General Chat

That's a real shame about your fairy Mel. I hope your OH can piece her together again. I know how you feel as I once had a life size china dalmation dog that sat beside my couch. It cost OH about £300 over 30 years ago. It unfortunately got knocked over and a leg was broken. OH managed to repair it and we put it in a safer place on the landing but after many years OH's repair gave way and we had to get rid of my dog. I was really sad to see him go. I was wondering about the advent ring as well. If the church doesn't light the first candle till next Sunday, they will only get three lit by Christmas, so when do they light the fourth? Or have I misunderstood what the ring is like?

I hope your day has improved AnnG and you haven't had anything else go wrong. It must be difficult doing all these jobs on your own. I can do some things but I have started asking OH to explain what he is doing when he is tackling household repairs. The trouble is I forget what he has told me. I need to do a few things myself so they get fixed in my mind. Being married to an engineer is an advantage in that he is practical and automatically does all the jobs around the house, but the disadvantage is that he can always repair things so I don't get much new. I had high hopes of having a new rotary clothes line as mine kept slipping down but he managed to make a plastic peg that now holds it up beautifully.

Am I the only tall person on the thread? Height isn't much of a problem for me as I am 5' 8" so I can often reach things. My problem is with sleeves and trouser legs often being too short. I haven't been able to buy a dress for years as the waist is always in the wrong place.

I had forgotten all about Avon cream perfumes. I used to quite like them. I remember my mother had two very small bottles of perfume in her dressing table; Evening in Paris and California Poppy. I expect they were both cheap and cheerful as she didn't have much spare cash but, as a young girl, I thought they were very sophisticated.

It was a nice bright day today but very cold. It hasn't got above 2 degrees all day. I was going to cut down some helenium but I was so cold just pegging down some fleece on my pots of agapanthus that I came in again. OH was supposed to have put the fleece on for me but he didn't anchor it very well and it had been flapping about in the wind and wasn't covering the plants at all.

I also washed towels and wrote a few more Christmas cards and cooked us a nice roast dinner. It was loin of pork today with plenty of veg, apple sauce and gravy which went down very nicely with a glass of Albarino. The trouble is it's made me feel quite sleepy and I am yawning away while I am typing. I don't want to doze off or I won't sleep tonight so I think I need to go and find something to do that will keep me occupied.

Ann I have the same problems as you with my height. Now I have put on weight round the middle and have to have a size 20 in shirts and cardi's etc the sleeves are much too long. Do they think that cos you have a big tum you also have extra long arms?

Just nearly dasrk here and pc says 7 degrees and cloudy.

I suppose I realised that I might well be on my own one day AnnG, so I learned whatever I could in case I would have to do it. I lived in my own house on my own for almost a decade after my divorce and one thing my resentful first OH did was loosen all the wires in the fuses before he left, so that the electrics would soon fail, so it was a good job I knew how to sort that out. I used to deal with the finances anyway (still do with most of them!) so that didn't change. How did your daughter learn to be so practical?

Don't start me on lack of height!! I was thinking of the problems it causes me the other day. Long sleeves are always too long on blouses and cardigans as are jacket and coat sleeves. Cropped trousers are full length on me, others need shortening. Dress waists are an inch and a half too low, also on waisted jackets. I can't reach top shelves in supermarkets or lift down clothes on their top rails. Car pedals need to be further back for me so that I can get out without battling past the door hinge. Steps can be very high when you are short too. Most chairs leave my legs dangling above the floor and if I sit back on most sofas my legs stick out horizontally like a toddler's. :-S

It's showing 0 degrees on the PC now and we have another snow blizzard. Mrs O was outside earlier, picking pine needles off her drive again (for the 3rd day running) and brushing away furiously.

My oh does all the pc tec for me and without him I would be lost so its a good one to know Anng.

Oh has picked the fairy up and all the bits and retrieved the leg from the pond. She's now drying out a bit on the decking. He is going to try car body filler to put her back together again but has to get some first.

I have fed the chickens and bantam and the wild birds had a couple of games of cards on the pc and shot a rabbit that I caught inthe trap.Now I am going to do the big breakfast.

Gwyn I make the advent ring for our little church and have done for over twenty years. I have a flowers stand with an adjustable height so I wire the ring to that and it is lit the first Sunday in December that we have a church service.

Mel Cynth just looks to see the kitchen blind has been pulled up.

Ann That actual light bulb to my knowledge has only been changed about 4 times in 29 years and the last one which was not one of the old sort only lasted 6 months.

