General Chat

Hallo all

Another dark, gloomy, very wet day here again. I hope you are all well away from the flooded areas.

My back was giving me trouble again yesterday and I could not get comfortable enough to sleep last night. OH had gone in the spare room so I put the radio on to take my mind off my aches and pains. It didn’t help much as the first programme was about migrants trying to go back to their families in Somalia from Libya and there were some very sad stories including a mother who hadn’t seen her 8 year old daughter for 3 years. This was followed by a harrowing programme about FGM, so that wasn’t very relaxing. I eventually fell asleep around 6am and was awake again soon after 8. So today I feel a bit like death warmed up, as my dad used to say.

I took a leaf out of Frank and Ros’s book and made a really large stew yesterday and there is plenty left for tonight so I haven’t got much cooking to do. Yesterday OH commented on how flavoursome it was and how good the gravy was. I didn’t tell him that I had poured a good half bottle of his favourite red wine, Caballie, into the pot.

I’m sorry you had a bad night too Frank. You must be feeling very bruised and sore at the moment. I hope you have managed to rest up a bit today.

How was OH’s trip to the dentist AnninG? Was it a check up or was he going for some treatment? I am glad you had a better night. I find Broncho Stop lozenges good for coughing but they are herbal and based on thyme so no good if you don’t like that taste.

Mel, your Santa pegs are fun. I love them. I can see why you won’t be making more; they look very fiddly to do.

Gill, has Sandra got a calendar where she is crossing off the days to Christmas? You said she is getting very excited now. Won’t be long before you put your tree up. I think you said you put it up on your birthday. I bet she is really looking forward to that. Could you not also do something for you sometime around your birthday? Maybe all of you could go out for lunch one day when OH isn’t working or something like that. You deserve a bit of attention for your special day and I am sure Sandra would love you to have a birthday treat as she is such an affectionate girl.

I am pleased you are not in a lot of pain Jane. It’s a shame you are finding eating difficult as you do need to keep your strength up but home made soups can be quite nourishing as well. I find my soup maker a boon. I am sure that your family are taking good care of you. Sending love <3

I hope your OH gets his blood test results quickly Mandy and they can sort out his tablets for him.

Ann, I hope your OH is getting over his cough and cold. I chuckled at your surprise soggy teabag in his CoT as it eminded me of the time my cousin and his wife were invited to a meal by some new acquaintances. The lady served up a casserole and my cousin popped a large piece of gravy covered meat in his mouth only to find himself munching on a teabag. As they were new friends he didn’t want to embarrass the lady, so he had to try and surreptitiously dispose of this in his handkerchief which he then put in his trouser pocket. You can imagine the state of his trousers by the time he got home, so he got a telling off from his wife as well. Oh, by the way, your new ring sounds lovely.

All this talk of teabags has made me think it’s time for a cuppa. I might even have a ginger biccy with it. (My iPad didn’t like biccy - it changed it to ginger bicycle :-D)

You'd have a job getting a ginger bicycle dunked in your mug or cup Vera. :-S

I have been to Holsworthy this afternoon to get chicken food and shavings for them so now I should be ok for the next few weeks.

Its been dry all day for a change but it is still very cold. We have had some sun but not much. I did'nt get back in time to corn the chickens so they have eaten up all their pellets today.

I did get some pink wool while out as the one I have been using is a bit thin. I did'nt buy it new but it came in a bag of used wools I bought in the charity shop or out of mums old wool stash in a suitcase.

Hope Jane is comfortable today and has managed to eat something and that she enjoyed her Asparagus soup yesterday.

Must go down the freezer and see what is for dinner thats quick.

Evening All,

More rain and flooded fields round here near the river. I can join those of you who had a bad night as I was awake till gone 3.00am and OH was getting up at 6.00am to get ready to go to the Hearing in the city and despite his protests that he isn't, he is very noisy. :-S

Vera I had tears of laughter reading your teabag tale and OH couldn't contain his chuckles when I told him. You could just picture the scene. it was like a sitcom and reminded me of the film 'The Worst Week of my Life' with Ben Miller and the actor who plays Mr Newbold in Open All Hours Again. It is one of the funniest films we have ever watched. I hope your back lets you have a better night tonight. I can see that secret weapon in your cooking arsenal will be coming out again to impress your OH! :-D Your midnight hour radio was a bit heavy for getting to sleep as you say.

How lovely of Sandra to make us all Christmas cards!! I shall look forward to receiving mine as they are always so nice and colourful. :-D I think you can't beat Scrooge as a Christmas film, however much you know the story. I hope you have managed to find some presents to buy on your shopping trip.

