General Chat

Morning all

Very calm but grey day here but at least its dry.

Local fireworks organised by the local fire crew are on tonight. No bonfire but hot food and its donations only so everyone can attend. Its usually a great evening and lots of people to catch up with.

Before we go out at 5pm, we have 2 more chairs to gloss with black paint and then that leaves the last 2. Really pleased with how they have turned out.

Ann i noticed its quiet on here so hoping all's well with peeps and nothing amiss. It is getting busier at this time of year but we all like to check on each other and make sure we r all ok.

Happy Friday everyone

Florence in the hebrides

Looks like we are all busy. Must be the time of year.

Morning all

Been busy here with various things, xmas shopping yesterday and food shopping.

The weather over the weekend was dire. Windy and pouring hard so hadnt been out for a few days. Wrote out a few xmas cards and wrapped some more gifts so made good progress with that.

I have made a pan of veggie soup which is bubbling away to have later with crusty rolls....comfort food.

The sun is now very bright :-D and is turning into a good day albeit still windy but dry. Dont think i will put out the washing though else it will end up in Iceland lol

Hope everyone on here keeping warm.

Joan hope you have managed outside to do some leaf clearing maybe.

Well better crack on just now

Florence in the hebrides

Hi to all.
We also had a windy & rainy night, nice dry sunny day today but windy, it has died down at the moment & so I ventured outside & shifted a couple of piles of leaves.
Being very wet they hadn't scattered around, still got more to sweep up & still more to come down from the trees,maybe get some lifted tomorrow all being well.

Your new man sounds very nice gent Florence, not into Bon Jovi myself but it sounds like you are really excited about going to see him.

Well the sun has gone now & it's dulling over, soon be time to out the light on, I just wish Spring was nearer, lol, sooner we get past Christmas & New Year the better, I hate the long dark nights.
I could cope better with winter if we had more daylight during the winter months, hibernation sounds a good idea, lol.

Joan.

Afternoon all

Well a very windy night but not as bad as the storm before. Its bright but showery and still windy now.

We have completed 2 chairs now after a few touch ups but very very happy with them.

And of course the promise from Argos to be in contact with me hasnt materialised so on Monday, i shall be contacting the ombudsman.

Waiting on Tesco coming today 2-4 and so pleased as the ferries were off due to the weather so wasnt sure if i would get me shopping but its all on track.

Was told of a wonderful surprise yesterday by my new man! Hes only gone and bought us 2 tickets for next August at Murrayfield Stadium in Edingburgh to see one of my fav people......Bon Jovi :-D :-D :-D :-D

Im so excited and still cant believe we will be going, it's just amazing. im really so very lucky to have him in my life <3

Hope everyone is ok today and the gale hasn't been too bad all over.

Better crack on with some more chores before Tesco come.

Florence in the hebrides

Good afternoon to all.the
Yet another WET day here so no outside sweeping again, I did put my head out to test the temperature & it was rather chilly.

Lots of leaves are stuck on the path that runs along the front of the house, a thankless task trying to shift them, hope they dry up soon as they look a right mess.

Had a delivery of heating oil this morning, no problems re the tanker & the wet / puddley road thank goodness, though i reckon it will have been a bit "churned" up with the big tanker tyres !

What a carry on re your chairs Florence, 6 weeks & longer is ridiculous.

Joan.

Afternoon all looking in today

Its a bright sunny day but a few showers around and a keen breeze. Been out in the polytunnel lifting the last of my onions. Some were really large others just medium but tasted delicious.

my swede/turnips are still growing so should have a good crop of those.

Cut a cucumber off yesterday and....still more flowers with little ones :-S Bit late but hey ho!

The sorry saga of the dining chairs i purchased from Argos on August is still going on!! They were received back on the 15 Sep and Im still awaiting my refund.

I tel again today(5th time) and found out the problem lies with Argos warehouse as they have not cleared the items and sent the paperwork to the finance dept so they can issue my refund.

I asked in firm but fair tones, why oh why should it take nearly 6 weeks????

The lady to be fair on this occasion did call me back when yet again we cut off and she did get more info than the previous helpers. She escalated my complaint and said something will get resolved very quickly now, But when???

I shall give them until the end of the week and if no refund, then Im going to the Ombudsman.

That aside we decided to upcycle the chairs I had. We have been sanding them down, undercoating and today put black gloss on them which already looks a major improvement and with the new cushions once all dry, I shall have a set of "new" dining chairs.

So whilst thats drying this afternoon, some ironing to do and then see to the meal for tonight.

All in all a busy day so far.

Joan , hope the weather improved so you could get outside to sweep up all your leaves.

Oh yes new series of Shetland starts 5 Nov, for anyone who like me is an avid fan.

Hope everyone else is well today

Florence in the hebrides

Hi to all.
It's raining again here but less windy, very overcast so no going outside again.

