General Chat

No nothing for dinner just the Saturday paper and a wholemeal loaf for me so I can get both those up tomorrow morning if oh wakes me up in time as they are only open till 12 noon.

The bread from up the shop is lovely and a big loaf lasts me all week as I cut it in half and freeze half.

Not got onto my crafts yet!! Did the rest of the bed and oh helped with the quilt cover as I am not tall enough to lift the king size quilt and cover. Then I did the chickens and got lost potting up some bulbws I bought in one pot then came in a did a bit of clearing up and made a drink and hot cross bun for us and now I am going to go and shut the chickens in and then go in the lounge to my tables.

Evening All,

Well I slept really well last night and didn't get up till 11.00am so feel a lot better. OH didn't go to footie as he said the places with artificial turf often don't have stands and rain was forecast. I popped out for the paper and drove to look at the location of another bungalow for sale near The Manor where we go for one of our carveries. It is quite new at the end of a cul de sac of bungalows and has off road parking for at least 4 cars, but is no bigger than where we are so not ideal.

Mel your clay work is really good and these are your first attempts so even more so! :-) I'm looking forward to seeing what you make next. Tht lady looking for a place will be thinking she is going into the back of beyond, that's if she gets very far!.

Oh I see it's next week your OH starts his new job Gill. I hope he settles into it quickly and is happy there. It will be good for him to have a routine and job and some money coming in too. I'm glad your headache and sore throat have gone and am glad you have found the book now. You have some good ideas for things to occupy your time now which is good. I think I will be stocking up on 2nd class stamps now too as I hadn't realised they were going up in price. It has passed me by somehow. How long before they will be £1 each I wonder!! :-S It's good your tablets seem to be stopping your migraines. If you get stuck you could always ring your internet provider once you get your new router Gill and ask them if they will talk you through what to do.

AnnG we had a slate slab base put down to put our little arbour on and I wish we'd had all the patio done in slate now instead of that smooth indian stone. It is soooo easy to clean in comparison as nothing can get a grip on it. Even a bucket of water and brush will clean it without scrubbing and one sweep of the jetwash does it. It sounds like the floods near you are quite bad as the levels have gone down here for now. The homes on that island must be hard to sell.

The local paper said they have arrested a 15 year old for the shooting of the 2 men near the village.

I will do a bit more of that applique now. I wish I could find my thimble though as the base material is hard to get the needle through. I have at least 2 SOMEWHERE!

Evening everyone

Well, what a pig of a day it’s been :-(. I slept very little but fell into a deep sleep around 7 am, then I woke with a start at 9.30. We usually go out at 10.30 on Saturdays so I leapt out of bed to shower, wash my hair and get a quick breakfast and realised I needed to visit the white friend. After half a dozen trips to the bathroom I decided I couldn’t risk going out. Just as well as it’s only since about 5 o’clock that I’ve felt safe to venture more than a few yards away. Then while I was cleaning my teeth a chunk fell off one of them and I now have a large hole and have to chew on the other side of my mouth. Then I decided to go online and put in a supermarket order for delivery on Tuesday. Three quarters of the way through the computer locked up completely and I wasted a good half hour trying to sort it before I gave up, rebooted it and then shut it down. Luckily I was able to complete my order on the iPad. The final straw was coming downstairs from the computer to find the kitchen running in water. The dishwasher had given up on us! I feel like going to bed and pretending today hasn’t happened.

My back is a bit easier now. I am still taking ibuprofen to help with any inflammation but I haven’t needed the heat pad or any other painkillers today.

AnninG, I hope you have a less disturbed night tonight. Those nights when you sleep, wake, sleep and wake seem to leave you more tired than ever don’t they. Your top sounds a bargain. I am glad you are clear of the flooding. It seems to be pretty bad in your part of the world. I hope Jane’s niece is OK.

I love your clay bakes Mel. You are so clever. I hope that lady found her holiday cottage. I have a vision of her wandering the Devon lanes forever looking for her accommodation :-D. Fancy missing the shop because you were chatting for too long; tut, tut, slapped wrist. Good job it wasn’t something urgent that you needed and, like they say, it’s good to talk.

