General Chat

Aunty Joy who lives in Bideford used to send mum bunches of primroses from the farm in Buckland Brewer, by post every year and they arrived ok too.

I too used to buy bunches of violets for mum for mothers day. You don't see those much now do you?

I have found in the pots down by my shed and on my strawberry barow two white violets and potted them up and have them on the patio under the fairy fountain. Funny Anne should mention white violets. I have a small mauve one in the lawn I spied while scattering hog food the other night but the most I have is down on the bank behind our tiny wood south facing. There are quite a few there. I must try and sew more there when they seed and perhaps some white ones too.

Good afternoon all

Typical April day here with sunshine & showers i'm expecting to see a rainbow soon the way the sky looks. at the moment.

I hope Jane, Ann & Fitz have an enjoyable meet up and have a good lunch and chat. Will be nice to hear all about it..

Good to spend Mother's day with your family Gwyn, which Romney Marsh Inn did you eat in, we go to the Pilot Inn for Fish & Chips and another very old Inn on the Marsh the name I can't remember off hand. Romney Marsh and Dungeness along with the little railway was a favourite place to visit when we are down that way.

Frank lets hope you can get a reasonable quote for your travel insurance as you definitely need it.

I watched he Repair Shop yesterday and the elderly man having his little radio repaired had me in tears it was so touching as he was missing his late wife so much. Just going to watch today's epidode

We have a few violets in the garden but they don't seem such a strong colour as they used to be or smell like they did. these are all self sown, some get pulled up like weeds because they are always in the wrong place. If they have flowers on I don't pull them out, it is just when it is the leaves among other weeds!!

Late Afternoon Everyone

Well we all had a lovely time today.Great seeing Ann again :-D. She brought along that beautiful necklace she made with the big blue stone.It was stunning and the stone is so much prettier that it showed up in the pic. It was wonderful.

Frank,we went the The George at Great Oxendon on the road to Market Harborough.The garden there was looking lovely and green with Spring Flowers and avery nice row of Standard Red Robins.
I think Ann and Fitz enjoyed their meal more than me. My starter of Haddock Goujons was really tasty but the Burger i had for the main was rather dry and had CHILLI in it.My face is still hot now :-S.I have a big glass of iced water to drink too :-D

Ann and I had a bit of a shock when we went to the Ladies. We were washing our hands (one of those taps where the water just comes out when you put your hands underneath) and then all of a sudden there was this roar and very fierce air to dry the hands. I leapt back as just for a moment I wondered what on earth it was LOL .I saw the name on the taps was Dyson ! :-D I could have even dried my hair with the blower :-D
So we were there for a good 3 hours and had a very enjoyable time :-D

That was nice Gwyn to have met up with your 3 for Mothers Day. How lovely to see the little Lambs.The are so funny when they decide to have a good gamble :-D

Mel I hope that there is not much work to be done to sort out the scuffs and marks on the car.Thank goodness there was not any worse damage.

I think I might just go and have a nice bath as I dont have to do any cooking tonight :-D Chris and James will sort themselves out.

Mandy ..no news.

After the rain this morning the sun came out just as we left the Pub sand it is still a bright evening.But a bit on the nippy side. Did I hear there could be a bit of a frost tonight?

Still feeling under the weather with this sore throat, so will catch up with all the posts tomorrow if I feel well enough. Hope everyone is okay.

We had hail showers all morning but only a few spots of rain as I left home. None in Bideford bu t the same grey clouds with breaks in them when the sun tried to come out. Its been very cold though if you were in the wind. Oh said it was too cold for him to go out and do anything today so it must have been.

Gwyn It sounds like you had a wonderfull day with your children for Mothers Day.

Jane I'm pleased you had a lovely day out with Ann and Fitz. That was'nt very adventurous having a burger, did'nt you fancy anything else on the menu? The cod sounded nice though. Was'nt that necklace lovely with the blue stone. She's such a clever girl our Ann.

Whats this about ...no news. Hav'nt you heard yet or what???

I'm having beans and egg on toast tonight, its just what I fancy. Wore one of my new pairs of jean today and I had to keep pulling them up. I'm either losing a bit of weight or they are bigger than my old ones or have more stretch in them.

Must turn the oven on for oh's bargees and bread.

Good evening all

It’s been a cold grey day with a lot of rain today. Not nice at all.