A LOT of leaves on the drive which is at the back of the house, if it stops raining I just "might" venture out & sweep them up it would probably take me a good hour to do it !!.

Florence, I don't have a Kindle, & to be honest I'm not keen on playing games like that, I do a LOT of crosswords & buy a new crossword book every week, I enjoy the TV & can usually find something to watch midweek but weekends are usually taken up with a lot of repeats of repeats.

I found myself watching the Gymnastics yesterday (that's a first) as i'm not interested in sports, lol.

I have my Crosstitching bu I just can't get back into that, my stitching mojo just isn't there! dissappointed with myself with that as once upon a time I would sit down & stitch every spare minute.

Well it's stopped raining & brightening up a bit at the moment so I just might get the drive swept up.

Joan.

Afternoon all from a wet & windy village and.....brrrr its very cold in the wind.

After 2 days in town and away from the house. its def a stay at home day and have been busy with lots of jobs.

I wrapped xmas presents and boxed them plus wrote cards as well so thats one ready for posting.

Going to make a chicken roast dinner but with chicken breasts tomorrow so all defrosting in a pan with veg ready for cooking.

Washing, drying as not good for drying outside even between showers, its too cold and windy!

Do you have a kindle or Ipad Joan? I downloaded a game called classic words better known as scrabble and play that against the computer. Great way to pass some time. Do you do crosswords at all?

Channel 10 on freeview always has some old greats like Lewis, Morse, Shetland and my favourite Foyles War. worth a look.

I'm crocheting a baby blanket for a friend o my daughter who is expecting in white & yellow as don't know what they are having but I do it whilst watching the tv in the evening.

The sun is trying to peek through the heavy clouds but the sun will soon be setting sadly.

Hope everyone else looking in is ok and Joan, hope you find something good to watch.

Florence in the hebrides

Hi Ann.

re the leaves. i would rather lift the leaves on a daily basis if I can, as I'm not as able as I used to be, unfortunately the bad weather always moves in before they all come down off the trees & after several days of rain etc I am left shifting more than I can cope with & being soaking wet not so easily shifted.

Last year I managed quite well physically but this year I'm not as able, our grandaughter (14) comes over when she can but she is a busy girl & not as free to help as she used to be, much of her time is taken up with her Netball games, many of them take place out of our area.

I have a friend, a young man lined up to reduce many of our trees but he is a busy re his own job, & now that winter is here he won't manage to deal will many at the same ti
I will get to the back of the leaves in time so long as it doesn't snow.

Re TV recordings, I haven't a clue how to do that, we never bothered with that before.

Still windy & rainy here, the sun has more or less gone so it won't be long before the light will have to be on.

Joan.

Good afternoon Joan. Have you not got any recordings on your TV that you can watch on Saturdays. I try to find stuff I like as I definitely do not like sport.

It is 11 degrees here and very cold so I am not inclined to go out into the garden, not much in my garden bin and it is collection day on Tuesday so really ought to get going again out there. maybe tomorrow??

Joan just think of the leaves on the garden as compost!! maybe wait until there are more down so they can all be gathered at once. They are a pain I know, the large tree in the garden butting on to the end of mine has lovely blossom in Spring but has been allowed to get so big that the leaves are going to be a real pain when they fall in the next month or so, last year I gathered as many as I could and put them all into a black bag for compost. Not sure that, another year older, I have the energy to pick them all up this year.

Morning.
Another wet & windy day here today, no chance of getting outside, the leaves are piling up, hoping the wind will blow some of them at least over into the fields

The sun is doing its best to shine through the clouds so at least it's brighter than yesterday & I don't need to have the living room light on all day !.
Looks like another day of TV but as its the weeekend the programmes are not so good, probably just potter about the house with a duster in my hand, lol.

I hope all is well with everyone.

Joan.

It is bright and sunny here Joan, but only eleven degrees.
I had my hair cut this morning, it really needed doing as my fringe was so long, it was over my glasses. It seems to have grown very quickly this time, maybe all that Greek sunshine :-D

I have just ordered a new iPad, not that there is anything wrong with my current one, but OH always has my cast off one and it is now too old to be upgraded to the new IOS 26 operating system. Once I set up my new one, he can have my current one and the one he has will go to Esme. She has two iPads, so that there is always one charged up, but one of them has a crack on the screen. Her parents were going to have a new screen fitted, but it costs a fair bit and doesn’t always work , so she can have OH’s old one instead. She loves her iPad and uses it constantly, but for what she does it doesn’t matter that it is the old operating system.

Afternoon all

Joan we are also having torrential rain and gales here all day and we had to go to town earlier but so glad im back home.

So sorting out the bedroom and xmas gifts as i have bags everywhere and they need to be tidied before we trip over them. i dont blame you for watching the tv on a rainy day and hope you find something interesting to watch,

Making a prawn stir fry for tea for a change tonight and then later, i shall put my feet up for the evening as 2 early starts last 2 days and im feeling drained!