I’m pleased you had a better night last night Ann. It sounds as though you really needed the sleep. Isn’t it sad that the chap they have arrested for the shootings is only 15? These kids don’t seem to have any sort of childhood and he was probably brought up with violence. I mustn’t pre-judge him as he hasn’t been found guilty yet but so many murders now seem to be committed by youngsters. I just find it so sad.

I hope you can get your laptop sorted Frank. You must get really frustrated when you spend ages typing a post and then you lose it. It would drive me barmy.

I’m glad your sore throat and headache went Gill. Now you need to try and get your body clock back in synch again so you get a good sleep at night and are more “with it” during the day. It will certainly be interesting to see if that bungalow sells at the asking price. Some people do price their houses very high on the basis that everyone makes a lower offer so they might get an offer at the price they really want, but that can backfire. People won’t go to view a house if it is too highly priced for the area.

Re. Stamps, I hardly ever use 1st class for letters as they don’t seem to get there any quicker. A while ago I put a 1st class stamp on a letter to a nearby town as it contained a cheque that I wanted to arrive quickly. It took 5 days! I usually have just a few 1st class in the house but we buy 2nd class in sheets of 50 or 100. It’s a lot of money to pay out in one go but last us a long while and you can use them even if the price goes up so a saving in the long run. So much is done by email these days that the stamps are mostly used for birthday cards and the occasional letter.

Mandy, I need to see a post from you or I will start dreaming again that you are missing and we are all searching for you. :-D

O Vera what a day you have had. Not nice when you don't feel safe to leave your house because you have to keep visiting your white friend. Hope th etum settles soon. Shame about the dish washer thats what you don't need with all the water thats around at the present time. Not fear of flooding but you don't need it inside your house from other things. I don't have a dish washer just oh who does it for me.

I am thinking of selling the top of the garden as we don't want to go up there anymore but it means an awful lot of clearing out and we won't be able to do it as we get older. We like living down here but never go up the potting sheds anymore. If I decide to sell it oh will also sell the top field so it could all go together. Less work for him mowing. Oh is'nt up to much now so if we leave it any longer it will be harder for both of us.

Morning all from a wet and windy Suffolk

Mel, I’ve had a dishwasher since 1986 and would hate to be without one now. I expect we will be out looking for a new one soon.

I can understand why you would want to sell some land. You have a lot of it and it takes a lot of work to look after it and, of course, it gets harder as we get older. If you do decide to sell I hope you get a good price for it.

Anyone doing anything interesting today? I’ll cook our usual Sunday roast but otherwise I am going to stay in the warm and just mooch. Whatever you are doing, have a nice day.

Morning Vera,

Very windy and wet here this morning Vera. It started last night with rain and wind and carried on all through the night.

Just getting myself together to go up the shop for my paper and a loaf if they have one.

Hoping to get onto the clay today after the big breakfast then nothing more to do so should be a good day.

See you later.

Morning Vera and Mel, morning all

Had a good nights sleep last night. I had to force myself not to sleep during the day yesterday which worked and helped get my body clock back to normal again.

We had the same weather as you last night Mel, it rained for ages and I think most of the night to as our garden is full of water this morning. Luckily it's stopped now and the sun is out, so hopefully all the water will slowly drain away during the day if it doesn't rain again. OH asked how much you'd like for your land you're thinking of selling, he said he'd love to build his own house, that way it'd be just as we'd like it. I'm not sure as it seems a big job, but it might be worth looking into I suppose.

Oh dear Vera, you had a day and a half yesterday, lets hope today is a better one. Could you get your dish washer fixed, it might be cheaper than buying a new one? I hope your tum is better today.

I need to change the bed, do some hoovering and sort out Sunday lunch, although OH might sort the lunch out, while I do the other jobs. One load of washing has already been done and is drying on the radiators at the moment as I still haven't got around to buying a new dryer yet. Mind you it's saving us a fortune on the electric so I'm in no rush to buy one at the moment. With having the heating on anyway it doesn't cost us anything to dry the washing, so win win.

Yes Ann, OH has his induction tomorrow and has been told he'll be given some shifts on the same day, with a bit of luck the shifts will start on Tuesday, if not then hopefully the following week.

