General Chat

Morning Gill and all,

Another dry day here today but my car is very wet so I don't know if we had a bit of rain in the night or if its just moisture from dew or frost last night. The roads all wet too.

Will see if I can get on with my craft this afternoon as I am not sure if I told you the fair is on the 5th Dec. Its held on the first Thursday in December so I shall know in future if I don't forget.

Still only getting one egg a day!

Hope hubby feels better for the race today Gill. Lets hope he does as he won't want to miss it.

How are the bruises today Frank and don't forget to leave those scabs alone or you will have nasty scars on your face. Did you have a better night last night?

AnnG how's the cold this morning? It must be getting better by now and I hope you have been able to sleep well.

TV licience is due the end of November and they are asking for the money now!!

Mel I don't think you should be paying now. Just googles and this is what it says so you need to check that you have not received a scam.

"The government funded, free over 75 TV Licence scheme is being replaced on 1 June 2020"

A dull grey cold day here today so we have decided not to go out. I do believe OH is tidying out his garage!!

Mel, I think I said a couple of days ago that my cold has gone now and I am not sleeping in the spare bed any more or coughing at night.

Gill hope OH continues to feel better and that Sandra doesn't get it. She doesn't seem to have caught the bugs you have had so hopefully she won't.

Good morning all, from a squinting old man, lol lol

I am about at my wits end with my eyes. I am completely blind in my left eye, I can'e even see an outline of anything. The right eye is taking all the strain. and the scabs are drying out nicely. I am being a "GOOD BOY" and not picking at the scabs.

We had a phone call from Carolyn yesterday afternoon, inviting us down to lunch at 2.00 pm today. So no cooking and preparing for me. GREAT.

I see you are all keeping busy with Christmas shopping etc. We don't have to worry about shopping for food, as that is done by Ros and Jan in Torquay. Ros picks up the bill for that. as a thank you, for having us down there.

I see Val next door has one of her sons visiting. She's not looking to bad, but not getting any excerise. She has a seat on wheels that she can push up the close, but NO she just sits all day in the armchair.

I have been thinking of Jane again, has anyone heard from her.?? Sending love xxx

Time for me to get in that shower and get shaved. Ros was in there before I got up this morning, washing her hair and showering. Of course she didn't put the extractor on, so everywhere was steamed up. I thought it was FOG outside lol lol


See you later, enjoy your day, whatever you might be up to. xxxx

Sorry the eye is bad again Frank. You'll enjoy your dinner if you don't have to cook it. I hope its nice and you can manage to see what you're eating ok and its not too much strain on your other eye. Good boy leaving those scabs alone.

AnnG I shall check on my last licience to see if the dates check out. I don't have a free licience yet for another 4 years as I am 71 in February.

Hope Vera managed to get some sleep last night after her episode of bad nights.

Sending love and wishes to our Jane. <3 <3 <3

We don't pay each year via a bill for our licence Mel, it's automatically taken out of the bank, they send us a letter to let us know when it's going out. It's much safer that way then you know you're not being scammed. Maybe you could give them a call tomorrow just to make sure it's them. Ring the number on your licence though not off an email or anything else, otherwise if it is a scam you may end up ringing them instead of the official licence people. Don't pay anything until you know it's legitimate though. Good luck.
It sounds like you're busy with your crafts, not long now before the craft fair.

So no cooking for you today then Frank, that's good as it might be dangerous for you in the kitchen if you can't see properly. Enjoy your meal and your day off from cooking :-) When are you going to Torquay for Christmas, will you be at yours for your birthday or do I need to post your birthday card early?

Yes Sandra is very lucky where illness are concerned AnnG, she hardly ever catches anything, but when she does get ill it's normally really bad. Thankfully it's only once every few years. Because she never goes to the doctors they have occasionally called her in for a check up. I wish I had her immune system, it's brilliant.

I hope you managed a good nights sleep last night Vera, there's nothing worse than having days on end with hardly any sleep. You must feel exhausted.
Yes, Sandra has a Flamingo Calendar I bought her last Christmas (I've bought her another one for next year) and she has been crossing the days off for Christmas, she also checks everyone's birthday's to. She's very organised.......bless her. She's now counting the days to putting up the two Christmas trees. We have a large one in the living room and a little pink one in her bedroom. We bought her the pink one a few years ago and she loves having it in her room every year. She's looking forward to putting her new tree decoration Mel made her on it this year and of course the fairy Mel made her a few years ago and the pink and white bauble Ann made her, plus lots of other bits and bobs we have made together over the years and lots of lights, she loves her lights. So her bedroom will look very Christmasy next weekend.

