General Chat

Just opened up the shed to get the ring out and there was a huge bumble bee in there not looking very happy so I put it out on a pot of soil.

Message for Sandra. Thank you so much for our card I Love it especially the snowman on the front and because it is red it will stand out from all our other cards.

Gill well it arrived, you might just have well have put a second class stamp on this time of year, I don't think they even sort them. Anyway it is here so Samdra can relax now.

Quite bright and sunny but very cold here today. We have been to Dobbies garden centre as they have 20% off everything for plus card members and an extra two free cups of coffee for this month. I did manage to get a couple of stocking filler presents for one Grandson so that was useful, they are quite difficult to buy small presents for these days (late 20s/early 30s). There was a lot of traffic on the M5 so was pleased we only travel between two junctions.

Mel, Aawe poor bee, do they hibernate? will have to google that one.

Thanks for letting us know about Frank hopefully he will be 'live' again soon, he will be lost without the net.

Jane, if you look in, thank you for our card, hope you are feeling OKish today <3 <3

Afternoon all ,

Lovely sunshine here too ,it's nice to see blue sky with all the trails from the planes going over ,i wonder some times where they are all going .

Thank you for your card Jane that came this morning, i hope your feeling a little better today ,i must get my cards sorted out over the weekend to post on monday .
Oh the poor old Bee Mel i wonder if you disturbed him in the shed perhaps he had tucked his self away and you moved some thing which made him come out to see what was going on .
Thanks for letting us know about Frank , we would have wondered if there was some thing wrong if he didn't post .

We're off to Katie's birthday tea later ,i carn't believe she's 10 ,she's really growing up fast .

No i didn't get any decorations up yesterday and we've been out this morning so i'll probably get going with them tomorrow .

Afternoon all

I did smile when you were describing your OH like a dripping tap with the clicking noise in his sleep, my OH used to be like that, thankfully it hasn't happened for a while, let's hope I haven't jinxed it now lol ;-) ;-) Pleased to see you manage 6 hours of sleep in the end.

Thank you Jane for your lovely Christmas card, it arrived this morning and has taken pride of place in the middle of all the others.

Poor Frank, let's hope he has the Internet back soon so he can join in the chat with us all. Thanks Mel for letting us know. Fancy a bumble bee flying around at this time of the year, it must of been quite warm in your shed.

Has your Christmas card off Sandra arrived yet AnnG? She has just asked me to ask you.

Still feeling a bit under the weather but not as bad as I've felt the last few days, so that's good. OH and Sandra are starting to feel a little better to, so with a bit of luck we'll all be okay in time for Christmas. OH rang his mum this morning to let her know we won't see her until we'll all feeling better as we don't want to pass anything onto her. He didn't want her worrying why we hadn't been to visit. Hopefully we'll be able to visit her again next week.

I missed this page of messages.

Sandra's pleased your card has arrived AnnG, she was going to make you another one today if it hadn't. I was thinking about sending cards 2nd class in future as they don't all arrive within the day they're suppose to on a 1st class. I have so many to post it would be cheaper to and because I post them so early everyone would still have them in time for Christmas as well.

<3 <3 <3 HAPPY 10TH BIRTHDAY TO KATIE <3 <3 <3

I hope she has a lovely day Mandy. How did you get on with making the cake? I'd love to see a pic if you took one. It sounds like you're going to be busy sorting out all your decorations when you have some free time to do them. I tried putting some lights on my garland this morning, but I didn't have enough so had to put them away again. Never mind, it looks really Christmassy already in here so they won't be missed.

Love all your pictures Mel, you made a lot of things in the end didn't you?

I have a question to ask.......?

Why do they keep making the same old fashioned films with different actors in?

Now we have Little Women in cinemas at Christmas. I am sure there are many other old fashioned stories that could be adapted to films instead of giving us the same old ones.

My coat has just arrived oh is buying me for Christmas and he said to try it on to make sure it fits ok and I opened it and it is rose coloured instead of Mauve. I had another look at the catalogue and they only do Mauve in the shorter length and not the blackberry. The mauve is a rose colour to me so I am sending it back and having a black one instead. It did fit ok only the sleeves were a bit long but I don't mind that as on cold days I can put my hands up inside the sleeves. I am a bit disappointed though.

Mel I forgot to thank you for the photos, the stall looked good but the room looked empty. The wreaths were nice as well. shame about the coat, I couldn't make out whether you had ordered mauve and they had sent rose was that right. And now it has to be black? Was that why you were disappointed? Good job you opened it anyway.

