General Chat

Mandy I was thinking about Blue Bag but when I have used it in the past it made things look worse not better.

Your poor niece Jane I was only thinking about them yesterday and thought we had'nt heard from you so perhaps she was ok. What dreadful havoc this rain is causing and so many families have their homes destroyed my heart bleeds for them. I just wish this rotten weather would stop and we could have some dry days to give the water time to go down but its done its damage now.

I tried hand bell ringing a few times but stuck to bell ringing in the end. Oh and I both did it with our friends. Aunty Joan had bought a new set of hand bells but she came from a whole family of ringers. Aunty Joan has since died and her funeral was in a cathedrel and so many people went there were 100's there. Oh went but I had to stay to look after mum.

Morning All,

Well I slept a better last night but have been awake since 5.30am. I think that is because I have to be out early this morning though.

Is the blue bag what used to be called 'dolly blue?' I remember mum using it. I wondered if that net curtain whitener you can buy would work on towels too.

Frank I hope your neighbour will compensate Ros for the plants and trees his fence has destroyed. She works so hard to make your garden look lovely.

Just been looking at the floods on the news and more rain they describe as intense is due so things look like getting worse. Wales seems to be hardest hit.

Well I may as well stir my stumps now I am awake and go and get a cuppa.

Morning Ann, morning all

Glad you slept a bit better last night Ann, though you were awake very early. I didn’t do so well last night. First I was hot, then I was cold, then I kept drifting in and out of stupid dreams. My back is really giving me gyp this morning and the last thing I feel like is going out to lunch and then having loads of ladies back here. If it was just me affected I would cancel it but it’s not fair on the others to do that. Oh well, onward and upward.

Mel, I do wash the towels on the highest temperatiure on my washing machine but they don’t actually boil. Can you still buy dolly blue? I had wondered about the whitener for nets. I have never used it as I don’t have nets but I could always try it on one towel first and see what it does. I’ll have a look for it next time I am shopping.

Son thinks he has worked out his flooding problem. He has a big old house and at some point a previous owner put up a garage. It’s absolutely useless as the drive hasn’t been extended round to it :-S. Anyway son is sure that the garage was never put on a proper foundation and when there are excessive amounts of rain the water gets under the garage and from there into his cellar. He was going to take the garage down this summer anyway so he should be able to sort it out then.

I hope you are feeling a bit better today Jane.

Must go and get on. I need to clean the downstairs toilet and then have a shower. My friend is coming round in a while with cakes for this afternoon and I also have to whip some cream and decorate a trifle I made last night.

Have a good day everyone.

Good morning all. A grey very cold day here this morning. OH went out to feed the birds and came in frozen.

good you had a better night Ann but up early! I was awake and dozing at that time didn't get up until after 0800.

we are just pottering this morning as we have the monthly U3A meeting this afternoon.

Mandy the bath mat I have just bought says it is quick drying so we shall see. I tend not to make ours very wett. Our shower is over the bath so I semi dry off while still in the bath. OH soaks everything in sight whether shaving or showering. Fortunately he clears up after himself.

My Mum always used dolly blue bags. And the old mill where our Lake District timeshare was was once the dolly blue mill and you can still see splashes of blue impregnated in the walls.

Mel I think hand bell ringing must be very difficult to get the right bell in at the right time.

Vera, have a lovely day and hope that your back doesn't spoil it for you. It is a shame it is going on for so long.

We saw the floods by Jane's niece's house on our news last night, hope it has not risen any higher today as it was dangerously close to getting in the houses. Just notices the A38 not far from us is closed, can't remember the last time that flooded.

Morning Girls and Frank,

Dry here at the mo but the sky is grey and there is a little wind. Oh told me yesterday we have this weather until the middle of March I think he said. There certainly seems no let up. I think its getting everyone down now and the poor people in the floods must be at breaking point.

Pastys for lunch today so I am going to try and get in on my tables and make something. I am getting withdrawal symtoms as I hav'nt done any craft for over a week now.

Vera I hope the afternoon is not too tiring for you after a bad night and hope you sleep better tonight.

You too Ann you were up early again. Just have a day when you don't have to go out and you can have a nice lie in.

Hope Frank is feeling better this morning and goes to see the doc again and tell her whats going on with him.

No gill yesterday and so far today hope she is OK.

Done one lot of washing this morning but its not drying on the line. Then hoovered the kitchen and dining area and the hall and the little loo.

Had lunch and now I am going to venture out to feed the birds and corn the chickens and bantams and then I am going to play..................

Fish and chips night so I don't have to cook.

I did one load of washing this morning and dried it in the drier. It would have been too dampt to put outside.

the talk this afternoon was about The Vale Animal centre near Evesham. how the Vale began in the back garden of an ordinary semi in 1984 and how it has grown since.

