General Chat

Evening all

I keep getting the error page and can't get to the end of the thread so I haven't read any posts. Hopefully it'll be better tomorrow.

It's the 10th anniversary of my nan passing away so I've been a bit upset today.

I decided to try and take my mind of it and do a bit more on Sandra's little garden, thankfully the weather has been dry all day with a bit of sun every now and then which took the chill off the air. OH and I have built the make shift planter so that's all in place and screwed to the fence so it's secure and won't fall forwards with all the weight of the wood. All we need to do now is put a few pieces of wood along the edges at the top to hide the tatty bits of wood inside that we used to screw the nicer outside bits to, then OH can paint it and I can put some nice plants in there. I've decided to re-pot some of the plants so they will be raised and go above the top of the planter, then we're taking Sandra shopping for some flowers and a few bits and bobs of her choosing to decorate it all with, then of course I'll buy the lights and then it'll all be finished. At least the main woodwork it out of the way so there's not much left to do. You should of seen the massive smile on Sandra's face when we showed it to her after clearing up and making it look nice, she's absolutely made up with it. All we need now is a few nice days, weather wise, to finish it off for her.

I don't know what happened but when I was typing my laptop said I didn't have a connection, luckily it came back on and my post was still here, but I'd better post it incase it happens again, this is the second time it's happened in the last few days.

Afternoon Everyone


Mel what an egg!!! It looked like a rubber one :-D The girls look lovely and i love the way they stay together :-D
All your craft pics look really good. You have got a lot done !. I really like the little cones.You are going to have a lot to sell :-D

Vera what a talented Gandaughter you have. I would love Tommy. The Who were one of my favourite bands back in the day :-D
I haven't heard of the show Rent. I will look it up

Frank, I am glad your foot sems back to normal again and that you had a really good night sleep last night. You enjoyed that dinner :-D. I would have only liked the fried potatoes !!!

So many people seem to suffer from Acid Reflux. (hope OH's has settled now Ann) I have had a problem with eating now for several months .I haven't mentioned it before.
But I am wondering if I might have a Hiatus Hernia. I get such a pain in the centre of my chest when I start to eat ,burp a lot and just can't eat much at all. I have lost about a stone since I had my hip done. So it is time I had this checked out. I have managed to get an appointment for next wednesday now so have cancelled the one that was booked for 7th Nov.

Gill,you weill be pleased now you have managed to get the planter made for Sandra :-D. She will be waiting now for the final results :-D :-D

I hope we do enjoy Calendar Girls tomorrow .I do find sometimes these shows can start off a bit slow and take time to warm up. Did Ros enjoy it in the end Frank?
No theatre tickets are cheap these days and I always think so many people can't afford to go which is such a shame as there are so many great things to see.Families with children must miss out a lot.Even the Pantomimes at Xmas time is so expensive .I always think every child should have the opportunity of going to a Panto(at least once)

Ann, you asked if Hannah had started her new job. She has 2 weeks induction. Last week was in London and this week she is in Dundee. (says she is freezing there lol )
So the proper work will begin next week back in London. That will just be Mon and Tues ,Wed as on Thursday she and Gareth are going ot Slovenia for a few days.Hannah has booked it as a surprise treat for Gareth. The big thing they will be doing is one of these long Zip Wire rides.I think it is 2 or 3 miles long in all !!!!!! Not in one go . Rather them than me !!!!.
It does look amazing though with spectacular views . I think if you wanted google this just google 'Zip wire Bled,Slovenia' and there is a video. Gareth will be totally in his element doing this. He won't know where they are going until they get to the airport
:-D I am not even supposed to even know as Hannah said I would let it slip to Gareth.
(Chris told me
:-D) Hannah knows me too well :-D :-D :-S

Gosh Jane my knees went funny just looking at the pictures of the zip wire.

Loin of pork for dinner with new pots and the last of our beans.

