General Chat

That is good that you heard from Gill Mel. Glad she is ok.

Hi everyone

I am exhausted. I am definitely getting too old for all this gallivanting about. I had a good journey to London, and spent nearly 3 hours with my brother, leaving about 4.45 pm. The trip back took 3 hours because I had to wait 45 minutes for the little local train to bring me the last few miles.

On the way there I was just walking across Liverpool Street station when I heard someone call me. Turned round and there was my cousin’s son :-). He usually lives in Spain so it was quite a coincidence that he was in London, and on the station, at the same time as me.

My brother is naturally weak and tired after another operation but is doing OK and feeling quite upbeat now he knows he doesn’t have to have the second op.

Frank, he doesn’t live in London. His home is on the Essex coast but the 5 ops he has had have been in 3 different hospital, depending on where the best specialists are working.

Ann, I’m glad OH’s notes turned up. My man is quite untidy and can never find anything so I spend a lot of time looking for things for him. It makes me really cross sometimes.

Mandy, those bites do sound horrid. Keep an eye on them in case you need some antibiotics.

I’m pleased to hear Gill is OK.

I must go as OH is calling for me to put a heat patch on for him. Having left him alone all day. I must pamper him a bit ;-)

Morning all,

Dull here this morning and the sky is all grey not one little patch of blue at all but it nice and cool.

Went to bed at 12am last night as I was really tired which is early for me and slept like a log just getting up once for the loo.

Vera I hope your brother recovers well from his op and it must have been worth all the hassle to get to see him for three hours. I am sure he loved your visit. I could just picture the little station at Bures and I think I once went on it. they used to say that you could get to Liverpool St station in 20 mins from there. How true it was I don't know. I lived there for 8 years before moving down here to Devon.

Morning all

I'm so sorry you've all been worried. I had no Internet for a few days so couldn't let anyone know what was going on and I forgot I had Mel's phone number until she text me yesterday. I couldn't even text her back straight away when she text in the afternoon as I didn't have my phone. Our car had broken down and silly OH gave the recovery my number so he had to take my phone out with him yesterday. He had plans to go out all day so I didn't get Mel's message until yesterday evening. I got your second text this morning Mel as my battery ran out just after I sent my text to you yesterday.

We also had problems with our new gas pipes and had to have the patio taken up at the back as the pipe got stuck, they were going to leave it open for a few days and it was dangerous so I put the flags back myself and ended up so stiff I could hardly move. I must remember I'm not 20 anymore.

OH had to go and see the surgeon on Wednesday, who is pleased with his recovery but has told him he can only do light duties at the moment and no heavy lifting for at least another month, which is why I put the flags back down, Sandra helped me lift them as they were a bit to heavy for me to lift on my own.

Going back to the gas pipe, not only did it get stuck, when they tried to replace the old lead pipe to our meter they couldn't do it and advised us to contact our supplier for a new gas meter which I need to do today, they also knocked some tiles off my kitchen wall so I had to put them back as they didn't offer and the boxing in we did for the gas pipe doesn't fit anymore as they managed to move the pipe to far over trying to get it off, so I had to fix that problem by moving the boxing bit over so now we have a bit of a gap on one side. A new bit of boxing in will need to be made now which I'll get round to doing when I'm not so busy and sore.

I'm sure I've missed something out, but can't think at the moment what it is, but as you can see we've had a bit of a week of it. The one good thing about the car breaking is OH won't need to keep moving it all the time to let the traffic past. We could park on the neighbours drive during the day but that came with it's own problems as OH couldn't get out of his drive when he needed to use the car, plus trying to park outside our own bungalow at night was impossible as other people kept parking there, so in the end he decided to leave the car on the road. The workmen are outside ours now preparing the footpath to be fixed, so hopefully by the time we get the car back Monday or Tuesday we'll be able to park down our drive again. The only problem with that is they are doing the gas pipes for the other side of the road next week so we'll have all the lorries and workmen again.

Yesterday I tried to sort out the solar flamingos my mum bought for Sandra, she needed some sort of stand for them to go onto, I kept saying you'll have them in your room tonight, but then I hit another problem and couldn't get them to stand up in the pot I was putting them in, so that didn't get finished yesterday. I've now thought of a different way of doing it so hopefully it'll work and she'll have them in her room tonight. They are meant to go in the garden but she said she wouldn't see them there and wanted them in her room instead. I did keep my promise to a certain extent and switched the flamingos on in the other room where the solar panel had been facing the sun, so at least she saw them lit up. According to the instructions they took 3 to 4 days to charge, so I'm pleased they were charged enough for her to see them last night, even if they weren't in her room like she wanted. Her face lit up when she saw them, bless her.