It is now a quite large purpose built animal centre and hospital dealing with all sorts of wild animals and birds. It was a very professionally given talk with slides and videos and was very interesting. Our U3A membership has grown tremendously Our numbers are 69 and 70 and I think they are now up around 300. They had to get out extra chairs as they ran out. Luckily because of my hearing problem we get seats saved in the front..

Good afternoon all, Sorry I am so late. Been busy doing nothing. lol lol

Didn't bother with the Dr, as I am feeling a lot better today, apart from my finger. Nail turning BLACK and very painful to touch.

I slept like a log last night, in bed by 9.30. Got our at 4.00 am as usual then slept until 8,00 am. Had a fried Egg sarnie this morning, first one since I think I was in the RAF 1958. I did enjoy it with Tomato sauce. Scampi and chips tonight, so nice and easy.

Yes the weather has been very bad for some. We always seem to get away with it where we are.

I was wondering why I never saw Gill posting, I hope everything is alright with Sandra.

"DOLLY BLUE BAG" was aways used by my Mum. She would fill the Belfast sink with COLD WATER, and leave the sheets to soak with the bag. Then through the Mangle, ad on the line for a good blow. My, what a lovely smell came from them when they were dry. Something I will never forget.

It's Peeing with rain at the moment, not that it bothers us, as we won't be going anywhere.

Take care of yourselves, I will see you tomorrow.

Laundry Blue
Bluing, Reckitt's blue bags, Dolly Blue

long washing line with white clothing and towels Before we had modern laundry detergents with optical brighteners, there was a mysterious little blue bag which was stirred around in the final rinse water on washday. This was laundry bluing or blue. A factory-produced block was the "modern" (mid-19th century onwards), commercial version of older recipes for whitening clothes, with names like stone blue, fig blue, or thumb blue. It disguised any hint of yellow and helped the household linen look whiter than white.

advertisement with woman hanging white washing on line near tub of blue water Until the mid-20th century Reckitt’s blue-bags were well-known in many countries, sold as penny cubes to be wrapped in flannel or muslin, or sold ready bagged. The product had various names over the years: Reckitt's Blue, Bag Blue, Paris Blue, Crown Blue, Laundry Blue, Dolly Bags. The main ingredients were synthetic ultramarine and baking soda, and the original "squares" weighed an ounce.

bagged and labelled cylinders Reckitt’s had been in the blue and starch business in Hull even before they started importing French ultramarine in the 1850s to make the new blue rinse additive at their English HQ. They built up a major international brand, with various lesser rivals, notably Mrs. Stewart's liquid bluing in the US, and Dolly Blue in the UK.

Reckitt's wanted people to know their blue was used in the royal laundries, and Victorian advertising in the UK carried a recommendation from the Prince of Wales' laundress.

Buy Reckitt's Paris Blue in squares and beware of imitations
wrapper for Reckitt's Paris blue
I have been laundress to the Prince of Wales for several years, and I consider Reckitt's Paris blue is the best I ever used, and is undoubtedly greatly superior to the old-fashioned thumb or dark blue.
Eliza Elder, April 12th, 1873

Price one penny the ounce
To be had of all respectable Grocers, Oilmen, and Druggists

This was such a cheap, widely-available source of ultramarine, that it was used in paint, dye, and ink across the world. It's been found in early 20th century clothing made by indigenous people in Quebec, and in the ink used in Coptic manuscripts in 1930s Egypt. Now it's sold for yet another purpose: providing the blue water for magical rituals from various Caribbean traditions.

where to buy laundry blue/bluing
Dolly Blue

dolly handle on muslin bag blue label By 1900 one brand of laundry blue from north-western England was packaged in little bags with a distinctive stick peeking out of the bundle. The stick-handle could be used to dip the blue in and out of the water, while also reminding people of a washing dolly or dolly-peg. Their advertising used cute girl dollies of course. The name Dolly Blue and the stick concept are part of the history of English law since the manufacturer, William Edge & Sons, fought two court cases in 1900 and 1911 in an effort to protect their brand. (These are still cited by English lawyers discussing intellectual property law etc.) Edge & Sons merged with Reckitt & Colman, but closed in 1968. Reckitt also acquired Robin Blue, now a leading "post-wash whitener" in India and Pakistan.
Stone blue, fig blue, blue starch - indigo & smalt

Before factory-made chemicals were available, clothes were whitened with blue derived from indigo, or from powdered blue smalt: ground glass containing cobalt. The indigo was processed, mixed with starch, and sometimes other additives, and formed into lumps. This was stone blue, or fig blue, or thumb blue. Other names which have been used for bluing whiteners include Mecklenburg blue and Queen's blue. Prussian blue, still an ingredient in at least one modern bluing liquid, was discovered in the early 18th century, and used on laundry long before synthetic ultramarine.

