General Chat

Yes, AnnG, it must have been expensive for parents. It was strange in that the winter uniform never changed but the summer uniform changed 3 times in the 7 years I was there. You could buy the summer dress material and make your own to a standard pattern so it worked out a bit cheaper. My mother was no dressmaker but a neighbour was good with her sewing machine so she made mine. Your school was more advanced than mine as we weren't allowed long white socks. We had a choice of white ankle socks or long brown or grey socks. After about the first year I refused to wear brown or grey so I wore white ankle socks all year round and in winter my legs used to get quite chapped. I remember one girl when we were about 14 taking a chance and coming to school in long white socks. She wasn't sent home but it was made very clear that she was never to come to school in them again.

I wrote that last post ages ago and did'nt post it once again.

My uniform in the senior school was a navy skirt with white long sleeved shirt and a v neck navy jumper. The summer dress was of cotton and a light navy blue with white polka dots. Mum made mine and I had two dresses and I think we had a navy cardi with the summer dresses. We had short sleeved white tops for PE and a wrap around navy short skirt, white socks and plimsoles. You had to keep your sport things in the cloakroom in a draw string bag. Thats something else I hated the smell of the things in the bag. It must have been the rubber soles of the gym shoes.I must admit to hating school right thrrough the secondary up to the day I left when I cut my skirt into inch strips and my best friend cried and I could'nt understand why!!

Another smell I really hate is Herb Robert I call it stink weed and it grows all over my garden here.

Vera that keep changing the uniform sounds expensive for parents and meant not being able to pass items down as well. We had a choice of four colours for our dresses, they were the 4 house colours. Red, blue, green and yellow,= Romans Trojans, Spartans and???? We had Navy blue cardigans and Navy blazers and long white socks in winter, short white socks in summer and we wee allowed to wear Clarks style sandals in summer but we wore our much hated navy blue berets all year round.

I did manage to nip into M&S and buy a pair of denim blue jeans on my way through town.

Gwyn that is a new one then? Gardening before breakfast, don't think I will join that one, I have to work up to it.

good luck with your appointment tomorrow. :-)

I know just how you feel Gwyn.

As I said before we have no post van this week as the driver is on holiday so I have to go to Holsworthy post office and I have two parcels to take but there are things on Ebay that finish today but there are no bids on them yet. If I go today they are sure to sell and if I don't go they most probably will be relisted. The shopping comes tomorow so I would have to go in the afternoon after it has arrived.

AnnG, I'm pleased the bus journey worked OK and you at least now know what is going to happen but it does sound as though the doctor needs a few lessons in "bedside manner". Hopefully someone will be available to go with you when you get a date for the op.

Gardening before breakfast Gwyn? That's what I call dedication! It is amazing how you only mean to do one little thing, then you see another weed or a plant that needs staking and before you know it an hour has gone by. I hope your hospital appointment goes well tomorrow.

I couldn't remember how long we had as an Easter break at school but googling schooling in the 1950s suggested that we had about 2 weeks. I do remember that half term breaks were only 2 days and I don't think they were called half term then. I know that the May one was always called the Whitsun holiday and we had Whit Monday, which was a bank holiday, and the Tuesday off school. As for uniform at grammar shool, our winter one was fairly standard, navy blue gym slip for the first 2 years and navy skirt for third year up, white blouse, navy cardi and school tie but our summer dresses were a nightmare as the school kept changing the summer uniform. When I started there we had rather nice check dresses in blue, green or red with navy blazer. Then this was changed to a horrible check as dresses for first 2 years and then skirts with short sleeved white blouses for 3rd years up. My mother hated the skirts which she said looked like tablecloths. Then, blow me, if they didn't change again. This time we had very nice material in small checks without white e.g. the checks were yellow and brown or red and grey etc. The trouble was that there was a choice of 7 colours! Again the first 2 years only got 3 or maybe 4 to choose from, 3rd years up got all 7. Oh, and we had to wear hats if we were outside, so winter we had horrible navy blue velour hats with red hatband and summer we had straw panamas with red hat band. Goodness Annx, you brought back some memories with your question about school holidays.

The weather keeps switching from sunshine to dark clouds and there is still quite a strong, cold wind but at least it has stayed dry. As it's a good blowing day I changed the beds this morning and have washed the bedding and all the clothes we have worn in the last week and I've also managed a little bit of gardening. Now I'm trying to decide whether I've got the energy to get the vacuum cleaner out.

