General Chat

Little Lacey did so well winning all those things Mandy and how kind of her to make one of them a gift for her brother. I had to smile at the little drum that Lewis loved so much and took home. I bet it's getting plenty of drumming now! :-D Three Christmas trees too......are you going to put them all up this year? lol. I think our big tree will be off to the charity shop when OH next goes up in the loft as I can't see us using it again and there is a patch of the lights that look a strange orangey colour which is a bit worrying so it would need replacing anyway. I like the ones Mel suggested last year, but haven't made my mind up yet so will just manage with the little ones again this year. What a lot of other stuff you have found from the loft too, but we just put things up in our lofts and forget all about them don't we? I wonder what else will be unearthed?

I used to clean our windows and had never ever had a window cleaner, but when OH retired I said he could start to do them instead of me, as he would have time. Suddenly we got a window cleaner......funny that! :-S The standard has dropped a bit over the years and I often have to wipe mucky runs off the sills when they have gone, but they only charge £10 and do all the conservatory windows into that so I can't grumble.

We had lunch at the Manor today, the price has gone up by £1 to £5.95 for a small plate (which is even enough for OH) and still good value, then we visited another garden centre and I found a box the size I wanted. I nearly bought a battery Robin that lit up, but OH was in a hurry and there was a big queue so I might go back another day. He will be off to another meeting in about an hour, so I might clean out the fridge when he's gone and can't see what I throw out!

That's good Ros has gone to get that fingernail removed Frank. What a shame the battery went flat, but at least you know the reason and have charged it up again now so it should be ok again. OH has to book his car in to get some ADBLUE topped up. If he goes past the mileage, the car won't start! Sorry your eyes are no better, but all you can do is rest them till you are seen as you say. It must be annoying to not even be able to watch telly or read though.

Gill I hope your internet connection is ok now. We find these things always play up when you want to get on to do something. Is Sandra loving her tree now and the garden lights? :-D

Hallo all

Love your dragons' eggs Mel. Why are you ladies all so talented? I feel a right klutz among you. The ideas in my head just don't seem to reach my fingers.

That's a terrible shame about the damage to your community centre AnnG. What pleasure can anyone get out of causing that sort of damage?

Lacey did well at the tombola and lucky dip, Mandy, and what a lovely gesture to give her little prize to Lewis. I had to smile at Lewis and the drum. He loves it but I wonder if his mother feels the same. Was it one of those rubber covered ones or was it a traditional noisy tin one?

Several of you seem to have a lot of stuff in your lofts. Don't complain, at least you have somewhere to put all those bits and pieces. We have a chalet bungalow type house and the roof has quite a steep pitch with rooms up under the eaves, which means the loft space is not big enough to put anything in. It had the thinnest possible layer of insulation so when we moved in we wanted to top it up. We couldn't get a company in to do it, they said the space was too small for their men. So OH did it himself lying on his stomach. I was terrified his back would go and I wouldn't be able to get him out but he managed.

I hope the hospital have managed to sort out Ros's nose problem. She is wise to get it looked at. You never know if something like that could set up an infection. Good that you have got her battery sorted as well Frank. It's very easy to leave car lights on and it doesn't take long for a battery to go flat. You mentioned your neighbour Val is home from hospital - is her husband being any more helpful to her or is he still as bad as ever? Keep resting those eyes, it won't be too long now before you can get them sorted.

Did you find the source of your smell Ann?

You do seem to have a bit of a problem with your internet Gill. It must be really frustrating. What do you think is the cause?

All this mention of window cleaners recently made me check my bank account details as ours like to be paid by bank transfer and I couldn't remember paying them last time. Sure enough I hadn't paid them so I did it online there and then and rang to apologize. The chap I spoke to then told me that I had missed two payments! What am I like? I always pay the day after they have been but the last two times it has gone completely out of my head. So I shall have to make another payment tomorrow to bring me up to date. He was very sweet and said he wasn't worried about me paying and was just going to mention it next time they came round. Our upstairs windows are difficult to get to in places so we have a couple of young fellows who come round with one of these high hose thingies so they can clean all the windows from the ground. They charge £20 but I have a lot of glass - our bedroom has 3 windows. They also do the conservatory. We have been really pleased with them so a while ago I got them to come in and hand clean all the windows inside. They charged me £30 for that and it was worth every penny.