Powder blue was bought loose, by weight. Blue mixtures were often called "blue starch". Extra starch might be added, depending on what was being laundered. An 18th century housekeeping manual described a good method for white linens and cottons.

Glad you posted Frank and that you are feeling better after a good nights sleep.

I used Dolly blue when I was first married but then I used Persil and that got thing really white when I boiled my sons nappies each day. Persil used to go all gloopy if you only used a bit of water with it but they changed it and now its nothing like it used to be. They put all chalk and stuff in it now to bulk it out. It sets hard in our drains sometimes same as vim used to.

'We're busy doing nothing
Working the whole day through
Trying to to find lots of things not to do'

It about sums my day up too Frank! I still feel very tired today so it will be another early night for me I think. Glad you got a good night and hope you enjoyed your fried egg sarnie. :-) I used to love egg on fried bread as a child and still enjoy a soft boiled egg and lettuce sarnie.

I did a little bit of sewing at class today, but would have been quicker with a sharper needle, and watched how to do the peg weaving in case I want to try it in future, Three of us did our own thing instead today and 1 was wishing she had brought her applique to do as well. She showed me a pic of a lovely cushion cover she had appliqued with hearts and 'M U M' on it for her mother. We are making some felt bowls next time so I am looking forward to doing those.

Heavy rain here this afternoon so I left an errand I need to do till tomorrow. The local fields are still flooded but they had gone down a lot since yesterday. I expect the insurance companies are happy! I expect they will be redrawing the country's flood maps now new areas have been affected, which means more of us could start being charged more for our insurance. :-S

Hubby has been slowly catching up with some of his work and chasing up the hospital for the letter for his dentist that he's been waiting for since early December.

I stopped using bath mats years ago because they got soggy and were heavy and threw the washer about. Tumbletwist were the last ones I had in the 1990s. Since then I have just bought those towelling mats you get in hotels to stand on that are just a bit thicker than towels. They are easy to wash and dry. AnnG my OH is messy in the bathroom and even manages to get toothpaste on the mirrored cabinet doors which he doesn't clean off. All he does is wipe the condensation off the window.

He's still coughing in the night and is tired but managing to do a bit more now. I'd been getting him a COT most mornings but was in a hurry this morning. Then I heard this pathetic little voice coming from the bedroom asking me if I could bring him a COT. I better watch it or I'll be spoiling him and he'll have me doing this when he is properly better! :-)

Oh Vera it is horrid when you have to make an effort and can't let people down! You didn't even get a good sleep either. I hope you have coped ok with your visitors today and that your back has been a bit easier.

Mel I bet you have enjoyed sitting at your tables with all the space you have now. Yes I think I need a bit of a lie in and will do that tomorrow!

Forgot to say that Lancaster Football Club are called 'The Dolly Blues'. No prizes for guessing who told me that!

We have just been watching the news on TV Just been looking at the flooding not far from us at Longford. That is the road that we go on when we drive to the Beefeater via the back way. or go to town on the bus. The road from the roundabout near the Beefeater the A38 is badly flooded and they don‘T know if it has peaked yet. Last time it badly flooded there was 2014 Not sure if it is worse this time and we wonder if it is anything to do with the new estate built on the flood plain. Also further up the Severn at Worcester they have flood defence on the river. Is that pushing the water further down to us.
Sent from my iPad

On 19 Feb 2020, at 18:02, Lynda Aitcheson wrote:

Good morning all. Everyone still asleep. Hope you all had a good night and Vera's back is easing and Jane is feeling less yuk! And gill is OK too. I think we are going to Dobbies this morning as they have 20% off for card holders. BBL.

Morning AnnG, morning all

Pouring with rain here, thankfully we're not in a flood area, although our garden does get water logged if it can't drain quick enough.

We've been very busy over the last few days trying to sort out OH's job. The place he last worked at won't do a reference because there's a new manager and she's never worked with OH, so OH rang his new job and between them they have sorted out another way around this matter. His new boss asked him for two personal references and she is going to photo copy OH P45 as that has his leaving date on. All the new boss needed was confirmation of the start and finish date off his old job.

OH apologised for what was happening and the new boss was really nice about it, saying it wasn't OH's fault. She was impressed that he was trying his best to sort the situation out and said this type of thing has happened before and the other people involved were to lazy to do anything for themselves. OH has just got the last reference this morning, which happens to be a repeat as the one his friend sent to his new boss never arrived. He needs to take his P45 and the two references to his new place of work over the weekend and then he has his induction on Monday. His new boss said she'll be able to give him his first shifts for next week then. So quite a palaver these last couple of days, but at least he didn't lose the job because his old job were being awkward about the reference.