OH is like you AnnG and didn't cough much last night. He's in the bath now hoping to ease his aching sides from the coughing of the last few days. He feels brighter today, but is flagging a bit now . Was it a checkup your OH was going for at the dentist?

Frank you must be exhausted with the lack of sleep and your aches and pains from your fall. It must be pretty miserable with not being able to see properly either. Just be careful not to fall again if you can. Were you going to see the doctor about your low pulse?

Mel I hope Dipper Mill was passable and that you got food for the chickens. Do you get it in those big paper sacks? Yes, another 2 inches of the lariat got done, but my friend has nearly finished one half of hers, but she is so quick at everything.

Edit, I was slow posting so didn't see you'd had a successful trip Mel. :-)

Evening all,

Dreary weather here and so dark i just let Max out and it's now raining .
We took the car in to our man today that does the repairs on it as there is no air coming out when you turn the fan on so we should get it back tomorrow when he's sorted it out hopefully it might just be a fuse that needs replacing .
We are having Katie for the night tomorrow it's her turn so today we have had a bit of a relaxing day as she keeps you on your toes wanting to do things when she comes .

Oh Gill how lovely of Sandra making us all a hand made Christmas card she is so thoughtful bless her .
Hope you've had a good shopping day and got lots of nice things ,i meant to say the other day do you have a local church near you as they usually have a Christingle service and i bet Sandra would love it with all the Carols ,i think we are taking the children to our churches Cristingle service this year they have three services i think the first one is at three thirty ,the next about five o'clock and the last about half past six

AnnG it sounds as if your cough is easing now ,hope your OH got on ok at the dentist .

Oh Frank your bruising must be very painful for you,you must have really gone down with a wallop , hope you have a better nights sleep tonight .

Vera you have to wonder how on earth a tea bag found it's way into the casserole yuk poor chap it must have been awful to have a mouthful of tea leaves as they really get into your throat .

I take it the water had gone down as you got the chicken food Mel ,you had a nice lie in this morning .

Sounds as if you've had lots of rain your way Ann with all the flooded fields near you ,another rotten nights sleep for you i see ,have you heard any ore bumps in the night ?

Love to Jane <3 hope you managed to eat some of the soup James made .

Frank, hope you had a meal this evening one way or another. Nice that the choir was warm but not so good they can’t have hot drinks. Will they continue using the venue?
Vera OH was having a new dengue, small one, fitted but after trying for ages to fix it dentist decided it was not right so took another impression and he has another appointment next week. Just for about three or four teeth £500+ it had better be comfortable.
I wonder if the teabag in the stew was a bag with bouquet garni in. Was your stew as good tonight. We had a stew done in the slow cooker and I cheated and used Aunt Bessies dumplings and they were great. I will certainly use them again.l
Hope your back is better now.

Annx the floods are pretty bad round you judging by the photos..
Glad your OHs cough seems to be improving.

Mel so you are well stocked up now for a while.

Gill Aawe I too will look forward to Sandra’s card, it is lovely that she wants to make them all.

Jane <3 <3 <3

Mandy missed you there. Yes hopefully the cough is on its way out. Not sorry to see the back of it.
Hope the car is not too expensive and is fixed ok.
Have a lovely time with Katie.

I know as well as flavours developing, sometimes things seem to taste better the next day just because you haven't just been cooking it and smelling it for a couple of hours.

No thuds lately Mandy, except from OH this morning getting up early. I hope you and Max are fully rested ready for young Katie tomorrow! I expect they get excited at having sleepovers with you and look forward to doing things with you as well. Hope the car problem is something simple to repair.

Your OH wants the teeth to be right as you say AnnG at that price. Will it be a metal plate or plastic? Yes there is the old water mill at Huncote about 3 miles away and the road and their drive will be impassable there. It took OH over an hour to travel the 5 miles home from the city after lunch due to the road all flooded in another place a couple of miles from home.

Morning all

A bit of a dull day today but dry so far. I did most of the Christmas shopping yesterday so I'm going to wrap all OH's and Sandra's presents today. OH has just nipped out so I'm going to do his first, I should have just enough time to do his before he comes home, if I start now.

I fell asleep on the sofa not long after we got home yesterday and didn't wake up until almost 11.30 so went straight to bed, it must of been all the fresh air and walking around, OH said he fell asleep on the other sofa for an hour to.......we must be getting old lol

I haven't read the posts yet so will catch up with them later. Hope everyone is okay.