Vera you must be so pround of your grandaughter doing all those shows and you say she has a wonderful voice. Clever girl..... :-D

Did a bit of craft this afternoon on some other things I want to make but did'nt get on too well.

I had to bring the washing in as the wind really got up and it rained quite hard and I did'nt want it getting wetter than it was so it son the airer in the hall now.

I hate shellfish too and could'nt put it in my mouth but oh loves it.

Evening All,

A bit of rain after lunch but the washing had dried so that's good.

I love your makes Mel and the fairy beds look a bit like miniatures of Mandy's pram set for Lacey. I love all the different colours you have done them in. You did well with the fans as I discovered when I did my felt bird with the feathers that feathers don't want to stay where you put them! The new girls look very healthy and hopefully will soon be laying. When I told OH you had bought 2 as you had lost some of the battery ones you rescued, he said 'what happened, did their batteries run flat?' :-) I told him he was insensitive, but he just sees the funny side of life and means no harm. That egg was strange wasn't it.

It sounds like you have a musical family Vera and it will be so good to watch your grand daughter perform. I have always wished I could sing as it's a wonderful talent to have. It sounds like you had my sort of shopping trip today!

OH has taken medication for reflux for many years Vera. It might have caused his osteoporosis as it affects absorption of things like calcium. Now the medication for his bones is Alendronic acid which can also cause indigestion!! You go round in circles don't you! He threw the rest of the mince pies out and hasn't eaten at night since and has just had a small glass of milk instead. I think the smoked Mackerel in the fridge that he bought will be following the mince pies too!

Jane do you think it was when Chris was cooking that you lost weight? I didn't mean there was anything wrong with his cooking, just that when you aren't mobile it isn't as easy to 'nibble' or eat anything extra. It's good you managed to get an earlier appointment at the surgery to get checked out. OH said he will go to the doc in a week or two if he has any more trouble. His tum hasn't really been right since he had that bug. They found before that he has a slight hiatus hernia.

Frank it's good your foot is better again whatever it was that made it hurt. Good to have a good night's sleep too. Ros sounds like she had a good value meal and I bet she was glad the show picked up after the first half.

I bet Sandra is getting excited about 'her' garden now she can see it coming together Gill. It's lovely that she appreciates these things you do for her and will enjoy choosing her bits and bobs to put in it.

I started my next wool felting picture at class today and have nearly finished it tonight! I need to embroider a bit to finish it off and was starting to go cross eyed so will do that tomorrow. I also had some strong magnetic fasteners I ordered arrive so should be able to finish off my two rope necklaces.

I think we will have another try to see Downton Abbey tomorrow!

Ann I think G is right and I have another one of the old girls whose battery is running out now too but one of the new ones was cuddled up next to her tonight on the high perch thats in there so they can get in the nest boxes. Oh thought he he put it too near the side for thejm to perch on but it seems he was wrong.

Hope G's tummy settles soon as there's nothing worse than an upset tum.

Jane it coul dhave been the anesthetic that has made you not want food so much. I know when mum had her op she lost a lot of weight and did'nt want to eat much and also my friend Val when she had her breasts off and there's not much of her normaly either.

Morning all,

Dry this morning with bright spells and a blue sky with lots and lots of those little fluffy clouds close together.

When I looked out the window this morning there were about 5 or 6 Jackdaws int he chicken run with the chickens. Yesterday a little girl was on the top of the run so today we are going to see if we can get bean netting on the top which should stop the Jackdaws getting in and the chickens getting out.

Hope you all had another good nights sleep and arn't too achy this morning.

Frank don't think your foot problem was cramp do you? I get it down the side of my foot sometimes.

Sunny and chilly this morning starting to cloud over a bit now. OH out pottering in the garden. I have been tidying and cleaning downstairs as we have the gardening interests group (U3A) coming for a couple of hours this afternoon. Probably be 9 of us so not too bad.
Sort of slept OK last night but my leg was hurting so kept waking me up to change sides how \I was laying.