Gill yes 2nd class would save you quite a bit of money.

Happy birthday to Katie. Hope you enjoyed the birthday tea Mandy.

Afternoon All,

The sun keeps trying and failing to appear today but at least it's dry. I slept well again too. I think it's helping with me insisting I go to bed early instead of watching so much tv with OH. When he did all the travelling in his job and had to be up really early we would be in bed by 9.00pm and I think it suits my body clock better. Oh Vera it sounds like you were sleeping with a noisy, clicking Cricket last night!! :-D :-D At least you could escape to somewhere quieter!

Thank you for your pretty card Jane and I hope you feel a bit better today. Just curl up with Thomas if he isn't off hunting!

Thanks for letting us know about Frank's Computer problem Mel. I expect he is fed up not being able to go on line now. At least we know he is ok. That's good the other lady hadn't pinched your ideas and I look forward to seeing some pics if you get some sent to you. You are doing well with your wreaths, but it does sound like the Bumble bee got disturbed. I seem to remember a group called B Bumble and the Stingers?

Gill it will be good to have those kits to try out some new things once you have a bit of time. They say learning new things helps our brains stay young! I'm glad you are all feeling a bit better. We were going hot then cold with feverishness too. You can't beat a nice hot water bottle and we use them too!

Ten years old Mandy!!! Surely not it doesn't seem that long since she was born! Did you make her a cake and what sort was it if you did?

Something that's been going around my head..........who was it that used to say 'I've arrived and to prove it I'm here?'

My Mum Ann but I don't know where she got it from. However it must have originated in the40s/50s for her to say it.

What a disappointment with your coat Mel, I hope the black one is okay and doesn't take to long to arrive. I smiled when you mentioned the length of the sleeves and what you did with your hands, I do the same thing on coats that don't have an elastic wrist. ;-) ;-)

I also smiled at the comment you told us about Ann. I've never heard it before.....what a funny saying. :-D :-D :-D Mandy was making a chocolate cake for Katie's birthday with a Harry Potter topper and M&M's around the sides. It's sounds delicious.
Yes, I have quite a few different kits now and am looking forward to doing some of them soon. I also have a few more coming my way on Christmas Day.

Yes, I had a shock at the price of the stamps AnnG, so will be using 2nd class ones, once the rest of the 1st class stamps have been used. I loved your comment back to Ann about it being your mum who had said that saying.......I wondered when Ann had met your mum lol :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D

Thinking of Jane today and hoping she's feeling a little better. <3 <3 <3

Very quick post - it was Max Bygraves :-). Gill, you are far too young to remember but it was his catch phrase.

Good point Mel. I suppose it's because people like their old favourite stories and new versions can give a different slant on things. I still love the old production of Oliver with the wonderful Ron Moody and his dance! :-D You had plenty of things on your stall and there was easily room for you wasn't there. What a shame about the coat and isn't it silly when they do different lengths but not in all the colours.

Thank you Gill, I had forgotten already that Mandy had told us about the cake for Katie. I think she usually asks for a chocolate cake and it sounds very nice.
<3 <3HAPPY BIRTHDAY KATIE <3 <3

Thank you Vera, Max Bygraves it was! :-D :-D

Today I've been doing more dusting in the hall, tidying a bedroom, cleaning some of my shoes and have hoovered my car inside as it really needed it. I also went outside to empty the water out of some trays of plants that should have been planted out.

I've told OH we need to get the patio and path jetwashed this coming week. He will get the washer out for me but I expect it will be me that does it as he isn't patient enough to do it properly and will rush it as he still has plenty of work to catch up on. He agrees as we don't want the window cleaner to slip and hurt himself. We have told him twice not to climb over the fence if the gate is locked but he ignores us, otherwise I would lock the gate till we have done it :-S

Off to watch more Kirstie recordings now.

2 Yes Vera it was on Educating Archie and the other one was "That's a good idea son"
I think they recorded two songs as well.

Not got much done today. I did start and finish an arrangement with a candle in it and started a Nordic gnome but only a little one this year and Kim who has had them the past two years is moving and I hav'nt heard from her as to whether she wants one this year. Might keep this one for myself. That'll make a change.

Thanks for the lovely card Jane with the sparkles on it. Had four cards today so I must really find my string of bobbles to hang them on now.

Morning all

Sun is out but it's very windy and not very warm.

I've woken with a headache so have taken a painkiller and will relax once I've sent this post until it's gone. My throat is a lot better so that's good, I might be able to eat properly now. I've lost some weight with not being able to eat for so long. All I had yesterday was a pot noodle and two slices of toast all day, no wonder I feel tired all the time.

