General Chat

Morning All, thought I'd pop in to see what you have all been up to, sounds like Mo you are still having Rat trouble, and Ann has been enjoying the fruits of her labour. As for Jean "Scrapping" and "Snapping", what more can I say. I like taking photos but don't have the patience for Scrapping - too fiddly for me.

Well, I have to tell you that Mum & Dads special weekend went really well. We all managed to see them at some point on Saturday which was their actual anniversary. They had received lots of beautiful cards and flowers.

Then yesterday we had the BBQ lunch. Unfortunately it was quite windy, though warm'ish, so we ate indoors rather than in the gardens, but the food was wonderful and the Hotel staff couldn't do enough to make us feel comfortable. But they never got in the way. The sort of staff you know are there but you aren't really aware of their presence.

The Hotel we went to is family owned and run with awareness of what families need from their holiday, so there are large gardens, a swimming pool, table football, table tennis, a small playground and a lovely wooded walk through which they have put up loads of bird and squirrel feeders. All that amongst the rabbits in their hutches on the lawns and 2 huge family dogs. It was a lovely atmosphere.

We gave Mum & Dad 2 of their wedding photos which we had "blown up" to pictures of about 24" x12" and set onto canvas. They looked fantastic as a finished product and obviously in Black and White so they were very striking. One was of the pair of them in front of the Church Door and the other was the pair of them, all 3 bridesmaids, the Best man and both sets of their parents. It is lovely for my generation to see our Grandparents in such lovely photos. They now need to be hung somewhere nice in the house, but I'm sure that will be achieved with ease.

So, all in all, a very successful day and one enjoyed by all of us. I think Mum & Dad were slightly nervous as to what we had all planned for them, but were delighted with the no fuss, no frills day that it turned out to be.

Off now, the rest of the family are out in the boat fishing so I must get on with some work. Have a lovely Bank Holiday.
DEBBIE

Debbie, that sounded so nice for your mum and dad, what a lovely memory for everyone....the pictures sound great, I have one of mygrandson when he was about 3 or 4 he is now 28.... but the canvas effect is lovely....


Ann, hope you had a better nights sleep, I was just telling Daff about my sorting cupbpoards out,, cant get in the place were I do my crafting, for bags and boxes waiting to go to the tip or charity shop...

Mo, I do hope the animal has been dealt with , they are such horrible things. btw, were are you going on holiday, is it up my neck of the wood, and when are you going?.....


Hi, to everyone else, hope your weather is better than ours, so much rain....

love Jean xx

Hi Everyone,

At last I've managed to find the time to look in to see how you all are.
Richard and Christie have gone back, so it's all very quiet here now. I miss not seeing them for couple of days but then get use to it again.

Debbie, the weekend sounded just right for you all, especially for your Mum and Dad. The pictures were a really good idea, I'm sure your parents were thrilled to bits with them.
It was windy but dry here yesterday, and quite cold, and then it started to rain, more of a drizzle, but it was miserable.

Ann, you have been very busy over the weekend. I hope you slept better last night.

Mo, I hope you have haven't got more of your furry friends calling by looking for food. It's bad enough having one, without more. As you said, the rat man might have to put a stronger poison down, I think sometimes the rats become immune to some of the poisons the rat catchers put down.
Hope both you and Roly are alright, apart from having to clean up after your unwelcome visitors.

Jean, hope you and J had a good weekend. Did you go anywhere special?

Well I'm going to do some scrapping now, haven't been able to do any over the weekend.
I'll look in again later.

Best wishes to you all.

Love, Sallie.xx

I had a really good nights sleep last night I am pleased to say.

This morning we were at Malvern Showground at about 10am for the giant flea fair, we left at 1.30 when our legs gave up on us Lol!!

All we bought was a couple of pork pies, a bag of plums and I bought a book A hard backed illustrated sort of diary of 1900 - 1950, looks interesting. There were hundreds of stalls with lots to sell and lots of people looking and buying, just didn't see anything that I wanted this time, always makes a good run out though and it stayed dry, very windy but dry and fairly warm.