Well the early bus trip worked OK, Helped by the fact that they still have the blanket offer of £2. for any journey. I was in town by 9am and the walk down to the hosptal took me 15 minutes which is good going as it is a fair distance, but I am a medium fast steady walker. so I was at the hospital early which is fine. I visited the loo, walked round smiths and then sat people watching until 0940 when I checked in on the machine and made my way to ENT which was quite busy but seemed to be moving fast, I don't know how many consultants were on duty. My appointment was for 10.00 and i went in at about 10.10 so very good.

Yes Gwyn is right it was a consultation and pre-op not the actual op. I am not sure what to make of the consultant he was fine, I would say Asian(I can't even begin to pronounce either his name or his nurse/assistant's name. He seemed okish but very blunt, not chatty friendly, didn't even say good morning how are you but launched straight into telling me why I was there. (which I knew), He started to exp[lain my problem to me, looked at it with a strong light/magnifier and said bluntly, 'It's skin cancer', instead of using the correct name of Basal cell carcinoma. He explained how they would do the op, how much they had to cut, said it would be quite big would change the shape of my nose and probably wouldn't look very nice. (which I knew but how is that for a morale booster?) He said 'Happy'? I pointed out I had no choice then he said that some patients say they don't want an operation!!! At which I then told him how many times I have had this done before, just not in such a sensitive place and that I have no option but to have the op. He did then stop and read the notes on his screen which were obviously a record of all the BCCs I have had removed before. Meanwhile his very nice young female assistant kept me grounded by laughing at some of the things I Said and keeping her hand on my shoulder.
Anyway he said, 'OK we do the operation' I asked and it will be local anaesrhetic but probably done in the main surgery at Glos royal. I asked how long before there would be an appointment and he just said 'weeks, not too long, but it doesn't matter leaving it as it won't grow'.
I then had to complete the pre-op questionnaire and have my BP taken, get weighed and then do a test for MRSI which is a bit like the covid test only one wand just goes inside each nostril and then one wand has to wipe across each groin (so off I had to go to the loo to do that bit.)

So now I have the wait until I get an appointment for the op. I definitely won't look forward to that one. But has to be done.

I think AnnG's visit today is a consultation rather than actual treatment, so hopefully they will be able to talk through what is the next step.

I was gardening before breakfast time today!
I wanted to catch the early morning post, so got dressed with hat, scarf and coat on and walked the short distance to the post box. When I reached home again, I thought ' I'll just pull up those stray pieces of grass at the base of a pyrocantha '..., then dug a thistle out of the front lawn. Before I knew it, about three quarters of an hour had passed. I would have done more, but I have a hospital appointment tomorrow and don't want to look too much like an old crock, so I will leave extra gardening until another day ;-)

I don't like the smell of deisel or petrol. Honey is ok with me and I like the smell of hyacinths and lilly of the valley. I do like the smell of raosting meat but not mince cooking or the smell of ash trays even though I do smoke but only outside and never in the house.With my CCS there are lot of smells I can taste. I can't wear perfume or scented deoderent or any cleaning products but the lemon scented ones and have to hold my breath using bleach andget otside quickly when I do as it seems to cling to my clothes.

As to the Easter holidays I think we had about 2 weeks buy maybe a day or two shorter. We never had a week for half term only a few days and used to look forward to the summer holidays and they seemed so long when I was young but now with the children next door they seem to pass very quickly.

I expect Anng is going through he op now and hope it all goes well. Sending love and wishes that it does. Its not nice when you are on your own with nobody waiting for you when you come out to take you somewhere nice to take your mind off things.

<3 <3 <3 <3 <3

Morning all,

we are all thinking of you today Anng so sending love.

9 degrees and raining, dull and grey.

Our post van is'nt there this week as he had to take his holiday or lose it so I have to go into town to post some parcels which is a nuisance as that trip is 18 miles at least there and abck and I only went in last week. Apart from that the rest of the day is mine.

I ache a bit this morning from the gardening yesterday but its worth it to get soemthing done out there. It was just like a spring day yesterday and now its spoilt by rain. I really thought we may be getting somehwere but no.

Hope you all slept better last night so are rested today.