Well, it's time I thought about preparing our dinner for tonight. I'm going to do something vegetarian tonight. I like veggies anyway and OH is such a carnivore that it does him good to go without meat now and then. He had a load of cold beef at lunchtime so I reckon he has had his meat fix for today :-D

PS I will be thinking of you tomorrow Jane. I hope all your tests and bloods go well <3

Well we got to town and it stayed dry and not cold. We split up as we needed to get a couple of things for each other for Christmas and I had a voucher for M&S to spend on beauty products so some of the girls in the family are getting stocking fillers of hand cream and show cream so that was good, I also got a sweater for OH. We then had lunch in Wetherspoons. Tuesday is steak day so I had a small sirloin, jacket potato, mushroom, tomato and peas and OH had chicken breast with pork ribs, chips and onion rings with two glasses of 175 Shiraz cost just over £16 for the two of us and was very tasty.

We have cleared a lot from our loft. Two large bags of books went to the charity shop yesterday and there is one more box up there now to get rid of, we feel pleased with ourselves for that but it may have been better if it was not up there in the first place.
Vera daughter has been told not to put anything in the loft of her new house, not sure why.

Mandy I dread to think about that drum, not sure DIL will be thanking you now :-D

I did'nt get back till late today as I went to Asda in Atlantic village and The Works and of course bought some bits for my craft work. Then Lidl and then went up Mill St in Bideford to get some turquoise wool and bought lots more bits and some Leather needles for the sewing machine. I was lucky as it was the last pacet in the shop. I have been meaning to buy some for ages now. Then I did Morrisons and by this time it was dark so I shot round and got the last bits and bobs and arrived home after 6pm, well after.

I am so pleased that Ros went to see about the fingernail up her nose. I have been worried about it ever since you told us and how she could not go straight away I don't know. Good you got the car charged up too. You must be so fed up not being able to watch the tv or read as we all know how you like your books. Did you tell us that Val was in hospital? I don't remember...

Hope you get the net ok tomorrow Gill. You feel so strandid when you can't get on the pc when you want to. Can you imagine what it would be like if we had leccy cuts now like we did in the 60's. The world would come to a stand still.

Vera fancy the men saying they could'nt do your loft insulation because the space was too small. Perhaps they did'nt think the job would pay enough for them to do it if its only a small space. Our loft is huge it runs from one end of the bungalow to the other. I still need to get up there and see what oh has done with all the stuff that he has put up one end over his office and our bedroom. There still garden mags up there from the last people who lived here!!!!!!! Piles of them.

I must remember to pick up our scripts tomorrow as I forgot today.

Well I am now going to watch thte other half of the first Viena Blood thing so see you all in the morning god willing.

Nighty night.............

The smell was the sink drain Vera. I don't use the sink in there that often which is probably the reason. I used to routinely slosh disinfectant down it, but OH retiring seemed to end a lot of my routines to accommodate his and who's going to say they have HW to do when someone says 'let's go for a ride out somewhere or out for lunch!'!! :-S lol. My previous place was a chalet bungalow and had lofts either side like yours, also one above, but our rooms didn't go into the eaves so they were great for storing things as we could just about stand up in them. A chimney was in the way part way down though and the water tank behind it and my first OH had to do a belly crawl to get to it just like you describe. I bet you were worried about your OH's back too! Goodness knows how you would have extracted him if it had 'gone'.

OH just went into the garage to look for something and went a right purler on the slippy patio. You'd think he'd learn having slipped the other week, but he went flat on his back this time, bashed his elbow and sent his glasses skidding out of sight. I was summoned with a torch to find his glasses and I did and they weren't broken thankfully, but his hands were all scraped and his elbow is doing blue already. He will rush everywhere, I keep telling him to be more careful with his 'bones', but do they listen.

AnnG, your meal was good value wasn't it. We planned to clear our loft and move some things that are up there into the garage, but now we have the programmes and MIL's things to sort before we can move anything in there.

You had a good day's shopping Mel and got lots of things. Did you get in trouble for being back after dark?

Hopefully Ros has her fingernails where they should be now and I hope all is good with Jane's tests tomorrow.

Morning all,

Not at all nice here this morning as its dull and wet with no wind so the rain is just falling straight down.

No I did'nt get in trouble being back yesterday after dark as he knew I was going to Lidl and Morrisons but he did'nt know I was going to the other shops too.

I watched two of Kirsties programs last night, any of you seen them? What did you think about the Kissing Balls? I am sorry but they looked to me as though a child had made them. Not my idea of a kissing ball at all. I was going to make one this year and even looked at the foam balls in a shop yesterday but they were £2.50 to start with then theres all the bits you put on them so I decided they would turn out to expensive to make for what you could charge for them.