Well, I'd better go and get the bedding in the washing machine, it won't do itself.

good afternoon all. We were not up very early this morning but OH cooked us a bacon, egg and toast breakfast We then went to the Range, the one nearest to us which is Gloucester, we wanted some slate chippings and some sand (or whatever for filling in the cracks between the patio slabs to stop the weeds. OH went out side to look and was disgusted with the state of it out there, all split bags and not tidied up so he didn't buy anything. I got an A4 storage box, a shallow one like I wanted for £2.99 and four topper sheets, I needed a couple of male type ones. We then drove back to our local garden centre which gave my car a bit of a run as the battery sounded sluggish when OH started it earlier. He got his slate and sand there. so that was OK
Sun and showers here today.
Driving around in this area our roads are horrendous. Does anyone else have really bad pot holes in their area roads?

Vera, oh dear, not a good day yesterday, wonder what upset your tum? Are you prone to those problems?
And then the dishwasher, any idea what caused it to flood. Ours is getting on a bit now but so far seems OK. Like you we have had a dish washer since the eraly 80s, would hate to be without it now. You get so used to it don't you?

Mel enjoy your quiet day.

Gill you seem as busy now with just two of you as you were with three. Do find time to rest. Did you have something nice for lunch?
I would think the land Mel is selling would be green belt of horticultural use only. Building your own house sounds a good idea, especially if you have some expertise but it is a hard job to undertake.

Annx I was wondering the other day if people still used thimbles. I am sure I still have mine somewhere.
Yes I think we will be pleased with the little arbour when OH changes it to slate. Our blue seat down the garden really needs changing (it is about 20 years old) but it is a lot smaller than the ones being sold now so they wouldn't fit in the space.

Jane hope you are gradually feeling better and will be able to join us soon.

Mandy hope you are all ok, probably exhausted after having the girls there.

Afternoon all, I hd a phone call this morning from the Hospital, to say, I no longer need to see the Dr. regarding my eyes, so I won't need to go today.

Ros went to get the Chinese last night, as I was waiting for Jonathan to come and change some downlighter in the kitchen. He did them in no time, and was off home within 5 minutes.

I had KING PRAWNS Hong Kong style and Ros had her Beef in Black bean sauce. As I was eating mine I felt they were a bit chewy, Later I was as sick as a PIG. I can only put it down to the prawns, so words will be had with the takeaway next week.

I am not the best FAN of Ant and Dec, but last night I thought they were insulting my intelligence, with the RUBBISH they were doing. If thats what they call entertainment, they can keep it.I went off to bed at 8.00 pm The radio was total RUBBISH also with horrible RAP TYPE of Music. So I laid for a couple of hours and came back out to the lounge. Ros went into bed,and left me reading my book, which I did until after 1.00am

Simon has booked a SEA FRONT B & B for the four of us, when we go to Brian and Shelia's 70th birthday celebrations. for the 14th March. We will spend the Sunday in Southend and the Cockle sheds at Leigh on Sea. We are leaving here at 1.00 pm on the 14th, so might have time to call in to see me Sister Mary and SIL Fran, at Woodford Bridge. The party doesn't start until 7.00 at a local GOLF CLUB. So should leave us enough time.

We also had the rain in the night, but now we are looking at a bright sky. with the sunshine.

Starting to get Hungry, so looking forward to the Calvary at 3.15 pm, I haven't read the posts but assume you are all well. I will post again tomorrow. xxxx

Afternoon Frank. Oh I thought you were not going to the 70th celebrations. Still it will be a nice break for you. Long time since we were in south end but we were looking at it last night on a catch up of Michael Portillos railway journeys and it looked much improved and a nice place to visit.
Pleased that you haven't got to return to the hospital about your eyes.

I read in the paper last week that many of the stomach upsets such as Norovirus can be put down to take away places and cafes because councils are not doing as many health checks. maybe instead of complaining which will probably have no effect, I would not go there again. I am sure once before you were ill after eating chinese take away.

Hope you enjoy the carvery today anyway. :-)

I too thought you were'nt going to the 70th Frank. What changed your mind? My first husband was born in Southend. I remember going to Southend with mum and dad as a child to see the fairy lights. I think that may be the reason I like lots of lights in the garden and my fairies. We use dot go each year from when I was really small. It took about two hours to get there from where we lived. I can still see some of the pictures in my mind of the lights and waterfalls, big flowers all lit up and mushroom houses in a group, I loved it as it seemed really magical to me.

