temptation was that it was reduced from an original price of £225 to £35! Popular sizes in things had all been sold and I wouldn't get anything electrical as you couldn't take it back if they close. No socks like I wanted, just bedsocks left so all I got was knickers and some fat balls for the birds as they love theirs.

Mandy I'm glad you have started to improve now. Taking the sample sounds a bit complicated till you know doesn't it. I bet a lot of other folk have to ring up. They should put an instruction with them. I thought about all my odd bits of things too when you said about the school wanting some. When I did those little craft classes at the village hall that time we would all bring our bits and bobs to add to the big stash for us all.

I'm glad you are back in the hearing world Gwyn and I love to see the catkins appear too. I remember when I was little mum taking me in a shop that had those screw on cups where you put your money and them whizzing up to the ceiling and out of sight before coming back with your change. It seemed like magic to me.

We have just had the new waste caddy bins delivered. Everything in life seems to be getting more complicated with more rules. It could be a smelly summer!

Better empty the washer now and get a COT methinks.

I keep meaning to say I have had a few eggs in January and one in Feb but today I had two!!!!! Hope they will lay ok this year.

Mandy I may even find some crackers somewhere.

Awful at the moment with ITV and sports.
Dry here at the moment but very dull. I just ventured out to look for snowdrops in the garden and pulled a few weeds to find them it is chilly but not as cold as it has been and there is damp in the air.

I did walk down to Iren's with two bags of charity stuff and it was dry then.

Afternoon all,

Another dreary cold day ,we went shopping and I posted Mels card to make sure it has plenty of time to get there ,by the time we came out of the shop it was drizzling and its been like that since ,we should be in for some heavier showers later.

Mel that sounds a nice late Christmas meal your doing tonight I hope you both enjoy it .

Vera hope you've enjoyed your coffee meet up ,how many turned up today .

Nice easy meal tonight as we had some sausage casserole left from yesterday so we're having that with a jacket potato.

No Emmerdale or corrie tonight ,rugby's on instead .