Good morning all, a grey dry day so far here.
Just reading about that awful fire in bolton, poor students, I bet a lot of them have lost all their work but at least they seem to be all safely out.

Ann, it is a metal plate with a clip so has to be right or it won't be comfortable and then won't be worn.

Gill, goodness all the presents in one fell swoop. Did you go to a big shopping centre with a list. My OH always wants complicated electronic bits so I always have to order on line for him.

Morning Gill, AnnG and all,

Seems our days are the same today Anng as we have cloudy sky but it is dry at the mo so hopefully it will stay that way today.

I should think a metal plate is your mouth would be very cold when you put it in!! Mine are bad enough being plastic.

Gill I am going to pm you in a minuet.

I have six eggs for Em this morning and Sam's birthday present to take round but I have to get him a nice card as I forgot it yesterday, silly old fool. His birthday was the 14th but I don't expect he will mind it being a bit late. He has a Harry Potter Wand pen and one of my homemade wands. I try to give them the same things.

Yes AnnG we went to the outlet village, there's lots of different shops there so I can buy almost everything in one go. I still need to buy a couple of things for OH and his mum, but Sandra and everyone else are finished. I must check the dates for posting to Australia today, I always post a bit earlier than the cut off date.

Well, that was timed right, I'd just finished wrapping OH's presents and was having a cuppa before making a start on Sandra's when OH came in two minutes later. Talk about good timing. I don't think I've ever wrapped presents up so quickly though lol :-D

I haven't seen the news today AnnG, the fire sounds bad, but like you said everyone managed to get out safely, so that's the main thing. I'll check the news later.

I'd better make a start on Sandra's presents now before she wakes up. I did tell her I was doing it so hopefully she'll remember and not come straight into this room before I have a chance to hide everything. OH has just nipped out as she has the "Now that's what I call music" CD's and the next one has just come into the shops, he wasn't sure what number she was up to so didn't buy it incase I already had it, but it is the next one. I'll have three for her then, but I keep the last one for her birthday because they don't come out around April, this way she has two for Christmas and the final one on her birthday. She seems happy with that arrangement as we've done it for years. I think I've gone a bit mad for her this year, I didn't realise how much stuff I already had before I went shopping, some things I'd bought in the summer and forgotten I'd bought, so luckily I didn't double up on anything.
I think she'll be a very happy bunny come Christmas day.

I also managed to buy most of the Christmas food, my freezer is jam packed full now, so it was lucky they didn't have everything I wanted as I wouldn't of got it in the freezer. I'll buy the rest next week once we've eaten some of the daily food then I should have enough space for it. So all in all I'm getting there. Just the tree to put up in a week's time.

It would of been my Nan's 96th birthday today, I can't believe it's been 10 years since she passed away, I really miss her, she was the best Nan ever. <3

Good morning to you all,

Not much change with my eyes, the left one that needs lazering is still very blurred, and the right eye ball is BLACK as is the eye lid. The grazes have dried up and left nice big SCABS over my eyebrow and a bigger one on my cheek. Now I must keep my hands away from them, or I will be picking at them.lol lol

After the funeral yesterday, Ros went to the Football club with John and Carolyn. There were over 200 people there, and she said the noise was deafening. She never got home until after 3.30 pm.

I managed to cook a meal of sorts. Ros had bought a beef joint in a wine gravy and some croquet potato's, so I did some runners, peas and carrots, cauli and brussels, to go with it. To be honest the meat was inedible, tough as old boots, so we ended up throwing it in the bin.

I think the choir will be going back to the venue, and will have to make arrangements about refreshments. You can't just drink COLD WATER. !!!

Have been thinking of our Jane again, sending love and cuddles to her. xxxx

So all your shopping done Gill.I bet that left a BIG HOLE in your purse. ;-) ;-) ;-)

I do hope you are all keeping warm in this horrible weather. Again, those poor people are waiting for more floods, in Doncaster, and that fire in Bolton is terrible. There always seems to be sad things happening around CHRISTMAS :-( :-( :-(

Ros is out shopping with Martine, not that we need much, I have all the Veg I need for tomorrows dinner, all I need to do is get a joint out of the freezer.

I think I will get a coffee and watch up with the news, not that there is much good news around !!!

Take care girls, see you soon. xxxx

I've read your PM Mel, the parcel has arrived. The postman had knocked on our door rather than ringing the door bell so I didn't hear him. Luckily OH was on his way out again and the postman told him the parcel was on the van at the bottom of the street and if OH was quick he'd catch it, so off he drove down the road and managed to get the parcel before the van left. I put it to one side as I'd read you were going to PM me, I'll open it later as it's chaos here at the moment, Christmas paper and presents all over the place, you can hardly see our living room floor.