I've been so tired this week I've been going to bed around 9 to 10pm and falling asleep straight away. OH's been in a bad mood all week and started shouting at me for everything little thing that was going wrong, so i ended up in tears and shouted back, thankfully he stopped shouting then. I think he was just very stressed and didn't realise he was shouting at me. He did appologise as it wasn't my fault we were having so many problems this week. So all in all I've had a terrible week and can't wait until everything goes back to normal.

So I'm so sorry I haven't been on here to let you all know we weren't ill and worrying you all. I must remember next time the Internet goes off for a few days to ring Mel. I can't believe I forgot I had her number.

I haven't read any post properly yet, just skimmed through them, but once I've sorted out Sandra's lights I'll do my best to catch up. I hope everyone is okay and belated Anniversary wishes to Mel, sorry I missed it, hope you had a nice day. <3

Oh I've just remembered what the other thing was, I built the framework for the screening and put the plastic up to cover it which took me about three days to do, I had to cut all the wood as OH couldn't do it, but he did manage to screw them into place for me and then he handed me all the screws and held in place the 16 foot long plastic with Sandra so I could screw it to the framework, all I need to do now is buy some wire and put the screening up, but that can wait for another day as I have a massive blister in the palm of my right hand after putting in over 400 screws.

Going to get a cuppa now then try and finish off Sandra's lights for her, I hope it works today and I don't hit another problem. She was very good though and understood it couldn't be finished yesterday, she even gave me a hug when I ended up in tear with frustration and the thought of letting her down after promising her I'd have them done ready for when she went to bed, so I am determined to have them in her bedroom by tonight even if I have to supper glue them in place lol.

I'll try and get back on here later. I still don't know why my landline phone and Internet went off for so long, as no one has told us yet. Maybe one of the big lorries with the high crane on has knocked one of the phone poles over somewhere......who knows?? :-S :-S At least it's back on now, so lets hope it stays that way.

Good morning Mel and Gill, and to all you other dear ladies.

Poor you Gill, I would think you will be getting yourself coming back, the way things have been going. Try to stand back, and give yourself a biota YOU TIME. All these jobs, will still be there next week. Hopefully you and OH will be in a better place mentally, to tackle all those jobs. What was wrong with the car, nothing serious I hope. ??

Vera that was good old Journey up and down to Essex to visit your Brother. Lets hope he is on the road to recovery. I use to live at a little (then it was) village on the river CROUCH called Hullbridge, just outside Rayleigh. About 6/8 miles from Southend. I commuted to the City every day to Liverpool Street, so I knew that line very well.

So the papers have turned up, like the perverbable bad penny. WHERE had he put them, Somewhere safe. ??? lol lol

Ros has gone to pick Martine up for shopping. I hope her eyes are less sore today. I had my left eye done a couple of years ago, the right eye isn't "RIPE" enough yet. (What a strange description for Cataract 's being ready) to be taken out.

HOHRAY the shower came on like a dream this morning. Sods law, it must know it's being replaced. Mind you, it has been in there since my stroke in 2004. Harvey said his usually needs replacing every FIVE YEARS.

Dullish morning here, with plenty of cloud cover. It does say RAIN later today, but bright and sunny tomorrow. We rang Harvey to see if he is coming to dinner tomorrow, but he hasn't returned our call. So Ros will get the usual veg. and I will have to make is go round.

Hows HOPALONG, Jane this morning. I hope you are taking care and not trying to over do it. I know what you women are like. I HAVE ONE !!!!

All quiet on the Western Front, so I will sit and read my book for a while. THEN I just might make my way to the pub for a lunchtime pint, and see if any of the lads are in.

See you all later, xxxx

Good to see you on here again Gill and I don't think you need to answer any of the posts so that will give you more time to do Sandra's lights. Have they got spikes onthe bottom of the flamingos?

Just about to start Sandra's lights and noticed your posts Mel and Frank.

Yes there are spikes at the bottom of the flamingos Mel, so I'm pushing them through the bottom of the plant pot which in turn will stand in a tall chimney pot. I know that sounds daft but OH painted the chimney pot a few years ago and I spent a few hours yesterday making sure it was free of mud and spiders as Sandra hates spiders and would freak out if she saw one, I even polished the chimney pot which she laughed at the said her room would smell nice, so it doesn't look as bad as it sounds. It's at the bottom of her bed next to the wall and I can always had something pretty to it to make it look better. I already had the pot which fits nicely into the chimney pot and also there's space underneath the chimney pot so the spikes won't hit anything. I've got some white tack I'm going to use to hold the spikes in place then fill the pot with newspaper to hold everything else in place, I'm then going to put some cardboard at the top for the rest of the spiky bit to go through then add the flamingos to the top of all that, if the stiff cardboard will hold the weight I've got a few very small stones to decorate the top where the flamingos will stand. She has three flamingos all connected with wire so fitting them all in the pot without them hitting each other isn't going to be easy, but I'll do my best. I can then put the solar bit on her window sill where she gets full sun in the late afternoon and into the evening, hopefully that'll be enough sun for the lights to work. I hope everything goes to plan, as I can't think of another way of doing this. She only has one foot of space at the bottom of her bed so I can't put anything else there for them to stand on.

