General Chat

Oh dear Joan poor you! Hope you havent received any nasty bruises from your fall and to go and stand on a nail...oh my could have been very nasty.

Oh yes lentil soup and a crusty loaf sounds like heaven mmmn. im not hungry today at all so think it will maybe be toast for tea and some fruit as appetite isnt great.

Just waiting on daughter and hope the heavens dont open again otherwise she will be soaked walking from the bus stop!

Joan rest and put your feet up after you have made the soup
Take care

Florence in the hebrides

Afternoon peeps from a very blustery village.
Oh yes, the heavens opened, rumbles of thunder too and of course it would have to be....bin day!

Never blooming fails. Sadly, the nice chappie that always puts my bin back wasn't on duty today and although I was hovering with my stick in hand to take the bins back, the chap just smiled and left me in the rain & wind to deal with the 2 bins.

Anyway back indoors with a hot cup of coffee and so glad. Daughter rang to say she will be home late afternoon so looking forward to seeing her and hearing all the holiday stories and local news etc.

Was just looking for some xmas present ideas for my 2 nieces, one is doing hairdressing and the other is into Dr Who! I found 2 wonderful duvet covers that will suit them. One is of a blue Tardis(she will love that) and the other is pictures of a day in the life of a hairdresser from start to finish(just brill) I have saved them in my Amazon for now and will order them at a later date.So thats 2 ticked off my list.

Well hope everyone else is well and ok.
Im off to make a sandwich as not had lunch yet.

Florence in the hebrides

Good after noon peeps.
it's a beautiful Autumnal sunny day here. very pleasant with a small breeze.

I have not been feeling very well this week at all. I had a nasty pain lower back which was persistent and has kept me awake. Ive had it before and it then goes away? Did mention it once to the GP but they were not that worried!!

With the death of the Queen, I think my grief for my own mother all came out. I have been so busy dealing with things, I really haven't had time to stop and allow myself to grieve until now. I have obviously bottled it all up and being on my own last 2 weeks, I have felt very down.

I had a good cry and I think that has helped to relieve my emotions as today, I'm feeling brighter. Someone whom I knew died 2 days ago locally and that funeral is today. They were 48 and daughter is there so she won't now be back until early next week.

Normally, it doesn't bother me being on my own but not for this length of time especially when I rarely see anyone.
So I have been outside attended to my flowers etc, fed the birds and hung out a bit of washing. Keeping busy is the best thing.

Anyway, hope everyone else is well and keeping ok.
Long may this Autumn sunshine continue.

Forgot to say, there was a huge orange Harvest moon last night, lovely sight and at the same time at the back of the house another glorious sunset!

Florence in the hebrides

I also have a horrendous prescription, never been able to have fancy things like varifocals. I ordered a new spare pair just.before the first lockdown and they came in the post. A year ago I was having headaches so thought I’d better move to the newer ones. I really couldn’t see straight but thought it was the headaches. It was discovered that y centre spot didn’t match the lenses and to make it worse that opticians group no longer provide the strength I need. I have now got the right strength.

But frames styles and colours are awful. Why has everyone got to have huge frames. My lenses are so heavy I need smaller styles. An’t wait for when I need a new pair - not.

Oh ladies, what a hassle you had at the Opticians. I remember going about 10 years ago and the boss whom I always had as he was very efficient, patient and knew what you liked.
So this particular check- up, he was not there and I was given a very over bearing woman who thought she knew better than me as to what type of glasses I preferred.

At the end of the check- up she said, if you would like to choose from this selection over here and pointed over to a display of very expensive frames. I then asked her how my prescription had changed and she said well it hadnt much but my existing frames were very bent and out of shape and my lenses were badly scratched.
I asked if they could reglaze them as the boss had done this before for me but she was adamant they couldnt be done.

So as my eyesight had not changed, I told her, I would come back when I'm ready and actually need new glasses as the ones I had were perfectly ok and then I left.

She glared at me in disbelief.

She was hell bent on getting a sale out of me that day for frames and lenses but she didnt get either as I was having none of it.

