General Chat

Mel, the base is a normal card blank with half of it folded. the designs are bought toppers which can be used however you want to use them. made by Hunkydorey and they says bought on line (by me from amazon). Glad you liked them.

Sunshine here after a really rainy and windy night, almost a gale .

This morning my shoulder, thumb and left side of my back are wrenched, knees more achey than usual and the R knee was the same except it hurts when I turn on my side in bed so that has to be a careful move! I also woke with my eye bloodshot in the corner, so I don't know what caused that. Poor old crock! lol. Still, not as bad as it could have been, so just a few more aches and pains for a few days! :-S My first job this morning was to sort sending the shooting stick back, (Ebay) print a postage label and wrap it back up to post. I have till the 3rd Feb to post it, so it can be sent next time we go out for meds. There is a Post Office in the chemist so only one place to go.

No AnnG, the courses I am doing are not free, They did loads of free 'taster' sessions in all subjects last year, but most are ones you pay for now. At least being online there are no travel or parking costs, but with some courses it is nice to meet other people. They are all with wea.org.uk who ran the craft class I did the tie dye and wool felting with.

No zoom course this morning......I had a right game with my computer instead for over an hour!. It has often been saying the wi fi adapter is disabled recently and before I have managed to enable it again, not so this morning! I don't know my way around WIN 10 yet and the 'wizard' didn't fix it. Eventually I found something in the airplane section that was switched off so I switched it on and bingo, it is back again!! I'm sure the updates mess things up! :-S

I like your easel cards AnnG. Well done on sorting the rambler and cleaning the fridge. I still haven't mopped the kitchen! Maybe in a day or two when the stiffness wears off!

Was that routine appointment for your eyes Frank? I hope you didn't have to wait for long. Careful manhandling those bags! I haven't bought much compost for ages. We used to go and fill humpers of horse manure at the riding school, but the last few years I have livened up some old compost with growmore after watering with Jeyes Fluid and have used that.

Lovely cards as always AnnG. I hadn't understood what easel cards were so it was good to see a couple of examples. I wonder if T has enjoyed any of his oranges yet.

Good to see you posting Frank. We miss you when you’re not on the thread. I haven’t heard of Michael Jackson compost either. Does Ros like it?

Oh Ann, your poor knees. It sounds as though you went down with a real wallop. I hope you’re not too bruised and sore today and hope it hasn’t jolted your back up. If the seat had a rubber foot you wouldn’t expect it to slip. I guess you’ll be looking for a safer one now.

That apple cake sounds good Mandy. I love anything with apples in it.

One of my friends volunteers at a local cat’s home and takes all our newspapers to line litter trays etc. I also dug out a scratching post, a good covered litter tray and a cat carrier and OH disinfected them all for her to take to the home. She collected them this afternoon and it struck me how we have got used to this strange way of life. Not that long ago she would have come in, had a cuppa and a gossip and OH would have loaded her car for her. Today I put everything just outside our garage, sent her a text to say it was ready and she drove round, loaded her car and went again and it seemed almost normal.

I wish our neighbour would view things like that. The chap, who is very vulnerable, came home from hospital Tuesday evening, Wednesday there were workmen there and today the ironing lady was back. How much ironing can one couple have?

Yesterday was quite a fraught day. We were trying to sort an Order of Service for my brother’s funeral. It should have been easy as he had left quite explicit instructions about the content of the service but it took 3 of us several hours of hard work, the problem being that it all had to be done by phone and email. If we could have just sat down together and looked at everything at the same time it would have been easier but one of us would email a suggestion which the other two would consider and respond to. There were no arguments, just discussion, but it took so long before we reached a final agreement that I think we were all shattered.

I’m yawning away here. I’m not sleeping very well at all at the moment and I’ve had a much bigger lunch than I usually do which has made me sleepy. I had quite a bit of left over chicken so I added a load of veg and some chicken stock and made a sort of broth for lunch. It was so tasty that we had the lot so I’ve decided that’s our main meal for today. We’ll just have something light on toast tonight.