Morning all

Bright and sunny so far today even though it was forecast to rain so OH is busy cutting the last few pieces for the make shift planter, with a bit of luck if the weather stays nice that job should be completed today then it'll just need painting. Sandra is getting really excited now.....bless her.

Love all the pics Mel. What a funny egg, I'm the same as Jane and love the cones, they are really pretty. You have been busy with all your crafts. Love all the pictures of Daisy and May.

Sandra's envious of you Ann having mince pies already, she loves them, but I haven't seen any around here yet. I'm hoping I can buy them uncooked again from Tesco's bakery like I did last year, that way I can buy a few and cook them when she wants one.

So you've found a nice new coffee shop to go to AnnG, it sounds lovely. Did your OH manage to finish off the pruning of the climbing rose, it's quite annoying when you're into a job and then you have to stop because of the rain. We're hoping we manage to finish off the planter for Sandra before it rains. Once the 12 foot piece has been cut to size it shouldn't take to long, hopefully the sun will stay around until it's finished, then OH can paint it. I must admit it's turned out better than I thought it would and I keep looking at it all the time, much to Sandra's amusement lol :-D ;-)

How is your foot today Frank? I hope it's feeling better now.

GOOD AFTERNOON EVERYONE :-D :-D :-D :-D

I started this post before mid day then OH had finished cutting the wood so I've been helping him finish off the planter and now it's afternoon. The planter looks great, much better than I thought it would look. It just needs painting now, but it started to rain just as we'd finished building it, so the painting will have to wait until we have another dry day. Sandra is pleased as punch and is eager to go shopping for her bits and bobs and some extra plants, (hopefully some flowers).

I'm going to get something to eat now, I haven't eaten all day and I'm starving, then I'll watch a few programmes with Sandra off the planner, she's been wait for ages to watch them. I need to wash my hands again as they are very itchy off the grasses I'm allergic to, I had to move them out of the way so we could finished the planter. Hopefully washing them again will stop the itchiness.

I'll catch up with the rest of the posts later.

WE,ve both been busy at the chicken run this morning and have just finished so I am having a sit down before I get the lunch. We now have the bean netting all over the top so Daisy and May should'nt be able to get up there now so are safe inside the run now and no birds should be able to get in either. They eat all the chickens food so I don't know if the girls have had enough.

Sorry to hear your leg hurt in the night AnnG and you did'nt get a good nights sleep.

Been down the post van today too and you have a parcel on the way Gill. Its addressed to Sandra and I sent it second class so it will probably be a couple of days before it arrives. Its only bits and peices as a pre Christmas present but I think she will like whats in it.

Right time to do some rolls I think as I am starving today. I too hav'nt eaten anything yet and only had one drink and some water with a pill.

Yes Gill he did finish pruning the rose and has also trimmed off the old lavender in the front garden which is a bit bush and generally cut back a few other shrubs.

Hope Sandra can get out soon to buy the bits she wants for her garden.

Mel, good to finish the chicken house before it rained. Back to your craft this afternoon then. I didn't sleep too badly but it could have been better.

Afternoon All,

It's gradually got duller and breezier here so I think rain is on it's way soon. Like AnnG I didn't have a brilliant night and was still awake at 3.00am so lay in for a while this morning but still feel weary. OH had lots of phone calls to make so I got a chicken and ham pie out and we had that for lunch with cabbage, carrots, peas and gravy.

How nice that one of the new girls was cuddled up to the old one Mel and that it still manages to get on the perches. I remember one of mum's chickens was always getting out and ended up with a big nest of eggs she'd laid in the long grass where the apple trees were at the bottom of the garden. With the brook at the bottom of the garden, the rats and mice would polish off any left over food in the run at dusk and I used to see a huge Owl sitting on the wire netting some nights, no doubt interested in the rodents in there. The netting should stop them escaping as you say and keep the wild birds out.

