General Chat

I don't feel too good this evening and am not wanting any dinner. We had homemade soup for lunch and that seems to have filled me up for the rest of the day. I bought some BIG scones up the shop this morning when I went to the post van so we are having those tonight. I may be able to manage one and oh says he's not too hungry either so nice and easy.

What are you doing at beading tomorrow Ann?

where is our Gill today? Buried in the family tree perhaps........ hope she is ok.

I was a bit 'iffy' after lunch yesterday Mel and didn't want anything to eat later and just felt very tired. I'd had a slight headache for a day or two so think t was a bug. I felt much better today and hope you feel better tomorrow. I might carry on with a pink and blue necklace I've been doing the last 2 weeks, but have taken a cabochon and might make a case for instead.

I've finished my little painting so have sent a pic. It's based on a photo I took a few years ago of an old tree and the monument on Bradgate Park.

Yes I hope Gill is ok too and noticed she wasn't on here today.

As a child I remember sitting in the school classroom, one of Miss Brown's pupils.

Another teacher came into the classroom and whispered into Miss Brown's ear.

Miss Brown began to cry, then she composed herself and looked at her pupils and

said "The King is dead". Then all the pupils burst into tears.

My first association of tears with death.

Morning all

Very dark and cloudy it looks like it's trying to rain. We had a lovey red sky first thing which means bad weather for the day.

I thought I'd posted yesterday, sorry to worry everyone, I'm okay I was just very busy.

I assume your PM means you've posted the purse clip Mel. At first I thought you'd emailed something to me or posted something on the thread. I guess I wasn't awake enough for it to register properly with me. I'll let Sandra know when she wakes up. Thank you. How are you feeling today, better I hope?

Sandra knee is better now Ann, it healed quicker than I thought it would which is good. We still don't know what she did to sprain it as she was okay on Christmas Eve then woke up in a lot of pain Christmas Day. She must of slept funny on it in the night. At least she's okay now so that's the main thing. I love your painting, you are so clever, I wouldn't know where to start. I've been watching a programme on portrait artists on Sky Art, it's really good, have you seen it? Pleased to see you're feeling better now after a rough couple of days. I hope your car is okay.

Oh I see AnnG, it looked just like rope, lovely photo though as are all the ones you take. I was thinking you could use the photo of the ceiling off your blog to.

Thinking of Jane and hoping she's not feeling to bad. Sending hugs Jane. <3 <3

Morning all,

Still have a bit of an eye ache sort of head and am not feeling 100% but on we go. I feel like someone has got clamps round my eyeballs and is pulling on them.

Ann picture is great is'nt it and she gets such detail in all her pictures. I just love the oak leaves on the bit of the tree that is alive. It reminds me of the very old oak in Shebbear which has the Devil Stone under it which the bell ringers turn each year on November the 5th. In our younger days we took part in that.

I see David has popped in with a memory. That is something you would'nt forget.

Yes Gill it went yesterday morning first class so should arrive today hopefully.

The man is back over the back cutting more trees down so its begining to look quite tidy over there. It should let more winter sun in on our solar panels as they don't get much when the sun is low in the sky with those tall trees there and with them being so thick.

Another dark and gloomy day today and we need the light on to see properly. When o when are we going to get a bit of the yellow stuff?

Morning Gill,Mel and all,

Brightish sort of morning here the sun's trying it's best to pop through the cloud ,I've been out in the garden to do a bit ,just picked a few dead bits off the garden and had a look at the roses ,there are seven buds to flower and there's even a bud on the poppy ready to open .

Ann that painting is really lovely as Mel said you get so much detail in them ,the tree and the dry stone wall every thing just right ,well done I wish I could paint like that .

Not like you to feel a bit off Mel I hope you soon feel better .

Frank not a good day for you yesterday with your memories of your family ,hope today you'll feel a little better.

Hope Jane is starting to feel better too <3

Coffee time now I'd better give Colin a shout that it's ready ,he's pressure washing again.

Morning all

I am feeling a little brighter today. I had a better night, though my head is still a bit woozy and I still feel very tired and don’t want to do very much.

Sorry to hear you are not 100% either Mel. Take care and rest up today if you can.

Your painting is so good Ann. I can almost feel the bark on that tree. When I see all the beautiful things my friends on here and my local friends make I am full of admiration but sometimes it depresses me as I appear to have no talents at all. No wonder I was allocated to the Latin group at school. 6 years of Latin and other academic subjects but I still can’t cut a straight line in a bit of paper.