Well, I’d better get on with a couple of jobs before I doze off. Enjoy the rest of your day everyone.

Ann I find that with windows 10 when I have an update. This morning it was asking me to change the set up how I like it but I don't know how to do that. That was the prolem with my photos a while back but oh got that sorted for me. I don't like to keep asking him to do it for me but I am useless with the tec stuff.

Your eye may have been caused by the bump of you hitting the floor I expect you have a bit of a detatched retiner and thats the blood spot.

Well we have had a brighter day today and this afternoon we had a short sharp hail shower then it stoppeed and a little later we had a rain shower and now the suns out as its ging down.

Vera I hope you managed to get all the things sorted out in the end for your brothers funeral. Such a sad thing to do and I know you are going to miss him an awful lot but nobody can take your happy memories away.

I had another strange dream last night. I dreamt there was a van parked outside our wall as I drove down the drive so I parked tha car right in front of it so it could'nt move and two men were holding up a big metal pole with something on the top. I said to them I suppose you are seeing if I have a telly licience well I have. Then I woke up. There was a bit more before that but I can't remeber what that was.

Mandy I have posted the letter to you today as the postman has'nt been for three days. He takes my letters as he empties the box up at the cross roads so you can look out for it now.

Still having trouble with this keyboard and keep pressing two keys at a time and have to read everything I post to make sure it makes sense.

Nearly time for a cuppa and tipping point on 112 at 5pm. I see you watch it anng.

Got a leaky rubber glove so shall have to go out to the car and get a fresh pair. I keep them in the car in a box as I bought all the small ones Mole Valley had before they stopped selling them.

At 7pm there was a frost on the grass and a clear sky and stars and by 8pm its raining.

Not more rain Mel. It has stayed dry here today, which is good, as they said on the news about keeping an eye on the river Soar today, which is just down the road. The fields will be really awash after last night's rain as they were already flooded when we went to the chemist yesterday. Pity I can't go out with my camera just now.

I hate the WIN 10 picture storage and keep reverting it to my old version which made them easier for me to resize. Today I have discovered that since they put WIN 10 on it has somehow removed my microsoft office with word and excel in!! I do my finances on spreadsheets in that so would be lost without it. Their version of Office on WIN 10 involves a lot of faff and I can't see where you can delete document files on there at all. Maybe they stay in the cloud? I found the original disc to upload it again this afternoon and have done that successfully but I can't find anywhere to click on to open it now. I will ring the computer people who loaded WIN 10 for me tomorrow and see if they can sort it for me. Then I had printer trouble with my next course pictures coming out pink despite renewing the blue cartridge last week. I had to look at the cartridges and then look up how to clean the printer head, but at least that cured it. Hubby had trouble again with Microsoft teams (like zoom) that some of the schools insist on using despite it being more problematic than zoom. He spent ages with one of their IT bods on the phone the other day, but was doing it all again today. We are not liking IT today! :-S

I seem to have an attack of the moaning Minnie's so better get to bed.

You now know what I went through when oh loaded W 10 for me. I do wish they would'nt chnage things though.

I still hate this keyboard but shall have to put up with it.

Windows 10 doesn't support lots of things, especially those programmes that they see as a threat to their own programmes.

When mine loaded it didn't re-load office. So OH re-loaded it for me. I think now it actually doesn't support the version of office I use as the have their own WP programme. It also didn't load and doesn't support Picassa which I have used and like for years. So OH loaded that for me again as well. It was fine at first as photos still went into picassa, now only the photos I load from my camera go into picassa, Other photos go into some strange programme that I can't work out the editing at all.

Good morning all froma lovely sunny but very frosty Gloucestershire. Hope you all slept well. I slept until 0430, lay awake until 0520, put the light on and read for 20 minutes, light out and woke at 0815 so all in all not a bad night.

