General Chat

Mum had as leccy fire that had a plastic bit over the bulb and then you put coal on that. It is a fan heater but I have never used it since she died and its just in the cupboard and the coal is in my shed. The big fan heater in the lounge has mock logs on the top and you lift those off to replace the bulbs and that one takes two bulbs.

I put all the shopping away and then clean the window in the back door and thats as far as I got. Now its time to corn the chickens so I am going to do that and maybe do the kitchen window after.

Mandy when I was a child mum and dad would do me a fairy bath. I had to sit inthe bath with my eyes closed and mum would call the fairies and then I was told to open my eyes and I had a lovely coloured bath. She did it with food colouring but it was always magical to me.

I have just looked on line and I see that you can buy 10 or 20 large pieces of coal. However I can't see if it gives the size of a piece and it could be they are too large for the basket on the front of the fire. I will wait now until the next time the bulb goes.

I have just moved the microwave off the top of the fridge, managed to fine somewhere else to put it in the kitchen but I will decide later if I am going to leave it there after the new fridge is in. Actually looking at it, I could probably do with a new microwave. I don't use it to cook, only to re-heat.

That's good you managed to get a red bulb and have managed to fit it AnnG. I remember having a fire with bulbs in once and it being fiddly to replace them and our bulbs would get covered with dust too. Could you stick some of the smaller pieces of coal together so they wouldn't fall through? I know what you mean by getting up again!

Afternoon All,

It was a cold night but is sunny now and 3 degrees. I slept well this time so feel a bit more lively, well slightly!

You soon finished your jigsaw Mandy, but I remember you said there were two. That's a good idea to knit fingerless gloves for Colin to get the logs in. They are useful for outside jobs where you still need a good grip with your fingers. I still have the owl pattern for fingerless mittens I made for a friend and I might do me some for when I carry a few things at once inside from the garage freezer. Lewis knew what he wanted for his birthday so that helps. I chuckled at the bath bombs, especially as he liked the one that made the water red. It must have looked quite gory! lol.

I watch Silent Witness too Mel. I used to like Clarissa, the lady in the wheelchair, who isn't in it now. I seem to remember her being stabbed in the head with scissors as her carer tried to defend her. The man was sectionned so was mentally ill, but don't think that is why she isn't in it now. Those deer are addicted to your day lilies aren't they. The poor things don't stand much chance, Yes, restaurants round here are struggling I think. Most don't open every day now and there are only two that do a carvery during the week. They are trying to compete with each other by doing free meals for children during school holidays, but that must be extra cost for them and it drives away older customers who want peace and quiet to chat to each other. I think if they copied the simpler meals the cafes do they would do better as cafes are thriving with many new ones opening up all the time.

Speaking of hot water bottles, I had forgotten what the number in the circle meant and there was a reminder on a tv prog I watched. I've checked mine and I need to buy a new one. If anyone doesn't know, there is a circle near the neck of the bottle with a number in which is the year of manufacture. The other marks in the circle round it are the month but that wasn't explained. Once a bottle is 2 years after the date it should be thrown away. Mine is 19. so should have thrown away in 2021 really. :-0

I have been into town on the bus. It is not too cold here 5 degrees now and sunny. I got the red light bu;b for the fire and have just fitted it. Not as easy as it sounds because first I had to empty all the loose coals out of the basket which is not fixed so when you put the coals back in, unless it is in the right position the coals fall through the bars and the whole lot collapses. this time it took me two goes. Not helped because it is all done by bending to do it. It would be easier if I knelt down but then it would not be easy to get up again. Done now so hope nothing disturbs it. Really I could do with some larger pieces of coal, some of the bits are really small.

Morning,

I forgot to post when I got up and happily went and ordered my scripts and looked on Ebay.

I have had two deer inthe garden this morning eating the new shoots on the day lillies.

Its 0 degrees and says it feels like -1 partly sunny but the suns been out since I got up at 8.29am. Frost all over the car and it is very cold out.

Shopping comes today and he is 14 stops away.
I must clean my kitchen windows as with the sun shining through the double door into the kitchen they are filthy as are the ones on the front of the bungalow. Also need to give my desk a good dust and tidy so that is what I shall be doing today.

Good morning all. 1 degree here and dull but, as far as I can see no frost. I need to go to town this morning to get a red light bulb for my fire. Tried B&Q yesterday but no luck there. Even though they sell the fires. such a huge place I will have missed them if they were not among normal bulbs but I did look all over. Hopefully my little shop in the market will still have some.