I have never done the fuses because T was an electrician and always did them. He did tell me how to see which one was affected as there are several drop down switches to potentially go off. He was always going to label them but they are so high up in the garage I couldn't see if they are labelled with my varifocals. However I could see that there was only one dropped down so from the second step of my kitchen step stool I could reach it ok. It is not until you are left completely on your own to run a house that you realise how many things you actually do not completely know. for example a couple of people I have spoken to have admitted they would struggle with the finance side of things. As I have always handled that I don't have a problem. I did have a friend many years back who had never written a cheque (this in the days when that was a common way of paying bills). then there are those who know very little about technology. I think I have done very well so far in sussing out solutions to problems. So,etimes my main problem is lack of height.
Maybe if I had not been married to an efficient techie I would be more knowledgeable.

Mel,

Thank you for the photos.... your poor fairy certainly took a battering, - what a shame, but as you say, it would be even worse if she had pierced the pond lining.

Still very windy here, but lovely sunshine too, but I bet it's cold out really.

What are you doing with the Advent ring? I'm sure it will be lovely.

Will they not be lighting the 1st candle today?

Morning All,

Frosty earlier but sunny and quite pleasant now.

It's such a shame about your poor fairy Mel. I hope you will be able to repair her somehow.

AnnG I can't believe you have never dealt with fuses before. At least these days the switches just trip so you can press the switch on again. At my old house you had to wind fresh fuse wire (the right size) between the 2 screws and tighten them and then replace the block they were in in it's socket. Our fuse box is in a corner high up in a built in wardrobe and very awkward for me to reach. We have plans to get it moved lower down. It's the same with switches to the fans to the showers in the bathroom and ensuite. They are above the doorframes and impossible for me to reach. That's workmen for you, they put things in with no thought of us shorter folk being able to reach.

Ooops! The timer has rung in the kitchen. BBL

Morning Anng and all,

We have sunshine and no wind which is lovely.

Oh has been doing something on my pc for me so I could'nt get on here earlier.

Nothing planned for today but I need to do the church advent ring so I shall be busy today.

There's so many dead branches and twigs down inthe orchard so thats another job back permitting.

Anng you need to put a long life bulb in the stair light or nave the fitting changed to one you can lower down to change the bulb. If it the light in the window Cynth looks for you could put one of those seed light strings that runs off a battery on the windowsill that you could use if the bulb goes again. I have those and use them in the hall to give light when the solar lights arn't working. They stay on for 6 hours and then turn them selves off or you can do it manually.

maybe that was it, got the error message

good morning sunshine no wind, very cold 1 degree and all the birdbaths frozen solid but the water feature is fine so they are ok there. Bit of a manic start this morning, came to go downstairs to pull up my kitchen blind to stop cynth worrying that I am not ok. Switched on the landing light and the bulb went but not only the bulb, it blew the lighting circuit so no overhead lights or wall lights in the lounge. This has not happened before when a main bulb has gone, although it has with wall lights in the lounge (which are also on the main circuit. However, I have never before had anything to do with the fuses in the garage. checked with daughter that what I thought I needed to do was correct and went out with step-stool to the garage and luckily could see the fuse that had dropped out so switched it back on and all is fine. So now have no light on the landing. No way I can change it, it is at the top and near the edge of the stairs. maybe the fireman can do it for me when he comes or it will have to wait for Joe when they come in three weeks. While out the front I had to retrieve the bin that had 'walked' in the wind and the drain cover. drain was now full of leaves so had to clear that out. walked through the lounge and noticed one of tony's prize (golf) clocks has stopped so have to work out how to change the battery in that next. Wonder what the third thing will be?

Wind dropped quite a bit here now.

I don't think oh will be buying me new one of those Fairies as it cost me £275 a long while ago and now she's £375. Others he has bought me in the past are now double their price. I have the day dreaming fairy sitting on a mushroom and the west wind fairy which is my all time favorite and he broke the first one he bought me so he bought me another and not long ago he broke the wind on that one but I stuck it together. and I have the celtic fairy all toscarno statues.

http://www.statue.com/Products/Fairies/Archer-Rhiannon-Garden-Fairy-Statue.html

Stripped the advent wreath this afternoon ready to redo it.

Oh Mel thats a shame you've lost your fairy like that perhaps OH will treat you to another for Christmas

Oh Ann yes I use to have those little perfume cream pots from Avon Topaze in the little yellow pot with the yellow gem on the top .

Wind seems to have picked up here and its been raining quite hard.

It just shows how strong the wind was Mel and it's quite exposed where you are. It sounds like your OH will be busy sorting the damage out. I was quite concerned about our fir tree on the front as it is really tall now. Are you going to get a little friend for your lonely bantam? They are such pretty ones you have.