Ann do hope that all the aches, bruises and stiffness are better this morning.

Vera hope you had a good night last night you should have had as you were so tired yesterday.

Mel any more strange dreams? I was aware that I had been dreaming when I woke up but couldn't remember what about.

No idea what I am going to be doing today except change the bed and wash the bedding.

Morning Anng and all,

We have some sunshine too today and had a frost in the night so I suppose you and I are alike weatherwise today Anng.

Slept well thank you and I see you got quite a few ZZZZZ's in as well. Arms still a bit achey this morning but I think its the way I sleep on it or not on it as the case maybe and then there's putting my hair up in the mornings and lifting things during the day. You do it so automaticly.

Hope Ann is feeling better today and not quite so sore from the insident with the shooting stick.

The snowdrops are coming along nicely in the orchard and the bunch up at the top south facing wall are in full bloom. they were some I gleaned from the top property before it sold over 20 years ago and they have increased something cronic. It was before oh bought the cottage out the front. I took them because they were lying on the top of the ground and they were a bigger variety than the ones in the orchard. The cottages out the front and this garden all belonged to one person at one time.

Our snowdrops are coming up but not high enough yet to be in flower, I think they usually flower early February so I am looking forward to them as they have spread quite a lot. Most of ours come from Amokavid (Joan) in Scotland as she posted some of her bulbs to me about three years ago.

O that was lovely Anng. Mine have been out flowering quite a while now but not all of them come up at the same time.

It has come over all grey now and we've had some sleety rain.

Phones ringing

It was our niece on the phone thanking us for her birthday present. Now the suns out agian.

I have taken some pics of our snowdrops and wil send them later as I have to get lunch now.

Afternoon All,

We have the lovely sunshine and also a hard frost earlier too. I slept well but kept forgetting my L knee hurts when I turn in bed. The rest of me is feeling a bit better today so I made a big pot of chicken, onion, mushroom and oddments of veg in the fridge that needed using up and freezer oddments and added a chicken tonight sauce, garlic and stock. We had some with rice and there was enough for 2 other meals to freeze. :-)

I was going to ask how your arm is Mel. It sounds like it will take a while to fully recover. It sounds like WIN 10 has caused problems for both you and AnnG. I have used Picasso in the past too. I'm ringing later to see if mine can be sorted as I have a zoom with friends soon and once they start it can take a while! I noticed our Snowdrops are in flower yesterday, but I must get OH to move the pot in front of them so I can see them properly from inside. It's good you were able to get a different sort to add to yours.I think ours are a bit early but they are next to the fence so very sheltered.

I do have double ones and some with broad leaves rescued from the church as they were lying on the top of the ground so I brought them home and potted them up they did'nt flower last year so I am hoping they will this year. I shall find somehwere in the orchard for those to multiply.

Arm seems to be a bit up and down as sometimes I can't lift it without hurting and sometimes its alright. Its the mucles that hurts in the top of my arm and sometimes the should itches so I thought that was it getting better.

It is very strange but a few weeks ago I realised that since we have been in lockdown, it has been winter and less gardening and OH has been in hospital, my arm and shoulder are much better. Even pruning and cutting back quite thick branches has not really hurt it.

today I cut back some of the blackberry. I realised afterwards that I had cut one long branch that T had tied back so was obviously training it. Never mind it is hard to kill a blackberry I am sure.

Daughter phoned the hospital but didn't speak to a nurse she spoke to somebody in the office who went and spoke to somebody to check on him. she said he is ok he is comfortable and settled and he did get the oranges and there is no change overall.

I have spent an hour or so making another easel card for one of daughter's stepdaughter's birthday. (our step granddaughter).

Have sent the pics.

Its good daughter spoke to someone today and you now know he recieved the oranges as these sort of things can go astray. I suppose no change is good news Anng.

Now where's our Frank and Mandy and Island?