The quilter man on one of the programs was the same chap that was on the other craft programs we have seen lately too. He made a quilt with Christmas jumpers on and on the other program he made that awful busy quilt that would have been £2000 to sell at the craft fair in Suffolk.

I must admit I loved the lady who made the doll from the picture her daughter did when shse was about 8 or 9. What a lovely idea and good on her for something I have never seen other people do. Its the kind of thing that would make a child really proud of her?his drawing other than having it stuck on the wall or the fridge door.

Morning all

Dull and damp here today.

What an awful thing to happen at the garden centre AnnG, some people can be so cruel. At least they could still open so that was something.

Lacey did well at the Autumn fair Mandy, like you said not bad for a pound. Bless Lewis with his new little drum, he'll be having lots of fun with that. It sounds like you have a full loft to sort out. Our loft is full of stuff we packed a few years ago when we sold the bungalow, we pulled out of the sale but never unpacked everything again. We're thinking of having a look around to see if we can find our forever house next year, so the packed things will stay that way incase we finally find somewhere we like so we don't have to pack it all up again. Good luck with all your shredding, it sounds like it's going to take a while to get through.

Your garage sorting sounds like a big job to Ann, then it'll be your turn to sort out your loft. Hope your cough and cold has cleared up now. I see the smell was the sink drain, have you tried putting some bicarbonate of soda in your plug hole and then adding some white vinegar, I do that and it clears them beautifully, you need to add some boiling water to, but it does work and smells much better afterwards?
I hope your OH is okay after his fall and isn't to sore today, he was lucky his glasses didn't break.

OH said BT were in the street so that might explain the problems I had with the Internet. I don't know what they're doing but they've been messing around with the phone lines on and off most of the year. I hope that's it now as it's a nuisance not having the Internet or the phone.

Yes, Sandra is still looking at her lights but I noticed one of them went off last night, so I unplugged it and plugged it back in again and it worked, OH is going to check the plug to see if a wire has come loose. We put her pink tree up yesterday and added some colour lights for her as well as the white ones, plus some blue star lights so she's pleased with it all and as I was going through the stuff to put on her tree, you'll never guess what I found Ann? A little parcel with my name on, it was a pink beaded star you made me, it must of been when you made the pink and white bauble for Sandra which was years ago, I can't for the life of me think why I didn't see it before and opened it, so I'd like to say thank you, it's lovely, I have put it on Sandra's tree as she loved it to and it would of been lost on our big tree. I hope you didn't think I was being rude not saying thank you when you sent it to me, but it was a lovely surprise to open it yesterday :-) :-)

I've just run a bath and the water was only luke warm so that's been emptied and another bath run, I'm wondering if it's the cold weather or I might have run the tap to quickly, hopefully I'll end up with a hot bath second time around.

Your loft space sounds the same as my MIL's Vera, she also has a chalet bungalow with bedrooms in the eaves and a little low door to access the bit of loft she has. Like you say you can't really get much in there and as for insulation, it has to be done the same way your OH did it. Oh dear fancy forgetting to pay the window cleaner, at least he was nice about it and knows he's getting paid now.

Don't forget to pick up your scrips today Mel, you don't want to run out of anything if you forget again. Love the dragon eggs.

Hope all went well for Ros at the hospital Frank.

Thinking of Jane <3 <3 <3

I can hear banging outside so I hope it's not BT again. I'd better send this post incase my Internet goes off. Sandra has turned the bath off for me, so hopefully it'll be hot this time.

OH's just checked the plug on Sandra's outside pink light, the one that went off last night and there was a loose wire, he's fixed it now, so hopefully it won't go off again.
Going to check my bath now.

Gary Rhodes has died at 59 in Dubai.

Good afternoon girls,

What sad News Mel, and so young. I use to enjoy watching his T.V. Programmes.

Ros saw a very nice doctor, who expanded her nostril with a bit of kit, shone his light up the nose, and found nothing. She has been told to go STRAIGHT BACK if she has any discomfort in the face area. We are hoping it's worked down to het TUMMY and nature will take it's course. lol lol

I must try Wheatherspoons on a Tuesday. It sounds such good value. Where we go Ros has a 5 oz steak with pepper sauce, and I have F & C. Tomato juice and a couple of pints, is well over £20.00

Glad you found that SMELL Annx, Nothing worse than trying to find the source of a smell. All done and dusted now then.