Well,my friends,what another lovely day.
We decided to take a trip down to Broadstairs,it's a lovely coastal resort near to us. BUT we got stuck in traffic,and by the time we got there we could not find a parking space. So we decided to go onto Margate,which I must say,is not a favourite place of mine,but we parked up o.k,we then decided to have a meal,as by this time it was two thirty. So we ordered the meal,only to be told it would be thirty minutes,as they were so busy.
The meal was fine,but by the time we had finished it,everywhere was closing,so we came home. What a dissapointment,I was hoping to let Liz know what it is like now down there. Sorry Liz cant update you.
Our furry friends had called again last night,I am really getting p**d of with them now.
It's no joke,when you have to carefully scrub everywhere before you can even eat your breakfast.
Debbie,it sounds like you had a wonderful day,with mum+dad. I bet they were really chuffed with the photo's on canvas.
It makes all the difference when staff blend in,and don't become nuisances,like they do in some shops you go into.
I like to browse,but always get asked "can I help you", yes I know it's manners,but sometimes I wish they would wait till I ask for help.
Jean,we hope to be coming up to Blackpool,in October for my birthday.
I will warn you dont worry,so that you can be sure to be out. lol
Sallie,I bet it is very quiet for you both,now that Richard +Christie have gone back.
But you can catch up on your scrapping now can't you.
ooooh Ann I bet your legs and feet were aching,after being on them for three and a half hours. Still you had a nice look around didn't you.
Back to normal for most people tommorrow,but us retired folk can still
continue enjoying ourselves.lol
I am going to get a nice cuppa now,so I will see you tommorrow.
By the way Huia,how are things at your end love.
Bye for now,love to you all. Mo xxx

Mo, we are only a hour away from Blackpool, so if we are here when you come, perhaps we could meet for a coffee or something... we go away in October to Llandudno, while they do my new kitchen, dont want to be here when they do it ,let me know nearer the time... get the rat man to double the dose its not fair waiting, you want the things out and cleared ...

Hi, Sallie, cant do any pages yet cant get in the place where I do my crafting ..

love to you all, Huia , hope all is well with you....

love Jean xx

Hi All,

Mo, sorry you couldn't get a parking space in Broadstairs, it's so disappointing not to be able to stop there after the drive down. Never mind, perhaps you can go another day soon, when the schools are back. It will be a lot quieter then. We haven't been anywhere today, Alun won't take the car out on a Bank Holiday because of traffic queues. So I've been doing some scrapping instead.
Sorry to hear that you still have the problem of your furry friends. I think I would ring the council and tell them the situation and ask if it's possible for the rat catcher to come back a bit sooner. You can't keep putting up with this, it looks as though the poison is not working, for them to keep coming back. Good luck!

Ann, my uncle use to live in Malvern many years ago. I don't remember much about it though as I was too young. In recent years we have only just gone through it, but never stopped there.
Some of Alun's ancestors come from around the Worcester area, so we hope that we will be able to go and do some research there. The trouble is our ancestors are so spread out that we don't know where to go next.

Huia, how are you getting on? We haven't heard from you for a couple of days, I hope all is well with you and Phil.

Sue, hope Luke's arm is less painful and that he gets on alright at the hospital this week.

Marilyn, hope you and your sister are enjoying your time together. Have you managed to get out and about?

Marie, hope all is well with you and your family.

Grace, how are things with you and your family? Hope all is well.

Liz, have you managed to book anywhere for your holiday yet. Hope you have found somewhere.
Is your son back from Reading? I hope he and his mates had a good time there.

Jean, I had forgotten that you couldn't get into your room to do some scrappages. I have managed to get some done today, but one of the ideas I had for one of the pages isn't working out as I'd hoped it would.
Never mind I'll try something else.

Debbie, did your hubby and the boys catch any fish today?

Well I'm just going to start another page, hope this one works out.

Speak to you all tomorrow.

Best wishes to you all.

Love, Sallie.xx

Mokent there's a car park behind the gift shop in broarstairs
you can usually get parked there
or further up the road NR illusions on the main street

Joy we tried all the car parks,but they were all full up today unfortunately.
But we are going to go when the children are back at school.
Jean I am so sorry I forgot to let you know about the e.mail I sent. I did not want to scare you,but can understand how you felt,as I normally delete any
I don't recognise to.

