General Chat

O meant to say the suns out here now.

Good morning Mel and AnninG and to all the others of course.

We both have "DICKY TUMMIES" this morning. We had lamb steaks, with peas carrots, brussels and cabbage, with roasties last night. So it must have been something in that. :-( :-( :-( :-(

Biggles has blotted his copy book. He has rubbed his bum along the carpet and left a "SKID MARK" I have scrubbed the area and used the carpet cleaner. All looking good now. I have given his bum a good wash as well. ;-) ;-) ;-)

How's our Jane this morning, ?? I hope she had a reasonable nights sleep. Our thoughts are will you, xxx

I have no Idea when Biggles will go home, we haven't heard from them, so I expect they will just turn up. As we haven't been out to eat this week. When Alan and Ann collect Biggles, we will pop out for a bite to eat, so no cooking for me tonight.

Eye seems a little better this morning, even though it's still a bit blurred. So I am wondering if it will clear itself.

Damp, mizzerly morning here, I hope it's better where you all are. See you later. xxx

Morning all

Bright and sunny here, I can't believe I've only just woken up, I must of needed the sleep as it's very unusual for me to sleep in this long.

Well last night was a bit of a disappointment, there was hardly anything there and what was there they had last year. The people they had in to sing weren't up to much and sang lots of old songs which OH and I liked but poor Sandra didn't know the songs. She was hoping they would of sang some Christmas Carols with it being a Christmas event but they didn't and they only sang for about half an hour, so once we'd seen everything we came home earlier than we normally do. The weather was awful and rained not stop, you could hear it on the roof inside the garden centre. Sandra managed to take a few pictures on her camera but there wasn't much she hadn't seen before, so she didn't take many. We were home in time for her to watch a few of her programmes and only needed to watch Emmerdale of the planner that had been recorded.

I managed to do some more of OH's tree which was good as Ancestry had their records open for free. They said it was only the war records but for a while they had them all open, I think it was a mistake on their part as they stopped showing them after a few hours. Luckily I managed to do quite a bit of OH's tree while they had them all open so that was good, the only one I couldn't get before they shut them happened to be on the tree I've got access to, so all in all I got everything I needed in the end.

Good luck sorting out your craft stuff Mel, I hope you don't lose anything though.

So Biggles is in your bad books Frank, good job you spotted it straight away and managed to clean it up. I'm sure he didn't mean any harm, at least he has a clean bum now lol :-D Good news on the eye front, but I'd still go to your appointment on Wednesday.

OH dear Ann, it sounds like you had quite a struggle getting up the stairs at the dentist, you'd think they'd have a lift put in wouldn't you? How are you feeling today?

Sorry to hear you're not well AnnG, wrap up warm and drink plenty. The Sudafed seems to be working, good idea to keep taking them. I think it's that time of year where there's lots of coughs and colds around. Ann has the right idea trying to keep away from anyone who's ill, but it doesn't always work. I hope you feel better soon, sending you a gentle hug <3

Thinking of our Jane, sending a gentle hug to you to <3 <3 <3

Mel, make a note of where you put anything that you are likely to need.

Frank I think if I ate sprouts and cabbage in the same meal my tum would be a bit off the next day too. did you put anything unusual in the gravy? I thought I might have had a problem today as I did lamb steaks in the slow cooker with quite a lot of garlic, chestnut mushrooms, tinned tomatoes, butterbeans and a red wine gravy with crushed new potatoes, skin on. But I have had no problem at all (other than the cold!)

Gill how disappointing, is it an independent garden centre or a chain? Wonder if it is under new management and cost saving. You will have to find somewhere else to take Sandra now as a consolation.

Annx Our dentist's surgery is on the ground floor there are two downstairs and two up. they say if you can't manage the stairs they will treat you downstairs. I did have to go up once many years ago when they had a hygenist (they don't any more) and the stairs are really steep,

Afternoon All,

It was chilly this morning after raining for ages last night. We were both woken up at 3.30am by that same thudding we heard before at the side of the bungalow a few weeks ago. It happened 2 or 3 times and we put lights on and looked through windows but couldn't see anything. It sounded quite heavy so we don't think it was cats and I think a fox wouldn't be so loud jumping off the side fence so it is still a mystery?? :-S

What a shame the night was a bit of a disappointment Gill. We have said that the displays at several of our garden centres haven't been as good this year. We thought they were just cutting back. Very few decorated trees and some haven't had the little villages they usually do.