Good morning all. Up early to make sure of catching the bus but a bit too early really. I didn't want to go back to sleep.
Oh yes my front garden border is full of grape \Hyacinths. I wish the leaves were as attractive as the flowers.

Going back to smells. I was thinking that there are some I don't like but they are usually when travelling on public transport. Cigarette smoke, stale cooking (frying) oil, strong perfumes such as 'Poison', garlic any of those embedded in clothes I find horrible.

I hope it turns out to be an easy journey for you tomorrow AnnG and that you have a good chat with them. I'd forgotten we changed to our summer uniforms after easter. I remember we wore our summer dresses (red or green gingham) with our blazers, but if we wore our macs with our summer uniform we had to wear our hats as well.

You must be right about our easter holidays then Gwyn. Maybe I'm remembering the much shorter time off we had at work. I have some bluebells but mine are pink and I brought them from my old house over 20 years ago. I must check if they are about to flower as they are in a sunny spot, but where it can be windy. I've never thought whether they are english or not, but I suspect not being pink. I am overun with grape hyacinths. They look lovely when they are in flower but not afterwards.

It is very strange that I actually like the smells you all dislike. I like the smell of honey, roast meat, hyacinths, linseed oil and live honeyed parsnips. I don’t always buy honey because of keeping sugar down but I like honey on bread or toast too.
I can’t at the moment think of smells I dislike except gloss paint.

I don’t remember how long holidays were at Easter but I know we did have a holiday as when we returned to school we had to wear our summer uniform. In my case it was square necked candy striped dresses and we had to have at least one I. Our house colours. Mine was blue.

I hope all goes well with your hospital visit AnnG.
I'll be thinking of you making an early start.

Interesting to read about all your dislikes of certain smells.
I really don't like the smell of meat roasting and I only have to hear mention on a cookery programme or KFC advert about crisping skin or fried chicken and I feel the hairs on my arms prickling. In fact I can feel it just writing that :-0

A chilly day here, although bright and dry all day. I never got into the garden to tackle our ivy, which seems determined to take over. I don't mind it so much in the real winter months, as it probably provides a cover and food source for small creatures, but it is getting the upperhand, so needs taming. I saw an old gardening programme on TV this morning and Carol Klein was talking about trying to increase the ivy in her garden.
It does very well here with no help whatsoever !

Ann
I think we must have had a fair while for our Easter holidays, because every year, either at Easter or in the summer, we travelled to Wales to see Mum's relations. I certainly wouldn't have had time off school, so we must have had at least about 2 weeks off school to make it worth the long journey.
Our local school breaks up this coming Thursday afternoon and goes back on 15th April.

I walked to see if I could see the swans a few days ago. They weren't there, but I think there was a flattening and gathering of reeds where they nest. There were 2 large swansdown feathers on the 'nest' area , so watch this space.

Bluebells are almost out in our front garden, which catches a lot of sun. They are the Spanish ones, so not the pretty deep blue of the native ones, but a welcome splash of colour to show that warmer days are ahead.

Evening all,
Its been quite cloudy here today and not very warm we had the odd glimpse of the sun at times but not for long .

Anng I hope all goes OK for you tomorrow at the hospital and you manage the buses OK ,we'll all be thinking of you .
You've had a busy day I see attacking the ivy and getting on in the garden .

Mel the cat cave was for son's two cats .

One smell I can't stand is linseed oil it really turns my stomach, Hyacinths I have in the garden but they are to strong for me to have I doors ,I remember the teacher having the Hyacinth bulb in those funny shaped glass vase were you could see all the roots in the water .
Still light here so next week when we alter the clocks it will be light at half seven ,I much prefer the lighter evenings.

Vera how were the Muffins are there any left ,they did look good .

Sisters birthday tomorrow so I hope I feel OK to take her card and present

Oh I understand now Mel. There's a lot to do to keep a pond in good order isn't there. I can remember green water being a nuisance when I kept tropical fish. I seem to remember putting blue stuff in the water that cleared it which was ok to do with just a small fishtank.

Shame about your parsnips Vera and I can imagine doing just the same myself. I have a bottlebrush shrub that is doing the same as your Hydrangeas, small flowers and less of them, plus some of it died back with last summer's heat. I was wondering whether to dig it out and get rid or give it a short back and sides to see if it rejuvenated it.