Hi all. I am still alive and kicking although I almost had a heart attack last evening. I had an intruder in the house! No, not a rat, bigger than that. It was a cat, presumably a stray or one somebody has dumped. It had been at the cat food that I had left on the stairs for our cat when I go out for the day. Our cat was looking terrified in that direction and when I heard a noise and went to investigate this big furry shape suddenly appeared running from the passage into the lounge and then doing the wall of death around the lounge/dining area, on the table, up on window sills. I opened the front door and chased the cat around with loud yells to get out. It did (so did my cat, but she came back later). I hope the stray doesnt come back, I dont know what I can do to keep it out. Son suggested a magnetic cat flap but I cant think of anywhere I could put one, due to the nature of our doors etc.

I visited Phil again yesterday and when we sat on the settee he said the train was taking a long time to start moving. I said it wasnt a train and later he said the aeroplane was slow to take off. A few days earlier he had wanted to know (when talking to me on the phone) if we could afford to hire a boat to get back to NZ. He thought he was in England. Apparently he asked another woman who was visiting the ward if she was going to come back with him. He thought it was his mother. I told her she had a similar hairstyle.

I wont be visiting Phil today, it is so tiring, mentally as well as physically. I might go to the LDS rooms this morning (if I can get ready and away in time) to check out some references for some certs I want . I will then do some shopping and take my dinner to our genealogy rooms as they have the monthly meeting tonight, but I wont stay for that as I want to go to choir practice. It is so nice to have a life again, even if it does have to include visiting OH in hospital.

Huia.

Hi Huia,it's good to hear from you again. We were getting a bit worried as we had not heard from you in a while.
I really laughed when I read about the stray cat,sorry I know I shouldn't have,but you conjured up such a funny sight,in your explanation of what had happened.
I am pleased you are able to have a bit more freedom now. It must be so hard to see Phil,deteriating before your eyes. But he is now in the best place for him. And probably,a few years ago,when he was more lucid,he would have agreed with what you have had to do.
God bless you and Phil,and give you strength. Love and best wishes Mo xx

Huia, it's lovely to hear from you. Hope you had a good day and managed to get the information you needed at the LDS. As you say Huia, it's nice to get your life back again and to be able to do all the things that you enjoy doing. Phil would want it that way for you, and as MO said that a few years back I'm sure that he would have told you that.

Hope you enjoyed choir practice. Lets hope you didn't have the intruder back again. At least having a cat intruder is a lot better than the kind that Mo and Roly have.

All the best, speak to you soon.

Take care!

Love, Sallie.xx

Hi all. I havent been to town yet. It is only 9.15am. I still have to do the dishes and have a shower.

I am glad the cat wasnt an Aussie intruder. Those pesky opposums can really wreak havoc if they get in.

Better get moving.

Huia.

Hi all, apologies that I can't comment on everyone's posts - I am still really tired and can't concentrate very well. Yesterday Monday the Red Arrows woke me a bit earlier than I had intended to get up but as it was a nice day I made the effort to stay awake, and got ready to go out with o.h. - he wanted to go to the coast and we haven't been so far this year, which is daft when we live so close, 20 miles or so and all the Norfolk coast at our feet.
I suggested Cromer and off we went, as we got out the door I asked o.h. had he shaved? No says he, I just realised I haven't! Charming, he looks like Desperate Dan, such a scruff, of course he made the effort for his family day, but for me, no! Anyway sun was really shining and we got to Cromer at 4pm - it was heaving but we had a wander round the old familiar streets and down to the beach, had some chips and bought a Cromer Crab, all dressed ready, which the woman kept in the fridge for us till we went back later to pick it up. We sat and ate our chips and then went for a paddle, it was lovely, very cold at first but then very pleasant.

Later on we went back and got fried cod as it had looked so tempting when we were getting the fish, but we weren't that hungry at the time, the sea air worked tho and we soon tucked away the fish, and then had another wander back to the crab stall. I got talking to the woman there and found out she is related to the Davies family, who my mother knew when she lived in Cromer before she went to be a Land Girl. 'Shrimp' Davies was a famous lifeboat man who took over from his Uncle Henry Blogg who was also reknowned in Cromer and both men were recognised as heroes who saved many lives off the Cromer coast. Shrimp was subject of Eamonn Andrews This is your life in 1976, the evening before he retired. I remember my Mum talking about them and think she lodged with one of the family members before she went to Trunch, while she worked at the International stores in Cromer. I think Mum had many happy times in Cromer and I wish she had taken us there when we were young to meet her old friends, not sure why she didn't, we weren't that bad lol! There is a lady there who is the oldest member of the Davies family still around, and she is 88 so would have known my Mum, as only 5 yrs younger than Mum, who would be 93 now if she was still alive. Another person who Mum would have known was another lady of the family, but sadly yesterday morning she fell and damaged one of her new hips so had been taken to hospital. Her house was next to the crab stall and the woman said that was probably the house where my Mum stayed.
I am cross with myself for waiting so long to ask about my mother's time in these towns and villages, I should have done it ten years ago when Shrimp Davies and others including Mum's bridesmaid were still alive.