Sorry to hear your cold is still with you AnnG, but I find sometimes a cold coming out means it will clear up more quickly. Staying in pottering about sounds like a good idea for today. They say plenty of fluids helps clear it from your system too. Our dentist has downstairs surgeries for some of the dentists and I expect they would see me downstairs if I asked. If I can't manage I will ask to be seen downstairs another time like you say, but I hate the thought of being a nuisance which I know is silly!

Sorry to hear you have iffy tummies Frank and it does sound like something you may have eaten. I'm lucky in that veg doesn't affect me really as from being a child mum and dad grew lots! For many years now I have had just turkey usually with a plateful of veg at carveries we go to, no trimmings and no potatoes of any kind and it helps me cut calories. One thing I have to watch how much I have is Rhubarb!!!! I hope your tummies soon feel better and it's good your eye is a bit better today.

Off to the opticians for an eye test now!

Good luck with the eye test Ann.

Its good your eye is a bit better today Frank but still keep that appointment for wednesday as they will clean it all out and you should be back to normal in no time. Its so hard when you have something wrong with your eyes. Naughty Biggles wiping his botty on the carpet. Not something you want to have to clean up is it? I should think he needs his glands cleaned out if he is doing that. It could well have been the sprouts and cabbage that upset both your tums.

O what a shame Sandra's night out was not what you expected Gill. Still she has a nice lot of presents to look forward to at Christmas which I am sure will make up for it.
There are quite a few farms that put on carol concerts near Christmastime so you should look on the net to see if there is any in your area. Is that the only garden center near you?

I cleaned the chickens out this morning so they are all nice and dry inside now but for how long??????

Right I am now going to put a few more things away and get on with some more crafts.

Annx well I am hoping it coming out quickly will send it on its way equally quickly. wouldn't be so bad if the sneezing phase would go away, such violent sneezes too.

We have two garden centres that have displays of the Lemax village scenes. One is Dobbies but the best one is a Blue Diamond up at Evesham. Not sure if the Blue Diamond near to us has a display. sometime they just sell the cottages but don't demonstrate them. I have 7 of the cottages myself and always make a display in the lounge, but I can't really do it as I would like as they take up quite a bit of space. I usually do it around 1st December so I get plenty of time to look at them.

Mel, how is the tidying away going or are you getting as much out as you are putting away? :-D

Afternoon all,

Funny old weather here today ,pouring one minute and the next the suns out ,very chilly though .

Oh Gill what a shame the night out was a bit of a let down and Sandra was so looking forward to it too , did you check to see if they have any other christmas events there perhaps there will be another one nearer christmas that will be a bit more christmasy .

Oh naughty Biggles it does sound like his glands need clearing out ,i know it's not very nice but it can smell quite a bit ,quite a fishy smell.
Keep that appointment Frank even if your eye is a bit clearer it must need doing or they wouldn't be doing it and you don't want it happening again at Christmas .
Hope both your tummies are better now i should think it was having the sprouts and cabbage together ,it can make quite a windy mix having them together .

Ann we use to have to get up some very steep stairs at our dentists but now it's much better as the dentist we see now has a bottom room ,i was quite out of puff by the time i got to the top and each tread was very small and you could easily catch your heel on the treads on the way down too.
I wonder what the thudding noise is ,very strange and once your awake you keep listening and it takes a while to get off to sleep again .
You don't think they let the little dog out next door for a wee or poo in the night and he's knocking against the fence ? i know some times when Max has been he kicks out his back feet .

You asked what we got son for his birthday , we gave him money so he can get what he wants with it but we did get him some Doom Bar ale as he had some one day when we went out to lunch and he liked it and i spotted it in Tesco's so get him some .

AnnG i hope your cold is not a lingering one ,it does sound as if it's coming out so hopefully it will be on it's way out soon .
I think if your weather is like ours it is a day for staying in and pottering .

Mel you mustn't get side tracked when your clearing up , it's easy to get side tracked and spot some thing that needs doing and then you lay some thing down that you have in you hands and forget where you've put it .