Mel I hope your car’s scuffs and scratches can be repaired without too much expense. It is annoying when that sort of thing happens. My OH had a coming together with another car last summer in Cornwall. The car that he managed to bump into was a Maserati - he doesn’t do things by half! We thought the insurance company would put our premium right up when we had to renew but it hardly went up at all.

I thought at first that your school term finishes very early Gwyn, but I’ve realised that, as Easter is so late this year, the bulk of the holiday is before rather than after Easter. Schools round here are breaking up on Friday as well.

Poor you Gill, you have had more than your share of being unwell lately. If you are still feeling poorly and your throat is no better tomorrow perhaps you should see your doctor ot at least have a word with the pharmacist.

Jane and Ann, it sounds as though you had a very enjoyable meal together. I bet you found plenty to talk about.

Jane, the degu is a rodent that is related to the chinchilla. I always think it looks like a cross between a rat and a hamster. You need to have at least a couple as they are social animals, so every time one of granddaughter’s died, she got another one as company for the one left behind. Daughter has said that when the next one dies they won’t replace her. Sad though it is, the last one will have to live alone until she dies too.

I’m not sure what sort of snake grandson wants. At the back of my mind I thought he mentioned a boa but I could be wrong about that. I’m hoping he’ll go for something like a corn snake.

Well, the enhanced recovery programme seems to be working for my brother and the surgeon is delighted as he is the first one in that medical department to be put on the programme. He was discharged from the hospital and sent all the way home by taxi last night. Arrangements were made for the district nurse to call every day for the next four weeks or so and she duly arrived to check him over today. We have been to see him and although he is very tired and quite weak, he is not in much pain and is in good spirits. I feel reassured now I have seen him.

Going to have a cup of tea and a read of the paper now. Night, night.

Evening All.

Vera, it will have eased your mind now you have seen your brother and know he is doing well. I like the little Degus, they used to have them in the pet place down the road and they would fall asleep under the lamp piled up in a heap! They also remind me of Gerbils anly bigger!

Yes I really enjoyed my afternoon out with Jane and Fitz. It is a nice place and not too cramped. The view of the garden was lovely from our table and we could have sat outside if it hadn't been raining when we arrived. I had chicken liver 'parfait' for my starter and it was on a sort of fried bread with salad. My main course was cod loin in a mustard sauce with asparagus and cabbage and was very nice. We had a great time as Jane said and exercised our chuckle muscles. It was really funny in the toilet when Jane triggered the hand drier which was in the same part of the contraption that dispensed the handwash, which we didn't realise. The roar was deafening and she jumped right back and made me jump as well. Then we couldn't seem to make the driers work by waving our arms again, till they suddenly burst into life!! They seemed to have a mind of their own! I think we were the last people to leave, but they didn't seem fussed.

I hope you soon feel better Gill, plenty of sleep and rest may help.

I feel really tired now so will have an early night myself and catch up with the other posts tomorrow.

Morning all

Raining here today, they say we might have a bit of snow, but with all this rain I doubt anything will come of it.

Poor OH has started with the dreaded sore throat now and has a cold to go with it, needless to say he spent the night snoring so I didn't get much sleep. My throat is still sore and very red. I finished my antibiotics this morning and think the abscess has finally gone so that's good, but now I'm wondering if it was the infection that caused my sore throat. Hopefully I'll feel better soon and have no more illness, I'm getting really fed up of them now.

It sounds like you both had a lovely time out Ann and Jane. I've seen those type of hand dryers before and boy do they make a noise, I'm not surprised you jumped back Jane. At least you both had a laugh about it.

We've just had some hail, we had some last night to and it's really cold today. I still had to water the toms and climbing bluebells in the greenhouse this morning, but at least the rest of the plants are being watered by mother nature, so that's saved me a job.

I wish I lived nearer you Frank, I would of loved some of your snowdrops and would of been very careful in Ros's borders as I know how hard she works in them. Maybe when the weather improves you might have a few people interested in taking some of them off your hands.

Sorry to hear about your car Mel, I hope it can be sorted soon. How are your girls doing in their new home, I hope they haven't trodden on any more of their eggs. How many hogs do you have now?

I'm so pleased you feel reassured now you've seen your brother Vera, I bet it feels great now he's back in his own bed, those hospital beds aren't very comfy at all. The enhanced recovery programmes sounds like it's doing the job, hopefully it won't take to long until he's feeling better. I don't think the doctor will do anything about my throat because I've just finished two lots of antibiotics, so I don't think they'd want to give me anymore. I'm taking Strepsils and drinking plenty, which is helping to ease it a bit.