I only need them for reading, so now order or buy 10 pairs at £1.00 each from Poundland. I have 2 pairs left and in November hopefully when we go away, will get to Poundland to buy another 10 pairs .

Im sure just because we are older, they think they can bully us into buying things we dont want or like. Well Im very strong willed and stubborn and noone gets one over on me lol

Well Tesco came at 5 so a little earlier which was great. Got everything i ordered and a few bargains too. All away now .

Joan, glad you were not flooded out! Hope the new leaf blower is light enough for you, let us know when it comes. Did you find a good film for the afternoon?

I actually watched an old black and white one last week. It was really good and a thriller with a murder and a twist right at the end. Rather old fashioned and they did speak funny back then lol but it was a good watch, just cant remember what it was called though.

Midges are awful so I shut all the windows, the delivery man said they were evil tonight lol.

Off to make a coffee before me soaps start.

Masterchef has been hilarious with the drag queen called Kitty!

Florence in the hebrides

Oh goodness Linda... What a lot of fuss and frustration which could have mostly been avoided. I do hate it when they won't listen. :-|
I remember having a problem, when my usual optician left the practice. I am short sighted and need lens to correct that, but as I don't drive, the previous optician recommended a slightly less strong correction, so that my general vision was OK, but I could see things close up too.
Would the new optician listen, when I said that we usually went for a compromise?.. Oh no. :-( They insisted I now needed stronger lens and eventually against my better judgement, I bought new glasses. They were dreadful. Every time I wanted to look at anything on the supermarket shelves, I had to take the glasses off to be able to see the prices. This was back in the days, when we used to pay by cheque... again, I'd have to take the glasses off to be able to see clearly when signing cheques.
I put up with it for about 12 days and then decided I couldn't live life like that, so went back to the opticians and explained the situation. I'd been going there for years with no problem and I'm not sure what was said behind the scenes, but they replaced the lens with some more suited to me, ie. compromise ones at no charge. I didn't need sharp distant vision at the expense of a lot of hassle for close reading.
That particular optician was not there long, so perhaps I was not the only one to have trouble with his opinions.

Another beautiful warm day in the south east after overnight rain It's warm too. Always such a bonus, when we have lovely bright sunshine in September and October. There are lots of lovely blackberries locally and the hips and haws are turning red, so autumn is on it's way though.

It is a lovely sunny afternoon here.

Having been to the dentist yesterday, it was the optician this morning. My glasses have been driving me mad all summer, it is like looking through a cloud. I have varifocals and also have an identical pair of varifocal sunglasses. Last year, I was finding it more difficult to read small print, so went for a check up. My prescription was practically the same, but they recommended that I get a pair of reading glasses. I did and they are really useful.

I did wonder if the cloudiness could be cataracts, but then I ruled it out because my vision was fine with both my sunglasses and reading glasses. I suspected that the lenses in my main glasses were bad because they are so scratched. This morning, the optician confirmed my suspicion. My prescription hasn’t changed, but she suggested getting new lenses to replace the scratched ones. She also suggested upgrading the type of varifocal lens to a newer type which should help my general reading without needing to put on the separate reading glasses.

I possibly could have had the new lenses put in the old frames, but I have had them for a long time, so I decided to go for new ones. I knew that was when the problems would start as I have such a complicated prescription which rules out the majority of frames in the shop. The senior dispenser always used to look after me. He knew the problem and would narrow things down to a couple of frames of the type I like. He also made sure that the edges of the lenses were shaved, so that the glass didn’t end up looking like bottle bottoms sticking out beyond the frame. Unfortunately he left a few months ago, so I ended up with a young woman who didn’t want to listen while I explained the problem to her. I could tell from her attitude that she thought I was a stupid old woman.

Of course having chosen some frames, she discovered that my prescription wouldn’t go in them, or in the other two pairs she had suggested. Instead of finding some frames herself, she ended up telling me to go and look at the frames myself and see if I could find some. How was that supposed to work??? OH was getting very annoyed with her by this point. It also doesn’t help that without my glasses, I can’t see what the new frames look like. They used to have a camera system, so you could actually see yourself, but she didn’t offer that.