Your apple and mincemeat puffs sound nice Vera. I used to make a sort of plait but with cuts across the top with mincemeat and apple years ago and I have some of that Jusrol I ought to use up, so I might make one this week. I have a granny smith I could use as well. Thanks for the idea! :-) I remember enjoying those bath cubes as a teenager and an aunt would get me Avon cream perfumes which I loved in their pretty pots. I couldn't afford much after mum took half my wages for board and there was no being ferried around by my parents so it was the bus (only 4 a day where we lived) or my bike. After paying 10 shillings a week for my pony's grazing I was left with £2 a week and had to pay dad for a gallon of petrol a week to drive his van to work out of that. A dress from C&A cost £2.99 then, but I managed till I was earning a bit more. At least it taught me to manage my money well and never get into debt.

I didn't know that surgeries no longer remove earwax and that you have to pay. It's not cheap either is it. FIL used to have his done regularly. I bet some couldn't afford it. Soon they will have to call it the 'Limited NHS' the way we are gradually having to pay for more services..

All this wind has been making the lounge colder than the rest of the bungalow today, so I've had to turn the other radiators down to save us boiling elsewhere in the bungalow. We even had a puddle inside the patio door with the wind. I have decided to get a chimney balloon to stop all the heat going up there. We very rarely have the open gas fire on anyway and you just let the balloon down to get it out again if needs be.

Oh's shelter over where he works on the mowers was all broken and the canopy has ripped to pieces this morning too so I could'nt get in the workshop for the chickens food. He had to come and move it by putting the legs up on it. It was tied to a big can of deisel the old iron sack barrow and the old garden rollerbut still it managed to do some damage to the tarmac and itself as some of the metal bars are broken.

We did have a little glimps of the sun about 3pm and then it disappeared again. The winds is still strong and extremly cold.

Pc says 6 degrees and mostly SUNNY !!!!!!! and has a little pic of the sun with one tiny cloud over it. Its certainly got that wrong.

I have been to Bourton-on-the-Water many times and the first time I went there was a little perfume shop there just over the little stream that runs through the village I bought a tiny bottle of perfume there of Lily of the Valley and I still have it. Have the still got the model village with the model village there?

That sounds a nice trip to Bourton-on-the-Water AnnG. It is a lovely place and, as Gwyn said, better to go out of the tourist season. The couple of times I have been there it's been packed with people.

Gwyn, you have reminded me that I still have my cards to Australia to send. I must get them to the post on Monday.

You've been busy Mandy. Your little trees are popular aren't they, and what a good idea of that lady to give them to the blind. I think you are right about a lot of Covid infections coming out through the schools now. I must ask my daughter what the situation is at her school which I think has about 1600 pupils. The first couple of cases of this new mutation have now been found in this country. One is in Essex where we are supposed to be at Christmas. Oh well, what will be, will be.

I hope Em and her family are not too poorly Mel. Take care yourself.

It's been a really busy couple of days and yet I don't seem to have achieved very much. I think it's been a case of doing lots of bitty jobs. Today I made some apple and mincemeat puffs but that was only because I accidentally clicked on the wrong thing when doing my last Sainsbury order and found myself with a pack of Jus-Rol puff pastry. They turned out looking OK. I also cleaned the upstairs bathrooms and disinfected and thoroughly cleaned a couple of bird feeders. There were peanuts in one and niger seeds in the other but they don't get used very much. I only quarter fill them anyway but when they get wet the peanuts tend to go mouldy. I don't know why I leave them out really as the birds here all go for the sunflower hearts. Even the robin hangs on the feeder for those although I put mealworms in a ground feeder for him.

I need to sort out the rest of my Christmas presents. I texted a couple of granddaughters this morning to see if there was anything they specially wanted. The 19 year old got back to me to say there was nothing she really needed. They all seem to have so much nowadays. At 19 I'd have been glad of almost anything. I can remember someone giving me a set of bath stuff that included a nail brush and back scrubbing brush and being delighted with it. In fact the back scrubber sits on the edge of the bath and still occasionally gets used.

My hearing in one ear is very muffled at the moment. I've been using the olive oil spray and it's a bit better but I need the wax removed. The doctors don't do it any more so you have to pay privately. Specsavers seem to be the cheapest at £55 but there is a very long wait for an appointment. Boots haven't got it organised at their hearing clinic yet but there is a private company operating out of our local health centre so I have an appointment booked there. It's £80 and the earliest appointment is 23rd December. They told me to stop using the spray for now and start again 5 days before my appointment. Although it's pricey I'm happier going to the health centre as I know how strict they are about Covid precautions.

We seem to have missed the worst of the wind thank goodness. It's definitely blowy but not the gales we were told to expect. We even saw a gleam of sun this morning but it's been raining again since lunchtime and it is cold. At the moment it's 3 degrees and hasn't been much warmer all day. I still have a few jobs to do in the garden but they won't get done till it's a lot drier and at least a little bit warmer.

