General Chat

Aw well done to your grand daughter Joan, you must be a very proud grandmother.

I have noticed that i have new bids on my rose and have 2 new yellow ones plus the carnations are budding as well :-S

Infact all the pots including the dwarf geraniums still have plenty of foliage on them...its bonkers at this time of year. it didn't actually rain hard after all and daughter managed to get the bedding outside. Wasn't much wind but at least it smells lovely and fresh.

Joan I'm sure the leave collecting will be coming to an end soon as the trees will surely be bare soon?

I'm hoping to go over to town on Thursday with a friend and get to finish off my xmas shopping. I want to see the big coop as its recently been upgraded and see what offers they have on.

I'm having lemon sole in breadcrumbs with chips and some salad tonight as feeling quite peckish.

As for the flat Joan, it really is one thing after another and surely something will give soon and let us settle the sale once and for all.

I have just finished making 11 bags with 10 tags in each....phew! Has taken me all afternoon but a job well done and ticked off my list of jobs.

So off to have a cuppa then sort out the food.

Florence in the hebrides

Good afternood, & it IS a good one, the sun is out, no wind, some new buds/flowers on some of our plants, & some nice dry leaves ready for clearing up.

I have ben out & swept up some of the leaves & some leaves are waiting in little heaps ready to put into the garden sacks,.
I am planning to sweep them up after adding this reply, have take advantage of the nice day.
Still a couple of areas that are covered in leaves, but they will have to wait a bit longer.

Florence, what a terrible thing to happen, just another problem for you to have to sort out, hope it's sorted quickly for you.

Our grandaughter did really well at the netball games yesterday, & she was player of the match, she was just delighted at that.

Well I must get back outside before the daylight starts waning, hope all is well with everyone.

Joan.

Good morning chit chatters.

What a weekend! The fayre was very busy and I sold quite a lot of my cards and will have to make some more gift tags for the next one. I had a super time seeing so many people and having catch ups, was a real boost for me.

Sadly daughter had been unwell with a tooth problem on the Friday and within an hour of arriving, I had to get someone to take her home!

When i got home later, she was really sick as the medicine she was given upset her stomach but by yesterday eve she had perked up and is back to normal today.

So all was well until..... my bother sent me a picture of mums front garden and driveway and oh my! A car a few days ago had at high speed somehow veered off the rd, up mums driveway, hit the wall and big gate and then rolled over the adjoining wall and landed on neighbours drive!!! Fgs, they must have been doing a speed.

Anyway brother had been away and only went round to check on things and found this. He took lots of photos etc and I sent a letter plus the pics to the Leaseholder Association. I then tel their office to explain what happened so they can get started with an insurance claim.

Honestly as my brother said, sometimes its mums way of saying" dont sell the flat."
lol So shall have to wait & see how long it will take to repair all the damage, The shed wall has a large crack in it!

Never a dull moment as they say.
Was just a few fireworks down the hill but only lasted 10 minutes and noone else had any so was fairly quiet.

Just waiting on the bin lorry and it looks very black outside. Think the heavens are about to chuck it down.

Glad all is ok with everyone JG, Joan & Linda.

I didn't have any problems getting on here Linda but hope you are sorted now?

Well off to do some "stripping" :-D :-D :-D

Florence in the hebrides

I feel like banging my head on the wall :-S
I haven’t been able to get onto the General Chat board all day. All the other boards and parts of the website work fine, but when I click on General Chat, it just takes me to a page of rules and regulations. I assumed it was a problem with the website, so from one of the other boards, I messaged Ann in Glos and she kindly replied to say all was well with her.
I always use Chrome as the browser on my iPad, so I tried Safari and I can get onto the board as normal. The problem is just with Chrome. Even if I go to GR by typing the site in and logging in, I still have the same problem . I have tried deleting the book mark, clearing my cookies and browsing history, restarting , everything I can think of, but it still doesn’t work. At least I can get in via Safari.

We have been touring round shops today, looking for curtains, wood flooring , blinds etc for the new house. I just can’t find any curtains which I like. :-( We found some flooring and ideas for blinds, so it wasn’t all bad. We had a nice lunch out, even as OH pointed out it wasn’t Slimming World friendly :-D

Joan, we have more fireworks already this evening I just wish people wouldn't have the loud booming ones that make me jump. The fireworks we used to buy were the pretty ones that hardly made a noise. Also they were not sold all year round like now , people round here seem to have fireworks for every occasion .

A lot of the trees around here still have a lot of green leaves on and some of the plants in our garden have flowered again. The cold snap followed by warm weather has them confused .lol. The seasons are mixed up. Here in parts of the Midlands we escaped the worst storms but we had a lot of rain this year.

Ginnie.

hllo Ginnie & others.
It must be rather annoying hearing fireworks going off so regularly.
I thought there would have been fireworks going off last night but never heard any & it was a perfect night for fireworks & bonfires.