How lovely to see all those lambs Gwyn and to meet up with your children to, it sounds like you had a wonderful day.

Morning Gill and all,

we have sunshine and showers and the sky has turned rather grey now after the sunny start.

Vera its good you managed to see your bruv and that he is getting on ok. Wishing him a speedy recovery and sending best wishes. <3

The Blackbirds have definately got heir babies as they are going around with lots of worms and things in their beaks and trying to pinch Robby's mealworms too. I don't know where their nest is but there are plenty of places in this big garden and they do tend to favor the ivy growing on the walls.

Oh has run out of someof his pills so I think another trip to Holsworthy is in order and I wanted to stay home today. Its such a nuisance as before when the doc was in the village it was 5 mins to go and get the pills. Now it takes about 20 mins to get to Holsworthy if you don't get stuck behind a tractor. A long wait inthe chemist as there is only one person serving and a line of costomers waiting to be served. Its just not as friendly as when we had our local doc.

Good morning all. First this morning we had to take the Lexus for its MOT and annual service. That entails me driving my car to bring OH back here. It is not far but I suppose it is a bit of driving practice. I do realise that with not driving regularly (I have no reason to), I do not drive instinctively any more so am always thinking about what I am about to do. Anyway, no problems there. We then took two huge loads to the charity shop. (There were 40 items because I accepted a challenge put up on facebook to collect an item for charity for every day of Lent. As we have daughter and her OH in the 'guest' bedroom this coming weekend I needed to get it all out of there. Any extra can be added to the total.

Next we went to the local Tesco for the paper and then to the Hub for coffee and a shared toasted tea cake. Today it is toddler day there. Baby bounce in the back hall then story time for all the little ones in the front hall, but they come in with their Mums first for a drink etc. Lots of them there today so it was not peaceful. Great that these mums have somewhere to go and the children can socialise from an early age, first as babies then as toddlers.

Now we are at home waiting for the call to collect the Lexus

Vera what exactly is the enhanced recovery programme, does it include more than just the early home going and the daily district nurse visits? I assume that would only be possible if the area had enough district nurses to cope. I know when late son in law was very ill he chose to stay at home rather than go into a hospice and two district nurses visited daily. We were there at the time and they were so lovely, so patient. Far better to be nursed lik that than in hospital where everything is rushed for lack of staff. I hope he continues to do well and it is good that you got to see him.

Jane, so pleased that you enjoyed your afternoon with Ann and Fitz. (I should possibly know this but is Fitz a friend or relative of yours? I do get confused.) Lovely to see the necklace 'in the flesh' as it were.
Why a burger? Just because you actually like them or nothing else you fancied. I am not a great lover of burgers and don't like spicy ones (although I like spicy food as long as it is mild. did it state on the menu it was spicy?

Annx you enjoyed your meet up as well so that is nice. and your meal did sound nice although I have not had mustard sauce on fish I must admit. Had a chuckle about the drier. I have come across those multi wash/drier things, saves space I suppose.

Gill sorry you have still got the sore throat and have passed it on to OH. I think that you are mainly run down as you do seem to be picking up all sorts of infections. Perhaps you could ask the pharmacist's advice as to what you could take to boodt your immunity. Maybe some sort of probiotics? Hope you feel better soon and that the abscess has finally gone.

Mel, we had frost and then brilliant sun early morning, then it clouded over it is now sort of half sunny/cloud/bright. No rain so far and OH is busy doing something to the water feature in the garden. It is still quite cold though.

Could you get your prescriptions delivered? That would mean ordering before running out though but it would save you a journey. Not sure whether it is done in all areas but it is here and I think it is free. (would save fuel as well).

have you got anywhere with searching for travel insurance Frank? Hope you are feeling warmer today. I couldn't get warm yesterday evening indoors.

Its snowing here. Wet snow.

Good afternoon all,

Ros is at the hospital having a Heart scan, it's a follow up appointment, so hope everything is going O.K. They advised her that the scan would have 30/40 minutes, so it must be very complex. I knows has A BIG HEART but that sounds a long time. ;-) ;-)

I have just booked a table for Easter Sunday at the "CROMWELL COTTAGE" one of our favourite restaurants. It's only about 15 minutes from home.

We had the DEEDS of the bungalow arrive this morning from the Halifax. They said it would take SIX WEEKS but they were here in ONE WEEK. Now it's up to the boys to sort out the transfer to their names. That's an expense, that they can have.

