General Chat

Afternoon All

Milder today wore a quilted jacket to the shops instead of my big winter coat.

As you all know I don't drive, No one in my family was willing to teach me, It was not till after my mum died that I found out why, Mum & dad had friends who's daughter was killed in an car accident she was the one driving the car. I was an only child and now when I think back I suppose they were scared it would happen to me. my mum didn't drive, and dad used his car for work (self employed) so he wouldn't let me drive it ,
I did take driving lessons at a driving school but they were awful , every lesson there was a different teacher, and as dad wouldn't let me in his car I did not get the practice in between lessons.
when we got married OH tried to teach me when he was on leave from sea, BUT mum flatly refused to babysit daughter no 1 and I could not concentrate because we had to take the baby in the car
I drove OH car into a wall once , I never told my parents this and luckily I only dinted the car
Now I have no interest to learn, too busy on the roads, and my confidence is nil for me it is easy to walk into town or get a taxi and of course my girls live quite close by.
OH taught both our girls and it took a while but they passed there driving tests, daughter no 1 drives everywhere, daughter no 2 can't afford a car (unable to get a full time job) so she walks or goes by train and only shouts on dad when the weather is really bad and she is going to be late for work .

Frank was'nt the Christmas card one the one with the reindeer? I opened that.

Afternoon everyone.
I was a first timer too.I think us girls often pass first time whereas it just takes longer for the boys :-D :-D :-D.I think Chris passed his test on the 3rd go.Hannahs ex took 5 times !!!!!(he was a total nervous wreck each time lol)Anyway I won't waste time talking about him :-S.
Fiona ,I can understand your Parents being worried about you driving after their friends daughter was killed.But in a way it held you back :-(.
Learning to drive was the best thing I ever did.

Frank I thought you had heard from your daughter.Was it her who emailed you photos?Fingers crossed you don't get a back lash.I seem to remember a while ago when you couldn't sleep you did one of your emails !!.Hopefully you will sleep much better tonight now.
Chris is busy chopping logs and looks like he is ready to collapse.But I think he has nearly finished.He put the Chiminea together earlier (said it was not as simple as it looked).But it is done and is sitting on the Patio now.

I have just done the potatoes and veg for this evening.Pots on now ready to mash.
Lamb Shanks from Tes**.They were delicious last time.Much better than the ones we had from Wait**** which were very disappointing.

I spoke to Hannah early this morning.She said John is feeling so much better but is so easily tired.He hopes to go back to work on Monday as he has now been off for a month.They will be here next weekend ,but just basically to sleep as it is some big do for one of Hannah's friend.So basically Hi and Bye lol

I thought it was supposed to be sunny this afternoon.......they were wrong.It's cloudy



:-|

Jane I totally agree with you there it did hold me back , and when I look back over the years I think there was a few things I might have done or done better at if my parents had given me a bit more of a push.

Jane I hope they are not Horse shanks!!!!! Ha ha ha.........

Perhaps thats why they tasted better...................Mind you there would be a much bigger bone in a horse shank.

Have fiddled about all day. It has been quite nice but came over cloudy this morning and then just now when I was outside the sun came out and it has brightened but just our luck just as it is going down.

Fiona .I think it always hard as a parent to know just how much to let your children do.I know when Hannah was young we probably pushed her a bit too much to do certain things when maybe she wasn't ready.We never get it totally right lol.
I know when I was just 18 and went off to Greece to work my Mum and Dad had kittens and probably didn't sleep well the whole time I was there.But I am so thankful they didn't try to stop me.It was the making of me.There were problems and I did get myself into some sticky situations but it made me grow up and learn how to look after myself.....I could write a book about my time there :-D :-0 :-| ;-) :-D :-D.I did have to ring home one time when I was told by the police I had to leave as I didn't have a permit, and ask them to pay for a flight home for me.(it wasn't my fault either) my employers had told me that they had organised the permit....but obviously they hadn't :-S :-S.Naughty as the man was a Lawyer (and a perv :-0)..Am I allowed to say that???.He got short shrift from me I can tell you :-D :-D

Poor Chris is ceasing up now.I did offer to run him a bath but he's going to have a shower.I reckon he will be wanting dinner early and will then disappear to bed.
I think the temperature has dropped big time outside now.Time to turn the heating up I think :-D