Evening all,

It's been a lovely sunny day so i went out and had a sweep up out side after the wind the other day there was loads of leaves round the back door .
Had a hoover through and a bit of a dust and wiped all the skirting down in the conservatory .

Thanks Mel the postman came :-D the gloves do look pretty so will give them a go when iv'e finished doing the plaited ear warmers i'm having a go at making for the girls .
I love the knitted crackers too .
What a lovely lot of snowdrops you have ,mine are beginning to peep through but we have no where near the amount you have .

AnnG that's good you've found out that the oranges arrived ok and that T is nice and comfortable .
That's good too your arm feels better but be careful with all the pruning you don't want to upset it again .

Ann i'm glad your not to bruised and sore ,i meant to say the other day how nice your picture of the crocus was another nice one to hang on the wall ,a good photo of the Sparrowhawk .
You should send some of your photos in to Loving your weekend with Alan Titchmarsh i'm sure they would show them and it would be lovely to see them n the tele .

Hope Frank ,Gill and Island are ok ,i wonder how Gills mum is .

Eleven masks went today so i need to make a few more tomorrow .

I must tell you about my dream last night ,i think i was in some sort of bar or restaurant and there was loads of people all standing together at the bar ,well i got so angry i said to Colin i'm going to have to say some thing so i went up to them and shouted at them ,KEEP YOUR DISTANCE two or three times and SEPARATE WILL YOU PLEASE,when i got back Colin said that's not like you your usually so quiet .
I then walked past people when we went out and one woman said there goes that mouthy woman :-D :-D then i woke up .
So many times i have had a dream and then things have happened like my dream i hope i don't have to shout at some one :-D

Mel no change comfortable and settled probably means he was asleep so no change doesn’t really mean anything but what it says really. Still yes good he got the oranges. Just hope he ate one.

Mandy, I only did a few minutes pruning today and no knitting so my arm is ok. Spent most of the afternoon making another easel card.

Lovely snowdrop pictures Mel. We haven’t got any at this house though we had some under the trees at our last house. After we moved here we planted winter aconite and they are just coming into flower. They are such a sunny yellow that they always cheer me up.

I’m pleased you’re not too battered and bruised Ann but you’ll need to take it easy for a few days to give your knees time to recover a bit. You must take it carefully as well Mel to give your arm/shoulder a chance to get better too.

It’s good that your arm has allowed you to do some work in the garden AnnG but you mustn’t overdo it either. I’m glad that T. Is at least comfortable. Is he receiving any treatment? I can only imagine how hard it must be for you not being able to visit.

My goodness Mandy you were quite stroppy in your dream weren’t you? Quite right too. They could have done with you at that North London wedding. Can you believe the number of people there? I heard the police had fined 5 people. I think they should all have been fined. It needs some drastic action to make people sit up and take notice. With a bit of common sense these things can be managed. We would normally have expected large numbers at my brother’s funeral but his partner has sent an email round to just about everyone on their contact lists. This explains that numbers are going to be limited to under 30 (the allowable limit), there will be no wake of any kind but everyone will be invited to a celebration of my brother’s life when conditions allow, even if this is some way in the future.

It was a cold but beautiful day today, with sunshine and brilliant blue skies. I went for a short walk and wished I’d taken sunglasses! It’s supposed to be very cold tomorrow so I might be staying in the warm.

I had a Tesco delivery today - nothing missing and only one OK sub. I seem to be wiping down more quickly these days but I’ve had lots of practice now lol. Most of my friends have given up on all the wiping down and I keep wondering if I’m being a bit over cautious, but it doesn’t cost me much in time and effort and it might help.

I’m still not sleeping much and it doesn’t seem to matter whether I go to bed early or late. I generally drop off to sleep quickly but wake up after an hour or so and then can’t sleep again for several hours. Still, I’m always optimistic that tonight I’ll get a good night. I hope you all sleep well tonight. Sweet dreams.