We haven't heard from Sandra for a few days so she must be having a nice time at her sister's. We still don't know if they have found her birth certificate yet as no one is telling us anything.

I made an appointment with Talking together Wirral, it's where someone rings me and we chat over the phone about what help I need, they then have someone ring me to help with me not being able to go out. I don't know where this fear has come from, but now think it's been building up over many years to the point where I panic sometimes if it's to crowdy or noisy, I'm not keen on being in the car either after an accident we were involved in 12 years ago, I used to drive everywhere but since the accident I've only driven a couple of times and only because OH was unable to, I didn't like it and felt very nervous. I'm hoping the phone calls will help me overcome my fears and I'll be able to go out further than the village soon and maybe even get back into driving again one day.

I haven't caught up with the post yet, so hope everyone is okay.

Good to see you on here Gill. you don't say if the solicitor was in touch or are you still waiting.
I am sure you can be helped to get over that anxiety/panic attacks. I think it is quite common so somebody will know.

Be back later on. :-)

Morning AnnG and Gill and all,

No change in the weather here just contunual wind and rain, dark skies dull and miserable.

I have the library at 12 today and must'nt forget as I missed it last time it came so hav'nt been since before Christmas. Ran out of books ages ago

Gill its good you have spoken to someone ver the phone. Will they ring you on a regular basis for a chat? We are still waiting to hear if you have heard from a solicitor yet or have you been in touch with social services at all?

The solicitor never rang us in the end. To be honest I'd forgot all about it with everything going on with OH's job. We haven't heard from Sandra, Michelle or Michael for a few days either, so I assume everything has been sorted with Sandra now and they don't need us for anything at the moment. Time will tell though.

I've been trying to find the DIY book this morning, but can't seem to find it anywhere, even OH's had a look. I know it's in the bungalow somewhere, but I can't remember where I put it. It's a big book and weighs a lot so I know it won't be in a draw, so I've decided to go online and look at where the UK is flooding instead, so we know the areas to avoid if ever we need to sell this place and buy somewhere else.

I think in time Sandra will want to sell her share, well, Michael and Michelle will probably want her to sell so they can get their hands on her share of the money, so that means we'll need to buy another place to live in. At least the property will be in just OH's and my name then, so we won't lose another home in the future.

Sandra was telling me the other day that they are going to put her on their rent, OH and I are worried about that because if they don't pay their rent then the landlord can come after Sandra's share of our home to recover the debt, it's quite worrying, so I'd like to be prepared should the worse happen.

It's still pouring with rain and my heart goes out to anyone who has been, or is going to be, flooded. I noticed on the news the other day a man saying they can't even get Insurance, so each time his place is flooded he loses everything and has no insurance to replace things. That must be an awful position to be in and I doubt they'll ever be able to sell their property either. It's such a shame isn't it?

I've had a quick look through the posts and noticed your back is still playing you up Vera, I really hope it doesn't take months to heal and you are pain free very soon <3 Let's hope when your son takes the garage down it solves the problem with the water in his cellar. We had the opposite effect when we took our garage down and now our garden is much wetter, so maybe he could get some advice before he takes it down, just in case it ends up worse. I hope the problem's solved soon.

Your blanket washed up well AnnG, I'm pleased you decided to keep it in the end.

Sorry to hear you're having a rough time of it again Jane, I hope you start feeling better soon. When do you go for your next scan? I'm keeping my fingers crossed for good news. Thinking of you and sending a big hug <3 <3
I hope your niece's place isn't to water damaged with the floods. Is she insured?

My OH sounds the same as your's Ann in the bathroom, they do make a mess don't they and like you said don't clean up after themselves properly. I gave our bathroom a good going over yesterday, but I doubt it'll stay clean for long after OH's been in there. Hope you had a better nights sleep last night, only having a few hours can't be good for you.

Glad you're feeling a little better Frank, it must of been a worry though. If it happens again I'd go and see your doctor. Poor Ros, all her hard work ruined with the fence panels. Have they been fixed yet? Are they the ones that slide in between concrete posts? My mum has those and if the wind is very strong they pop out and there's not a lot you can do to stop it. I hope something can be done so it doesn't happen again.

How are you getting on with your crafts Mel, I had a good day sorting the other day and came across all the craft kits I've had given me over the past few years, so I'm going to take a look at them all when OH starts his new job next week.

Gill I really think you should get in touch with SS about this whole thing with Sandra because you never know they may just be able to get Sandra back with you. I think the whole thing was rather underhand and I really think that this is all getting a bit out of hand now. Have you been in touch with the citizens advice burea?