Gill what colour are you painting it? It sounds as if it will be quite big if the timber is 12 foot long. I bet Sandra is watching it grow all the time. Our Sainsbury's had the mince pies, but it's a good idea to get frozen ones and cook a few as Sandra wants them. I used to make and freeze 4 dozen uncooked for Christmas years ago, more if we had visitors and do the same as you and cook a few at a time. I used to dust the tins with flour so they were easy to remove after they were frozen and stored them in plastic boxes in the freezer.

A bit of paperwork next and then I shall finish my wool felting hopefully. There will be some on the craft prog tonights so I'm looking forward to it.

Downton Abbey will have to be next week now, but I think we only have one morning free.

3.45pm and its really dark and pouring with rain. I need the light on.

I am looking forward to the craft program tonight too. I think the felting they are doing is much bigger than the stuff I do.

Yes, I looked her up on FB Mel and saw that she does sheep's heads for the different breeds and cattle heads. They are much larger than I've done and in 3D! lol.

No rain here yet.

No rain here yet either. It's been a bit chilly with quite a breeze but fairly sunny.

What a morning we have had! We had new neighbours move in around May time. A couple of weeks ago they had a burglar alarm fitted and asked us to be key holders. We have some written instructions about arming and disarming the alarm and had a couple of practice runs. On Monday they went off on a cruise. This morning the alarm went off and kept going. So we let ourselves in and disarmed it. No problem. After waiting a minute or two we tried to arm it again. We kept following the instructions and the darn thing kept flashing messages at us but they would disappear from the screen before we could read them. I did manage to catch the word "conservatory" so OH checked there and it was all securely locked. Then I managed to read "system alert zone 10" but we had no idea what zone 10 was. Eventually we managed to set the alarm up again, get out of the house and lock the front door.

Two minutes later and off it went again. Aarrgh!! So back we went and disarmed the thing again. We were tempted to leave the thing switched off but I was afraid that would invalidate their insurance if someone did break in. Neighbours had written on our instructions their mobile number and the number of the company that fitted the thing. Back home OH rang the company on our landline and they said they would talk us through what to do so we went back to neighbours house with our phone only to find the landline signal wouldn't reach that far. Back OH goes and gets his mobile phone and we try again. Well, it took three attempts to get this dratted alarm re-set and the chap on the other end of the phone said to leave the house and lock the front door behind us. We held our breath and, touch wood, it seems to have worked, but I am now a nervous wreck. Every time I hear a noise outside I think it is this alarm going off again.

I hope your OH's tummy has settled down now Ann and I'm sorry you didn't sleep well. It sounds as though you didn't have a good night either AnninG with your poorly leg. I've slept better for the last few nights. I hope your U3A meeting goes well.

I'm glad you have made an appointment with your doctor Jane. There must be a reason if you are not enjoying your food and are uncomfortable and you need to get it sorted. By the time you read this you will have seen Calendar Girls so I hope you enjoyed it.

You've been busy this morning Mel putting your netting up for the chucks. That should keep the new ladies in and the jackdaws out.

It sounds as though you have been busy too Gill. If you are using 12 foot pieces of wood Sandra's garden must be bigger than I had first realised. I am sure it will look great when it is finished. She'll be chuffed to bits with it.

Yes, I am very proud of my grandchildren who seem to be a talented bunch. I could brag for England, I'm so proud of them. I don't know where they get their talent from but it certainly isn't their grandmother ;-) They all have decent voices and other talents though it is just 2 of the girls who are really into theatre. Grandson has represented GB as a junior in European and World archery championships. For various reasons he didn't have a good year last year though he still has a high national ranking and he planned to go all out to get to the top this year. Unfortunately he had a shoulder injury at the first major event of the year and has missed the whole season. It is possible that he will not be able to shoot again which would be very sad.

As usual I have rambled on a bit and probably bored you silly so I'd better get this posted.

EVENING ALL !!!!

I have been totally under PAR today, and just off to bed. But thought I had better let you know that I am here nd O.K. Looking forward to a good nights sleep.