AnninG, I haven’t forgotten your photos of textures. I need to look at them on the PC and at the moment I am only using the iPad but I will have a look soon. Has your grandson’s trip to Beijing been put off for the time being?

I hope Jane feels able to post soon, just to let us know how she is. I hope you are not feeling too ropey Jane. We’re all thinking of you <3

Good to have another memory from you David. You got me thinking back and I couldn’t remember being told at school that the king had died, even though I am a little older than you. I just remember the newspaper headlines. A memory I do have from around that time was the whole school being taken to a local cinema to see the film of the conquest of Everest.

Daughter is arriving at 5.30 pm to drive us to Cambridge where granddaughter is involved in a production at the Mumford theatre there. It’s called The Children’s Monologues. These were written by well-known authors such as Sir Tom Stoppard and have been performed by some pretty well known actors. They are based on the testimony of children in deprived areas of South Africa and in Rwanda. Granddaughter has been asked to do two of the monologues. It’s in aid of a charity that works in those areas but so far they have only sold around 50 tickets and they are only asking a fiver for any seat in the theatre. I am pleased daughter is driving us, bless her. Picking us up takes her quite a bit out of her way and will add quite a bit of time to her journey so I am very grateful.

Well, I had better put our lunch on to heat and go and have a quick shower. I did a big stew last night so there is plenty left to reheat for lunch, then we will have a quick sandwich just before daughter comes.

Pleased you are feeling better Ann. As I said in my email I love the painting I see now that you have said on here where it is. You are very talented and the more I look at it, the more it reminds me of The magic Faraway Tree.

Mel hope you feel completely better soon.

Mandy Is it a big area that your OH is pressure washing. I expect mine will be doing the same soon. I don't look forward to it because where he washes is quite close to the house and conservatory so the resultant splashes are all over the place.

Gill Pleased you are OK, I wondered where you were. Pleased to hear that Sandra's knee is better now, so it was just a minor sprain thank goodness.
I only need two photos of easch project/subject so already have quite a few to choose from, might use the ceiling yes, although we are supposed to take them post the subject being given.

We just called round to the charity shop with a large box of cookery books and some hard back fiction books. I used to collect cookery books but find I rarely use them now and when I do want to find something invariably it is not in any of the books I have. For anyone who likes them I took round some lovely hard backed ones with lovely illustrations so I hope they sell.

OH has now called round to the golf club to take back a trolley he was fixing for one of his mates. I think they must think of him as Mr Fixit as he is always mending something for them from phones to lap tops to golf trolleys.

David, sorry, I forgot to add that is a sad but historical memory. Although I do remember him dying. I don't remember any announcement in class.

Missed you there Vera so now there are three in a row from me. Pleased that you are feeling a little better each day, hope the 'wooziness' goes soon because that is horrible.
Don't worry about the photos, plenty of time to look at them they are not going anywhere.
I am sure if your many friends were asked they would say you have talents albeit not craft type. Look at how you organise get-togethers and I am sure that you cook food for those. And the fact that you have such a large circle of friends is testament to your talent of getting along with people. You also garden and have organised a new garden since you moved there. Oh and you look after (and organise) your lovely OH. You are kind, (that comes over on here) you are a people person. You don't need to be doing crafty things.

Having said that I do wish I could paint as well as Annx. Well actually I wish I could paint.

enjoy your Granddaughters show and yes, how good of your daughter to pick you up.

Just off the road where I was born and spent my first 12 years was Howe Funeral

Directors. Hearses in and out regularly, made no impression until my Grand

Father died moments after being discharged from Hospital. My Mother was

beside herself with grief. Had a big impact on us all.

I feel flat this afternoon and don't want to do anything. I was going to clean the chickens out but it started raining so thats gone out of the window.

I had a little paint of my small dragon this morning but the light is so low its not good to paint by and I wnat to get this right.

Vera your craft is your cooking and the garden as others have said its still craft. Jane is cooking lovely meals for her family. You mix with lots of diffent people and go out together here and there. We only ever go out together when we go to the doctors!!!! Living behind a tall stone wall we hardly see anyone unless we venture forth.

I don't remember the king dying but I do remember going to london to see the queen with mum and dad and lying across laps in the back of the car. We did see them drive past and I could only have been about 4 but I remember the appallets in gold on the Dukes jacket or whatever you call it. He also had a peeked hat on too.

Yes the Duke would have been wearing a peaked cap an gold epaulettes as a Royal Naval officer. I remember seeing him in Fareham when they visited and I thought he was very handsome.