All those poor people flooded out in Yorkshire ,i doubt some of them will be back in their homes for christmas .

Love and hugs to Jane if your looking in ,hope your not in to much discomfort <3

Yes, OH is affected by sprouts as I know to my cost! lol :-S

What a job cleaning that off the carpet Frank! I think I prefer my operating the plunger down the toilet!! I bet you were watching him like a hawk after that till he was collected. No doubt he will be getting a trip to the vet to clean his anal glands.

Mandy it is a real puzzle as the noise we hear sounds to me like something heavy, like a man jumping off the fence onto the slabs with a dull slight rattle after which could be the fence moving a little in the post slots. The little dog can't get down that side of the bungalow as the garage next door is within 2 feet of our fence and they have fenced it off anyway, front and back so nothing can get down the side. I suppose it might be a fox, especially if it has a heavy breakfast rabbit it is carrying? I wish we had CCTV now!! Your dentist's stairs sound much like our dentist's. The surgery used to be a house and the worst bit of the stairs is where they turn at the top so the steps are very narrow on the inside of the curve. As with yours, the steps are so narrow I have to put my feet sideways coming down!

My eye test surprisingly showed that I have 20/20 vision! It is the cataracts giving me problems with clarity which is worse with close work. They are not bad enough to refer me for surgery yet, but I need a new reading adjustment which will help with close work, and a 'drive safe' coating which will reduce glare, particularly from headlights at night and the sun bouncing off glass windows of other cars. I was told that overhead lighting for doing craftwork or reading, however good, will not be as good as a lamp that is over what I am doing and below my eyes, as the light won't be reflecting off the cataracts to cause so much problem then. She said I would be referred well before my eyes would affect driving, which I was pleased to hear. So now the agony of finding frames I like that are comfy and MORE EXPENSE as Frank would say!!

I bet the 'girls' like their nice clean shed and nests Mel......even if it doesn't last too long. Did you get any craft work done? I started the other side of my lariat this morning with different beads and I think it looks better and smoother so will carry on with those now.

Good evening all

It's really getting wintry now., I didn't sleep very much last night and at one point I was so cold that I threw my thick dressing gown on the bed on top of the cellular blanket I had already put over the duvet. I'll be changing to a higher tog duvet this weekend.

We had thought of going to Anglesey Abbey today but it was so frosty and cold and wet that we thought better of it. You wonder how much more rain there can be up there, I feel so sorry for those people who are coping with flood water.

We are promised a heavy frost overnight. I had got cuttings and most of the tender plants into our mini plastic greenhouse or the conservatory but I have 6 or 7 large pots of agapanthus that I cover with fleece in the winter. I've been using the same pieces for 2 or 3 years and they were getting very torn and tatty so in the spring I threw them out. OH assured me we still had plenty on a roll in the garage. Tonight we got it out and you've guessed it....just about enough left on the roll to go over one pot. So my agapanthus are now covered in some very pretty blue and white patterned sheets ;-) Tomorrow we will be going to buy a roll of fleece.

I have just heard that Dobbies have taken over the Wyevale garden centre at Bury St Edmunds so we'll probably go there. It's the only Dobbies I know of anywhere near us so it will be interesting to see what it is like.

My house smells of wild strawberry at the moment. I've got a Chilean Guava bush (well two but the other one is younger and hasn't fruited yet) and yesterday OH picked this year's crop and got a large bowlful. They are delicious to eat raw but a bit of a pain as they are about blackcurrant/blueberry size with a very stiff small calyx to either take off and keep removing from your mouth. Because of this I thought I would try and make some guava jelly. I've cooked the fruit and at the moment it is straining through muslin. Tomorrow I'll add a bit of sugar and boil it up till it sets like jam. At least that's the theory but I've never done it before so I don't know what it will turn out like.

Ann G, I hope your cold improves quickly but I think you have sent it over the airwaves to me. I've been sneezing on and off all afternoon.

I wonder what your thudding noise is Ann. It's certainly strange. I hope you got on OK at the opticians. Our dentists also have a surgery downstairs and a couple upstairs. Luckily our particular lady dentist occupies the downstairs one so no problem for us. They certainly wouldn't be able to put in a lift as it's a listed building and is narrow corridors and lots of small rooms.

