General Chat

I think you had better put the heating on next week Florence.

My WiFi has been a real pain, constantly cutting out, so we keep having to restart the router. The main problem is that there are too many devices connected to it. I have the fastest speed we can get, which is pathetic compared to people who live in big cities.

Until very recently there was no full fibre broadband in the town, so we are fibre to the cabinet down the road , then copper cable to the house. A firm called Zoom have been digging the town up and now apparently we can get real fibre which would be faster, but cost more. We would have to change to an internet phone and it would mess up my tv set up, so I can’t be bothered to change. Instead I have bought a new router which is much better than the free one supplied by the internet provider. We have also installed a mesh system, which sounds odd, but it is two small devices which look a bit like little speakers, one in the lounge and one in the kitchen. They spread the WiFi evenly around the house, so there are no weak spots which there were previously. It does seem to be a huge improvement, the speed tests are about half as much again. Hopefully it will solve the problem when we are all trying to use things at the same time. It has identified twenty four different devices in the house!

My son in law set it up, it was a bit pricey - things always are when he recommends them!

The ultimate solution is to move somewhere with super fast broadband, but that is a bit drastic

EEEk! I have just looked at the forecast for us next week and its showing snow for Mon-Wed for most of northern Scotland and 0 degrees. Brrrr

and warmer than Mallorca.

I am warm inside and with no heating on, the temp in the lounge is 20 degrees, like the Bahamas :-D :-D :-D

Maybe they only brought the temp toilet when they removed the old one Florence.

It is mostly dull here with occasional patches of sunshine and it is 7 degrees. I have only been out to the garage, there is quite a cold wind so I am glad o stay in bu I have no heating on and am not cold at the moment.

Oh btw the workmen are still in full swing and now there is a toilet outside :-D :-D :-D
I feel for the poor lady and was wondering how she is managing as she never asked to use our loo. Must have been crossing her legs!

ZZzzzz, hope you are feeling better, sorry forgot to mention you on previous post.

Well good afternoon everyone.
March, in like a lamb and out like a lion!

Still no wind and very calm here but freezing cold. Ventured out to put number stickers on my bins, something I had just not got round to before. I noticed the other neighbours had numbers on their bins, so thought was about time I got some.

Was only out 10 mins and my fingers were soo cold.

Ordered a lovely black cardigan with pockets, longish, past my hips. Came today and am delighted and so comfy and fits perfect. I guess you get what you pay for as was £27.00 but worth every penny.

Making salmon fillets today, new potatoes and cauliflower plus peas but nooo soy sauce. I sprinkled some sesame seed oil, herbs and black pepper plus a little water over the salmon and all ready for the oven later.

Was supposed to be sorting out cupboards but what with neighbour visiting and now its the afternoon, energy levels are too low to start the job now. Tomorrow we shall do it instead.

Joan, hope you and hubby are well, Linda, AnnG and anyone else looking in.

Florence in the Hebrides

Gwyn, I realised earlier on that yes, they will be using up all the rd funds before the next financial year. Pity, they couldn't use it to remove the speed limit signs and move them further back.

The boy racers seem to think we live on the M25!!! I have emailed twice the local councillor but got no reply. Says it all really. Don't know why I bother to vote in local elections as haven't seen any improvements anywhere!

It is sooo cold, I have the heating on. The sun has gone on holiday elsewhere today and i think the weather is on the change maybe. Lovely though there is no wind & rain.

Cant decide what to make for tea as im quite hungry today. Was gonna make some kinda veggie pasta bolognaise, comfort food with naan bread too.

Daughter's room is almost back to normal, whatever that is :-D :-D

I wish the council would use up their budget here to fill the pot holes and repaint all the road markings here, but there is no chance of that happening. All the local councils are being amalgamated into one large North Yorkshire council in April. My area had a lot of reserves and intended using them prior to the change, but they have been stopped from doing that and all the money has to be handed over.

We couldn’t get rid of our bath in the main bathroom Florence as we need it for Esme. The one in the en-suite is fine for us at the moment, but there isn’t room in there to put a double walk in shower. We will probably down size again before we get too decrepit and then I would remove the bath for a shower, but we always come into the self funding bracket. Having said that we did get a grant for cheaper cavity wall insulation once, but that was some government scheme,other than that we just pay up.

Perhaps all the council work everywhere is a little flurry of activity to use up this financial year's budget. ;-)

The men have been out with their mowers cutting the grass verges here today.

I didn't go in in the end, didn't feel up to it so paid the bill online instead.