I hav'nt been watching the pottery programs but must do on Iplayer to catch up.

So disappointing when a meal out is'nt up to scratch. Perhaps thats why you had the voucher!!! trying to bring in more custom.

I don't think I wished Lewis Happy Birthday earlier so now I have. I still think of him as a small boy like in the picture you once sent us. I bet he is a big strapping lad now at 9.

Em bought me one of those long hot water bottles for Christmas too Mandy. I hav'nt used it yet and am hoping it not too heavy once water is in it for my hnad to hold. I had asked for a wheat bag when she asked me what I wanted. I find those good as they don't include the use of boiling water.

Hope Gill has managed to get on with the kitchen and we will hear from her again soon.

I am now giong to watch Silient Witness. Night night all see you in the morning.

Ann we bought Lewis clothes and gave him some money ,its getting harder to know what to buy as they get older but he did say he would like clothes oh and a couple of bath bombs lol I got him some bath bombs at Christmas and he loved how one turned the water bright red .

I like those furry throws it will be lovely and warm on the bed , my sister bought me one of those long hot water bottles for Christmas if this weather goes on it will be well used even with the heating .
It's a shame your meal wasn't so nice today ,you look forward to a meal out and it's disappointing when it's not very nice .

Yes I've been watching the pottery programme and I hadn't heard of those jugs either but the did glug didn't they .

We've finished the jigsaw and started another and I've started knitting Colin a pair of fingerless gloves for when he gets the logs in .

Evening All,

Brrr, it's -2 here now and has been bitterly cold all day with little sunshine. After having one bad night's sleep it takes me a while to get back to normal, so I lay awake till about 1.00am, but slept through till 9.00am then this morning. it's been a funny sort of day. We set off for lunch to use our voucher for the carvery and were a bit late and 10 minutes into the journey I said to OH, 'which way are you going?'. His answer was 'the wrong way! Then I reminded him of the road works that were the way he was heading , so we had to do a detour that made us later still. We got there ok and hardly anyone there so he went to order and the till wouldn't accept the voucher as there was no barcode on it. OH decided to get it up on his phone (in case I hadn't printed the bit with the barcode). Then he couldn't get a signal. A lady behind him in the queue went outside to see if there was a better signal and came back to say there was no barcode on the email coupon, so it took a while to get the discount sorted. The food wasn't very warm today and the veg too hard so it wasn't the best meal. We went to the Factory Shop next and got some fat balls for the birds, a nice furry throw for the bed in the 2nd bedroom, a little plastic basket for me to put bottles of things that live on the bottom shelf of the cupboard under the ensuite sink to save so much bending! Also a free 6 pack of plain crisps from a win on the scratch cards they always give you and an ice scraper for my car with a longer handle so I can reach across the screen.

I had a letter today from Boots about my hearing assessment this week and it said I needed to complete a questionnaire on line before the appointment using the link that was in the email they had sent. I couldn't find any trace of an email, so rang them. The chap who answered said they hadn't required the online questionnaire for over 3 years!! He seemed to find it amusing, no apology, just to ignore it, so I said, 'I think someone needs telling, don't you?' to which he said 'oh yes' as if it hadn't even occurred to him. Customer service seems to have really gone downhill and all these errors nowadays, and more important, the way they are handled without even an apology, seems to be acceptable these days. I don't know whether this chap was working from home, but for those that do, how do supervisors and managers know how their emplyees are dealing with the public, when they aren't in the building or within earshot of anyone? In my day, it was part of your annual report marking and affected your pay rise.

Is anyone else watching the Pottery programme? I'd love to have a go and had never heard of those Gluggle Jugs they made last time. It must be disappointing though when you make something really nice and it cracks during the firing.

Mel I can remember when mum kept chickens seeing flocks of Sparrows use the chickens' ready made dust baths in their run. We still talk about seeing all your birds on the feeders when we called to see you that time.

AnnG I bet you are glad to have got everything sorted with your fridgefreezer purchase and will soon have it installed. Good to find it was discounted too...a good saving. I never thought when we had a new one, but see if you might have any use for the salad drawers in the old one, like for things in the bottom shelf of lower cupboards like I bought a basket for today! lol Glad you have felt better after being in the fresh air.