I had a smile at you buying your son Doom Bar, Mandy. It's sold in a lot of pubs round here and when I go out for a meal with "the girls" I sometimes ask for a bitter shandy. The barman usually asks what bitter I want so I will pretend to be thinking and then I'll say "I think I'll have Doom Bar please". They think I am knowledgeable about beer and are quite respectful but I only know it because I have heard OH ask for it.

What a shame the Christmas event at the garden centre wasn't as good as you expected Gill. I hope Sandra wasn't too disappointed.

Frank, I don't think I would have had sprouts and cabbage in the same meal. I am on a surveillance programme for bowel problems and have a diet sheet. On it they have put all greens, but particularly sprouts and cabbage, as foods that can cause irritation. Anyway I hope you and Ros are over your gippy tums now. I am pleased your eye seems a bit better today but you still mustn't strain it. Keep resting it until the hospital sort you out next week. You'll miss Biggles when he is gone, though I don't suppose you will miss having to clean up after him. Good job you could deal with the mark right away.

A special (((((hug))))) for Jane <3 <3 <3

Well I had better get our dinner in the oven if we are going to eat anytime soon. Have a good night's sleep everyone. See you tomorrow.

Your right Anng. They tyding lasted about 10 minuets then I started back on the craft and got more things out. I shall be putting them away again though as I always know where to find my two wire brushes.

The right arm on my glasses is worryig me tonight. I thinkits a bit tight and making the top of my ear itch so I have to keep moving it about.

Vera do you think you may need some lemon juice in that jelly?? Hope you have a good sleep tonight.

All my nails seem to be breaking and I can't pick things up if I hav'nt got long nails. They keep going right where they join the pink bit on the side so its hard to cut them off without leaving a bit that catches on things and I hate that. They also catch when I wash or comb my hair. Annoying to say the least........... :-|

So you did your lariat at beading today Ann. How much did you manage today? How were the cats?

Off for my shower now and watch a bit of the Chateau program before bed. See you all in the morning and sweet dreams............

By the way I could'nt find my micro monkey last night to put on my knees. I found it this mroning un a pile of felt in the dogs bowl I won at the dog show!!!! I had to use my new pink bunny instead last night.

M orning all,

Well after two dry days we are now back to rain, westerly wind and dull skies. It made such a change yesterday having a nice dry day and now back to this miserable dark stuff.

You can tell I'm p***ed off can't you. Having to turn the lights on suring the day and just cleaned out the girls so they are nice and dry and now this.................

Wrote this and forgot to post it!

Good morning Mel and all,

FOG is bad here, can't see down the bottom of the garden. I spoke to a neighbour who was taking his dog for a walk and he said RAIN is forecast for later. So it's the armchair for me today.

The only reason I cooked Cabbage and sprouts together was, that ROS won't eat sprouts. So it saved another saucepan.

Those floods in Yorkshire are terrible, and that poor woman who was drowed, I wonder what happened there. ??

My eye is as clear as a bell this morning, but I am still going on Wednesday. I had a call from the woman at Vision Express yesterday, enquiring how my eye was. I have never had that before, after an eye test etc. Very impressed.

Ann picked up Biggles around 5.00 pm. so we went straight off to get something to eat, we were back home just after 7.00 pm. In time for Madams SOAPS. I watched a little bit of VERA, then went to bed. Had a reasonable night with the exception of a IFFY TUM around 4.00 am.

Ros has gone shopping with Martine this morning, for odds and ends.

I hope these colds and sneezing bouts, soon clear up for you, who are a bit under PAR. xxx

Cuddles for our Jane, I hope she rested well last night, and is comfortable. She is in good hands with Chris and Hannah being on call, as and when she needs any help. And with James helping out in the kitchen. What a lovely close knit family they are.

I haven't heard how my sister is, so it will be down to me, to phone again.It's so annoying that they don't keep in touch with me.

I have a Leg of pork out for tomorrow. We have plenty of Veg in the fridge, so no veg shopping for Ros today.

Well folks, I hope you all have a nice day, today, whatever you might be up to. I'm off back to me armchair, after catching up with the BBC News.