So it was Max Bygraves Vera. I remember him from childhood, but didn't remember his catch phrase.

You said you didn't do much, but it sounds like you did quite a lot yesterday with your arrangement with the candles in and making a start on your Nordic gnome Mel. I had another go at OH's tree yesterday and managed to find a few more people. I'm still plodding on with it in the hope I have everyone copied over from the tree match before Christmas. I hope it's just the part I'm on I haven't copied over and there isn't anymore I've missed. It's been a long process as I started in April. Once it's copied over I'm going to have a break and take a look at some of the craft kits I've got, I'm looking forward to that.

I hope Frank can get back on here today, it's not nice when you haven't got the Internet, you don't realise how much you go on it until it's not available anymore.

Sandra likes Oliver Twist to Ann and watches it every year, I like Scrooge with Albert Finney, that's my favourite and Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without it. Sandra always keeps an eye out for those two films and lets us know when they're on. We're buying the Christmas TV magazine next week so Sandra will do her usual thing and sit down with it, circling everything she thinks we'd like to watch, then letting us know when they're on. She's very organised isn't she? lol :-D :-D
Good idea to jet wash your patio, OH did ours a few weeks ago and then the little bit that needed doing when we moved one of our large plants over, so it's not slippy anymore. Your window cleaner is naughty climbing over your gate, especially when you've asked him more than once not to do it. I hope he doesn't break it.

Going to get a cuppa and have a break from the computer screen until my headache has gone. It's very dark here, so I expect we're in for some rain as it's gone very cloudy and the sun has gone completely now.

Morning Gill and all,

I went to bed at 12am last night as I could'nt keep my eyes open watching a bit of telly. Woke at 20 to 7 and then slept till 10.25am so you could say I have recharged my batteries.

Dull and dreary here today and theres a wind too so not very nice to be outside but I shall venture out to the shed later on. I did some tidying up yesterday and can nearly see my desk top now!!!!!! Been putitng craft stuff away. I never realize just how much I get out to do these projects but if I keep putting things away I can't find them when I want them. Oh is buying me some more deep A4 plastic boxes for Christmas as I can stack those in a book shelf with labels on the fronts so can find things when I want them.

Enough of me how are you others this morning?

Hope Jane rested and not feeling to uncomfortable after the treatment last week. I can't remember when she said she has the next lot, is it this week again?

Thinking of you Jane and thanks for the lovley card with the diamontes on xxx. <3 <3 <3

Good afternoon Mel, Gill and all. It has been sunny here but is starting to cloud over now, it is also quite windy. We drove out for coffee to one of the smaller Garden centres forgetting it was Father Christmas and live reindeer day so it was very busy. They also do Sunday lunch and really annoy people who just want coffee by laying up all the tables for lunch (all reserved) at 10am so there are at busy times like now hardly any tables for those who want just coffee or breakfast etc. As some of the people lunching are probably not due until 1pm it is just done for the convenience of the staff. Our fault really, we actually wanted something from them but have stopped going there on Sundays. However, we don't really have a free day during the coming week.
We got the piece of trellis we wanted anyway and it is now up in the garden so that is done.

Afternoon All,

What a windy night!! It kept me awake for a while but once asleep I had another good night and woke at 8.00am. We had pork chops at home today as it would be so busy everywhere and I cleaned the bathroom except the floor after my shower. OH helped do the veg and washed up what doesn't go in the dishwasher so that helped. He also emptied the hoovers.

I know what you mean AnnG about setting tables out so early. We have said we will be away by 1.00pm when we've gone for lunch sometimes where they have already had most tables reserved and they have let us use one. What annoys me is our nearest Dobbies! They have a large restaurant but by 3.00pm they fence most of it off so you have to sit cheek by jowl with other diners.It's also done for the staff's benefit but it's a nuisance when you deliberately go later to avoid queues and sitting on top of one another! :-S It's good you got your trellis though and have put it up.

Mel that was a good sleep, but you must have needed it. I am the same and trying to tidy up my papers and put some craft stuff away. My beads are all boxed, labelled and stored on tall narrow bookcase things designed for cd storage, but I need to get the trolley box I mentioned before to keep my wool, fabrics and trimmings in. The washer is on now and it's filing more papers away for me now.

I've been trying to check my tax code is right, but it's almost impossible since they stopped building societies and savings providers deducting the tax from interest before paying it. They have changed my tax code 3 times in as many months but with no proper explanation.