When you mentioned Church's doing Christmas Carol's Mandy, it reminded me of the year the library did something like that, I might see if they have anything planned for this year and take Sandra to that, it's only a five minute walk around the corner and she enjoyed it last time we went.

Thinking of Jane, sending hugs from Sandra and I <3 <3 <3

Afternoon All,

Dull and dreary and drizzly today. :-S OH has soon recovered and has hardly coughed today. I wish I got over things as quickly. I see it is forecast to be very cold tonight and tomorrow......more misery for those suffering from the floods. We went for our carvery today and were there before they opened but there was a double queue at the carvery by the time we left. It was silly hair day today apparently and all the staff had wigs on. We then popped into the factory shop and I got some free of everything soap and SPF moisturiser and dishwasher cleaner. We topped up elsewhere with milk and bread and came home as it was so miserable. OH is doing bits with notes and his programmes and will be watching a footie match on the telly in an hour. I am doing the same as Mel once I have written an overseas card to post tomorrow.

It will be good when those new girls start laying Mel and boost your stocks. Your eggs are lovely and I haven't bought shop eggs for decades. I do get the free range eggs from the farm shop as I can see their chickens roaming about in the field. Fancy those chickens being kept with lights on so they don't stop laying. There's far too much interfering with nature and I would think they need a break poor things.

Gill, you don't half crack on with things! Now you will be back to your FH again soon. I'm so glad Sandra still uses the things Mel and I have made for her tree and that she has things on it you have made together. One of the ladies at the craft group, who lives in a house next to and owns the great big barn I sent pics of before has decided she will have a home made Christmas this year and is making lots of things. Sorry your OH has not been well with a bug, but hopefully he is over the worst of it now. It's good that Sandra doesn't tend to catch these things too.

Poor you Frank and your poor eyes. :-( Just hang in there till you can make another appointment and I'm glad you are leaving the scrapes alone to heal. All you can do is just wait and be careful moving about with not seeing very well.

The free TV licence will be gone before I qualify. I am very disappointed about it as it will be an extra expense for some that can ill afford it or are housebound and the TV is their link with the outside world. :-|

Good afternoon everyone

Not a bad day here; it's stayed dry for once and we've had some sun. I had a much better night so I feel half way human today. I did seem to have a lot of weird dreams though I could only remember odd little bits of them when I woke up.

Frank, I'm sorry to hear that your eyes are still so bad. It must be so frustrating for you. Be extra careful moving about or doing things in the kitchen. You don't want to fall again or burn yourself on a pan or something. It's so easy to misjudge things if you can't see very well. At least you don't have to cook today. What has Carolyn given you for your lunch? I hope you enjoyed it.

I hope your OH is feeling a lot better today Gill. Could he have picked something up at work? I felt exhausted just reading about you spending nearly all day wrapping Sandra's presents. However many have you bought her? You are certainly well ahead with Christmas. I've made a start. I bought another two Secret Santa gifts for another club Christmas party, so I've now got the three that I need, and I found my Christmas card list from last year on the computer. Going through that made me feel quite sad as I had to cross a few names off - during the year we have lost 3 relatives on OH's side and a close friend, plus my former boss.

OH went for his usual Sunday lunchtime drink with a friend and we had our main meal when he came in at 2 pm. He does like his Sunday roast (so do I :-)) so today it was roast lamb which was cooked with garlic and rosemary, roast potatoes and parsnips, cabbage and carrots with a nice gravy and mint sauce. Then we had a crumble with summer fruits from the freezer (blackberries, raspberries, red and blackcurrrants) and apple. I made enough for four big helpings but it was so good we ate it all between the two of us. OH had already had his beer but I had a couple of glasses of Sauvignon, so now I can hardly move. I don't think I'll be eating much more today!

I hope you are all having a good day. Waves to everyone ~~~~~~~~~~ and a (((hug))) for Jane.