I don't like the smell of honey either. The carvery we go to went through a phase of putting it on their roast parsnips and even OH said it smelled awful and we never fancied any parsnips while they kept doing it. OH has those hot honey and lemon drinks if he has a cold and I don't like the smell of those either.

OH has just told me that the children at his schools have a two week break for easter, so the shops and eateries will be busy for a while now, but the traffic will be less. I'm sure we never had such long easter breaks when we were children, but can any of you remember what you had?

Goodness, AnnG, it doesn’t seem a year since you were saying that your step great-granddaughter had been born. Time does rush away when you’re older. Happy birthday to the little one. It sounds as though you have had plenty of exercise today with a walk and gardening. You will probably be gone by the time I come on here tomorrow but I’ll be thinking of you and hoping everything goes just as you would wish.

You were awake very early Annx. I had some pain from my back yesterday and expected to be kept awake half the night but I slept quite well for a change so feel brighter today. It’s funny how different smells affect us. I can’t bear the smell of honey so I never use it. I do buy it for OH as he likes an occasional slice of fresh bread with honey but he has to make it himself and I hardly breathe till he’s finished eating it. I do like the smell of Christmas box and would you believe we also have one in a pot right by our front door. I am sure we were related in a previous life. And you are not the only numpty in town. I wanted some pieces of parsnip out of the freezer to roast with the potatoes and meat for our Sunday lunch. I keep a large bag in the freezer and just take out what I need but I couldn’t find it anywhere till I went to the fridge. There at the bottom of a veg drawer was a large bag of browning, defrosted parsnips. Instead of putting them back in the freezer last time I used them I had put them in the fridge. Doh!

You’ve been busy with your pond and garden as well Mel. Make sure you don’t overdo it with your bad hip. It’s good that your Bil can help you with some of the jobs.

I hope Mandy is feeling a bit better today.

I’ve managed a bit in the garden today as well. I’ve done a drastic prune on a couple of hydrangeas. They are the paniculata variety and aren’t pruned quite the same as the mophead or lacecap ones. In previous years I’ve just pruned the new growth back to a couple of buds but the last couple of years the flowers have been smaller and the plant is very twiggy with no good new stems growing so I’ve been reading up about it. Apparently what I’ve been doing is a light prune but you can do a medium prune or a heavy prune and that’s what I am trying this year. I’ve cut the woody, old stems down to about 8” and am now just crossing my fingers and hoping for the best. If that doesn’t give them a new lease of life they will be out of the door. I also dead-headed all the daffodils in the flower bed though I have later ones blooming in pots.

It's been sunny on and off today but there’s still a cold wind and the temperature is supposed to go down to 0 degrees tonight so that might mean a frost. Brrr

Spent another half hour out there still attacking the ivy. I have got a lot down but there is still more to be cut back. I didn't want tp stay out there any longer as my back started to ache and I need to be reasonably fit for walking from bus to hospital tomorrow. A pity as it is a glorious day for gardening. I did do another job that Monty said needed doing. I have three strawberries in containers and he said I needed to tidy and feed them so I did that. :-) :-)

No Ann it was a UV strip light he put in as there are two in the UV fitting and one had gone. I am getting a lot of green in the big pond as the blanket weed has started to grow with there being a bit of sun now.

I got sidetracked doing the sweeping up on the road and did some of the strawberries instead so now I have to go and have a sweep up on the road down to my shed theres a lot of moss on the road which I have had a rake on but now needs a good sweep. With the wet winter we've had the moss is everywhere all along the front of the bungalow which is the north side.

Been out in the garden since my last post and raked up all the sticks off the rosd from the big ash tree and potted up 7 strawberry pots and runners. Just come in for my pill.

That would have been a pleasant walk in the sunshine seeing the spring bulbs and tree blossom everywhere AnnG. I'm adding a few bits to my family tree while lunch goes down and before my potter in the garden.

Lunch was nice but silly me, I put all of the carrots in the slow cooker instead of saving some to cook for lunch. What a numpty! I thought there seemed a lot of carrots in the slow cooker as well, but the penny still didn't drop. I had to use some frozen peas microwaved instead.

Did BIL fit a strip light because it is better than the green bulbs Mel? You do the same as me with weeds you pull out. I put them on top of the rock borders for the sun to dry out if I haven't got a humper with me and pick them up another time unless OH spots them and picks them up. Were your latest makes in today's parcel things we had seen before?

Now to pore over the choice of bathroom fittings for a while.