Even though the nearest village is some distance from us we can here any bangs but not one last night, must be all happening tonight ?
I'm not one for fireworks & we never bought any for our children, Sparklers were the only things I bought, lol.

It's dull here today & rather chilly & the ground is sooo wet after the recent rain, it's going to be a loong winter !
I cleared up another load of leaves yesterday but it wasn't easy as being soo wet many were stuck to the ground, still many covering the gravelled areas but need them to dry off a bit before I tackle them.
Not too many left on the trees thank goodness, lol.

Joan.

Good Morning all looking in.

It's a sunny Sunday here at the moment but clouds are expected later.

Last night was noisy with fireworks going off all around even though it was raining. For some reason we hear fireworks every weekend sometimes several nights in a week. Someone local lets fireworks off about 11.30 pm most evening only lasts for about 5mins or so , very weird.
We will get it again tonight I suppose , I'm glad to say our dog seems to not be bothered by them when he is inside.

Haven't done anything in the garden as it is much to wet and soggy out there.

Hope everyone is ok .

Ginnie

Hello to all.
It's a miserable day here today.
Rained again all night & carried on until around dinner time, it was near dark until about an hour ago so had to have the living room light on, then it suddenly brightened up but not for long, only had the light off for about 1/2 an hour but it's now back on.

With all the rain over the past 2 days/nights more leaves have come down & you would never believe that I swept up a load just 2 days ago !
They are everywhere & soaking so not going to attempt clearing them until we get some dry days, such a thankless task !

Just a simple meal for us today, hubby requested Hot Dogs for a change, so our usual Frisday home made Fish & Chips have been delayed until tomorrow, lol.

Got a bit more done on my Crosstitching, I have almost re done the area that I had to unpick recently, I didn't think I would carry on with it as I was really annoyed/upset to find my BIG mistake, but I have done such a lot of the scene it would have been wrong not to carry on with it..

I hope everyone is keeping well & those of you twho were not well recently are now fully recovered, take care.

Joan.

Well let's hope the window poles don't fit.

Completely different weather here today, this morning has been calm and sunny although only 12 degrees at the moment. Still I have been able to get out to go and collect my prescription which I had intended doing when I went to the hairdressers. I did cancel the appointment and have a replacement for the 14th. Luckily she did cut it quite short last time so it should be ok.

They are younger than we are Ann, he is retiring this week. They both had swish cars, better than ours, I think they must just be mean :-|

We went over to play with Esme today, just to help occupy her as her parents both work from home. I just love playing schools :-)

On the way back, we called into a kitchen showroom which had been recommended to us, but it looked to be a bit expensive. I wonder if anyone on here had a Which subscription as there is an article on kitchens which I would like to read

We also went to a blind showroom to get some ideas. There is one type which I particularly like, but I don’t think they will fit on the type of windows we are going to have. There was only a young girl in the showroom and she was pretty useless. I will ring up and try to speak to one if the owners , so I hopefully will get more sense out of him.

It was absolutely throwing it down as we drove home, we came cross country instead of on the motorway and the flooding in the roads was dreadful

Linda, it sounds as if they are going to be short of money when they move. Are they an older couple? Maybe if they had to drop the price they are trying to recoup some of the money they lost.

I noticed that in two bedrooms that the curtains match the duvet covers, so that is why they will be taking them, but as you say the chances of them fitting new windows will be slim.
On the property form, curtain poles are something you tick to leave or take. They are taking the dishwasher as well which is annoying. Having said that as one of the first things we are going to do is to put in a new kitchen and their dishwasher is not fitted, so would have to be replaced anyway.
My daughter reminded us that they have two sets of stick on blackout blinds which they used to use in holiday flats, so at least we can use them in the bedroom

Linda are they allowed to do that these days? I thought any fixtures had to be left. When we moved here they took most of the light bulbs and, even though they said they were leaving the garden shed, they took it.
It doesn’t make any sense taking curtains as they rarely fit.

Linda, when I first moved to a rented house, the bedroom upstairs had no curtains at all. Infact there was only one old pair in the lounge.

So the next day after moving in, i went to a good charity shop and found 2 pairs for the bedrooms, I found a sample of a good linen curtain that did the bathroom. There was no rail so I stuck into the wood with drawing pins lol.

I did over the next few weeks buy new curtains for the lounge and kitchen.
But when I left that house to come here, I left the curtains upstairs and the kitchen one just to help the next occupant until they got organised.

I mean, taking the poles as well??? Thats quite mean really..

Decided on a rectangular pizza with baby corn cobs and a few oven chips...comfort food as its blowing a hooley and pouring hard now.

Stew and dump sounds yummy Joan. I found some liver in the freezer, so we are having liver onions and mash.

Your post office sounds as useless as ours Florence, they should have told you about the customs declaration. We have an excellent post office in a village just over a mile away and people go there in preference because they are so helpful.