Afternoon everyone
I actually did a bit of Christmas shopping this morning.Not much but it is a start. Just a couple of things for James and some crackers.I do need to get a move on as I don't know how I will be feeling leading up to Xmas if I do have to start any treatment.At least I can always get gifts on line . On Tuesday I have an appointment with a Nutritionist in Northampton and then the dreaded meeting a week tomorrow with the Oncologist :-S.

Thanks for all your ideas of what I might try and eat .I think I am doing most of them. But not baby food as it tastes disgusting!.It is so bland. One thing that does go down quite nicely sometimes is a Baileys :-D. I think because it is nice and smooth and creamy.

Our visit to Janice and Larry was fine once we got over the tears and hugs.It is so hard seeing someone for the first time and being overwhelmed with emotion. I am not able to speak to friends on the phone yet .To be honest I think I still have my head in the sand a bit and part of me is not ready to accept what is happening.It does hit me now and then especially when I struggle getting something down.

Oh Frank you must be so fed up now with not being able to see properly. Did you get an appointment about your ECG and slow pulse?

Gill I can't believe you are almost ready for Xmas with presents bought and wrapped and food in the freezer. I did make a start on writing a few cards the other day but only a few. Chris has been 'feeding ' the Xmas Cake this afternoon. He wasn't very enthusiastic about making one this year but he has been bullied into it :-D. We are still planning on all going to the cottage for Xmas in the Cotswolds (all being well).

I hope bad backs and colds are all on the mend. Any news on if it is medication that is causing the liver problem for OH Mandy?

My Sister says the water is just a couple of inches away from her daughters back door in Tewkesbury !!!!!. But they are hopeful that it wont rise any more now. Lets hope she is right.

I need to think now what I can have for tea. Maybe I will have a Baileys while I ponder :-D

Vera, horrible day here, dry but really misty and dark all day, lights on most of the day and heating on since early afternoon. We did pop out for a half hour or so just to the garden centre down the road, and did buy a couple of things that I wanted, mainly gift vouchers fro Christmas presents. Came home and wrapped up the presents for the family coming next weekend to collect them. The older I get the more tiring present wrapping gets. and we are still buying the same number of presents, maybe even more, than we were doing over 20 years ago.
Lunch sounds nice Vera, we never have a sweet after our meals these days, would put on much too much weight if we did.

Ann Glad you got to the carvery early, it is obviously popular, does nobody in your area cook their own roast I wonder. Can't remember the last time we went out for Sunday roast, probably when son came to collect presents last December.

Jane thinking of you and hoping you have found something that you can eat. ((((hugs))))
<3 <3 <3 <3

So you've found the Bailey's Jane lol :-D :-D Nice to see you still have your sense of humour. Seeing the Nutritionist should be a help, he/she might have a few ideas you haven't tried yet. I see you've made a start on your Christmas shopping,
I found almost everything I needed in one day, but it doesn't normally happen like that, so I was lucky. I will be posting the Australian present next week as the cut off date is 12th December and I don't want to forget to post it on time. Better to be early than late.

Sandra decided there wasn't enough on all your Christmas cards she's made you, so she's been busy adding more to each card, they all look very Christmassy. I think she's ran out of room to add anymore now, so they maybe finished.......but then you never know lol ;-) ;-) ;-) She's had so much fun making them all and has made all the Christmas cards for the family to. I think I'll be writing them out for her, apart from the ones to everyone on here, I think she might like to do them herself.

She had all her card things out all over the living room floor. Good job I'd finished wrapping the Christmas presents otherwise there'd of been no room for me. I think I'll have to run the hoover around tomorrow though, as there are bits of paper all over the floor. I've picked some of it up, but the smaller pieces need the hoover I think.

Just noticed the pictures of the floods Ann, I hope it hasn't got any worse.

I also hope the water hasn't got any closer to your nieces house Jane.

Going to watch the Strictly results now.

AnnG we often say that as it is almost impossible to find anywhere to have a roast on Sundays and they book up very quickly. In fact it seems that there is very little cooking going on, even in the week with how busy places are. :-)

Vera I was just going to say I'll be round for Sunday lunch, but it's no good if you eat all the extra helpings is it? :-D It sounded delicious today, all my favourites!! We have 3 less names on our Christmas card list this year too, my sister, OH's friend and a lady who OH first worked with when he left school. It's good your back is improving and that you are getting more sleep, even if the dreams are weird..