In the end she discovered that she could get the prescription to fit in one of the pairs, so I went for those. Once she had measured them up, I pointed out to her and the young trainee who was shadowing her that I had warned them in the beginning, but they hadn’t listened. She had the good grace to blush.

So I have a pair of £99 frames which give me the second sunglasses frame for free. Of course my prescription is so bad that the lenses take two weeks to be made instead of the usual one week and oh yes, that will be a grand total of £456 !

It always costs a fortune, but I suppose averaged out over a few years, it isn’t too bad

Well, it's a wet & windy Wednesday and not a pleasant day at all.

So, no going outside for fresh air today or feeing the birds im afraid. My Tesco delivery is coming between 5-6pm which is a good time. I shall wait for the goodies instead of snacking before 5pm lol

Has anyone else noticed how when you type, a blue line is now underlining grammatical errors and not just the red line for spelling errors?

I have not noticed this before and have not changed any settings on my PC so Genes must have changed something? I'm just finding it very annoying!

Feeling quite tired today even though I managed 5 hours solid sleep probably the heavy overcast sky I expect.

Daughter back on dry land but not back here until Friday so my tidy house will probably be a bombsite within 1/2 hour of her returning and the washing machine full up. We are hoping to go to town on Saturday by taxi there and back but the money from the sale of my dryer will go towards that so not so bad. I need a passport photo for the Blue Badge Application form asap and my bus pass too.

Joan did you get any flooding in your area? As I heard on the news there was quite a bit along the coast near Forfar etc although not sure if thats anywhere near you?
Anyway, hope all is well with everyone and take care

Florence in the hebrides

Good afternoon peeps.
Although overcast, it is breezy but very warm at 19 degrees. I have been so busy that now I need to rest as I'm a bit out of breath and perspiring, something I rarely do.

So I ordered 3 bags of compost last week and yesterday my new pots arrived. So I covered the kitchen table with a large bin bag cut open and set to work. I had nearly 20 pots to empty and split the strawberry plants and also the pepper plants.

Oh my I worked like a trojan emptying, refilling, splitting the whole lot etc. I also took part of the mini greenhouse stand apart and transferred the racking to the top. That way the plants get more light and I have a storage area for spare pots and the compost underneath at the bottom.

All of that and the clearing up took me all morning but a job well done and all tidy once more. This afternoon, something a bit more gentle fort me, balancing the books and statements. A calm relaxing job with a coffee and some cake.

Because I'm a veggie, I make a good ratatouille using lots of courgettes, really is a glorified tomato stew but a good way of using up the courgettes. I also have heard of courgette cake too but never tried it.

Linda enjoy the peace and quiet! You can pop into town or out for a coffee anytime you choose without them there. Take up a new hobby maybe?


Will be finishing off my carrot and orange soup for tea with the last 2 crusty rolls, cant wait.

Hope everyone else looking in is well and ok.
Enjoy your Monday afternoon

Florence in the Hebrides

It is oh so quiet here without the girls.

This morning, I had dentist and hygienist appointments, al” was well

It is quite warm, but very humid, there has just been a heavy downpour

I have finished the large pile of washing and it is all put away apart from one lot in the tumble dryer. Once that is done, I will have a lazy afternoon before Esme comes back to pester me

All your soups sound lovely, although I've not tried carrot with orange either.

My sister sometimes gets a plentiful courgette crop too. I remember that my mother made a tasty courgette cake, but I've no idea of the recipe, but I seem to recall that it froze well.

It has been very warm and sunny here this aft, it is still very humid now.

My next doo4 neighbour keeps giving me courgettes, so I have been making different types of veg soup to use them all up. The freezer is full now.

Yeah, school starts tomorrow, so we will have our days back, until 4 pm when Esme gets back. They had a good time in London and then in Filey for a long weekend in a caravan. They were lucky and got upgraded to a brand new top of the range static, it was incredibly posh. It must be filled with sand now. They brought a ton of washing and lots of towels and beach towels back with them, so I have made a start on that .