I think Fiona,that can be the downside of being an only child. My parents, particularly my mother protected and worried about me till the day they died! Although I was extremely fond of both of them and they were very good, first to me, and then to my 'hangers on'(!), at times it could be a bit suffocating!!!! Apart from when I was first married and OH was in the Fleet Air arm, we lived about 4 miles away, and it was fine - BUT!!!!!! Sometimes I envied my cousins as there was 4 of them which meant they could turn and turn about! mind you my eldest cousin envied me for all the concern and attention I got - you can't win I guess!!!
You won't believe this, but when we went to take Merlin out this am, the tax disc on the horse lorry wasn't there!!!!! We've looked all over the place, and no sign! some b#####r has clearly pinched it!!! OH left the back unlocked two nights ago, so case closed! but it is on the drive right outside our window - I just can't believe that anyone would do that, but there you go, the moral of that is to make absolutedly sure that the car is locked under ALL circumstances!!!! Luckily it's easy enough to get a duplicate, but a bit of an eye opener! Reporting it to the Police on Monday !

Oh Liz,what a pain for you.Nothing seems to be safe these days.Chris told me yesterday that one of the locums had gone to London for a training day and someone stole her handbag while she was in a session.By the time she had got home to Kettering her house had been broken into and the car stolen from the drive :-0 :-0.

As long as your thieves didn't try and steal Merlin !!!!!.I know a couple of years ago there was a speight (?sp)of thefts from stables where all the saddles and tack was stolen.It went on for a few weeks.At the stables down the lane they reckoned the thieves had somehow driven across a couple of fields and climbed over hedges to get to the tack room.The owners who live right there never heard a thing.
Chris always tells me to make sure the front door is locked while I am at home as he has often walked in and I haven't heard him ,and neither has Chester.I must remember to do that :-D
I think there has been fisty cuffs going on with Blackbirds.The noise just now was awful.Robins have been fighting too like mad today.It becomes quite vicious :-S

LOL Mel.Defo Lamb Shanks.I don't think horse ones would fit in the oven(thank heavens) :-D.It is beginning to smell rather good :-D :-D.Lots of nice root veg in the dish too so other than the Mash ,I'm just doing sprouts for Chris and Runner Beans.
Should be ready for 7

It mucked up our day Jane good and proper , as we couldn't go to the little show as per plan! (I think it's 'spate!!!), but you are right, Merlin's safety is a bit of a worry. We lock his gate in the day and his stable at night, but if someone was determined to take him, well, I guess they would! We keep all his gear in the house, as leaving it out in the tack room would be asking for trouble. What a game it all is, I just can't get over how dishonest people are, but there you are, I'm clearly out of touch!!!
Trip to Bristol on Tuesday (our local DVL office) It's only 30 miles so not too bad!!!!

HI ALL---

JANE AND LIZ I'VE HAD A COUPLE OF MY EMAILS TO YOU BOTH -RETURN
UNABLE TO DELIVER ????? :-S WHATS THAT ALL ABOUT

SO COLD AGAIN HERE 16 Below last night & 9 below JUST NOW

Evening All,

My mum was always leaving her back door unlocked and I was always telling her I had pinched her 'jewels' when I called round if she was upstairs and didn't hear me come in. Then, when someone did come in and stole £400 she had upstairs she took notice and kept the door locked after that. :-S That woman must have had something in her handbag with her address on Jane, I carry nothing with my address on in my car or handbag for that very reason. I didn't think anyone still did!! We only carry driving licence/insurance docs when we are on holiday. I bet she'll change what she does now after the shock of all that happening.

We have 2 back doors so to speak, one through the conservatory at the back and one is on the side of the bungalow with a tall padlocked gate to the front so no-one can walk around the side, but we still keep that door locked even if we are in the garden as you can't see it from round the back.

Liz I don't blame you for keeping Merlin's tack inside. At one time no-one would bother with things like that but not anymore. I left a nice new leather headcollar on a pony that was a 'B' to catch once and eventually someone went in the field and pinched it off him!!!! I suppose I was lucky they didn't take him as well!! :-)

Do you remember a few years back when car badges were being nicked?