It was a good day for a nice, warming soup Mandy. I meant to ask what you got Lewis for his birthday. It's interesting to know what the current generations like these days! I can imagine those big waves being quite scary.

I hope your speakers keep coming to your meetings Vera. It adds so much interest and people might start to fall away if they stopped coming. I've been to a couple of our Heritage Group meetings in the village when they have had some interesting speakers and really enjoyed the talks.

You got a good deal Anng if your old one lasted ten years stick to what you know was a good idea .
I use to hate B&Q as the shelves went up so high I use to come out with a stiff neck from looking up so much .

Wrap up well tonight Vera when you go out its really bitter out there now ,just saying on the weather forecast it shouldn't be quite as windy tomorrow so hopefully won't feel so cold .

Ann fancy someone having a party outside this time of the year ,I think round here the music has to be turned down by eleven and off by twelve .
Yes I did wonder if it is my meds but it now seems to have eased off ,I have to make an appointment for my tablet review so I'll mention it then .
Oh I had forgotten about the bin lorry cake ,bless him lol

Its been a beautiful day here with wall to wall blue skies and sunshine no breeze to speak of but it was blimmin cold out there.

The post van is changing its times in February and won't be there on a Tuesday now and just from 9am to 11am which is 20 mins shorter than it is at the mo. He has another stop in Sheepwash now as thier po closed. That one was run by voluteers in the little shop there but I think they have sold the shop and its now going to be a house. Poor old Dave still has'nt got a relief driver so is doing it all himself.

I had three eggs today so that was good. I thought I may get full productiuon of 4 as one of the black ones was moaning when I was cleaning out the nest this morning and I had had the 3, one in the house and two in the nest boxes. The ginger chicken had laid so I was hoping for another brown one.

Gwyn my box hedge is huge so if it did get the creepy crawlies the garden would look very strange. I have two seedlings coming up from it and they are now about three years old so I may try and dig those up this year. The box ball on the front of the rockery was self sown too but years and years ago now its really getting to big to be where it is.

Its good you found a fridge the same as you had before Anng so you know your od one did well. Is it a larder fridge?

Good afternoon all. A creature of habit then your OH Vera. Hope the meeting goes ok tonight. I suppose all the time they are paid for speaking they will come.

Still feeling the lack of sleep but a bit better for some fresh air and a natter.

Fridge all sorted, no problem a really large selection and helpful staff. It also helps to have shopped there before as all I needed to tell the girl was the post code and she had all my details. I looked for and found one the same as I have which is a Liebeherr, although with updated control switch. I hated the one on mine.. Must have had it over 10 years so it has done well. Very good service in the shop. ticket on the fridge said £399.00.  Came up at the till as £299. They have a sale on so it may have had something to do with that. In fact we walked back to check it was the right one I had pointed out and it was. £20 delivery, £25 to take away old fridge, and unpack and position new fridge. Delivery Thursday. They will phone an hour before getting here All of the fridges and freezers were rated F for energy I asked why and the answer is that anything that is running all the time can't be energy efficient. So they can't rate them below F.
Then Ann wanted a padlock so (Oh Joy) we went into B&Q. So I thought this will be good I can get a red fire bulb. Nope, not a red bulb anywhere so tomorrow is a trip into town for a bulb.

It looks beautiful out with bright blue skies and sunshine but it is raw. It’s reached 2 degrees but in the breeze feels like -4 and apparently that’s as good as it’s going to get. We’re also on a yellow warning for snow and ice though I suspect any snow might be a bit north of us.

We have a Club meeting tonight and I am very glad we only live a couple of minutes away as the weather app is telling me that by the time we are walking back it will be -2 and feel like -7. I haven’t got this year’s programme yet but I’ve been told that tonight’s speaker is from Trinity House, the organisation that looks after lighthouses, buoys etc and helps with the training and safeguarding of seamen. It could be interesting but I wonder how long these good speakers will be prepared to come to such a small group. Over the last few years we have lost at least 5 members who have died, 1 is now in a home, and 3 are in their 90s and getting too frail to attend now. Younger people don’t seem to want to join.

I hope you’ve managed to find the fridge you want AnnG. It’s always good to support local businesses if you can.

Mandy, I can just imagine the waves at Sheringham and Hunstanton. The North Sea can be a bit wild at the best of times. Happy birthday to Lewis. 9 already! Where has that time gone?