Hope you enjoy your carvery.

So AnnG t is all set up to lay the new slabs then and we shall need to see a picture when its completed.

Gill the land will go with my potting sheds and the center garden behind them. The potting sheds are one big long building with nothing in it yet. Just two places fro the drains to go out and they had a new roof when I moved down here in 1991. Its also horticulural land as AnnG said and the two cottages at the front of the land have their tanks soak away on the field. Oh owns the field I only own 20 yards in front of the potting sheds.

Pleased you had a good sleep last night Gill. Makes you feel so much better.

I went down the shop this morning for my paper and I bought some sauages too. When I paid Ann I had given her two old pound coins which I had'nt noticed but she did. I only pay for the fish and chips on a Wednesday with notes so must have been given them by him in my change as I know he gave me £3 something in change. I shall have words with him next week. I felt such a fool.....

Mel I have the same memories of the lights and fountain and waterfall when I was a child in Southsea rock gardens on the common. It was magical to me to watch the fountain because it changed colour. Innovative I think for the time which was late forties, early fifties. And there were lights all along the front too. we would drive there, probably in our old Austin 1n around 1948 it would take about 40 minutes to drive there, not much traffic. then, on the way home we would have a bag of chips.

Oh, I thought it was magical too, Ann.

If we had our relatives from Wales staying with us in the August holidays, the children were encouraged to take a nap in the afternoon, so that we could go out later, when it was dark enough to see the lights in Southsea.
I particularly remember the rising sun on the cafe and in the Rock Gardens loved to see the squirrels seemingly jumping through the trees.
I don't think we had a TV at that time, so it was just enchanting to me.

Nice to know someone else remembers it Gwyn, yes I had forgotten the squirrels.

Iv'e just done a bake of more clay things.

I don’t remember being taken to see the lights as a child, though if we had gone it would have been to Southend but the posts have brought to mind another memory. I was taken to see Margaret Lockwood in Peter Pan. I guess I was about 7. When it came to the finale the stage was covered in twinkling lights and I thought I was in Fairyland. I’ve loved theatre ever since :-D

I said in my early post that I was just going to mooch about but instead I did loads of jobs and have overdone it a bit so it’s back to a heat pad. We never learn do we.

It’s not really a good few days for me. Today is the anniversary of my Mum’s death. It was 46 years ago but it still seems like yesterday. A few years later I had to go to the funeral of a favourite aunt on this day and the anniversary of my Dad’s death 14 years ago is this coming week as well. Each year I say I’m not going to let it affect me but I always feel very down during the last week in February.

Don't think we had squirrels at Southend but it would add to the magic for children. They can have our quirrels any time they like. They ate all our hazel nuts this year and made a mess with the shells all over the path down by the bantams.

I am going to shut the chickens in and then have a look and see if there are any disarters in the oven as I have put hanging eyes in these.

Evening All
Oh Vera I am sorry you are having such a rotten time at the moment and feeling sad and low. <3
I have not read other posts yet.Sorry.
Today has been a good day.I felt well enough to go with the family for a very nice lunch at a country pub.I had Roast Beef and have to say it was one of the best pub roasts .Everyone else agreed too.We have booked to go again on Mothering Sunday.
Tomorrow Chris and I are going to pop over to Rushden Lakes to M&S.It will be so good to have a nice browse.I May get myself another nightie.
Now I feel tired so am going to fill a hot water bottle and pop it in my bed .I just love the smell of a hot water bottle.I could sniff it for ages :-D
Not that I have a rubber fetish LOL.
Will be back tomorrow

I,m Glad you had a good day today Jane and enjoyed your roast beef dinner. Can you take me with you on Mothers Day please as I would love a roast beef dinner and can't remember the last time I had one. Enjoy your browse tomorrow and I hope you find a nice nightie. <3

Vera awe so sorry you have all the bad memories in one week. Made worse by the weather as well. The only way is up so have a drink and have a think to bring back all the good times. <3

Jane loved the photo you looked well and happy. Pleased you were able to enjoy a lovely meal with the family.

Mel hope the cooking if going well.