Hope everyone else is ok today

Florence in the hebrides

Good afternoon, though not that good re te weather.
It's been raining for hours & it is so dull dark & windy, I can't see it changing today.

Another day of not being able to clear up leaves & even more are adding to the lot that are already down & soaking wet !
Not in the mood for housework & apart from a general tidy round I'm doing very little.
Spent much of the morning going through the TV channels or doing crosswords, I might do some more nibbling at my family research.

Ginnie, I hope our leg continues to improve.

Hope everyone is having a good day & the weather is better than here.

Joan.

I am pleased that your leg is getting better Ginnie, I hope the improvement continues

My son has settled in well, but has a lot to do on the house,He doesn’t have much time as he is working and his cycling takes up a lot of time, but he is doing bits and pieces all the time.

We had a trip out to Harrogate on the bus today because yesterday OH managed to sit on his glasses and the side legs popped off. He couldn’t see how to fix them, so we went to the opticians to see what they could do. He has an identical frame made as sun glasses, so he thought they might have to swap the lenses over, but luckily they managed to fix them and they are as good as new.

Joan, I am like you regards lamps I have one by my bedside but otherwise I only use ceiling lights although I have a couple of battery lamps that I can use in the event of a bulb going or a power cut. The bulbs I use in the ceiling lights are very bright and they are the modern ones but I get the Daylight ones not the warmlight ones. The difference is quite noticeable . You might find them in Morrisons I got mine from Home Bargains they come in all types of bulb sizes.

Florence, thank you for asking about my leg, it is getting better but it has been very slow. At the moment I have an area at the back of my leg that still hasn't healed but the front has healed quite nicely now. Although I shall be left with discoloured skin in that area . Just hoping the rest heals nicely soon.

Linda you will still be busy I bet even though you are not at the school. Hope you find something good to do when your sister visits. You have a very busy life.
Has your son settled in his new home?

Hope everyone looking in is well and doing ok.
Take care all.

\morning to everyone. bright sunny day here but very damp, not too cold & calm.

Hoping to venture out into the garden a bit later on, I don't think I will manage to clear the fallen leaves though, not an easy task to rake & sweep them up when they are soo wet.

Florence re lamps, I do have some lamps around the house but only use the one at my bedside, I have one in the living room but only for decoration !
I never use it, not bright enough with the lightbulbs we have to use nowadays.

I need to be able to see my way around so I prefer to have the ceiling light on, I hate the new type of lightbulbs as the light they give out is rubbish, for me at least.
The only one I can cope with are the Energy Saving bulbs, those "long" ones &/or the spiral ones.
They take a moment to warm up but do brighten up the room.

Joan.

Morning all

Well I opened the back door for poochie and brrrrrr its sooooo cold.

Felt like we were ready for snow! Lets hope not as its far too early.

Joan, can you not buy a small table lamp so it would be easier for you? I have a floor lamp in one corner and a small lamp on top of my filing cabinet as like you if the main lightbulb goes in any room, I couldnt stand on a chair to replace it when i was on my own.

I have a lamp in the hall and both bedrooms. The bathroom is the only place with just the main light. So at least if the main light bulbs went, the lamps would still give me light.

Linda, when i started working in schools back in 2006. initially, you picked up germs but after awhile, you become immune to them. I forget how many times a day, I washed my hands!

JustGinnie, how is your leg doing? Any improvement?

I have the local electrician coming at 2pm to do a 5 year check of all electrical sockets but not sure how he will get to some as they are behind furniture, beds etc and Im not attempting to move anything!

Daughter back today for a wee while so no doubt the laundry will be back to busy lol when shes away, the load is quite small really.

Off to the mainland tomorrow for a hospital appointment but only a day trip so hoping the weather will be kind as its rather breezy outside just now but heres hoping it will be fine.

Hope everyone is well today and the sun is shining for you.

Florence in the hebrides

Hello everyone, it is cold and rainy here. I have a horrible cold, probably a gift from one of the children I read with. That is the problem with going into schools, they are riddled with germs. I just have one more reading lesson tomorrow, then I get a break as it is half term next week.
My sister and brother in law are coming to stay for a couple of nights next week, they stay with us when they want to visit their daughter and grandchildren who live near Leeds. It is only about thirty five minutes drive from here, there is no room for them to stay with their daughter, so it makes sense to come here and save the cost of a hotel. I need to think of something to do with them on Wednesday, that is a bit difficult at this time of year.
It is a good job your daughter lives near bye Joan to help you out. I rarely use the ceiling lights in the lounge as I have several lamps which I prefer on an evening.
I had a good sort out of the linen cupboard recently as well Ginnie. I had quite a few duvet sets which I didn’t need. So I took them to the charity shop. I have been having a prune of my wardrobe as well. I have quite a lot of summer things which I don’t want. It is no good taking them to a charity shop now, so,I have packed them away and will take them in the spring