General Chat

good morning all fairly bright and dry here and 6 degrees. I am late getting dressed, didn't sleep very well when I thought I would after all the fresh air.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY VERA <3 <3 <3 <3 have a lovely day.

Morning everyone
I haven't moved house for ages, thankfully, but my husband's job meant that we did move many times and even to different countries.
Every house we vacated had to be cleaned to perfection and was inspected on the day we left. The men were charged if there was anything wrong in the way of damage or if it needed cleaning.
When my daughter moved from a rented flat, I helped her move out and still went round the window frames with a small brush and soapy water to make sure the hidden parts were clean too.
It stays with you once you have had to do it, but at least there was no quibble about getting her deposit back.
AnnG I hope your family can be soon settled in their new and sorted home.
The young woman certainly won't want added stress at this time.

A chilly day here, but without the cold wind it doesn't feel too bad. Lets hope that the peeping sun can shine a bit brighter ;-)

Good morning Mel and all

Just a quick post to say thank you Mandy, Mel, AnnG, Ann and Gill. All your cards arrived in good time and I have just opened them. Thank you all.

Anng hope everything goes ok for your step grandaughter today and your daughter can help sort the place out for them. Thinking of you and sending love to them in their new home. <3

Morning all,

Dull here but dry at the moment and I don't think there's much breeze as I can't see the tree moving.

Not sure if BIL is coming today or not. He never rings just turns up when he feels like it. Bless him. The mower man has'nt rung me and he was supposed to pick the mower up this week for repair.

Thats my day so far and now I am going to read the post I did'nt see yesterday.

Daughter and SiL are going over tomorrow to help the, clean it. Daughter has told them to tell their solicitor about the stuff left that they were told to dispose of. I have a feeling that they can be charged a sort of fine for it. All they have done is set up the bed for tonight and left everything else until tomorrow. It was 5.30 before they got in.

That’s dreadful AnnG. How can people leave a place in that state? I feel for the young couple, especially as she is pregnant. Way back in 1965 we moved into our first house when I was 8 months gone and I still remember how stressful and exhausting it was. I hope they get straight soon and are very happy in their new home.

O thats awful for them Anng. They should have at least cleaned the house.

Had to laugh I have just read the posts and had sat down with a cuppa and a ginger biccy.

Yes the plumber came to pick his money up that was all.

Did some washing as it trned out sunny and put it on the line but it still did'nt dry well so now its on the airer. Missed bin day again but have noted it on the calender now. Its a nuisance as it only comes once a fortnight and I could always tell by what was in the bin but now there never seems much in there so I forget to put it out.

Have managed to get another thing on ebay and that took me ages to get it right with the postage.

And it gets worse. Now they are in the house. It has not been cleaned, food left in the fridge, and medicine in cupboards and stuff in the garage.

Hope you enjoyed your ginger bicycle Vera Lol. (And my IPad changed ginger to finer but I may have put an f instead of a g.

There was a cold wind down by the water but ok if I kept walking and I was concentrating on taking photos.

Heard this afternoon that youngest great granddaughter started walking today she is 16 months old.

Step granddaughter 7 months pregnant is moving today. So stressful for her, everything gone through she has the keys but the seller has not finished taking stuff out of the house.

Has your plumber been Mel? I hope you are now all sorted out.

You’ve done well today AnnG. Was it cold out walking? I only walked around town but there was a bitterly cold wind blowing and drizzling all the time. It was really unpleasant and I was glad to get home.

We went into town as it was market day and I thought the good veg stall there might have better stuff than the supermarkets where the veg and salad shelves are half empty. I was right, they had plenty of good quality stuff but what a price. Medium sized caulis that were 65p not long ago and tiny sweetheart cabbages that were 50p were now both £1.99!

I had another restless night but when I eventually fell asleep I slept till 9 am which is very late for me. I’m still sitting here yawning. I don’t think this dreary grey day is helping much. Somehow we always feel livelier when there’s a bit of sun and blue sky.

Our son rang a couple of days ago and as we were chatting he mentioned that they had agreed to take on a 5 year old rescue tortoise. Apparently its name is Terry but they are changing it to Teddy. He made me laugh as he said his 3 girls have told him that the tortoise is likely to outlive him and his wife and they each want him to rewrite his will and leave Terry/Teddy to them.

OH is sitting beside me ostensibly reading but really watching the back of his eyelids. Dinner’s in the slow cooker so nothing much to do there, but I think it could be time for a cup of tea and a ginger biccy so I’ll go and put the kettle on.

(IPad doesn’t like the word biccy. It wants me to have a ginger bicycle with my cuppa :-D)

I had a really good morning, physically and mentally. I had thought I was past being able to get to the quays and docks on my own, in my mind it was too far to walk but it was fine. I wanted to get some photos of the docks for photography and I did that, then walked round the quays and they now have Fat Face and Weird fish. and I got a Weird Fish zip up jacket. They only had two colours rose red (more like brick red to me) or stone. I opted for the red as wasn't keen on the stone colour. I like their clothes but wouldn't pay full retial price for them.

M&S had loads in including Cargo trousers but, Of course not in my size Legs are tired now as I must have walked over 2 miles all together. When I got in the bus station the 94 was just about to go and no 97.8 in so I got the 94 and that meant a bit further to walk but I was fine

Has your plumber been now Mel?

Morning running behind at the mo plumbers coming and I hav'nt fed the girls yet.

Good morning all.

As the others have said Gwyn. That is so sad for two children to lose their Mum at a young age. I am sure that the funeral was even more sad than they usually are.

