General Chat

Oh no he isn't!! lol. Yes he is AnnG. It's me not sending my posts straightaway. :-) Your cards are really lovely. I didn't know you painted as well and that cross stitch florist is gorgeous! Your efforts in your garden really show with how nice it looks.

Frank that fall did more than you thought so don't do much till you start to move a bit better. That's good that Conrad managed to get home. I bet Jan was pleased he is home. Good for Simon and Sally to come home now too.

A friend rang me today and her paper shop has stopped delivering!

Annx thank you. I don't paint, that was done about 5 years ago when I had a try at painting. I have always wanted to and that was my effort copying a photo. I have got some paints and watercolour paper etc and several books on watercolour painting so when I have time I will have a go.

That frightened me. OH was outside and he suddenly shouted for me to come downstairs, he was at the bottom of the stairs bent over holding his head. I always expect blood when he shouts for me but there wasn't any thin time. However the garage door had come down on his head. No blood, no cut but a bit of a lump. I managed to keep him sitting for about 20 minutes but he has gone out and shut up everything under strict instruction to come in which he has done. Luckily it wasn't a sharp bit that hit him so hopefully he will be ok. It is sore but I think is not concussed. I had visions of ambulance and A& E but all is fine I think. The wind must have got under the door. He will have to have a look at it tomorrow. Better go and make some tea.

I was thinking about getting some life insurance the other day AnnG you've just reminded me to look into it. You've been busy today, you'll sleep well tonight. Yes it was nice of OH to write the note and bring home the tray. Sorry to hear your OH's had an accident, I hope he's okay and doesn't have any after effects. Hope you're over the shock now to. Love all the pictures, you're very clever.

I've found some bigger Aida, do you think it would work with the pictures I've got in the kit or do I have to stick to the one that came with the kit? I've never done cross stitch before, so I don't know if it would work on a different size Aida.

That was a good idea of the shop to put a table outside to serve at Mel, better to be safe than sorry at the moment. What a good idea for you to email your order through ready to be picked up, it'd save you having to hang around in a queue which isn't safe right now. I'm just about to start sewing the nighties now. I mended another hole in OH's trousers, luckily it had just come away from the bias binding that was around it, so not a big job.

Take it easy Frank, that fall sounds nasty, you'll probably be sore for a few days until the bruising has gone. Pleased to see Conrad is back from Spain now, what will he do if he can't get back over there on the 11th April, can he work from over here? That was nice of you to give Valerie the Rotary line you weren't using, lets hope the weather improves again so she can use it. Good idea to leave it outside her door though.

How is James getting on with his first day of working from home Jane, or hasn't he started yet? How are you feeling today, less dizzy I hope? How is Fitz's wife doing, I hope Fitz hasn't caught it.

Pleased to see you've been sleeping better lately Ann, yes a good nights sleep has made me feel much better today with more energy. Yes OH is settling into his job now. They have another newbie, so OH's no longer the newbie now. He was telling me that someone had stolen all the residents chocolate that had been delivered, it was one of the night staff, but they don't know who yet. Aren't some people awful? We're just glad OH is on days now, so he won't be under suspicion. There were about 50 bars of chocolate in the box, the box was found on the 2nd floor, empty.

glad I reminded you Gill. Good idea at your age.

As to the Aida, I don't know but I will ask my daughter, she has done loads of lovely cross stitch pictures in the past and is very good at it. she is trying black work now which is quite complicated.

OH seems to be fine now his head is tender but he did come in when I suggested he did, but I think that was more to do with the cold than his head.

What a terrible thing to steal the residents chocolate hav'nt they got CCTV?

Pics are good annG. The tapestry I did of sloes is on a kneeler in the church in Suffolk where I used to live. All the women who wanted to did a kneeler of things in and around the village. There was a lovely one of an owl in a tree, bluebells and primroses and a bee orchid as they grew in the vilage and over the back of us down in the old quarry.

Afternoon Everyone
I cant believe how many posts there are today!!