Lunchtime sandwich has arrived. Dead on 1 pm as usual :-)

Morning all,

Beautiful blue sky here this morning with plenty of the yellow stuff.

Got up in the night for the loo and fell asleep right away and woke at 10am and I have to be down the post van before 11.15am so see you later.

Morning all,
A little bit of frost this morning but the sky is blue and the suns out so it looks a lovely morning out there .
I was just looking at the Norfolk webcam in Sheringham and Hunstanton the sea looks really rough this morning big waves splashing up at Hunstanton with lots of spray.
I need to get some washing in and then I'm going to make some soup ready for our lunch.

I hope you feel better as the day goes on Ann.
Good luck with the fridge. I think it's important to actually see the fridge before you finally choose, so a good idea to go to a local retailer. We have a small and very obliging shop a few miles from here and they were happy for me to open and close doors of several fridges to get a feel for which one suited best. I did the same in their shop, when I wanted a tumble drier. Some appliances just didn't feel as sturdy as others.

Beautiful sunshine here and blue sky. It's chilly, but not raw cold, if you know what I mean.Light frost on some roof tops, but Wednesday is our weather warning day, I think . We might get snow coming up from France.

Mel, Interesting you mention box hedge.
So many people locally had their's devastated last year by box moth caterpillars. Whether that's because we are in the south east and the moths came over from the continent, I don't know, but the plants looked dead. Daughter was advised to cut her plant right back and hopefully new growth would appear, but the number of caterpillars clinging to the 'dead' plant branches taken to the tip was amazing.
The plant is now sprouting new growth, so she will be on the look out this season in case the moths are back.

Good morning all. After two good nights I had a rotten night last night so feel very 'off' this morning. Going with my friend to see about a fridge this morning. Going to a local retailer and hoping they have the type that I want in stock. Either larder of frost free, and the size I want.

I can get the 5 iplayer on the pc now but not tried to do what they told me this morning yet for the tv. I think my sparrows live in the box hedge and there are lots up at the village hall. They dust bath on the carpark in the summer. Iv'e had a goldfinch here today just the one it was having a drink in the water trough for some plants.

Evening All,

I wrote a post earlier but obviously didn't post it!

Snap Vera, After getting off to sleep reasonably well, I was woken at 11.00pm by a thumping noise outside. Some sort of party I expect at one of the houses on the main road with big gardens that back onto the bungalows opposite. The noise got louder (doesn't it always!) and carried on till after 1.00am. By then I was wide awake and couldn't get back to sleep till gone 3.00am. I would have thought it too cold, but when the wine flows......!

Mandy, OH takes the same as you for his reflux. I wonder if your meds might be the cause. I had to split my beta blocker and take half twice a day as it caused indigestion. If it happens for much longer straight to the doc to get checked. When OH used to get it, mashed potato with those fish in sauce bags you boil in a pan were ok and those pots of low fat mullerice with apple. What, Lewis 9 tomorrow! HAPPY BIRTHDAY Lewis for tomorrow. <3 Where did all those years go! I still think of him wanting a bin lorry cake. lol. That was a strange dream you had. Yes, SKY is behaving fine now. OH was saying that if the lady engineer had come back she'd have made us have a cable put in. Thank goodness the chap who came last knew more about how the boxes connect.

Getting a Thank You card was much more personal wasn't it Vera. All we seem to get through the letterbox most of the year is bills! You have reminded me I must try roasting cabbage as I've never tried it nor roasting sprouts. It saves a pan to wash too when you are roasting other veg in the oven. I would swap our Magpies for your pretty Goldfinches that sing so beautifully, although they are handsome birds in their black and white outfits! I saw one do something the other day that I've never seen before. They are such clever birds and ours use the water feature pot at the top of the garden to dunk the bread in to soften it to eat. One Magpie had some bread in it's beak and was standing on the gravel. It pecked bits off the bread making it smaller, then dropped it onto the gravel and pushed it under the surface with a few stabs of it's beak, then moved it's beak across the surface to move gravel to bury it!

Mel, if the key is metal you could always try grips or pliers on it to get more leverage. I had to reregister for the iplayer when we had the new SKYQ box and it is annoying as you say. We have to put a code in for some tv progs too depending what time of day it is. With you doing the raking, is your shoulder better now? You get lots of nice birds visit your feeders. Sparrows vanished from here about 10 years ago. I expect it's all the building work. There are roadworks all the time with them connecting up the utilities to them.