OH wanted gammon steaks for tonight so I had better go and sort out something to go with them. Enjoy the rest of the day everyone and keep warm and dry.

Boris Johnson is to hold a Number 10 press conference at 5pm today, after cases of the Omicron covid-19 variant were confirmed in the UK.

The PM will speak from Downing Street alongside, Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty and Chief Scientific Officer Sir Patrick Vallance.

It comes as two cases of the Omicron coronavirus variant feared to have a higher reinfection rate have been detected in the UK, as the Government added extra African countries to the travel red list.

The individuals and all members of their households have been ordered to self-isolate after one case was detected in Chelmsford, Essex, and the other in Nottingham.

Both cases are believed to be connected and there is a link to southern Africa.

Afternoon All,

What a strange night. About 2.00am the wind suddenly got up and the rain was really lashing on the bedroom window. It set a car alarm off in the close and I was just getting out of bed to see if it was ours and it stopped. It was all calm again then, but this morning everywhere was covered in snow and we couldn't see across the field with the blizzard. It all quickly melted once it stopped snowing and I noticed Mr O was out and I assume sweeping bits that had blown onto their drive. OH saw Mrs O out there yesterday, picking up pine needles off their drive and thought how pointless it was with the windy weather forecast.



OH took one look outside and decided to forget going to a match and has been watching footie on the telly instead. He checked the loft this morning as I thought I heard a mouse in the night, but if there was, it hasn't been caught in a trap yet. He got a box with wrapping paper and cards down while he was up there.

I have finally ordered his laptop, ordered another tabletop Christmas tree that looks better than the one I sent back and have ordered some short wellies.

I like Bourton on the Water, but it is years since I went there. How nice though to find some shops with things you don't see everywhere else! I used to take mum out to different towns years ago and we would find things we never saw anywhere else and we got some lovely things. Now though, most places have the same shops with the same things.

It seems surprising Em's family have the virus with where you live away from most folk Mel, but like Mandy says, OH is finding his schools are getting more of the virus now and have started having virtual meetings. Once it is in a home, it tends to spread to other family members as well. They say 1 in 4 cases of colds are actually covid too, so without testing they won't be isolating and will go around spreading it too. Now we have our first cases of the new variant and I think I read that that is more infectious than the Delta one, one expert saying it could be up to 500% more infectious..

How great that your trees are in demand Mandy! Now a couple of scarves to knit for the children as well. I love starting some new knitting! That's good getting Colin to stir the mix! They may as well put those muscles they have to good use!

You are ahead of me Gwen and I must get my cards for abroad sent early next week. At least I am ok for stamps.

Next job is to paint the outside of the box with the wooden Christmas scene and then it's back to sketching my pictures.

AnnG
That sounds a lovely visit to Bourton-on-the-Water and all the better for being without so many of the tourist crowds. It's such a pretty little place and I'm sure you now have some lovely photos and some special shopping too.

Really bleak cold and driving rain earlier, but calmer and sunny at present.

Overseas cards sent in the post this morning, so I feel I've made a start.
£1.70 to send each one, but as they are either family or friends from over 50 years ago, I like to keep in touch.
2nd class stamps bought for UK delivery, so I will sort more of them this weekend.

Morning all,

We seem to have been lucky with the weather its a bit breezy here with a little bit of sun now and then.

I think a lot of these covid cases are in the schools that's how son and family got it as there was six away with it in Laceys class when she had to test .
Spoke to son this morning and he's not to bad with it he said you can feel fine one minute and then the next it hits you and you feel bad .
Hope Em and family don't get it to bad .

Yesterday I made two Christmas cakes and for the first time Colin helped by giving it a good stir ,I just need to make two more Christmas puds now.

I've been busy making more of the little Christmas trees the lady came back and said could I make another fifteen she's giving them to the blind apparently.

I also have to knit Lewis and Lacey a scarf each so I got some lovely soft wool in blue and pink so something else to keep me busy .

Coffee time now so bbl

Morning Anng and all,

Dull and still very windy and still gale force. It blew the plastic off the little greenhouse which we were expecting anyway as it was cracked in many places but it blew my huge fairy over and she has smashed to bits. Its the one that stands over his pond with the bow and arrow the one he repainted for me this year. oh said to leave her where she is as she won't go any further. I am just pleased she did'nt go in his pond as she a bit spikey and could have peirced the liner but one of her arms is in the pond.

I have to do the shop today for some bits and pieces but I shan'nt hang around.

Anng you asked if thye were both vacinated and the answer is they were due their boosters yesterday but having covid they could'nt go. Sam has only had one injection.