It's Martine's Birthday on Saturday. Eos has bought her a nice Jacket that she saw and liked. She is calling in this afternoon to pick up more snow drops, so will take her present home with her, as Ros. won't be seeing her this weekend. They are off to their Caravan on the east coast. The forecast isn't great so better them than me. !!

Gill, I will get some snow drops packed and sent to you. I will take off most of the leaves, so all you will need to do is plant them. I hope you think of me each Spring, when they bloom. lol lol

I see that your brother is home, and I hope resting, and getting better, Vera. Give him our regards.

Jane, what is this Mandy NO NEWS. Have I missed something ?? When you meet up with Annx do you use the A6 through Market Harborough. I always used it, when I lived in Barton.

If I didn't know better I would swear I had a minor stroke during the night. This morning, I am all over the place, and had the biggest job out holding a Potato in my right hand whilst peeling it. I am stumbling about the bungalow, as though I am as drunk as a lord. I WISH. lol lol A splitting headache, shoulder and hip aching like mad, doesn't help either.

I am still looking at Travel insurance. What bank is it, that includes travel insurance for their customers. ?? It might be worth me looking into changing Banks. If that could be the answer to saving over £230.00 on T.I.

I am going make myself s hot drink and have a quiet sit down, until Ros gets home. I might even go a have a lie down, I certainly don't enjoy feeling like this.

See you all later. xxxx

Afternoon All
SNOW ! Mel.... It is beautiful here at the moment :-D Although Chris thinks we might have some rain later. I shall make the most of it and get the washing out quickly.I have been out all morning and forgot to tell Chris to hang it out.
I was at the Vets at 9.10 with you know who. We wormed him a few days ago and I did see a rather long Tapeworm :-S :-S (sorry if anyone is eating). Anyway he has been licking at his bottom a lot so thought best just to get him checked out. I explained that his main diet at the moment is Rabbit and Mice . So the Vet got a worm pill down with one of those long tube things and has said to worm him again in 2 weeks with the spot on.Possible worm each month rather than 3 monthly whilst it is Rabbit Season.I got a lovely scratch on my finger from Thomas as he got a bit feisty :-S.
Idropped him back home and then it was of to the garden centre,Post Office and Little Sainsburys.
That is me home for the resr of the day now.

Vera this enhanced recovery system seems to have worked really well for your Brother.Did you say this is a new thing and he was a Guineapig ?

I had a call earlier from the waiting list people (re my hip) She said she was about to apply for funding for my op and I had to answer 12 questions on pain and mobility. I nearly had a dicky fit at first thinking they were ringing with a date !!!!!.
Mel it must be so frustrating for you now to have to go all the way to Holsworthy for your meds. Did you never look into having your meds delivered?

Not more sore throats and colds Gill :-(.. You both have had a right do with one after the other lately. I find sometimes at the moment I might get a bit of a sore throat but I am sure it is to do with Hayfever.So an antihistamine will ususally do the trick. I find it is in the evenings usually.

Anne,Ruby is a little Monkey isn't she chasing the cat off down the garden in the dark.Is is that she wants to play or just like the chase? I am glad she got a clean bill of health at the Vets the other day.

AnnG . Fitz is a family friend. We have known him and his OH since about 1987. All our children went to school together .He is a real character as I think Ann would agree :-D :-D. He only lives down the lane across the road so we see a lot of him. His OH works full time still and is a fair bit younger .We never see much of her these days.Annx helped tremendously in searching things out in his family history and boy has it been an interesting journey over the past 10 years or so.
Just as an example if you look up Luton Hoo. This was his ancestors weekend home !!!!!. That will just give you an idea .He took Annx and me there for lunch one day some years back now and we met the historian .That was a very interesting day.
I chose a Burger yesterday as it looked quite special but a mistake . I think I should have gone for what Ann had . Some Burgers in reataurants these days are so good .I almost went for the Risotto .That would have been a better choice too. The more I think of it now there must have been a lot of chilli in my burger. My lips were still tingling late last night and a hot face :-S

I have hung the washing out .Thought I had better do that quickly. The sun is still shining (I started this post almost an hour ago !!!).

ALL INSURED and ready to go. I went on line again, searched here there and everywhere, found one who is, what I thought was very good and and took all Ros's HEART PROBLEMS into consideration for just over £100.00 so I am well pleased, much better than the last one. It covers every eventuality. Lets hope, as in the passed, we won't need any of it. But better to be safe than sorry.

