General Chat

Morning Anng and all,

Not as nice here as yesterdays morning was as its all cloudy and pc says mostly cloudy 6 degrees feels more like 3 degrees. I shan't be staying out there for long today.

I had never heard of Edward's decease either. A terrible thing for anyone let alone a child.

After truddeling about after that man doing the pond the other day he came so early I had'nt got my socks on and just shoved my feet into my wellie. I now have a very very sore heal, unless its the socks I put on yesterday??

Good morning all 5 degrees here and still gloomy and damp looking but I am not going out today.

Mel doesn't Dan have to work to a tight schedule like the Tesco delivery people? Or are you last on the list. My driver is always polite and talks while I take the stuff in to my container but never stops long which I am glad about because if they chatted to all my stuff would never be on time.

Well. horses on the lawn, that is different to the usual wild life I suppose. did they leave evidence of where they had been? good for the garden.

Mandy Until we had it in the family I had never heard of Edwards syndrome. It is such a sad disease as, even if it is not aborted the outcome is still the same. Sad that there doesn't seem to have been any break through in the last 20 years.

Went up th epost van first thing and he was'nt there again. I was expecting the shopping so started to come home and had to give way to guess what ? yes the post van so I turned the car around and went back to the village. Then I had to wait while he plugged it in and then a wait for it to log on and then he let me in after putting all the cones out in a very small space as there were two big white vans parked where he usually parks. Anyway sent my parcel off and bought a stamp for the letter to the roofer with his money.

Came home and I had fed all the girls so decided to have a go at some more minitures. Then the shopping turned up with my favorite driver, Young Dan, and we chatted for quite a while and he came up the caravan to see the fishig chair which I said he could have if he wanted it. It has gotten very sun bleached out the front of the caravaan and I'd rather he could put it to some use than it sit there and rot away cos I don't know where else to put it.

Got one very small toby jug painted after wipiog down the shopping and then I was hungry. I had beans on toast with cheese on top and it ws very nice.

turned the pond filter off to my pond so I could feed the fish and checked the big filter to oh's pond. where the man has worked on the pipes inthere and cobbled bit together its leaking a bit on the wooden floor and he had'nt put the box back over the outside pipes that return the water to the pond but kindly Dan did that for me. I told you he was a nice fella.

Put the well pump on to go into my pond as the man had pumpoed some water out of it and the return was making a noise. Checked i had turned off the light in the big filter shed and then came indoors only to glance out of the window and I had 4 horses and a donkey on my front lawns. I knew they were from the big house so tried to ring but did'nt get through properly so came to the pc to make sure I was ringing the right number and looked out the window and took a couple of pics and Ralph and Lisa were coming through the arch with a bucket of food and some halters and rope. Of course they did'nt have enough so I looked for some but by the time I had some they were walking them all out of the garden so I got in the car and followed them incase any decided to go into anyone elses gardens. we got them all back in their enclosure and then Ralph took me to show me where the barn owl lives. Its in the portico the church side of the big house.

So that was my day and now I am hungry again. A nice piece of rump steak enough for two nights and I am going to have tomatoes, sweet corn and a jacket tato with it tonight and new pots tomorrow.

Gosh hav'nt I rattled on!!!!!!! love to all <3

Evening all,

It's been a chilly old day here ,I nipped up town and got a few bits and I could feel light sleet on my face and you could see tiny white specks on my coat, it's been like that off and on for most of the day .
Anng I went with a list but still came home with some bits I didn't know I wanted :-D
There's some lovely baby bits that are reasonably priced they grow so fast I can't see any point in buying expensive things they will only wear for two or three weeks .
It was market day today and I could see they had most salad bits ,I did notice though that they had cut the cucumbers in half and they were 1.50 a half :-0 peppers were also 1.50 so the prices have shot up .

I watch Eastenders Anng ,that's sad you lost your grandson with Edwards syndrome, I think they are handling the story line very well ,I had never heard of it before but its a sad watch .

Lots of football on tonight :-( so it will be something of the planner .

I went in to town and, although it was a bit dull and drizzly it was not too cold because of the shelter from the buildings. I had a good shop around and got the things I wanted on my list. Plus a couple of things i didn't have on the list. I was mainly shopping for baby clothes. Knowing that outfits and expensive clothes will be bought by its grandma I looked for cheaper stuff that will hopefully fit when it is born and will be grown out of fairly quickly plus a soft cuddly rabbit baby socks, muslin squares etc.

My greatest success was, when in m&S I found a till where there were no queues as ot was lunch time so not many people around and the nice assistant downloaded the Sparks App for me. I have had more than one go downloading and each time it needed so much info and kept sending me round in circles. T and I always had a sparks card but since he died I have not managed to get one. She didn't seem to need quite so much info and I know it has worked as I used it on another till and then had an email after I got home.