Where is everyone??????

Glad you got your trellis you wanted anyway AnnG even if it was very busy. I just love to see the childrens faces at Christmas time all lit up in smiles or really miserable cos they can't have what they want.

Hav'nt done anything much this morning. I did put a bit more on the nordic gnome but really need to do a bit more wiring for the last two rings.

It came over really dark with a mauve sky this morning and then it fell out of the sky. Five mins later the sun was out and the sky was blue with white little clouds.

It has lashed down here this afternoon. I have been present wrapping, I always have a lot to wrap as family members tend to get a carrier bag full of smaller presents rather than one large one, although the younger generation also get some cash!

We are never at the garden centres late Ann as the traffic round here at that time of day would be horrendous, dobbies is down the M5 so not a good journey to do too often, OK mid morning usually but I have seen garden centres in other areas roped off after cleaning (for the staff benefit I am sure). Not likely to encourage customers though.
Most of the children today were hyper excited and running wild round the place and one was paddying because he couldn't have whatever it was he wanted and he kept it up all round the garden centre.

We have roast chicken this evening, another hour before it goes in the oven. I wonder if anyone else does their veg as I do. Lunch time I steam whatever veg we have like french beans, cabbage, carrots, sprouts or cabbage etc until it is almost ready. I then put it into dishes and, just before I serve up I put the dishes in the microwave for a few minutes. It saves me the last minute hassle of cooking it and always tastes exactly as if it has just been cooked.

Ooh Ann should I be checking my tax code. It doesn't have many changes, can't remember the last one but it seems about right, spent so many years working out salaries etc that I can't even now remember how to check it.

wonder if Gill got rid of her headache? Hope so.

Jane if you look in hope you are feeling okish. <3 <3

Afternoon all

We woke up to wet weather again today but the rain stopped mid morning and the sun came out for a while. It was windy during the night and it really seems to be picking up again now.

Mel, I forgot to say thanks for the photos of your stall. You've made quite a lot of stuff and it all looked colourful but there didn't seem to be many people around, which is a great shame. What a pity you didn't get the coat you wanted. It's really annoying when they limit the range like that. I find the same with shoes. I really need a wider fitting. There will be a style I like in a range of colours but they will all be a standard fitting. They will only do the wider ones in black or brown :-|

I am glad your throat is feeling a bit better now Gill and hope you have managed to get rid of your headache. In an earlier post you were talking about stamps. I rarely use 1st class. If you are sending a lot of things, like Christmas cards, buying 1st class makes it even more expensive and doesn't seem to make much difference to the time the letters take to be delivered. You also asked if I had seen granddaughter's film yet. No, there's a lot of work to be done on it yet. Seven hours of filming will go through several days of editing to eventually produce 3 or 4 minutes of film. You can see why some of these big major cinema films cost so much to produce.

I am feeling very proud of granddaughter at the moment. She has turned down the secondary schools Romeo and Juliet production which was being done in March, and with it her chance to go to the Edinburgh Fringe. The reason is that it comes when all the final assessments for the students' degrees are being made. A lot of their projects have to be done in twos or threes and she works a lot with the Lithuanian boy who did the camera work for her on Friday. She said if she couldn't give her best on joint projects because she had other commitments, then his marks might suffer and that just wasn't fair in her eyes, so she has said "no" to her offer. I thought that showed a lot of loyalty to her friend and some self-sacrifice too as she would have earned a fair bit of money and points towards her equity card.

We had roast chicken today as well AnnG. We had ours just after 2 pm. I do mostly steam my veg and had never thought of doing them a bit in advance like you. I might give it a try some time.

Jane, I hope you are feeling reasonably good and are able to rest. Thank you very much for your card which arrived yesterday. It's much appreciated.

I have at last managed to get mine written so they will go in the post tomorrow and you should all receive them in due course. If you get one that looks as if I have had a glass or three too many, it's because I have something which my doctor called "intention tremor", though I think it has other names. I can be fine one minute, go to do something and my hand or hands will start shaking. It's not serious and there is nothing to be done about it, but it is very annoying particularly when I am trying to control the journey of a wine glass from table to mouth ;-)

OH is watching snooker, though I suspect he may be having 40 winks. I'm going to go and tell him he can't watch snooker all evening as I want to see "Elisabeth is Missing" tonight. I don't watch a lot of telly and he definitely has control of the remote so I don't think he'll begrudge me one programme. I think I might just make a cuppa for him and put him in the right mood first.