In answer to your question Frank, yes it was very serious as the wishbone had broken, luckily he was at the pub and was just coming out of the car park, so he carefully managed to reverse the car into a parking space. I dread to think what would of happened if he had been going at any speed down a motorway He was so lucky. The recovery company took the car straight to the garage, but we had a problem with that to as our usual garage couldn't take it, luckily he gave OH a number of another garage which had enough room to keep the car there until they can fix it next week. It's not going to be cheap though, it's around £100 just for the part, but at least it's locked up somewhere at night which is better than leaving it on the road outside our property which OH wasn't happy about. The last time we left our car on the road some idiot snapped the aerial off and scratched the car.

There is a massive truck outside our bungalow at the moment so he couldn't of parked there today anyway and he doesn't like the car to far down the road where he can't see it, so it's worked out well in that respect. The only problem is the expense, what with the TV breaking as well, plus us having to buy the wood, screening, plastic and screws it's starting to be quite an expensive week and I don't know how I'm going to buy my weekly shopping of food without a car. I really don't want to ask mum for help. Hopefully it won't take to long for them to fix the car and we'll have it back soon. At least the path outside our drive will be done so he can park the car on the drive again.

Right I'd better go and sort out these flamingos for Sandra as she's waiting for me.

Afternoon Everyone

Hopalong is fine Frank :-D.. I have been for a walk this morning ,just up the road to hae a look and see how the big works is going. They arent working today for some reason . The massive trench on one side of the road is filled in now.But the other oneon the otherside looks even deeper.It has to be about 50foot deep !!

I have put a hot patch on my back now though as my back was being to hurt. Your OH Vera and me must be the same with our patches . They are good though and I always have a box of them in the cupboard.

I HAVE TAKEN OFF MY SOCKS :-D :-D The relief just to have my feet feel fresh air now is heaven :-D I have got my flip flop sandals on . It is really hot here. Poor Chris is cutting the back hedge and is sweating like a piggy. He is covered with Yew leaves so will need to strip off and I will brush his skin off before he comes into the house. Not easy to do that as he is so hairy :-S. I will do whatI can then the rest will have ot come off in the shower.

Vera that was a very long day for you yesterday . But it must have been good to see that your Brother was ok and quite upbeat even though a bit weak and tired .Does he know how long he will have to stay in hospital? Wouldn't it be funny if you found out you were related to AnnG's OH :-D :-D

Gill, I think we are all relieved now that you have posted again. What a week you have had !!!!. Please don't over do things .You always sound as though you hardly have time to take a breath LOL . I feel quite exhausted just reading your posts :-D

Sandra is going to be so excited now waiting for the flamingos at the bottom of her bed :-D. I am sure you will manage to get them all secure in the chimney pot :-D

My James is going to be made redundant :-( I won't go into all but to get rid of him the Boss will be saying his post in no longer needed for the business . He will probably be given the official reduncacy notice next week. So it is all sh** . As you can imagine he is not in a good place at the moment. To top it all his car sounds as though something has gone in his car (sounds like it could be expensive) so he has taken Chris's car this weekend to go to Jess.It is going to be a rather stressful time in this household in the coming weeks :-(
It must be galling for him in a way with him losing his job and knowing Hannah is all set up to start her new job in October. I think he just feels he is a failure :-( I won't say his exact words as they would not be allowed on here !!!!!.

Chris is having a break from the hedge so I will go and pour him a nice cold drink .I made a big jug of Cordial which has been chilling in the fridge.

Gill, please take a breath and slow down. I am sure everything does not have to be done at once and you are your own worst task master
Cars always seem to let you down when there are other expenses due as well. Or maybe that is life and there are always other expenses. Hope it doesn't take too long to fix.
Why don't you do an on line grocery order?
Gosh you did have a lot of problems with the gas people, sometimes they just don't seem to care do they? Hope you can get the replacement pipe ok. Does that mean you have no hot water?

Vera, a long day for you but worth it to see your brother I am sure and to see he is up beat. How nice too to see your cousin's son.