I don't know why the boards have got even more quiet Vera. I think people have stopped putting up new threads so it has maybe got boring. But I remember when this thread was buzzing and now it too is very quiet. The trouble is once people stop posting they find other things to do so seem to manage without coming on the boards at all. such a pity.

I forgot to say AnnG that it was so sad to hear of the loss of your grandson to Edwards Syndrome. I remember googling it a while ago though I can't remember where I heard of it. I feel for any family affected by it.

Afternoon all

The threads, including this one, seem to be getting quieter and quieter. Perhaps the cold has turned everyone to stone. It's certainly another bitter cold day here again. The weather app is telling me that it is 7 degrees but feels like 3. Well, when I was out this morning it felt more like -3 :-( It's been thick cloud all day as well - not a tiny sight of the yellow stuff.

There's not much happening here today. I had a chiropody appointment this morning and came back with a toe support on my right foot. What with the inserts I have to use and now this toe support I'll be lucky if I can get my shoes on soon.

I washed a load of bedding before I went out and then while I was at the chiropodist OH ran the vacuum through for me so that was a help. Since lunch I've been paying a couple of bills online and doing a bit of paperwork and filing and now I am waiting for Tesco who are due between 3 and 4 pm. There are 3 subs but all perfectly acceptable and nothing missing. I've even got some ordinary salad tomatoes and some baby plum toms. There weren't any a couple of days ago so there must have been a delivery.

Nothing else of interest happening here. I hope you're all having a good day whatever you are doing.

good morning all, overslept this morning until 0840 but I an up and dressed now not sure what I am doing, might go into town it is 5 degrees so not too cold. And so far it is dry but a bit misty.

Morning all,

Bright and sunny after a frost this morning and pc says 4 degrees and cloudy.

Shopping comes today and he is 9 stops away.

Just having a coffee and then I shall start my day.

I had 4 eggs again yesterday,

Anyone watch East Enders. Edwards Syndrome was what we lost our 5th grandson from almost a mirror of East Enders. Knew nothing about it before that. I have to say the programme writers handled it very well.

Your pocket's a bit lighter now Mel. It's an expensive business isn't it? At least your fish should stay nice and healthy in properly pumped and filtered water.

I'm glad the deep clean wasn't too awful AnnG and you have 4 weeks before you have to go through it again.

How strange to find your 2nd cousin living so close by Gwyn. As you say, it's a small world. Of course we had to miss a couple of our annual gatherings during Covid but we managed one last July. There is one couple in the family who are older than us but their health isn't good and they don't travel now. A few years ago their son was organising it and he booked a small hall close to their home and they were able to come along for a couple of hours which was lovely.

While we were having lunch the doorbell went and it was a delivery from my daughter. It was a beautiful bouquet of flowers in a box with some Belgian chocolates. Tied to the ribbon round the box was a packet of sweet pea seeds. There was also a birthday card which said that this was my present for Feb 2024. She was making sure she didn't miss that birthday which made me smile.

I'm off to put my thermals on now as I need to go down the road to post a card and it is freezing out.

Expensive business Mel but it will be worth it when done and it is all working properly.

Good afternoon all,

It was sunny this morning but now its clouded over and its 7 degrees. There was a hard frost again last night too.

The pond man rang me very early this morning and said he would be 20 mins. I was'nt dressed or washed or had my teeth in or put my hair up. He has only just gone and now I am £150 lighter so More Expense as our Frank would say. He has got my big pond filter going but what a job we had keep changing pumps and he said he would leave me with just the skimmer pump going but them changed his mind. He found three pumps in the pond and said the new one oh put in only did the scimmer. He took out another one out of the pond and said that one had gone so I needed a new pump. Here we go I thought this is going to be expensive...... He also said I needed two new UV tubes for the thing that kills the green. Homeleigh does them he said for £40 EACH!!!!!!!!! So I looked on Amazon and ordered two for £34 something. They should come on Thursday. He will come and fit them when they arrive.

Vera, How lovely to have an annual family gathering like that.

The extended family had hoped to have a big 'gathering of the clans' a few years ago, but Covid restrictions stopped that :-(
Saturday was the birthdays for 2 members of that family, so they went for that date.

The senior member of the family is my 2nd cousin.
I always knew of her, but never met her, although when she was young, her immediate family visited my family in Hampshire before I was born. We even had photos. Her mother, mum's cousin died very young and the father took the family of 3 children to live in the London area and they lost contact.
Fast forward to 2006, when my husband and I took our grandson to visit the area in South Wales, where I spent holidays as a child and the landlady of our B & B asked what brought us to her tiny village.
It turned out that she regularly wrote to my 2nd cousin, who now lived in Kent in our nearest main town :-0
What a small world !
We meet fairly regularly for coffee and a chat, but I had not previously met all of her family before Saturday.

That is one side done, quite gruelling as usual but not painful, just all numb on one side now and cold from the walk back and can't have a drink to warm me up yet either. Next appointment for the other side 27th March. he is very busy I was 45 minutes late going in. I think he had an early emergency, he was apologetic.