I hope the nutritionist has some useful tips and ideas Jane, although I suspect Baileys won't be top of her list!! :-D At least the cream in it will help keep your weight up though and it does taste nice as well. It's good you have made a start on some Christmas shopping, as it is good to do something normal and be out and about. It will be good to get that oncology visit over with so you know what's going to happen, these things hang over you with the 'not knowing'. I think it's good to have your head in the sand a bit sometimes, a bit of respite from feeling overwhelmed <3 <3

Your niece must be out looking at the water all the time and I expect she is clearing things off the downstairs floors just in case. :-S

How lovely of Sandra to make 'our' cards 'extra special' Gill. I'm looking forward to mine already! :-D <3

Jane I believe the river height is starting to drop so hopefully niece will be ok.
Just you keep your head buried, keep drinking the Baileys, keep planning the stay in the cottage and once you have been to your appointment and know what is what, then you will get extra strength to face whatever. And well done Chris for keeping to normalcy and making the cake.

Morning all,

We have sunshine and blue sky with high wispy clouds. We did have a very hard frost last night and its still in places the sun has'nt reach as its so much lower in the sky now.

On the lean to roof of oh's mower shed there is loads of moss which I think will be good for my wreaths. Oh said he will pull it off for me and if he dos'nt I shall get it from up the road as usual. It may have some leaves and sticks in it as we have the huge oak tree over it.

Must get on so see you all later.

Love to Jane. <3 <3 <3

Morning all

It's sunny here and not as cold today, so that makes a pleasant change.

We've had moss where the main roof meets the kitchen roof, luckily OH can easily get to it so that's been put in the bin, if we don't take it away the run off for the rain water ends up clogged. Good idea to use it for your wreaths Mel, I hope your OH can get it for you.

I read your post about the Christmas card to Sandra Ann, she is thrilled you are looking forward to receiving it. I made a mistake on the other cards she'd made and they are from her, so I'll have to write more cards out for the family off OH and I as she's already written in the cards she's made for them. At least they don't need posting or it would of cost us a small fortune in stamps.

Sandra wants to watch another Christmas film once she's watched "Seven Worlds One Planet" I record that each week and she's been enjoying it. She also likes "The secret life of the zoo" that's filmed at Chester Zoo and watched one last night, she loved it as baby Flamingo's were being born. She knows they are white when they're born not pink and thought they looked so cute and fluffy.

Well, I'd better go as her programme is on pause and she's waiting for me to send this first.

Good morning fair maidens. Like you, we have clear blue sky's and sunshine, with a slight breeze.

Yesterday Carolyn did a casserole of pork, with onions, mushrooms in a very tasty gravy, Roast pots and parsnips (which were burnt to a cinder) Cauliflower cheese sauce, and brussels with other veg, Apple pie and cream for sweet. She did get the cheese board out, but all I wanted was to get home, and relax.

I did make an appointment for the Dr. to ring me about my low pulse, but when he/she rang, I was FLAT OUT on the drive after my fall. I must make another appointment.

Glad you have found you like Bailey's Jane. That is the only drink Ros will have at Christmas.

We both still have this horrible HACKING COUGH. Ros is worse than me, and bringing up loads of rubbish, which is good. (BETTER UP THAN DOWN) lol lol

I have a feeling Ros is in the kitchen preparing dinner for tonight. Roast Beef with the trimmings. She doesn't want me near any sharp knives, in case of an accident. ;-) ;-)


I hope this weather holds out for a few days, as it will help in the flooded areas.

Love and hugs to all, especially our Jane, xxxx

Frank I like parsnips burnt to a crisp and always try to burn a bit one end.

Suns till shining here and oh has put the chicken food in both bins as I was right out of both. No egg yet today but there may be one later as there was yesterday.

Can I come to dinner with you today Frank if your having roast beef. I can't tell you the last time I had that. Oh is'nt keen on roast dinners.

Good afternoon all. It has been a lovely sunny morning here, cold in the shade but really warm in the sun. We went toone of the Cheltenham retail centres, had breakfast (eggs on toast for me and beans and bacon on toast for OH with coffee and it was really nice. then did a bit of shopping in Sainsbury's, Home Sense and Hobbycraft, mostly Christmas presents. Not long got home so will go and have lunch now and sort out the bins for tomorrows collection.

For anyone who's interested The Repair Shop is starting a new series now 4.30pm on BBC.1

Beautiful sunset tonight and very cold outside.