We just got a load of forms from our solicitor. Among them was the contents for the new house. The current owners are taking all the curtains and curtain poles. The curtains aren’t very nice, but at least we would have had something. I can’t believe they are taking the poles as well, no doubt they will leave big holes in the walls. They had new windows in 2021 and had not put any blinds in the bathrooms since then, so we knew they were to do. We will have to hang some sheets up in the bedroomsuntil we can get new blinds fitted. Just one more thing to add to the massive list of things to do :-(

Hello.
O my Florence what a disaster for you, very glad that we don't have anyone abroad that need cards or parcels, too complicated for us to deal with, not to mention the costs incured.

A very wet day here, been raining through the night & still going, very disappointing after having 2 nice dry sunny days even if cold, I had outdoor plans for today, but hey ho, back to the Crosstitching instead.
I have put together a stew today & will probably make some Dumplings to go with it.

Joan.

Good afternoon everyone. It is dreary and cold here. We have been taking it easy, OH has been sitting around which is just not like him he is normally always doing jobs.
We have been going through all the paperwork and throwing out lots of old statements etc, We went through lots of old packets of photos this morning and threw quite a lot of also rans away I just have one more shelf to go through, then the study will be totally sorted. We have three bookcases with doors on the bottom half. There is lots of empty space now, so I will be able to use one of them as a temporary measure in the dining room of the new house until we get some built in storage made

I need to go to the doctors this afternoon for a blood test. Normally I would walk, but I don’t feel up to it, so will take the car instead, not that I will be able to park there as half the car park is cordoned off for building work. I will probably have to park in the town square and walk, but it is closer than walking from home.

Afternoon everyone.

I am fuming :-P :-P :-P

The postie has just come and shock of horrors, the package I sent airmail to my cousin in Australia a week ago has been returned to me!! It has an orange sticker on saying it was refused by customs as it did not have a form stuck on the package with a list of the contents.

I did write on the front printed matter only as it contains that plus 2 wooden hand made coasters and a mounted print so nothing hazardous.

When daughter took it to the PO, the cashier asked what was in it and then said that's fine. it cost me £14.35. So I looked it up and I have to fill in a customs form listing all the items but the bug bear is.....I have to pay again!! It didn't even leave the UK so paying what I did to go to Heathrow Customs probably is extortionate.

As you can imagine I'm not a happy bunny, because the cashier should have asked daughter to complete the form there and then instead of wasting time & money.

Dear oh dear, what is the world coming to?

AnnG, I have a ledger book I fill with all my income and outgoings and then balance that against my bank once a week. It is a bit old fashioned I guess but it teaches you to budget and spot if anything amiss. I know people who never look at their statements and just rely on the bank etc never making a mistake.

When you are on a budget, you have to keep track unless you are really rich!

Anyway moving on...

Its gales force winds here which I wasn't expecting. thought the storm was only down south unless this is just our usual weather for November lol

Home alone until Friday but its fine as I have several things to do at my pace and less washing and housework to do. Can't make up my mind what to make myself for tea. I was thinking of a stir fry with veg and rice maybe, just fancy that.

AnnG, I hope you don get wet going to the hairdressers. Can you get a taxi back so your hair wont get ruined in the rain?

Hope everyone else looking in is safe and well.

Florence in the hebrides

Very windy here so far today although not gale force. Looks threatening for rain and it is forecast showers this afternoon. Unfortunately tomorrow I have a hair appointment so will have to walk out in it even if it is raining. The joys of having no transport. Still I accept that was my choice so will put up to it.

there is always something to do Florence isn't there. I suspect I make a lot of admin jobs that many of younger generations don't do. I wonder if it makes any difference. Every month I balance my bank accounts, the on line statements against what is in my accounts books. I like to keep a finger on the pulse. Actually in a masochistic sort of way, I enjoy it, the arithmetic keeps my 83 year old brain ticking over.

So far today I have just read the DM on line and answered a couple of emails. Plus moving a lot of garden tools from my shed out to the empty garage. The shed is starting to creak and leak and I am waiting for an estimate for my friendly gardeners to demolish the shed and attached lean to greenhouse and put up a new one. This will be in the new year but I want to clear as much as I can out of it before winter sets in.

Now I am going to continue making Christmas cards. :-) :-)

Joan, no worries with this storm as it wont affect you or me....for a change if thats reassuring for you :-D

As for being busy, I sometimes think that although I retired 2 years ago, I do as much paperwork, tel calls etc plus keeping the house clean and tidy as I did back then.
However it is nice to feel useful when people ask me to sort out problems for them.

I do have a wealth of experience and knowledge between my banking days and my education years.
I am very good with words so can help people with difficult lettters ie complaints etc

I am also good on the phone and never let anyone fob me off lol.

If I didn't have so many things to deal with, I would maybe get a bit bored and me brain would fall asleep and I cant have that
:-D :-D