See you soon. xxxx

Morning Mel, morning all

Sorry to hear you have the rain Mel, we had bad rain all day on Thursday and ended up with a very wet garden and a massive puddle right where we needed to walk to go out. We've had SNOW this morning, OH woke Sandra up, I was still asleep so missed it as he didn't think to wake me up. Apparently it didn't last long but Sandra was thrilled to see it. I just said last night it was cold enough for snow. I wonder if we'll have a white Christmas this year, Sandra would love that.

I don't think the garden centre is part of a chain AnnG so there isn't another one we could of gone to with Sandra. I have noticed with Brexit there seems to be a lot less around, a lot of the shops aren't selling half the food we buy and poor Sandra hasn't been able to have her favourite juice for months, even though Tesco's keep telling us it's going to arrive soon. If you remember we had problems buying the cable for Sandra's lights, they said they weren't getting any until around December. So maybe the garden centre not having much has something to do with that. She did enjoy what was there and managed to take a few photo's but it wasn't anywhere near as good as it's been in the past.

Unfortunately Mandy, they only do one Christmas event a year, so there isn't another one on now and where we live is a little village so there isn't anything else on like it she can do either. Never mind, she's enjoying all her Christmas films and has just told me of some more that are on today and tomorrow. It's very cold which puts her off going out anyway, so she'll enjoy watching her films in the warmth.

I'm the same and feel sorry for anyone who's been flooded and so close to Christmas to, like someone said I doubt they'll be back in their homes by Christmas. It's so sad.

Well, I'd better go Sandra is waiting to watch another programme we have on pause, the life of the zoo, we have a few of them and she wants to watch them before her films start later.

Morning All,

Drizzly here but dry just now again. Dark and dreary though and there was frost on the cars earlier. :-( I got ff to sleep but then woke up at 3.00am and then found it hard to get back to sleep. Maybe my subconscious is expecting more 'thuds' outside?

Oh Mel my nails have got more brittle now, especially in winter, and they split from the side towards the middle and as you say it is right next to where they are attached, so very hard to trim without bits that catch. I thin mine down with a nail file or sandpaper to try and get them as smooth as I can. It took me a while to get my head around the lariat pattern again but fingers crossed I think the change of beads is better so I will carry on with those for now. It has rows of bigger beads and they were popping out from the rest in places which wasn't a good look! So between chat and fathoming it out I only did about 3 inches. I was looking at the young cat's toys and there are 2 , a monkey and a lion, that he likes putting in the water bowl, so monkey had a wet arm yesterday. They have bird and mouse toys, a fish. There are several toys where they can pat balls around to try and get them out. They also have a robofish game where you put plastic fish in a bowl of water and they move so they love that. The older cat is more cautious and I love how he rushes up to watch what the other one is doing and lies on things with just 1 or 2 front legs hanging over the edge. Polly is a pretty black and white rescue cat and she comes to the door of the garden room and sits watching us. If the door is opened for her to come in, once she sees how many of us there are, she gets overwhelmed and changes her mind! I think she will be brave enough one day though. :-) The garden is full of bird feeders and has lots of tall trees, so there are always Squirrels and birds to watch.

I've been catching up with some of the Chateau progs too. It makes me wish I was 50 years younger as I would have loved to renovate and live in such beautiful places. Not sure I would have enjoyed all the work doing the events needed to pay for their upkeep though. I watched the one where the chap painted that wonderful green trompe l'oeil effect on flat wood to make it look like fancy wood panelling. I'd like to do that.

We are just back from the farm shop with various veg and fruit and now I need to get some felt and dark green wool in the village.

Oh fancy there being some SNOW for Sandra Gill. :-0 It is really quite cold here so I'm not surprised. Yes it must be awful to have your home flooded like that and lose many of your possessions. With all the housebuilding going on it will happen more as there is less ground to soak up the rain and more storm water from gutters going straight into the rivers. Places that didn't used to flood are flooding now so I'd be very careful where I bought a house nowadays.