We have sunshine here also Jane No sign of any rain clouds.

Sheep S@@t Pie tonight as Mel would say. Being a good and kind hearted neighbour, I made one for Tony and Val next door. When I took it round, he asked, "IS IT COOKED" of course it is. Just put it in the oven and warm it through. THICK OR WHAT. :-D :-D :-D :-D Some Mothers do have them.

No sign of Ros yet, so I expect they are having lunch out. I still haven't had a hot drink, being stuck on here all this time, so will get one now. xxx

Just been to collect the car from MOT and service. the joys of owning a Lexus £280. Although apparently that is cheap, friend had his done at the Lexus garage and it was over £500. However we do have to get a new tire as one is borderline.We would probably get two as it is in the front.

Frank DON'T TAKE THE LEAVES OFF AS STHEY MAKE THE FLOWERS FOR NEXT YEAR. You move them in the green which means they will do better and the leaves don't weigh much for posting.

The snow only lasted about 5 mins and it was very wet.

Well I don't feel like going for the scripts but don't know what else to do as everything I want to do is outside and its sooooooooooooo cold out there in the wind.
Its also market day and there will be lots of tractors on the roads and they usually pack up about 3pm in the market but you still can't park in the square and have to pay for parking in the carpark.

WE did have a thing come through the door the other day about having your scripts delivered but you have to register with them.

I did ask about having the scripts delivered but if I want the ones I like I can make sure I have them by looking at them before they leave the shop. If I bring them home they won't change them.

I have the library tomorrow and I think maybe I will go off straight from that. It will interfere with lunch for oh so I shall have to get that first so he can have it when he needs it. Not bothered about myself.

Eek ! that still sounds a fair bit for a service AnnG. But then a Lexus :-D :-D. Better than the £500+ that your friends paid though :-D.

Frank it sounds like you have got a good deal finally on the holiday insurance :-D

I wonder if you might have just a T.I.A . like a mini stroke. I think you might have had these before by the way you have described some of your symptoms.

This 'News' thing... I will 'if and when' give you news .I just can't elaborate now. Please no more questions :-D

The route I took to the pub was A14 and then joined the mian road from Northampton to Market Harborough Frank. I am not sure which Road Ann comes down from Leicester.You are a good neighbour Frank taking around the pie for Tony and Val. <3

Afternoon all
We haven’t had any snow but have had just about everything else, grey skies, a little bit of sun, rain and hail. It is soooo cold.

Our car is a Volvo and OH likes it to go to their recognised workshop for servicing. Ours was done a couple of weeks ago and I am sure it cost well over £300. Like you Ann I don’t drive much now so I make myself go out at least once a week, even if it’s just round town or to the local supermarket, just to “keep my eye in”. I gave up my car a year after I retired when I realised taxes and insurance were costing a lot of money and most of the time the car was sitting in the garage because we were out together in the other one.

I’m glad you got your travel insurance sorted Frank. Now you can go away without worrying. It is a pain sitting at the computer for ages going through the different sites but worth it in the end. I hope the results of Ros’s hospital tests are OK

Are you feeling any better now Gill? Take care and stay in the warm as much as you can.

AnnG, if you google Enhanced Recovery or ERAS (enhanced recovery after surgery) there are lots of explanations. Some of them are a bit technical and meant for medical professionals but the NHS site gives a fairly good explanation. Basically the idea is to get you as fit as possible before the operation, make the surgery as non-invasive as possible and then get you back to normal eating, drinking, moving about etc quickly so that you can go home where you will probably recover better. In bruv’s case he didn’t have much warning that the op would go ahead but he went through several tests to determine his fitness to go on the program and he was fine. The actual procedure was robotic keyhole surgery. He was eating, drinking and walking measured distances very quickly and was constantly under the supervision of doctors, nurses and a physiotherapist.

Jane, you mentioned about him being a guinea pig. This was one of the large London hospitals and they have used the ERAS programme in other departments but never for his type of operation so it was being trialled on him. With his permission they took photos of him walking with nurses in support and doing one or two other things and I think they are going to be used in some way to show what can be done.

Sorry if this has gone on a bit but the programme is quite complex and I can’t be too specific as brother’s medical condition is his business and I can only talk about it on a public forum in the most general terms.

Just looked out and it’s raining again. Think I’ll go and make a nice cup of tea.