General Chat

I am glad that things are better for you Florence and Joan.
There is no flooding near here for a change, it is mainly in South Yorkshire. There is some in York of course, but that is just normal.

Today, I decided to do the first bit of packing. I have a typical cupboard under the stairs where in the small pointy bit, I keep the Xmas decorations. They were in five smaller cardboard boxes and some carrier bags , but in the new house, they will have to go in the garage. I had one very large plastic box, so bought a second one. I thought that they would all fit in there, but had to use another smaller plastic box as well. They are now out in the garage, it is odd because the volume of the three boxes in the garage looks huge in comparison to when the contents were under the stairs. I will have to have a good prune at Xmas because we can’t possibly need all of them.
I am going to give away the artificial Xmas tree as well and get a much smaller one. We always had real trees, but when the children left home and we started going to hotels to have the extended family all together, we stopped getting a real tree. One year I bought what had been an expensive artificial one in a sale just after Xmas. It is very large :-( It is incredibly realistic though, it takes ages to put it up as I have to spread all the tiny twigs out to make it look real It takes up a lot of room which is fine here, but won’t be when we move

You & your washing Florence, are you sure you are not running a "chinese" laundry, at your house, lol.
A MUCH better day here today, the sun has been shining all day, not much of a wind a bit chilly first thing but not too bad now.

I did manage to get out & clear some leaves off the drive & around the Potting shed, I filled 3 garden sacks, hoping to lift some more tomorrow from the front garden if a dry day.

I managed to get the garden seat/glider upright, it is a steel one & quite heavy & was starpped down with 4 trampoline starps, the fittings were deep into the ground & still the storm up turned it.

Joan.

Afternoon all.

Finally the wind has def abated as it was up again last night but now, sun is shining and I slept like a log!

We have had a very busy day here. Daughter decided to change her bedroom around....major job. It is already full with an "Aladdin's cave" of goodies lol Anyway, she had been beavering away and it's nearly all sorted.

I seemed to have 4 loads of washing today as with the bad weather, we didnt do any last 2 days. It was dry enough for an hour so we managed to get 3 full lines out and dried before a shower came but it was nearly all dry which was fab.

I have made salmon fillets with new pots for tea and peas plus small salad. There is some soup left from yesterday to finish as well so that's the eve meal all sorted ready for cooking.

After vacuuming and tidying up, the house is looking a bit more respectable as last night daughter had all the fayre stuff out of the boxes all over the lounge floor!! But she condensed from 4 boxes to 2 boxes so less carrying on the day.

So now, i'm having a well earned rest with me coffee and catching up on emails, news etc.

I hope Joan, your wind has gone down too and you are having a better day?

Your plants will recover i'm sure, they always seem to somehow.

Hope everyone else is ok as I saw parts of Derbyshire under water too and Yorkshire I think. Linda are you near any floods?

Take care

Florence in the hebrides

Hi to all.
Another wet & gale force winds with us uvernight, the winds haven't abated at all here, & so another night of next to no sleep, the constant noise from the wind hitting the house has been just dreadful.

It doesn't look like things are going to get better any time soon, it's still raining & trees & palnts are getting a right battering, & still on the dark side.

Joan..

Morning linda et al.

Yes all ok up here as wind has finally abated although its still raining but not torrential.

Having a lazy morning as still tired from lack of sleep!

However, have written a list of jobs to do for the coming week and would appear, the list is growing arms & legs lol. With birthdays and xmas parcel for Australia, these need to get posted asap.

I saw the storm warning was also for mid country and not just for the highlands so if anyone in those other areas, take great care or stay at home if possible.

Right need to get busy and horse on with me chores for today.

Florence in the hebrides

Just checking in to see if those of you up in Scotland had a better night and those in the midlands where it seems very bad as well of course.
Things have calmed down here, the wind has dropped and it is just damp and drizzly

Florence I had an 8kg Beko condenser dryer £260 . My old one only had 2 programmes hot and gentle dry but this one has several and should be more economical to run.

Oh my goodness Linda, sounds so stressy!!

Ooh, we put n an offer on the house this morning and stressed that we needed to move quickly and were worried about the vendors not having started looking for a house etc. their estate agent has just phoned back and said that if we pay 5k more than our offer they will take it and they have agreed to move out to suit our timescale. We of course agreed as we had been prepared to pay the full asking price if need be.

So now I can start fretting about the actual move and then about all the work we want to do in the new house. Knocking out part of a wall and a new kitchen and utility room are top of the list and to be tackled asap after we move in :-D

Afternoon everyone and so glad all is well with you Joan but poor you last night. In the dark its a lot worse as you said because you cant see what is flying about outside and the banging noises are scary too.
So glad you didn't lose power, that's a blessing so at least you have warmth with heating.