AnnG I hope OH's head isnt too painful after that nasty bump.Good job he didn t knock himself out. My Dad was always bashing his head on the garage door and always had a cut or a bruise.

Good that Conrad is home now Frank.I didn't know that there were still flights from Spain.Probably good too that Simon and Sally have decided t ocut their trip short on the canals.

It is bloooming freezing here today with this wind.But nice and toasty with the wood burner.

James wont start his job util a week on Monday.He is trying to rearrange his bedroom as that is where he will have his work computer set up.He doesn't want it looking ike a bedroom !!!. Not ideal but it will have to do for now until he can work from the office.He could use the study here but says he would rather shut his door and work from there.

That is a good idea for the shop to put the table outside Mel and also to say to email your order. I see that there are still so many long queues at the Supermarkets.I can't really see that stopping

I have a Meditteranian Beef Stew in the oven .It smells flipping good. Nice Creamy Mash to go with it.That was the last of my potatoes so I hope I can get soem on Hannahs Morrisons delivery on Tuesday . I better go and check on it now and give it a stir.
Most of our clocks will change automatically tonight(hopefully).Just the kitchen clock and oven one to do I think. I wonder if any of us will get any wintery showers tomorrow.

Gill I had to look up what Aida was as I've never done cross stitch. That was a nice little note your OH left for you. I sometimes get a little notelet left on the doormat and have saved them. I don't know, but I would think life insurance would be really expensive while this pandemic continues.

We had baked haddock and a tray of roast pots, butternut squash and carrots for lunch with some parsley sauce. I'd have it without the sauce but OH finds things dry without something. Then we had our own rhubarb with custard which was really nice. It's a right game working out what needs to be eaten and to make room in time for the next food delivery! That's always assuming they deliver what you've ordered too. I never got into the garden after all but when I went to shut the greenhouse it was really chilly.

That's good James will be able to shut himself away to work from his bedroom Jane. There will be less distractions than being downstairs. Any news on Fitz and Georgette?

We are watching the Elton John film Rocket Man later which OH recorded a couple of days ago.

I think most of our clocks adjust themselves but I know the 2 in my car don't, nor do the cooker and lounge wall clock. I agree Mel, the spring change of the clocks is harder to get used to.

Evening all,
It's been a cold and cloudy day here and we had a little rain this afternoon .

Vera i'm sorry i meant to say they were lovely pictures of your garden and you've a nice seat in the corner to sit and admire it too .

Oh AnnG i hope OH hasn't done to much damage to his poor head that sounded quite a bash ,when you hear them shout you brace yourself as you just know they have done some thing to themselves and A&E is not some where any one wants to go at the moment .
Nice photo's of your cross stitch they are the sort i like to do ,i have so many just rolled up in the cupboard ,i did one with Lilliput Lane Cottages on .

Gill you can use the bigger Aida ,it just means the picture will come out bigger .
You need to count the stitches on your pattern across and down and then count on the Aida to make sure the piece is big enough .

We don't seem to have done a lot today ,i did hoover through and then made some Cheese scones and Fruit scones ,we had a roast chicken dinner tonight .
We are managing ok with food i think we will need milk next week and some more fruit and veg but the fruit and veg place that we usually get things from will take email orders and then you just go and collect ,they load it into the car for you so i might do that next week as they have started having milk and bread there too.
It will be better than queuing in Tesco's .

Good idea Mandy to avoid the supermarkets. Our local paper has just advertised farm shops and other places in the area that are doing the same or making up boxes of veg and meat you can order. I suppose they need to do something to keep their businesses going and there isn't room in some of these places to keep properly apart.

Oh Anng your poor OH banging his head like that! Those doors tend to do that and they are quite heavy, I hope he is alright but I expect he will have quite a bruise now. My OH is always catching his head on the rotary dryer spokes.

Poor T banging his head. It must have given him a heafty blow. I hope the bump goes down soon.