Mel, you were out shopping a long time. I bet your OH was getting concerned, I know I would have been.

As Ros didn't like the ring I was going buy, I have bought her a TROUSERS SUIT instead. She saw it on line at Ambrose Wilson. She rang in the order, and as it was her first, she was entitled to 25% off. Which was great. She is at the hospital again this morning for more treatment for the water infection. She's normally in and out in 10minutes.

Yesterday Carolyn parked her car in line with others, with Ros's Blue badge displayed. When they went back to the car she had a TICKET. Ros has sent a right snotty letter to the council, So will await their response. ;-) ;-) ;-)

Nice bright sunny morning out there today and I don't think it is cold. I have no heating on, and sitting here is a short sleeve shirt.

Val next door, is home after a small operation to do with her pace maker. That's allI know. As I said Tony is not forth coming with information.

Simon rang this morning, he was off to the Hospital at Banbury, regarding his knee. The doctor doesn't want to replace it, as he is too young. He thinks they will open up the knee to see what is causing all the discomfort. Sally is also under the hospital with "LADY PROBLEMS" So they are a right old pair at the moment.

I trust you are all well, with special thoughts to our Jane. Is it today she starts her treatment. ??

See you later. xxxx

I thought it was next Tuesday Jane started her treatment Frank.

Love to Jane. <3 <3 <3

For those of you who would like to see the fan I bought Jane look here on Amazon.

It would be good for Ann too as I know she has a lot of hotties.

Hebey Hands-Free Fan Necklace USB Charged Mini Fan Built-In Rechargeable Battery Portable USB Personal Fan with USB Cable 3 Speeds and 360 Degree Rota

Thats funny where the nail has gone then Frank. Is Ros sure it went up her nose and did'nt drop on the floor? Very strange..... :-0

Afternoon All,

Another dull day. :-( lol.

That was a shock about Gary Rhodes......I liked him too. It seems he became ill during a filming break and died soon after. It must be awful for his family and so young too. just a year older than my father when he died.

Mel, Jane said she had to have blood tests and an echocardiogram and something else today before her treatment starts next Tuesday. I will have a look at those fans, they sound quite good.

Gill, watch out for the Postie as I have sent a package for Sandra today by 2nd class post! :-) You can open the box (carefully) and there is a tiny gift she can open now (I have labelled it that she can open it!) and then the bigger present musn't be squeezed or crushed and is for opening CHRISTMAS DAY. :-D

We had a great time at the last class this morning , finishing things off and 2 ladies did more Batik. One lady was using the rings of plastic you get left on the neck of bottles when you break the seal. She was crocheting green wool around them with a fluffy wool border of 'snow' and fixing red bead berries on them to make pretty little tree ornaments. The teacher brought a pile of craft books she no longer wanted so I took a couple of those that had things in I'd like to make. The teacher brought mince pies and a beading friend brought a cake, but I managed to keep out of the kitchen and temptation! :-0 Another class starts in the New Year, but with a fee of £48 this time. That is still much cheaper than what we paid for the jewellery class we used to go to, so 3 of us that do beading are going to sign up as there is a saving with the materials all being provided free.

I haven't seen the 2nd Kirstie prog yet, but the Caribbean lady, Rosie, on the first prog who dressed the tree with wool felted animals does classes at various venus round here and has just sent me her list of workshops for next year. My friend made a cute little realistic mouse at a workshop at a textile event near here a few weeks ago.

I wonder where the fingernail went Frank, but at least Ros knows it isn't up her nostril which is good. That's good she found a nice trouser suit for you to get her for Christmas, but it's a shame she hasn't been lucky with any of the jewellery you found. I must get cracking with finding some things for OH. ......some slippers with frost nails in for a start! :-D It's a shame Simon has knee trouble, but I think mine started in my 40s. I think they sometimes do partial replacements for younger people, but it will be good if they can make it better for him. Poor Sally with her troubles to sort as well!

I thought my throat and voice were getting worse again, so I started the salty gargles again last night and it seems to be a lot better again today so I'm keeping my fingers crossed. OH is stiff all over today after his nasty fall and has a meeting tonight. It won't help sitting crouched over his notebook for a couple of hours.