Vera You have come up with a good solution to the 'what to do to celebrate the Diamond Wedding' question. A good solution for you both. I am sure there will be disappointed members of the family hoping for a good get together But it is what you want and it really does sound lovely. Who wouldn't like a good hotel room with a sea view. I am sure that, knowing the occasion, the hotel will look after you well. I am not sure if you have said when it is? Is it soon?

Another grey day here and colder at 4 degrees at the moment. Not sure what I am doing, I slept well but still woke earlier than I would like at 6am. I might go into town.

It is so sad when children lose a parent at a young age. I hope the husband has lots of support and the children are surrounded by love. My now dil was widowed young and left with 2 little boys. She did a wonderful job of bringing them up on her own. The boys were in their teens when she met and married my son.

On to our Diamond anniversary: OH originally suggested something like our golden wedding “do” when we had our siblings and partners, our children and partners and grandchildren to a special lunch in a local up market restaurant. There were 20 of us in a private room. But I pointed out that we are all 10 years older, we have lost my brother and OH’s bil and the rest all live a long distance away and would have difficult journeys and have to book overnight accommodation.

After much discussion and turning down of various ideas I suggested a couple of nights away by ourselves. We don’t want to be driving half the day to get there so thought we’d try Cambridge which is only an hour or so by car. We both like the area and there is plenty to do there. The problem with Cambridge is parking but OH found 2 hotels that offered valet parking. They were both expensive but it is a special occasion. I turned one down as, although it was pricey, it had no character at all. All the bedrooms shown in pictures on their website had identical furniture and the dining menu seemed to comprise things like burgers and fish and chips. I felt a Premier Inn looked as good at a quarter of the price.

The other hotel looked better and OH rang them to book. Then when he asked to book the valet parking he was told it couldn’t be reserved and it was pot luck whether they would have a space available or not. That was not acceptable and going by public transport isn’t an option so back to square one.

Then OH found a hotel on the outskirts of town that seemed to have everything we wanted. Unfortunately they don’t respond to calls or emails so clearly don’t want our custom or perhaps they have closed down.

I think that was the point when I suggested egg and chips in the kitchen but we thought further and the upshot is we are going to Aldeburgh for 3 days/2 nights. OH has had a chat on the phone with the hotel of our choice and they have been more than helpful and put together a package for us. They are giving us a nice room with a sea view, a cream tea and 3 course candlelit dinners on both nights for an all in price and there is adequate parking. It isn’t cheap but we’re only going to have one diamond wedding.

Of course we would like to celebrate with our children but we have other family events happening this year so will be seeing everyone then. Just after our anniversary one of dil’s sons is getting married though we have turned down the invitation to that as it is too problematic for us to get there. However in May we are having a weekend get together with OH’s siblings and partners at his youngest sister’s home in Stockport. As 2 of his nieces and their families live in the area we should be able to see them as well. Then in July the big annual family gathering of my family is at our son’s home in Yorkshire so we will see the world and his wife there.

I’m going to look at the crossword in the paper and then read for a while. I’m hoping for a better night tonight and hope you all have a good night too. Sweet dreams everyone

Done some ironing and shut the chickens in and now I am going to wash my hair.

I am having a salad tonight with egg and maybe salmon but I am going to be naughty and have a cople of new pots with it.

Been quite bright here today with showers but just now the sun was out and then it hailed. I went out to see if there was a rainbow but I cold'nt see one so perhaps hailstone don't make a rainbow?

Poor little chicldren losing their mummy so young Gwyn. I too was thinking about you today.

O my boiled eggs done. :-D

Thank you Vera.
The funeral was earlier today and the chapel was packed, - standing room only for some.
So sad to see 2 young children lose their Mummy so young <3

The weather has been gloomy here, so I hope it's been better for Ann viewing more snowdrops.
Have you told us your plans for your special anniversary. ? I will have to check back and see what you have arranged. I look forward to hearing about them beyond the original egg and chips idea.... although I used to love it if we had that as children, probably because we were very much a meat and veg in some form family and it was a lovely change.
At the moment we are trying to add more fibre to our meals in the hope that my next blood test review shows that I have lowered my cholesterol. We still have unopened boxes of biscuits and chocolates from Christmas, so it won't be them adding to my levels. The one thing I do miss is cheese. I have really cut down on that and try to keep to no more than a small amount once a week. ... The really low fat varieties don't really appeal, so I make sure my 'allowance' of something like Cheddar is only a meagre amount ;-)

I can't believe I have lived here for almost 31 years and never been to that park near Stroud. Stratford park. It is huge  with an arboretum, walks in the park and lake a walled garden and a very good museum.  I thought we were just going to see snowdrops but they were really only viewed as an  afterthought. they were pretty but nowhere near as many as we saw last week.  The museum was a real surprise as it is very comprehensive with lots to see I think the gardens will be pretty in the summer, as will the lake. One thing I didn't realise was that there are a lot of fossils to be found around Stroud. Which is nowhere near the sea of course.

Our one mistake was to choose to go at half term, although in the museum the children were very well behaved as they did their treasure hunt for pictures and things. But when we went to the pub (Brewers Fayre) it was heaving, no problem getting a table but behind us there was a table with a couple of adult females and about 6 children (they didn't sit still long enough to be counted. I guess al under about 8/9. They were noisy, jumping and running around, climbing on the table and the women just ignored them. At times we had trouble hearing ourselves talk.

  Fish and chips (two main meals for £9.95 was good value, nicely cooked and too many chips as usual.

Anyway I was picked up at 0930 and got home at 3pm so it was a really good day out.