JustGinnie, i forgot to say, was your new drier very expensive? Such a pain when that happens. i initially bought a cheap one for about £140 but it didn't have reverse drying like my previous one so last year, I sold it for £60 and bought a reverse action drier. That way the towels didn't get rolled into a bundle and dry quicker.

I tel our sol today and was told as they came recommended by the estate Agent, we cant continue to use them!! So now shall have to find another one. I suggested to bro that we use the local one we used for probate near him as they are opposite the estate Agents and that would make life easier.

So Linda like you, we shall have to start from the beginning and upload the ID all over again which seem to take me hours to get it right bearing in mind, once I had uploaded all the things required, I then had to fwd the link to my brother for him to do the same arrrghhh!

Oh yes such stressy times indeed. However the young lassie at the estate Agents was so helpful, I have a better feeling about this already. She was genuinely pleased to assist and go the extra mile for us. I'm also happy to give our business to local businesses as well as in these times, local places need support to survive.

Shall keep you posted when i get news.

On a lighter note, I have some wire rings used for wreath making left over from years ago. So today for another project, I have ordered some scrapping assorted material with xmas designs and hopefully will make some xmas wreaths and if they are good enough, then shall sell them.

Right better go and make a cup o soup and slice some of my bread i made yesterday as tummy rumbling.

Its still very windy here and not going to subside before tomorrow afternoon so the storm hasnt gone away yet but its dry and sunny.

Take care all

Florence in the hebrides

I am glad that you are OK Florence, I hope Joan is as well. The rain is lashing down here and it is very windy, the lights keep flickering, but have stayed on so far. I have had a record quick shower and hair wash in case the power went off while I had a head full of suds.

We were supposed to be driving down to near Leeds, just about forty minutes according to google maps because I need to get certified :-D :-D :-D

We had to send three lots of proof of identity to the conveyancers so we could prove we aren’t money laundering, OH passed, but mine didn’t. They said this happens all the time and they never know why, just that some people aren’t on certain data bases that are used to run the checks. I need to take my documents to a solicitor or a financial advisor etc to have myself certified. They would charge for that of course, or I could take them into the conveyancers office and they would do it for free. We decided to choose the latter option and we’re going to combine it with a shopping trip, but it would be really silly to go today, so we have put it off until Monday.

We viewed a house yesterday and have put an offer in this morning. I didn’t sleep last night worrying about it, I was still awake at 4.30 am, OH was fretting as well.

We have realised that we are never going to find another house in as nice a position as this one, we are really private, not on an estate, on the edge of the country side, but just a few minutes walk from the market square. Unless we win the lottery, we won’t be in a position to find something as nice close to my daughter. The reality is that we will have to downsize and be on some sort of estate if we want to be within reasonable walking distance of the town and close to a bus route for when we can’t drive.

We could just stay here of course, but it is a thirty minute drive to my daughters and it would be up to us to go there as she is working and has her hands full. When my parents were old and needed my help, I was a thirty minute drive from them, but at least I was retired and had the time to go. Even so, it would have been nice to be able to just pop in to keep an eye on them when they were ill. The house we have seen is just an eight minute drive from my daughter, so it will be much more convenient.

We might not get this house of course, especially as the vendors haven’t even started looking for somewhere to move to, They have lived in the house for nearly thirty years since it was new, so I don’t think they are up to speed on the concept of chains. Obviously you can’t have an offer accepted on a house until you have accepted an offer on yours, but in the meantime you should have been viewing properties and have somewhere in mind. When we explained our situation and that we needed to move quickly, they said that they had somewhere they could go and wouldn’t hold us up. I suspect that was because their son who lives with them is just buying a house with his girlfriend. I don’t think they understand the reality of what they said. The double garage was rammed packed with things including three motor bikes and I suspect the loft is full as well. It is such a stressful time, but on the plus side, I have lost some weight this week.

I feel for you Florence with the estate agent problem. We have one in the town who is notorious for putting things on the market at too high a price and then having to reduce everything. On the other hand, you don’t want to go too low. We have five estate agents in town. Two I would describe as the major ones. One we went with, but the other one was very disparaging and wanted to market it at 50k less than we have accepted , thankfully we didn’t choose them

Edit, you posted Joan while I was typing. Poor you, having had such a dreadful night. Hopefully it will pass and you can have a good sleep tonight

I'm glad you're OK, Florence and Joan.

Storms do always sound worse when it's dark.