My cousin used to do a lot of crosstitch. the younger one of Joys daughters. I don't think the older one does any craft but the son does smashing cartoons and is a carpenter lik ehis dad was and is very good with wood. Joy was good on the machine too so I suppose it runs in the family. My mum was a dressmaker and made me lots of dresses when I ws young.Mum liked to paint to even when I was young. I can remember sitting behind her in the armchair when she did the sketch in paint for the first attempt at pallet knife painting. I still have that picture up on the wall in the little loo. I don't like the picture but I was 3 when she did it so its sentimental. I think she was quite proud of it. Its a spanish scene I think. You have probably seen the picture as she copied it.

Its nice that James wants to make his room look like a study for his work online with his new job. Hope he gets on with it ok till he is able to go to the office.

Gosh I hav'nt started the dinner yet. Its only steak so not to hard to do and I am having it in rolls tonight too as I got some nice granary ones at the shop this morning.

They put the table inside the shop doorway so you could stand in the shop and I thought they had made a good setup.

Morning all,

Did everyone remember to change the clocks.

Very grey windy morning here and .......it's snowing ,only fine stuff but the wind is gusting it across the garden.

AnnG hope OH'S head is not to sore this morning .

Frank hope you had a better night ,are you still sore and bruised after your tumble.

Well be having a day in and I might do some craft of some sort this afternoon .

Morning Mandy and all

It’s much the same here; cold, windy and sleety rain. What a change from a couple of days ago :-(. I hope you all had a better night than me. I fell asleep just before midnight but only slept for an hour. As I was then wide awake I went on the Tesco site but as usual all the delivery slots just issued had already gone. I then lay there till 4.30 before reading till 6 am. Eventually I fell asleep till just after 8. I now feel like a wet weekend.

We will need to do a bit of shopping tomorrow. It will be our 57th wedding anniversary but our celebration meal will be a 2 day old stew :-).

AnnG, is it your diamond anniversary this year or did I dream that? I hope your OH isn’t suffering any effects from his bump on the head.

Not sure yet what I will be doing today but I am going to make the effort not to just blob about.

Take care everyone. Might be back later.

Mornin g Girls and all,

We have brightness out the back and front but there are big lines of sh grey clouds too. The sun peeps through but its very windy today. Not been out yet as I hav'nt been up long. sorry but I slept like a log. Got up once and when I got bak to bed shivering oh came over and gave me a nice warm cuddle.

I shall try to do some crafts today inbetween cooking and feeding the hens etc. I want to bake a couple f bits today to see if a mould I made will work.

I do hope T's heads not too sore this morning after his bump on the head. Is there a bruise this mroning?

Good morning to you all,

Bangs on the head aren't good. I remember taking down some prefab garages,I undid the bolts, and the lot collapsed, trapping me under the lot. Conrad heard the commotion and shouted to Ros. between the three of us I managed to free myself. Battered and with scrapes on arms and head, Ros took me to A & E. X rays showed no broken bones and no brain damage. At least I have one. lol lol Needless to say I don't do things like that anymore.

I hope your OH has no after effects from the bang on his head.

Great that James can rearrange his Bedroom, into some sort of office. It will seem strange to start with, but I am sure he will adapt.

Mandy. I BLOB about most days. Thank goodness I have bought a supple of books. Apart from cooking meals and washing up, I must admit I don't do a lot.

We phoned for a takeaway delivery last night, but all were not answering their phones.I went on line and found a F & C shop open, but only until 8.30 pm. I rang them and placed an order, and we went straight down to collect it. No other Customers anywhere to be seen !!!!

The roads were so quite. I bet we didn't see more than half a dozen cars between Blisworth and Northampton a good 5 miles. Ros had Fish cakes and mushy peas, and I had a nice piece of Cod

The bruises are coming out on my back. It looks like I have been run over by a TRACTOR. The bruise goes right across my back, The one on my leg is still a u@@er and hurts when I touch it.

I have only seen the occasional dog walker go passed the front window. No children out on their bikes. So the parents seem to be doing the right thing, and keeping them in.

Off to do the VEG and have a coffee. PLEASE TAKE CARE, and I will pop back later. xxxx

Morning all

Bright and sunny here and not to cold, I thought it was going to be colder today according to the weather man, but so far it's quite nice out there. We could do with a bit of rain, all the plants need a good drink. If it doesn't rain today then we'll water the garden tomorrow, if it's not to cold.