Well thats me soup all ready and had to have a few spoonfuls to check it and....mmmmn was delicious. Cant wait til at least 5 to put on the crusty rolls and enjoy.

Florence in the hebrides

Good afternoon folks.
Well after a very wet and windy early morning, the skies cleared and we are back to a lovely sunny, warm afternoon. My grass cutters came a bit later after the rain stopped but all looking neat & tidy now.

My friend came about 10.15 and we sat with coffee and my fruit cake. Had so much to catch up on and before we knew it, it was 12 and she had to go!

Had some lovely flowers both from my neighbour on Saturday and also from my friend today. The flowers have now brightened up the kitchen. I do like having flowers around all the time.

Just making a pan of carrot & orange soup for my tea with crusty rolls later. Just took a notion to make it. It is a nice day but kinda Autumnal feel...hence the soup lol

Popped out to put out my blue recycling bin ready for tomorrows collection seeing as its dry and not windy so all my chores done and time to relax...just keep an eye on me soup.

Hope everyone else's Monday is going well

Florence in the hebrides

Afternoon peeps from a very wet & windy village! After all the beautiful sunshine we had all week, Mr sun seems to have taken the day off lol. So back to our usual.

However, it is supposed to be sunny again all next week and 18-19 degrees so 1 day of rain as you say Joan will give the garden a well needed soaking. Hope you enjoy your Sunday dinner later sounds tasty.

I ordered a new super king size duvet cover as I was browsing and couldn't resist this at the great price. I bought a single one for one of my nieces for xmas too so thats 1 off the list already lol.

So washed that yesterday to get the creases out and soften it and then stripped my bed off and put the new one on. Gosh, I was very hot & bothered after doing that, took the life out of me!

Tomorrow I have a friend whom I haven't seen for over a month or more so have made a light fruit cake. I just had a small piece although it was still warm, but was jolly tasty.

I now have my duvet and pillowcases in the washing machine hoping I can get them out to dry tomorrow and save on the dryer.

So I am bushed now so sitting down awhile to recharge me batteries. A lot of work done for a Sunday hehe.

Linda, that was good you sold the tower but unfortunate the heavens opened!

Joan, enjoy looking around the shops tomorrow. What sort do you have nearby you, anything good?

I'm gonna put my legs up now as left ankle looks like an elephants foot as been on me feet a bit too long.

Enjoy the rest of your Sunday peeps

Florence in the hebrides

It is quite warm here, but overcast.

Yesterday I decided to give away a little tykes climbing tower cum slide. Esme is too big for it now and it has just been cluttering up the patio. I put it on the local free Facebook group, knowing that it would be snapped up instantly as I could easily have sold it if I had wanted to . Within five minutes, I had two people wanting it, the first wanted me to deliver it, - not a chance. The second one was so keen, that they wanted to come straight away. OH had to take it apart and it was starting to rain, but he managed it. By the time the poor chap arrived it was like a tropical rainstorm. He was absolutely drenched by the time he got it all in his car.

We are on our own for the weekend. OH came home on Friday, but my daughter and the girls are not back until tomorrow. School starts for both of them on Tuesday, so at least I will have my days back

That’s ridiculous. Someone needs to explain that when a map makes place look close they are actually miles apart.

When our bank branch closed it was the same bus or train into train, then one had to join an enormous queue which meant you could easily miss the bus as the times were odd. Then you’d eventually get home to find the bank had already called to ask how they had done. One a good bus day times you could be out for an hour and a half on a bad bus day times you could be out for another hour or two.
After some very strong words from OH they stopped asking.

The reason my dad deals with everything in cash is so the bank can't see where he spends his money lol :-D :-D

At least you have a bank.

Many years ago our local building society was closed and they transferred us to the next one. Which, as the crow flies, was quite close. However, without a car you needed to get a bus or train to the big town and then bus out to that branch. If you took the train you then had to walk past the town branch to get to the bus stop :-S

Joan -
I hope your savings account is giving you a good rate of interest.

No savings (or other) account is keeping up with inflation, but the higher the interest the better, as every penny counts.