Frank S***s law that the shower worked but best to replace it i am sure still

Jane "Yippee!" Stockings off and cool feet, bet it feel great. Try not to overso it now, it must be difficult to know when to stop so that you exercise enough but not too much.

Been a fun day so far. battle the traffic lights in the road. Straight down to Tesco at the cattle market, coffee and share a sausage bap for breakfast, get the shopping, crowded and noisy but no problem so far.

Come out of Tesco, OH produces key fob from his pocket. opens car, all ok so far. Goes to put key in ignition, no key, not folded back into fob, broken off. Stop him panicking. Try to ring neighbour to get other key for us, call goes to answer phone.

Go into customer services tell them about it and explain car is stuck there, she enters the number into the computer and puts a hold on it for 24 hours (who knew you could do that?). We walk a mile into town and catch the bus home, phone rings after we get off the bus, both of us try to answer it as it is our neighbour but neither of us manage to answer it anyway we are 5 minutes away by now.. knock on their door when we get in and explain. She has taken OH back down with the key. and he is home with the car. Thank goodness for good neighbours.

What are we like AnnG, it sounds like we're both as bad as each other with our bad luck. At least it's all sorted for you now and you can relax.

Mum's just been round and took us shopping so we're okay for food until the car is fixed. Sandra's Flamingos are finished, mum's just left so I'm going to grab something to eat as I didn't realise how late it was and I haven't eaten all day, then I'm going to sit down and catch up with the soaps I've recorded before dinner.

Pleased to hear you don't need to wear your socks anymore Jane, what a relief that must be, you just need to get some sun on your legs now, I bet they are lily white lol :-D :-D

Gills not the olny one with a lot going on this mroning then AnnG.

Oh has been mowing this morning and came in for lunch just as it started raining. Rained for a while but stopped now and the suns out.

I have washed up after lunch and been up the caravan this morning and had another clean of the bathroom. Now I am about to start on the kitchen down here. Its in such a mess with me being up the caravan most of the week.

OMG AnnG what a nightmare !!!! Always good to have good neighbours to help :-D
I bet you are worn out now after the walk to get the bus.
My feet are feeling so fresh . They have a new lease of life now :-D. I too feel far more normal and can now go out in any footwear I fancy and not having the horrible bottle green feet showing.

I meant to say yesterday AnnG what good bargains you got in Sainsbury. The top I got wasn't in the sale. It is a sleeveless top ,bit ethnic looking with Girafffes . I think it was £14. I am wearing it now :-D

I have brushed OH off with a scrubbing brush :-D and he is all now sparkling clean afer a shower . Just given Thomas his Flea treatment on the back of the neck .One week late. He is not a happy puss right now. Worm treatment next in a few days.Then his annual jab and health check. He is really not going to be my best friend . Needs must though .Try telling him that :-D :-S

Thank goodness our main problem was sorted fairly quickly once our lovely neighbour took OH back to collect the car. Next step is to get a second key done. Yes Jane don't know where we would be without our neighbours. That is the second time they have come to the resue in a couple of weeks. first time was when the freezer door seal had not closed properly so it started to defrost and luckily they could take a whole drawer full into their freezer which lightened the load of the freezer getting back up to temperature, then today. Did give them a bottle of Pinot grigio for their help but we do always help each other out.

Jane not too tiring as it was only a mile and it was quite interesting as it was a part of the city we don't normally walk through round the back of the cathedral.

It is 23 degrees here and sticky again, must be in for a storm, we did have a light shower earlier.dry now though.

We had another shower of rain too but its stopped again now but for how long?

Oh had the hoover apart and the belt has worn in one place where I did a lot of tool work up the caravan. He has ordered a new belt for it so I hope that it will go again once he has fitted it.

I bet it feels lovely not having those tockings on Jane. Your feet won't know what its like to be in the fresh air after so long being covered up. I bet its a relief.

Just abot to start dinner now so I better get cooking.

I have had the corner cupboard out in the kitchen this afternoon and its all nice and tidy now and I can get more in it.

Was it food stuff Mel? Did you throw a lot out?

Evening everyone

You've had quite a week Gill. I feel exhausted just reading about it. As others have said you need to take a deep breath, slow down and relax or you will be giving yourself a migraine. It's easier said than done I know but try to ease up a little bit.

You all seem to be having busy times lately.

Your shower seems to have a mind of its own Frank. It must be difficult not knowing whether it's going to work or not. Hopefully Harvey can get it sorted for you. By the way, I think there is a bit of confusion over my brother. He lives in Essex but is in hospital in London (Whitechapel) so my journey to see him was Suffolk to London.