I'll keep an eye out for the parcel Ann, I've let Sandra know it's on it's way and that she can open one present early, she said to say thank you. Did you see my post about the present you sent me a few years ago that I found yesterday, the pink beaded star? I still don't know how I managed to miss it, but Sandra doesn't mind as it's now on her pink tree. I put it on her tree as I thought it might be lost on the larger tree in the living room. She is thrilled I've let her put it on her tree as she loves it as much as I do. Pleased to see your throat is a lot better now. Poor Sandra has started with a sore throat along with me, so we must of picked up a bug from somewhere. It's not like Sandra to be ill so I hope it clears soon, so far it doesn't seem to be bothering her to much, so I don't think it's to bad. She's got her pink outside lights on again, she loves them. OH managed to sort out why one went off, there was a loose wire inside the plug, so that's fixed now.

I wonder what's happened to the finger nail Frank, maybe it dropped on the floor and not come off inside her nose if the doctor can't find it. Let's hope that's the case and she doesn't have any trouble with face pain. Sorry to hear about Sally and Simon, I hope the doctors can help them too. Good on Ros to send a letter of complaint to the council for the parking ticket, my mum got a fine once but when she told them she was a blue badge holder they cancelled the fine, so I'm sure that'll be the same for Ros.

I've just watched Kirstie and loved all the cakes on there today, I used to do cakes years ago and noticed how much things have changed over the years, with all sorts to make decorating a lot easier. I'm tempted to buy some of the molds and have another go myself next year, maybe make Sandra a nice birthday cake.

OH I meant to ask, does anyone have access to newspaper articles? I only ask because I have two sisters on OH's tree who tragically died in an accident, I think it was a drunk driver, but I could only see the beginning of the article, so was wondering if anyone could find the article for me as OH would like to know more about it. I said I'd ask on here for him.

Evening all,

Wet here most of the day but not cold , we were going to take some stuff to the tip but we've decided to do it tomorrow when its hopefully a dry day .
We did take some stuff to the charity shop but they wouldn't take a blow up double bed ,i would have thought it would have sold well this time of the year when people have people staying and need an extra bed,don't know why they didn't want it ,i know they don't take some stuff because of fire hazard but this would be full of air !!!!
I thought i'd try one of the other charity shops in the town but it means i have to cart it up there and it's not a light thing to carry ,it was Age uk we took it too as we can drive right up to the door ,they soon grabbed the Christmas tree and books !!

Oh Ann poor OH going over again was he wearing slippers ? we tend to nip out in our slippers and the bottoms are a bit smooth .
He will be sore and stiff after lumping down like that he was very lucky he didn't break a bone ,sounds as if he might need some good muscle rub ,i hope he feels less stiff tomorrow .

I hope Jane's tests all went well today so she's all set for Tuesday <3

Mel that fan looks a handy little thing to have i'm sre it will come in very handy for Jane .

Well i wonder where Ros's nail has gone ,hopefully it will turn up and it's not inside her still :-0 perhaps it came out when she slept ,she'll be finding it in the bed .

Very sad about Gary Rhodes i use to like watching him cook ,i see Clive James has gone too .

The Drum is a noisy Tin one Vera :-D :-D i did spot it when we went to sons today so it hasn't been hidden yet :-D

That was good you noticed the lights were off Gill before they all fused and went off completely .
Hope there's no more trouble with the net ,it does sound as if they are having problems with it if they have been working on it all that time .

AnnG we like to eat in Wetherspoons too ,son likes the Curry day .

Found this Gill if it's any help
Free Access | British Newspaper Archive
www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/content/free_access
While you are within this library/authority premises, you will have unlimited access to the millions of scanned pages of newspapers that the British Newspaper Archive site holds. To view pages from the archive, you'll need to register (for free) and be signed in to the service.

Have you tried putting their names and the area it happened in the search bar ,you might strike lucky .

Gill I had to dash out before I finished reading the posts earlier so didn't see all of your post. Fancy you missing my star I sent you before! lol It must have got put away before you opened it. Maybe you thanked me for the parcel as I don't remember thinking you were rude. At least it means you got an extra surprise this year! :-D :-D I bet Sandra couldn't wait to have it on her tree as it would go nicely being PINK!

I used to buy credits for FMP with the newspapers on, but you have to subscribe for at least a month now and remember to turn 'autorenewal' off or they keep billing you every month, so I'm waiting till I have a few things to look up to make it worthwhile.

OOps just seen Mandy's post with a better idea as it's free.......I will take a look as well, so thanks Mandy

Ann I don't think I saw the tree dressing Kirstie. I wonder if I saw last years!!!!

Watch this little lad play the drums on youtube he is 3 years old.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYLQytuZ4KA