We altered the clocks before going to bed as OH needed the correct time on the alarm clock. We only had two to alter, all the rest alter themselves, so it didn't take long to do.

It sounds like James is getting everything ready for his new job Jane. Will he need to do face to face contact on his computer, maybe that's why he prefers his bedroom to look more like an office, either that or he wants it to feel like he's in work. I hope all goes well for him when he starts.

OH dear Vera, it sounds like you've had a terrible nights sleep. I hope you have a better one tonight. Happy anniversary for tomorrow, maybe you could celebrate it with a little holiday once everything is back to normal, there maybe some good deals around then.

How is your OH's head today AnnG, I hope it's not to sore.

Your bruises sound quite bad Frank, rest up and take care of yourself. Hopefully the bruises won't last to long.

Thanks for letting me know about the Aida Mandy, I should imagine it would take more of the silks to, if the picture is going to be bigger. At least I'll be able to see what I'm doing once I can go the shops to buy the silks I need.

Yes the note was lovely Ann, he's never done it before so it was a lovely surprise. I've found an old plastic pallet for my painting, so when I've finished altering my nighties I'll be able to make a start on the water colouring kit. I never thought about life insurance possibly being higher at the moment, I might leave it for now and check once this Coronavirus is over. Like AnnG said I do need to look into it for OH and I, but don't want to pay way over the odds for it right now.

OH is off tomorrow so he's going to the shops to see what food he can find, we are running out of most things now. Luckily neither of us eat much, but we don't want to run out completely. I need some bin liners and washing up liquid to. We're okay for toilet rolls, but finding bread and milk is proving a bit hard at the moment. I don't think we have farm shops around here, but I might check online just incase there are some around.

I've decided to start watching my DVD's

I've got Rocketman Ann so I'm going to start with that one then move onto Bohemian Rhapsody then Mary Poppins, Returns and then Mamma Mia here we go again, I have the first Mamma Mia which I might watch again. Oh and Downtown Abbey, the one that was on at the cinema years ago.

I've had these DVD's building up for years, they're the one's Sandra and OH have bought me so now I can watch them all, over the next few days. I will be doing my sewing at the same time.

So that's today and Tuesday taken care of. OH is off tomorrow so hopefully, if it's not to cold, we can finish sorting the pots in the borders as I couldn't manage them all on my own, then everything can be watered.

It's still sunny, but the clouds are starting to build up, so the gardening might not happen tomorrow.......we'll see though.

Good afternoon all (just). Slept quite well l;ast night and then dozed and didn't get up until 10am as we laid chatting. We then decided to have bacon sandwiches for 'brunch' and very nice they were too cooked by OH.

His head seems ok today and he says it is. The reason I was so worried (still am mildly worried) was because some years ago daughters late husband had the car boot lid come down heavily on his head and six week later he had a bleed on the brain which hospitalized him as he had to have an operation. Hopefully this won't happen. At the time Jon was only in his 50s.

Gill that was what daughter said about the cross stitch, it will be fine, you need to count across the number of stitches and also down to see if there is enough room for the pattern and you may need to buy extra wool. But not necessarily as sometimes they give you too much for the pattern. I see daughter and Mandy gave the same advice.
Let us know how the painting goes.

Sorry you are still sore Frank. It sounds as though you have strained your leg as well as bruising it. Just don't go for the usual jog today, take a day off and rest it :-D Seriously I hope the bruises and pains heal soon.:-D

Mel, it is bright with lots of cloud here, a strong cold wind as well. Definitely a time to stay indoors, no gardening. OH has just hoovered the lounge and dining room, and conservatory and is having a coffee before mopping the kitchen. When he is done I can go down and dust and prep the veg for dinner tonight, then I may get a bit of card making in.