On that subject, I have just heard that he may be sent home tomorrow. His doctor feels he will do as well at home as in hospital, particularly as the nurse will be visiting every day for a month to help look after him and keep an eye on him. I won't know for sure until the doctor makes a final decision tomorrow but they will provide transport. Last time they sent him all the way by taxi.

Jane, you must be glad to get those stockings off and no longer have to walk around with green feet. I'm sorry to hear about James's redundancy. It's always a shock and can make you feel a bit of an unwanted failure, which of course he isn't. I am sure he has a lot to offer an employer and will soon find another job. I wish him all the luck in the world.

Mel, Liverpool Street in 20 minutes? I wish. The 20 minutes you heard about was probably referring to how long the little train takes on its run. The train goes Sudbury to Marks Tey, stopping at Bures and Chappel/Wakes Colne and takes just about 20 minutes. A few minutes turn around and 20 mins back the other way and a few more minutes that end basically means it runs once an hour in each direction. I love that train - two carriages running up and down on it's own little bit of track - it's like something out of toy town :-D

I don't know what it is with cars on this thread but first there was Gill, then Ann, now I have had a problem. Went into town this morning and parked in the main car park. Did a couple of jobs and met friends for coffee. One of them had walked to town so I offered her a lift back. We got in the car and were following another round to the exit of the car park when he suddenly stopped, so I stopped too a little way back from him. Next thing is he is reversing straight back at me. I hit the horn but by then he had hit me. I didn't question him but I think he had suddenly seen a parking space and reversed straight back down the road so he could drive into it without looking to see if anything was behind him. I took his details and said my husband would ring him when he had assessed the damage. It wasn't as bad as it first looked and is mainly a bit of paint needed. OH rang the chap and told him we will take it to a local spray painter for an estimate and let him know the cost. The man said he is going abroad tomorrow but will have his phone for OH to text or ring him. I think his mind was on his last minute shopping and packing and not on his driving. The funny thing was on the way back to the car park my friend and I had been talking about car park knocks and I had said "Never buy a black car. They are invisible. No-one ever seems to see ours. We are always getting little knocks and scrapes." Talk about many a true word spoken in jest!

I have yattered on enough for one night. Hope you all sleep well.

O dear another donk then on the car Vera. Also I think red cars are invisable in those orange street lights they have in certain places. When I lived in Redbridge many years ago someone drove down our raod and straight into the back of a red Hillman imp. I saw it happen and the man said he just did'nt see it. It was parked outside the persons house and he drove right into the back.

I have been watching Egypts secrets with Betany Hughs.

No Anng not a food cupboard just one with things in for the garden and hedgehog food and chicken wormers and bird feeding bits. I have thrown out an old mugs with chickens on it that was cracked and I used for a plant pot but I think Di would like it so I will ask her and if she dos'nt I will throw it away but as its chickens I think she would like it.

Morning all,

Been raining here this morning and the sky is grey right the way across.

Nothing else to report.

Hope you all slept well and those with aches and pains are feeling better too.

Vera oh is getting along well with his walking and standing and I hope he continues to do a little more each day. Did he manage ok while you went to see your brother?

O I have something to report!! The swallows are sitting again in oh's filter shed.

Morning All

I don't think I have seen any Swallows yet Mel.

I have just been for my little walk down the lane but it is so hot my hand was slippery on the crutch handle.So I turned around and came back. At least I did a bit.

Last night was so hot neither of us had a decent sleep.Then at 4am a group of late party goers walking down the road woke me up.hey sounded as though they had had a really good night out :-D. That is when I let Thomas out .It was nice ot feel a bit of air when openend the back door.

Oh Vera what a nuisance having the chap reverse into your car. Thank goodness though it is just the paintwork and no nasty dents. I have heard too about black cars not being seen easily. I have never had a black car ,but James's is. Mine is Blue and Chris's Grey. I have never bothered about what colour car I have .The worst colour though was a Scenic I had and it was Tropical Green. The good thing about it though was I could spot it in a car park with no bother :-D :-D

I hope your Brother is allowed home today Vera.He will be keen to get out of hospital and get to his own bed and surroundings.It makes such a difference. Having the daily visit from the Nurse is good as he will be well monitored.

I think the Woodpigeons might be nesting again as I keep seeing them with twigs and bits going into the Conifers.I jusr wish they would choose sites further away from the house .

Tonights dinner is going to be a simple one as it is too hot to think about Roast.
I found a dish in Sainsburys which is Aubergine and Mozzarella bake with a Basil Crumb.Thought it sounded different so bought three and I will do a Sticky Chicken (M&S) to go with . Extra veg for anyone who wants.
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