Awful when you feel flat and down for no reason isn't it Mel, and bored as well probably. I had an afternoon when I couldn't be bothered to make any cards, yesterday I made 6. No reason why today should be different except it is cold and grey and now wet again. I did a load of washing but that is all I have really done today.

The King's Doctor knw the King was dying but delayed the announcement of his

passing until the small hours.

Perhaps to make the morning head lines ? Who knows ?

A remarkable woman our Sovereign Queen Elizabeth II

She has outlasted several US Presidents and UK Prime Ministers

not to mention a few Popes.

Afternoon All,

Yes it's a glum sort of day today and we had a squally shower while we were beading this morning. Three of us decided to bead around our cabachons today and all of us went wrong at some point and were undoing things again and had little to show for our efforts! One of my friends had made a couple of sweet little cat faces with the relief wool felted onto them. She is doing them as brooches and she has given them whiskers and is giving them collars and bells too.

I'm glad you all like my latest painting effort. Doing the fine detail does take concentration as you can soon spoil what you have spent ages doing, but it is the bit I enjoy, like the icing on the cake I suppose. Like Mel says, these dark days don't help and neither do the cataracts I have. It's a lovely old deer park where I took the photo I used and was the home of Lady Jane Grey where the ruined house still stands. I will see if I can dig out some old photos to send to those of you who haven't seen them.

Mel you sound just like I was with the aching round the eyes too and having no energy. Hope you soon feel better again.

Vera you do have many talents as the others say. Your sense of humour comes across in the great way you write things for a start! AnnG is right in saying you are a good organiser too as I know I would be stressed doing that for bigger groups.I wouldn't have been as calm as you sorting out your return from your holiday last year either! I don't think that those of us that are supposed to have talent are very much aware of it in ourselves as I know I am my worst critic and always feel I could do better! You are out and about a lot like Mel says too. I hope you enjoy the Monologues and yes your daughter is kind to go out of her way to pick you up.

That's good Sadra's knee is better Gill. As you say she must have slept funny that night. Perhaps she was helping pull Santa's sleigh in her dreams! lol. Yes I have been watching Portrait Artist of the Year too. They all go about things so differently though it is hard to pick up any tips!

I can't remember hearing about the king dying either. I do remember having a plastic model of the Coronation coach and horses though, but suspect I didn't know it was a model of something real at the time. Unlike Mel who saw the real thing!

David has got me thinking what my very first memory is and I think it must be of gripping the tablecloth to pull myself up to see what was on the table. I wonder why we can't remember things from when we were babies?

Probably because we did'nt know anything about life then Ann.

I can remember my dad having my pram up the garden on his big water tank he kept his sand in. I was so upset and thought he was going to throw it away. Mum told me he was just oiling it so the wheels did'nt squeak but I think it was having an overhaul for being passed on to someone else. Also my carry cot which was cream and mum had it inthe hall and had washed it all down and dried it and I tried to get in it but did'nt really fit anymore.

The other thing I can remember was standing in the back of the car while dad was driving somewhere and I told him I wanted a wee. He told me to hold on as we were nearly there but of course I wet myself. I hated that as I was dressed in a bright red wool siren suit that zipped up to your neck and the material was so rough on my legs.

Making sheep sh*t pie for dinner. Just waiting for the tatoes to boil and I must do the cabbage to go with it. I have a savoy this week. Nice and big so enough for us and the chickens. I have cooked the peeling up for the big girls tomorrow.

Had four eggs again today. Not sure if Em will want any this week as she had'nt done a lot of baking and already had a dozen and a half when I took he another dozen ans a half last week. She did say she would give some to her mum.

Just heard on the news there are 83 people from China that have possibly been in contact with the coronavirus who are going to be under quarantine in our local Hospital (Arrowe Park Hospital) which is only around the corner from us. That's a lot of people. The reason they're coming here is because they have the accommodation for them in the hospital grounds, (two blocks of flats) the old nurses accommodation and also it's close to Liverpool hospital which can take in anyone who shows signs of the virus. I hope we don't end up with an outbreak around here, it's quite concerning isn't it?

Interesting to read your recollections regarding the King's death.

I remember being in infants school and we were listening / moving to a radio programme maybe called Music and Movement or similar. We were ready for miming the next action, when there was an announcement that the king had died. I don't remember what happened after that, but I think our programme stopped and we went back to other lessons.

A dismal day here with very fine drizzle. Not really cold, but no sun to warm us.