Sandra is going to wrap her presents up in her room that she bought me with her dad, who's doing the same, while I wrap Sandra's presents in the living room. I've covered all her presents with some towels so she couldn't see them and once we're in the correct rooms we'll start the wrapping. We want to get them all done today, so they can be put away ready for the big day.

Yes, Frank I had a shock when I looked at all the receipts last night, we've spent a small fortune on Sandra, I'm just glad I'd done some of Sandra's presents earlier in the year. The cost does include a lot of food and presents for other people as well, so we've just got one or two more presents to buy and the drink, plus the perishables we need to buy nearer the day, then we're all done. So not much left to do.

Right I'd better make a start on Sandra's presents, I think it's going to take most of the day to wrap them all up. Christmas has certainly started here lol :-D :-D :-D

Hallo all

It’s dry here, for a change, but grey and not very warm.

I seem to be going through one of my periodic spells of not sleeping. Last night I gave up at 3 am and got up again. I eventually went back to bed about 5 am and then slept till 8. I get very cross because there seems no reason for it. I’m warm, comfortable and relaxed so should sleep well. I do have sleeping pills but the ones I have been given are a controlled drug and are addictive so I will only take them for a couple of nights if I am getting to the desperate stage. Right, that’s enough of my moaning.

You have been busy Gill but it sounds as though you have nearly finished your Christmas preparations. So far I have bought one Secret Santa present as I need that at our Ladies Club Christmas tea at the beginning of December. I haven’t even got anything for my son’s birthday yet. It’s at the beginning of December and will have to be posted so I must sort that out soon.

What a shame your beef was tough Frank. You won’t be buying that again. Our second-day stew was delicious. I didn’t do dumplings this time as OH isn’t all that keen on them but I did some little potatoes and took some braised red cabbage from the freezer as an extra veg, though there was plenty of veg in the stew.. I hope all the aches from your fall are a bit easier today. The bruises will fade before too long and you’ll be back to your handsome self.

Yes, Mandy, you do wonder how a teabag got into the casserole but my cousin assured me it was definitely a teabag and not a bouquet garni. Ann, you would laugh even more if you knew my cousin. He is large, loud and very quick witted. Like your OH he comes out with lots of witty responses to anything you say. You just can’t imagine him being subtle.

I hope your OH gets his denture sorted out soon, AnninG. Is it for his upper or lower teeth? I have had the same upper metal plate with four teeth for about 30 years and wouldn’t have any other sort. Mel, I don’t know what AnninG’s OH will have but mine isn’t a solid plate. It’s more like a framework with a couple of hooks that fit round my existing teeth. It’s comfortable, never moves and I am just not aware of it. The downside is the cost. All that time ago mine cost £800. I know I had to think long and hard about whether we could afford it but I have never regretted it.

OH has just called out that he has made us a bit of lunch so I had better go and eat it. Hope you all have a good day.

Thank goodness oh went out when he did to catch the postman. It cost a small fortune to send as I did it first class. I'm pleased it has arrived though. Did you see that when you open it there is a little something for her tree? Its not wrapped.

Vera, I have just 3 teeth on a plate that is exactly like yours, a metal frame the clips on to my teeth. This one I have had about 10 years but I have had another before that so altogether over 50 years, before that I had two teeth and a plastic plate and hated it, had that for 12 years. My dentist that I have now keeps telling me to remove it at night. I point out to him how long I have not been doing that :-D

Glad you managed to retrieve the parcel off the van Gill, who knows where it would have gone otherwise!

We have been to Cheltenham, the bus going was really packed, we had forgotten it is Cheltenham races, they go into Cheltenham town and buses are laid on to the race course. The queue for thos buses was ginormous.

Just got a few bits and had a good look round then had lunch in Wetherspoons. I had a jacket potato with roasted veg and salad and it was really nice. OH had fish and chips.

Afternoon All,

It started nice and sunny but was soon back to dark and dreary here, but it has been a bit warmer. OH slept like a log after his busy day yesterday, his cough is a lot better so he has gone, well wrapped up, to a match just 15 miles away.