There have been local council workers here on and off over the last few days but I can't get out to find out what is going on. :-|

Lots of excitement for you, Florence!

Another beautiful sunny day here, with blue sky wall-to-wall, same as for the last few days.
Such a lovely change from the usual rain here on the west coast - but it's cold.

However, it must have been cloudy during the night, as there was no sign of Northern Lights, nor of stars, either. I went out several times to look, around midnight - but no joy.

I saw them a few years ago, though - beautiful.

Good afternoon all.
Well the workmen across the road had just been re-tarring the edge of the rd where I guess it is a small path for people having to walk on the road or their dogs as there are no pavements, well it is the countryside after all!

They have had the steam roller to smooth it and now moved further up the rd to do another section.

Vans were next door at 8.30 sharp, then at 9am, the drilling and banging continued. Neighbour messaged daughter to apologise for any noise etc but they will be there all week as their bathroom will need painting etc too.

Daughter rearranging her room today and I am trying to go through paperwork etc and make some space in my filing cabinet.

Later I need to carry on with friends family tree. Tesco order needs finalising too as order coming on Friday.

A bit grey and overcast today and very cold so not as nice but still calm and dry.

Linda, could you get a grant to assist you with changing the bathroom maybe? Always worth enquiring. My mum got it done through Help the Aged and didnt have to pay anything . They removed the bath, replaced with a shower, a seat etc so was more of a wet room but she could sit and shower so was much easier than standing.

Hope everyone else ok today.

Florence in the hebrides

Hello everyone, I have been reading, but haven’t posted for a while.

I tried to look for the Northern Lights last night, but it was too cloudy. It is a horrible drizzly day, so I don’t want to go out. I have been doing lots of litter picking lately, but it is too wet for that today

If I just had a shower over a bath, I would have the bath taken out as well. I can’t remember the last time I had an actual bath. I find it difficult to get out these days. In my defence, I do have a shower every day in the free standing one in the en-suite. For when I get very old and doddery, I would like one of the large double size showers, so I could put a proper shower chair in it and sit down. I remember that both my mum and the old lady I used to look after had to stop using the shower because they couldn’t stand for long enough. Mum used to say that she felt like the water was pushing her over. She did have one of those bath chairs which lower you down into the bath, but it didn’t take her right down to the bottom, so she was only sitting in shallow water.

Oh dear ZZzzzz, did you not get out in your bright orange jeans then? Hope you feel better soon.

Mystery of workmen next door solved as i see a bath in the front garden :-D :-D :-D

They removed it to put in a shower for the lady as she is disabled. other workmen have disappeared now, must be lunch lol

Not feeling to good today so staying indoors all cozied up with hubby and watching telly. Stay safe everyone.

Gwyn , we posted at the same time.
No, not this time we didn't see the Northern lights but I believe as far south as Cornwall and Kent had them last night.

Sadly, since I moved to the "other side", my view of the Northern Lights is not so good. You need to be in the North East or on the East Coast, like Elgin, Forres, Lossiemouth etc as they seem to get the best views.

They are pretty amazing though aren't they :-D

Good morning all.
Hive of activity outside my house at 9am! 2 transit work vans parked on neighbours driveway, 2 guys in each van??

Then a small lorry parked across from my driveway??

Digger outside my service rd, digging the small path on side of rd with 1 guy standing with a stop & go sign whilst looking down at his mobile phone lol.

Its also bin day, so when daughter & I went to place the bins ready for collection, I went across to the lorry and said, the bin lorry will be here soon and you may have to move as he wont get passed you. The guy looked at me as if to say"yeah", so what !!

We shall see when bins need emptying, it will be chaos if he remains parked where he is.

I think the digger dug either for Openreach to lay new fibre cables or its for the Scottish water maybe updating the pipes, time will tell.

Daughter says this is my "entertainment" for the day
:-D :-D :-D

hall let you know the outcome later on.

Another windless day but by goodness its baltic outside, 5 minutes and my hands were frozen. ironing basket is calling me so better crack on.

As for the workmen next door, cant imagine what work they are doing as its a brand new house!!
Hope everyone else is well and ok.

ZZzzz they will certainly see you coming :-D

Florence in the hebrides

Well they should brighten a dull day :-D... Go for it.

Grandson wants some really bright jeans, but he's a large chap and can't find any.
I think the latest idea is possibly to buy pale chinos and dye them :-0

Florence, did you look out and see the Northern Lights?
There are some beautiful photos posted online.
I'd love to see them one day.

:-D :-D :-D