Frank we are eating in again tomorrow and having pork too. I'm doing my version of somerset pork with it chopped and cooked with onions, garlic, mushrooms, sliced apple, a few soaked apricots and a drop of cider and creme fraiche to make a nice gravy. OH wants brussels, so they will have to be there with other veg. That's good your eye is clearer today, but as you say it's best to keep your appointment on Wednesday. It was good that the lady from Vision Express phoned you to see how things were.

OH has his nose in all those programmes to find more for someone who has offered him a good price for the handful he took to the match the other night. Frank he has found some from the 1940's for WOODFORD GREEN. I expect you know of the team!! lol. :-D

I hope Jane is is able to get some rest, but it must be difficult when your world has been turned upside down and your mind is full of it. We are all thinking of you Jane.
<3 <3 <3

Well, I'd better get going now.

Good afternoon all. First thing there was quite a hard frost on the roofs but it went quite quickly when the temp went up to 1 degree. When we popped out quickly to the local Tesco we had sleet then rain and quite a lot of that. It is showery at the moment.

I am coughing now which is extremely irritating. I had a broken night but not too bad. I didn't disturb OH but I think tonight I will go into the spare bed. again annoying as that means more bedding to wash as in two weeks Grandson etc will want that bed.

the cold seemed to hold off while we were in Tescos and the shop was empty anyway so hopefully I didn't infect anyone. I did keep my distance and managed not to cough or sneeze. Still felt guilty for going but we had not done the usual weekly shop so needed to go.

Frank good that your eye is clearing but of course still keep your appointment.. I managed to get a small pack of mixed veg when shopping and that is now soup for lunch.

Annx the cats sound lovely I am sure they are entertaining to watch as well. Good result with your eye test then. I find the only problem with anti reflecting lenses is that they need cleaning more often.
Maybe I woke you up at 3am, that was when I was awake last night :-D

Vera, we do like Dobbies but we found when they first took over our Wyevale it was about a month before they really became Dobbies as they were busy selling off loads of Wyevale stuff. Still I seem to remember there were a few bargains to be had. Eventually we joined dobbies Premium plus loyalty card which gives us two free coffees a month. I think it was £10 to join.

Mel My nails break and split as well. they can be quite long for ages and then suddenly they all start to split. I do wear nail varnish the majority of the time though.

Thinking of Jane as usual and thinking this horrible weather can't be helping her frame of mind. <3 <3 <3 Stay warm Jane. xx

Would you believe, WE had our 1st Christmas Card this morning, from CONRAD and JAN. Ros phoned them both. Jan was lunching with her sisters. Conrad was at home, and laughed his head off. He said I told Jan to post the card on the 1st November, as he wanted us to have the FIRST Christmas Card.

He has sent a video of "LOLA" having her TUMMY tickled by Silvia, She looks so content and HAPPY.

Really horrible wet afternoon, so not planning on doing anything other than watching a bit of Tele.

Take care all, see you later. xxx

Evening all,

Sounds as if we've been lucky with the weather today if you've all had a dreary wet day ,it's been nice and sunny here after a frosty start but that soon went when the sun got up ,it's been quite chilly though and we lit the wood burner just after lunch .

So you've had snow today Gill ,i bet Sandra was so excited to see it it's a wonder she didn't want to wake you up to see it too.

My nails get really dry this time of the year ,they tend to flake at the ends which then makes them weak so they never grow very long ,i use some hand cream at night ,i rub it into the cuticles which seems to help.

I've enjoyed the Chateau prog too,that painting effect like wood was really good ,i liked the young woman that had the french mummy :-D she was trying her hardest to talk the daughter out of doing things but loved it once they were done .
It must be lovely doing a big home up like that but you'd need plenty of money ,i wonder what Dick and Angels place will be worth when they finished it off .

Frank that's good the eye has cleared a little but don't strain it to much ,not long to go now before you can have it done .
Oh goodness that's an early Christmas card :-D
That's good little Lola has settled in nicely and it will be her first christmas here ,i wonder if she has seen snow ?

Ann it's good OH has found a home for some of the programmes as it sounds as if there's a lot more to come :-D

AnnG i think the coughing is the worst bit of having a cold it makes your throat so sore and always seems worse at night ,i can put up with the blocked or runny nose but it's the coughing i hate , i hope yours is easing a bit now ,have you passed it on to your OH yet ?

Love to Jane <3