Jane strangely in 28 years that is the first time the door has ever come down like that. I want us to have a look at it as it could kill a young child. We think it may just have been the wind which was in an unusual direction yesterday and may have just got over it. I keep thinking if he had been knocked unconscious I would not have known until I wondered why he had not come in for his 4pm cuppa. It did shake him up a bit he looked frightened which is what scared me as he is a strong character. He is fine now

Mandy don't know if there is a bruise his hair is fairly thick so would have to part it to see.

Annx we love baked haddock on roasted veg etc had it a couple of days ago, so easy to do too.

Vera sorry you had a bad night we all seem to take it in turns. Hope you have a better one tonight and at least your non sleeping was an hour short :-D
Yes August is our diamond wedding anniversary you didn't dream it. So you are 3 years behind us. Trying not to think about it too much as my parents 60th celebrations were all planned for August 1994 and My Mum died suddenly in the July so we ended up eating their cake at her 'wake'.

And on that cheerful note I shall get my coffee. BBL

AnnG, Colin said is it one of the springs getting weak ,he's done springs on jobs he's been on and said it's a heck of a job as you have to tension them up .
He said did the door come down one sided ?

The door came down flat Mandy. This door is only about 4 or 5 years old. He is 100% certain that the wind got over it in a gust. The wind was entirely different direction to what it ever is here. He had a good look today and it looks ok. Yes our old door had springs trouble as did a neighbours over the road. It was very unfortuante as he was not even standing still under it he was just walking under to put something away.

Afternoon All,

The sun's come out here now, but I don't think I will be doing anything outside today as it is cold and windy. so I did some pedalling on my exercise bike instead.

I'm glad your OH feels alright today after that nasty bump on his head yesterday AnnG. He has certainly been busy today helping inside. My OH is still doing more notes. He also needs to do some work towards getting an accreditation once all his notes are up to date. He's still having ongoing queries to deal with as well.

Today we had a stuffed roast chicken breast meal with carrots, brussels, broccoli and pots for OH which was very nice. OH prepares the veg and deals with any washing up and clears everything away after which helps.

I'm going to look on line at my Asda order next as the printed off version I have doesn't show the quantities of anything ordered! I've also decided to get my big cool box in out of the garage and wash and disinfect it before the delivery on Wednesday. I can keep some of the veg or bread in there to leave more room in the fridge for the rest. I have ice packs I can put inside it too to help keep things even longer.

Mandy it's milk and bread that we use a lot of too. I have got 5 packs of longlife milk as a standby and tins of evaporated milk we could dilute if desperate, but bread takes so much room up in the freezer. A friend has a breadmaker and thought she'd bake her own, but can she find strong bread flour anywhere???

Well I just don't believe it!! The doorbell just went and it was our neighbour. Someone with a dog in all the space there is in the 3 acre field behind us found it necessary to throw it so near our back gardens it went into the neighbour's garden. He in trying to throw it over the back fence managed to get it in our back garden! Do we want to be going out handling it in the current situation.....no!! OH fetched it with gloves on and chucked it onto the neighbour's patio as we couldn't see anyone next door in the garden or in the field. Then I wiped down the door handles OH had touched with his gloves on with dettol spray and we both washed our hands. We'd just sat down and the neighbour was back at the front door again. I didn't even open it this time and just shouted that it should be on his patio. In these times of national emergency and social distancing I would have been too embarassed at using a frisbee in this windy weather and getting it in someone's garden, to even think of asking for it back.

I'm glad you found something to do your painting on Gill. :-) It's good having a go at different things, even if they don't all work out perfect the first time. Don't forget to have some scrap paper like Mel said to test your colour on or practise a bit of the painting on. You will enjoy your DVDs and we also have Bohemian Rhapsody recorded to watch. I never watched any of Last Tango in Paris, so watched the first episode last night to see if I liked it and I did, so I'm going to record all the rest bit by bit and watch it in place of the soaps I usually watch.

Oh Vera I know just what those nights are like with almost no sleep. I hope you do better tonight and sometimes you just need to blob about. . I actually slept like a log again last night. Fifty-seven years anniversary..........I didn't think you were old enough as you always sound so bright and young! :-D