Tracey,I wonder why that is as my email address hasn't changed!! Ummmm! very strange!
Colder here to tonight but not 16 below!!!!! My SIL has emailed from Malaysia!! She and her OH only went to Thailand for 2 weeks just before Xmas, and now they are on their way to Australia (Sydney, Blue Mountains etc) for 2 weeks!! They are then back here for 2 weeks before going to their house in S.W.France for the rest of the summer!! Next winter they have booked a flat in Spain for 5 weeks!! they hate the weather here!! who doesn't!!! I sometimes wonder why they bother living in England at all! Sometimes I find it a bit hard to be enthusiastic about their travels, BUT try not to be an old bag!!!!!

Oh Liz, what a bother ,there are some right rogues about ,at least you still have the horse lorry they could have made off with that too !!

We always lock our back gate with a bolt at the top ,so when i go out i have to reach my hand over the top to slide it along ,once it gets dark and hubby's home we slide another bolt across the bottom of the gate .

Before we had the bolt on the gate we had a little wind chime on the inside of the back door so that if the door was opened we would hear the wind chime !!

I do remember car badges being stolen.Chris many moons ago had the one off the front of his MGB nicked :-S.I had one of my number plates taken from my last car while it was in Sainsb**** car park.
Liz ,don't wait till Monday.Ring the Police tomorrow and report the disc stolen.That way it is registered sooner.You don't want to be 'caught' driving something with a false tax disc !!!! then trying to prove that it wasn't you.(not sure I have said that right) but hope you get my meaning.

I undertand what your saying Jane, but whoever has our tax disc will have put it on a vehicle that is totally different to ours which would be obvious if they were picked up,different number plate for a start unless they have plates made, also the make of the vehice is on the disc and I don't thnk that it would be a match, also 'whoever' won't have the correct paperwork ie the registration certificate, and test certificate, so we shall go into our local station on Monday with the paperwork and report it.
We've got to go to Swindon anyway as the motor on OH's CNC machine has blown a circuit and will have to go and be re-wound!!!! OH is in the middle of a contract, several signs been ordered by a hotel in Somerset, so not very good timing!! You could say that it has been 'one of those days!'

Talking about car badges of a differant sort.
Ive an appt with my GP on 26th to discuss a couple of problems he might help me with,or not I'll let you know.
While I'm there I want to take the opportunity of a possible badge for my car's wind screen as regards. parking.
My legs are pretty shot these days and Ellen's are worse.
What's the criteria for getting a parking badge?
Does any one know?

Liz, Don't leave it till tomorrow, do it now. You never know what the Bs are doing with it. The sooner the police know the better. DO AS YOU ARE TOLD :-D :-D :-D
Yes the car badges were a right pain for us in the motor trade. There was nothing you could do to protect them, they were always having to order new ones, but only fitted when you sold the car.Then of course there was the car Radio thiefts. We did take all sets from cars, and mark them up, and again they had to be kept secure. I do believe in FRANKS LAW. Chop their bloody hands off. !! It would soon deter the others.

Outside our pub, in the lane which is narrow. A big Artic. (Lorry) tried to go down it, and took the Telegraph pole down, as there wasn't enough room for him. It put that part of the village without phones, and the Credit card Machine is out of order. Still not fixed since Monday. Not good for trade in the pub. if people want to pay for meals and drinks.

Load of rubbish on the Tele, so I will play about on here for an hour or so.

Some people are real beasts arn't they. I thought you lived at a dead end Liz.

Watching the last World Without End.

Morning All and Evening Kim,

Another bright morning here with sunshine.

There was a frost last night before I went to bed but it was only on the roof of my car and oh's was not frosted! His was nearer the house. It seemed strange as there was none on the grass either.

It's not exactly a dead end Mel, the road goes down to the Farm, but there is a lane that continues alongside the Farm to the main road, so we get walkers and now and again motor bikers particularly at the weekends!
About half way in we gave up on 'World without End', we suddenly couldn't be bothered with it, it was SO inaccurate to the point of being silly, and the storyline was well, just plain boring! Just our opinion of course!
Lovely sunny day here, chicken in the slow cooker for lunch, walk with Merlin and Millie this afternoon