Sleep tight each and everyone, See you in the morning. xxxx

Vera you have my sympathy! I hate alarms and our bungalows were built with them installed. Two of our neighbours have had theirs go off and been unable to stop them themselves and every time one goes off I rush outside, all of a dither, to make sure it isn't ours. You did well to persevere with your neighbour's when it went off but I suppose you had no choice. I would have needed a darkened room after your morning!

The lady whose house we normally meet up at for beading was like your grandson and brilliant at archery when she was young and travelled all over the world doing it and has many medals/awards. Sadly though, after many years of doing it, she has a lot of shoulder trouble so maybe it's a hazard of the sport. It's a shame your grandson has an injury, but better to miss a season and hope that it heals properly so he can hopefully continue with it.

OH wants to watch the craft program with me and is out tonight so we'll watch it tomorrow. I have finished my wool felting picture and will take a photo tomorrow when the light is better.

Missed you there Frank. Sorry you haven't been great today, but hopefully you will sleep well tonight and feel better tomorrow. xx

I do hope you have a good nights sleep tonight Frank and that your better in the morning. Sleep tight and don't let the bed bugs bite as Echo says to me some nights.

We had F & C tonight but they have had trouble with one of the staff and only had 10 burgers on the van which sold out quickly and their generator had blown up so no micro working or lights. They had a makeshift light up but you could only have fried stuff. No sausages and the girls on the van were complaining like anything. I can see theres going to be hell to pay when they get back and someone is going to lose their job.

Was crafting this afternoon but hav'nt got on that well.

Oh wants me to wake him at 1am as the race qualifyers are on then. Then he will be up at 6am to watch more.

Morning all

Pouring with rain here and very dark, I might have to put some lights on if it doesn't brighten up soon. At least the planter is finished so the rain won't bother us today.

Hope you had a better nights sleep last night Frank and feel a bit brighter today.

Good luck to Hannah in her new job next week Jane, she'll be glad to be back in London where it's warmer than Dundee. I've been to Dundee and she's right it is freezing up there.

Pleased to see your OH managed to finish the jobs off in the garden AnnG. Yes, I'm getting on well with OH's tree, be it a bit slow after noticing a few mistakes I'd made years ago and having to correct them now. I didn't realise that I've added over 2000 people since I went back to check it almost 7 months ago. I've almost finished his side now. I'm hoping to have it completely finished by Christmas.

OH dear, what a palaver with the neighbour's house alarm, I hope it didn't go off again Vera. It sounds like you have very talented grandchildren, what a pity your grandson had a shoulder injury, I hope it heals soon.

You asked what colour we're painting the planter Ann, we're painting it green, we have some paint left over from when we painted the other two planters we put in our front garden last year, so that'll save us some money and blend in nicely with the plants we've got in there.

The whole project has been made from the wood that made the ranch style fence in the front. Next door put a 5 foot fence up on his side so I took our fence down and kept the wood, then used other bits of wood we had given us as well.

All in all the planter will of cost us about £3.30 because we had to buy some screws. The new planter is 12 foot long, 18 inches high and 18 inches from front to back, so quite large. We still have some of the old fence wood left over so might build a shelf inside to raise the plants a bit. We have the plants in pots inside the planter so they need to be a bit higher as the bottoms of the plants are now hidden. I'm so glad we've finished building it, with the weather the way it is today. I think it's going to rain not stop all day, by the looks of it.

I had a look online last night to see if there was anything around to dress it up a bit, like glass flowers and the like, but I think it's the wrong time of year. All I could find were outdoor Christmas ornaments, which aren't any good, so we're going to have to shop around to see if we can find anything. I have explained to Sandra that we might have to wait until the spring to buy things like that, with it being almost winter, but we should be able to buy the lights for her, which cheered her up.

I'll keep an eye out for the post Mel, Sandra will be thrilled to receive a little pressie off you. :-) :-) I won't say anything to her, then it'll be a nice surprise when it arrives.