We got off very lightly here, after all.
The very high winds were supposed to continue until this morning, getting worse before they got better, but in fact the wind had dropped to a normal strength by late yesterday afternoon.

The garden, and roads in the area, are littered with leaves, twigs, and small branches - but I haven't heard of anything more than that.

Hope everyone is safe, I have been watching some of the news reports and it looks awful in some places.

Florence I was wondering if you would change to another agent with the usual method of selling . I know nothing about the auction method your agents use but it certainly isn't working for you and they don't seem bothered . It's a lot of money they are asking you to reduce by. I do hope you get better luck with the new agents.

I had an email from the solicitors today to say the HMRC and the council have finally sent the correct paperwork and refund that was due to my sisters estate. The end is in sight at last.

Have been looking at baking with Almond and Coconut flour so OH can enjoy puddings and cake every now and again and more so at Christmas when the rest of us are tucking in. We don't eat cakes very often but the low carb ready made ones are so expensive . Any one baked with these flours before and maybe have a recipe they like and would share ..

Stay safe all.

Ginnie.

Hello to all, I hope all is well with everyone.

What a dreadful night last night, the wind was horrendous, after a windy day it really whipped up later in the day & once darkness fell is really had a go, as the night went on it became unbearable ( for me at least ) the banging against the house was frightening.

I spent most of the night constantly checkking on hubby or cowering in a chair in the corner of the bedroom I was soo scared, if it hadn't been dark I'm think I would have coped better, being able to see what was going on outside !
I have experienced a lot of storms & fierce winds in my area but last night was really scary & it is STILL very windy.

I can't believe the power is still on !!
From the window I can see my garden seat/glider has been tipped forward & it is strapped down.
I am not venturing outside until the wind has abated, just too dodgy to do that at the moment.

No flooding for us Florence, too high up, we didn't have much rain through the night.

What a carry on for you re your mums house Florence, such a stressful time for you & your family members, let's hope new estate agents can do a better job of things.

Oh my the sun has just come out, makes things look a bit better, just need the wind to stop now, I'm so fed up of the noise.
Take care everyone.

Joan.

Ty Belle for your message.

Brechin seems to be the worst flooded area and some people are trapped in their properties upstairs!!!

Although stormy winds here, we didnt lose power or have floods thankfully.

Just been looking at the pictures of the devastation that Babet is causing in parts of Scotland :-0

Stay safe all of you that live north of the border :-0 <3

Morning all.

A sleepless night due to the howling and gusty wind but all ok. 3 flowerpots are not where they were last night but when the wind abates, I shall go outside to investigate!

We didn't lose power but an area of the town is off this morning.

Joan I hope you and hubby are safe and not flooded out or without power. If you can check in later to let us all know you are ok please, that would be reassuring.

Daughter is supposed to return today and due to some family stuff going on I expect I shall have to try and keep her busy, divert her attention for the next few days.
I sometimes feel, my head is so full of other peoples problems, there are no room for my own and that it will just burst one day!

I shall find some more craft things to do and that will keep us busy.

AG, crikey cutting the grass when damp must of been a real chore but I know what you mean. They stopped cutting ours mid Sep and now it has actually grown quite a bit!

I received an awful email from the selling team re the flat yesterday saying if we dont reduce the price...again to attract buyers, then there is no point having it on the market!!! I was furious as you can imagine.

So I tel a local "traditional" estate agents near my brother and explained and we are giving notice to remove the property from Wards and get it revalued and then it will go on with the new estate Agent. They told me that had had 2 clients who were also unhappy with Wards and tf to them so that made me feel a bit better.

There will be paperwork again to complete but if it helps us to sell by moving, then that's fine with me.

I have to give 21 days notice to quit but the contract was only for 60 days and we are well passed that now which is good.

Well I have drank me coffee so off to shower and get dressed now.

Will be back later on

Florence in the hebrides

Oh my what an awful day, it was windy through the night but by 8-00 am the wind had fairly whipped up & now it's gale force.
Our bird feeders have been blown over, even though they are weighted down & tied to supports, the rain has since started but it's not touching the ground due to the fierce winds.
We have also got our fingers crossed that we don't lose our power,, it gets so cold without the heating & with hubby being not well he feels the cold, even with a HW bottle.

managed to get the weekly shop done this morning, but Morrisons had a lot of produce missing from the shelves, NO spuds or carrots or tomatoes at all, & very little other veg,

I hope all is well for everyone,take care.

Joan.

Stay safe all hope the storm isn't too horrendous for you folk in the north.

Cold and wet here with some sun.

So far today it is lovely here 17 degrees so warm and sunny with blue skies and fluffy white clouds, no wind at all so far.

Stay safe those of you up North. <3