Gwyn yes it was the Fratton Co-op and Landport Drapery Bazaar was in Commercial road. I don't remember if there was a FC at either Handleys or Bulpitts in Southsea (Maybe Palmerston Road) though.
I love the Portsmouth FB Nostalgia thread (and the Fareham and Gosport ones as well).

Goodness Ann, you have rekindled memories talking about the Portsmouth nostalgia posts.
My sister and I used to be taken to the large Co-op in Fratton, Portsmouth. It was a store which amazed me as a child, because of it's money vacuum tubes. When one paid for the goods, for example with a 10 shilling note, this was put into a little canister and then placed into the small area in the wall and it would magically be sucked away only to reappear a minute or so later with the correct change in the little canister.

At Christmas time, it was a special treat to visit Father Christmas at the Co-op. My mother paid at the entrance, then my sister and I went in to sit for our 'journey' You're right, we really did think we had travelled quite a long way and marvelled at the scenery through the 'windows'. We eventually reached Father Christmas and had a little chat and were given a gift, then ushered by helpers along a winding corridor until at the end, there was our mother.
How could that be, when we had travelled so far :-S
It was indeed magical.

Good morning all. 0degrees but no frost. You were up late Mel last night, gone twelve when you posted. hope pump man arrives today.
Dentist today at 11.15 for the first dreaded deep clean.

Mum and dad always took me to pantomimes when I was young. I can remember seeing The London Paladium all lit up and having little binoculers (sp) and ash trays on the back of the seats in front. I don't remember which stories they were though but seems to think one was cinderella.

The other thing I remember was puppet shows where they were all black and little people came on so you could only see the the puppets moving about. I think thye were called Magic puppet shows.

I have a fishing glass float in the big pond which travelled around with the water when the pump was going. He used to have a toy yatch in there and I cleared out the filter shed today and found it stuffed down behind the small scimmer filter in the corner broken mast and looking very sad. It took me all day and I had had nothing to eat until 5.58pm only had a milky coffee in the morning and that was it. Man should come tomorrow lunchtime. I got a lot of muck out of the big filter mainly the needles off the trees out the back and broken up dead leaves so I am wondering if the pump is blocked by bits or the impella is stuck up with muck also and there is blanket weed in the pond a bit which I can treat but I don't know how much water is in the pond. I know you can work it out by size and depth but can't remember how and I am not sure just how deep it is. Oh used to say I could'nt stand up in it with my head out of the water.

Anyway off to bed now after a busy day. Night night see you all in the morning.

U3A has older members by design university of the third age, members have to be over (I think) 50: that may be 55. Retired or working part time only.

I saw that Peter Pan show Vera and it was Margaret Lockwood I remember I loved it. And the could fly!!!!

There’s been a bit of sun today but it’s been really cold. I want to do some cutting back of plants in the garden but I am a bit wary while we’re still getting overnight frosts.

It’s good your pond hasn’t totally frozen over Mel. I know they say you can float a tennis ball in a bird bath but you would need something a great deal bigger for a pond. I hope you can get your pump fixed quickly. Thanks for telling me about Larry Foley. I’ve never heard of him so I shall have to do a bit of googling. I do remember Lambchop.

How lovely to meet up with all your family Gwyn. I bet by the time you got home you were hoarse from all the chatting. On my paternal side we have always been a close knit family but are spread throughout the UK and overseas now. We have a big weekend gathering once a year, usually in July, and anyone who can get there does so. Usually about 50 manage to attend. Whoever is hosting it provides beds for their own immediate family and everyone else finds a hotel or b&b or camps (that’s mostly the younger ones). When this all started OH and I were newly wed and just starting a family. Now we are the oldies. This year my son and dil are hosting it.

I’m glad your step-granddaughter and her OH are beginning to get settled in their house AnnG. Decorating can be done when they have the time and energy. You said about U3A people being mostly on the elderly side. I think that’s true of lots of organisations these days. Our clubs find it impossible to attract younger members.

You brought back some memories with your story of visiting Father Christmas. I don’t remember ever being taken to one of the stores to see him but I do have a vivid memory of going to see the pantomime of Peter Pan at the Lewisham Hippodrome in about 1949 or 50. In my mind Peter Pan was played by Margaret Lockwood but I might be wrong about that. What has stuck with me was the final scene when the stage was in darkness and gradually filled with tiny twinkling lights. I thought it was wonderful. I’d never seen anything like it before and nothing since has had quite the same magic.

I had a long phone call with my daughter today and teased her about forgetting my birthday. She was horrified and very apologetic but the poor girl hasn’t been at all well, is coping with long hours in a stressful job and has been up to her eyes in tiling etc as her house is being extended and renovated and they are on the last jobs now.

I’ve chatted on but I had better finish now. We had such a hectic morning that I didn’t have time to cook our meal at our usual Sunday lunchtime, so we will be eating in about half an hour and I need to check whether the chicken is cooked through.