I was interested in the metal plates (OH has a small one that clips in) as the dentist told me they are much thinner and less noticeable to feel in your mouth than the plastic ones.I need one again now as the last filling he did has settled down ok, but he said the downside of metal is that you can't add more teeth. :-S I am also interested in the soft bendable plates, but again he said you can't add teeth if you lose more in the future. I had a plastic one before with 1 tooth and once, when putting it in, I got it wedged across the roof of my mouth between my top teeth. I thought I was going to have to rush to the dentist (with a note as I couldn't talk!) to ask him to get it out, lol. Eventually it moved, but I have been wary of swallowing one since.

Oh Frank you do sound a poor thing with your battered face and eye. You must be feeling a bit sorry for yourself. You leave those scabs alone as you know they will bleed if you pick them! What a shame about the beef as I bet you were looking forward to it. Fancy there being no hot water for the choir to get drinks. They will have to take a kettle if they do go again.

Gill, in the blink of an eye you have done what takes me weeks to do and got your pressies, wrapped them and got a lot of your Christmas food! I am very impressed and better start doing some shopping lists!! :-) I bet Sandra was thrilled to get a parcel and it was very lucky that your OH managed to get it from the van! :-D

Vera, your cousin certainly sounds like good fun and one to break the ice at a 'do'.. :-) I am level with you on Christmas shopping as I have one book for OH. It is the Matt Cartoons book he wants every year.

Mel, it is always good to get same presents where one will see what the other gets! Have any more of the new girls started laying yet?

It sounds like it was busy in Cheltenham AnnG. It's nice to just potter around to see what there is sometimes though and I like the sound of your roast veg jacket.

Mandy, did you find out what was the matter with the car? I expect Katie is keeping you busy today. :-)

Ann no more of the new girls have laid yet. I am still just getting one egg a day so Em has them ever other week if I save them up. I have to have enought for the big breakfast on a Sunday and I'd like to do a qquiche in the week but only do one if I have enough eggs. Don't do shop or farm eggs.

I did'nt realize till a few weeks ago that the free range hens for Waitrose have lights on them and they don't moult. If they moulted they would stop laying. Whether they have any dark bits of night or not I don't know and I shall have to ask Loraine who I get the recue ones from.

I got oh's big present yesterday so I probably have enough for him now just a couple of bottles of something for his Santas Pants and a bit of choccy and I shall be done. I just have to wrap them all up.

I also have to find the boys stockings. I have plenty of bits to go in them once I dig them out. I know Em gave them back to me and they are probably dumped somewhere in the lounge.

Been making craft this afternoon and they are taking me ages and ages and I thought they would be nice and quick.

Just finished wrapping all Sandra's presents, it's taken me all day and I have a headache now, so I'm going to sit down with a nice cuppa and catch up with the soaps I recorded last night.

Sandra loves the little cone you made her Mel for her Christmas tree, it's hanging on the hook her Flamingo picture is on for now, until her pink tree goes up next week.

Yes Ann, I did manage to get almost everything done yesterday and today, so I'm quite pleased with myself, all I need to do is put up the Christmas trees and decorations, which I'll do on my birthday, as I do every year. Sandra is really looking forward to that. Then of course they'll be all the baking to do nearer the time, but at least I know most things are done now, so I don't need to worry about running out of time and can get back to checking OH's family tree for him tomorrow.

I've wrapped up the parcel to go to Australia, so I just need to check the postage date now. I've done a lot of writing today with all the labels and they don't give you much room to write in, so I think that's what's caused my headache.

That's reminds me Mel, I've put your name on all of Sandra's presents you sent her so she knows who they're off and put them away with the ones I've wrapped for her today. She said to say thank you.

Message off Sandra

For anyone who likes to watch "Call the Midwife", there's one on at Christmas on BBC1.

She's just told me they haven't given a date yet, just said it's coming on. I'll definitely be watching it, it sounds like the Christmas one they have each year. :-)

Going to have my cuppa now and have a rest from the computer screen, until the painkiller I took starts to work.

Morning all

Another dull day, but at least it's dry and not to cold, just very cloudy.

Poor OH wasn't well last night, he had a migraine then ended up being sick for hours, thankfully he's feeling a little better this morning, he just has a bit of a sore throat. It sounds like the 24 hour bug I had last month that prevented me visiting his mother for her birthday. I hope Sandra doesn't get it next as it's quite a nasty bug. OH said he started with a bit of a headache the night before, which sounds exactly how my bug started.

We're just watching the F1 qualifying I recorded last night. OH was to ill to watch it so had an early night and I did to as my headache just wouldn't go, it's gone now so I might take another look at OH's tree later to make sure I haven't missed anyone out. Apart from that it's going to be a quiet day, no doubt Sandra will want to watch another Christmas film off the planner later, we still have a few on there for her.