Mo, I am sorry you didn't have a very successful trip out. I got a reply from a lady who has a house to let in Broadstairs and I have to phone her later today, so might be staying there. Am still waiting for the reply from the people with the posh apartment and yet to decide about going abroad, he seems sort of keen now, especially when we were paddling in the sea and he remembered the lovely clear water in Kefalonia and feeding the fish with bread from our hands as we stood waist deep in the sea.


Huia, I am sorry you had such a fright, I guess the cat did too when you shouted at it lol It seems Phil is becoming more confused about where he is so maybe not trying to escape so much if he thinks he is en route somewhere bless him. I am glad you are managing to pick up the pieces of your social life and hope you enjoy the choir practice.

love to everyone,
Lizxxxxxx

Morning Everyone, back to work for those of us who don't enjoy a more leisurely lifestyle - my Hubby!!!

Huia, your description of your intruder was so funny it really brought a smile to my face. I am pleased that you are getting on with your own interests now, but still have Phil high up in your thoughts. It is the only way to proceed otherwise you would end up in the depths of despair, and that would be no good for the pair of you.

Mo, surely that rat should have died by now, there must be a "super Strain" of them round your way. Good luck. Sorry you weren't able to park on your day out, but I'm pleased it wasn't a totally wasted journey.

Jean, I hope that you and J are keeping ok and that hospital visits etc are all going well. I haven't read back on all the past threads to find out what stage you are both at, but I certainly hope your restless legs are more controlled now.

Ann, the Fair at Malvern sounded great. I love nosing around places like that. Like you, I rarely come away with anything life changing and usually end up buying books, but it is nice to have a look. I have relations in that area and when we used to stay with relatives in Worcester, we often went to the Malverns on a big day out for all the family. There were the 6 of us in my family and there were 7 in my Aunts family, so we didn't need any more to have a great day.

In more recent years, with my own family we have stayed at the Cotswold Water Park at South Cerney and travelled up to Worcester to visit. We are all married with families of our own now, so space is at a premium in relations' houses. I think the last time we were up that way was a couple of years ago and we went to a car bot sale at Cheltenham Race Course. My M-in-L was born in Swindon and we make a point of visiting her lifelong friend whenever we go that way. M-in-L died 9 years ago, so we are the only contact now that the friend has with the family.

I really like that area, and would like to holiday there more often, but our Easter breaks in England are shared around visiting different areas to see as many realtions as we can, and also allow us a decent break for ourselves. I was born in Trowbridge but haven't been back there. We left when I was 3 so I have no memories at all.

Back to the present, and the children caught some Sole and Mackerel yesterday in their fishing trip. They had put down a couple of nets this weekend, so they fished the Lobster Pots, the nets and also did some rod fishing. My house stunk of fish, but nothing nicer that having it straight from the sea. The oldest boys are going out again today to a castle which has a long breakwater. They go all day and take one of those disposable BBQ's with them, so that they can literally catch, kill and eat within the hour. Yum yum. Happy Days.

DEBBIE

Hi every one.
It's so nice to hear about all of your ancestors. I just wish I had something like that to tell.
My parents never spoke very much about their parents,so anything I have learnt has come through wedding certs. And to be honest,they are not really telling of the lives of forbearers are they.
I only know where one set of grandparents lived,but nothing of their way of
living.
The grandfather that I know of,came over from Belguim,but I know nothing
of his family.
Sometimes I wish they had written it down,at least that way my cousin and I would know where to look.
The rat story continues. We found it this morning,hiding in the TV/VIDEO
unit in the back room.
When Roly opened it,the flaming thing was sitting there looking at him.
When he went to capture it,it ran,I screamed and jumped up on a chair,it
disappeared into the kitchen.
We then could not find it. We emptied all the cupboards,took the kick plates of the bottom of the units,and still could not find it.
Soooo the darn thing is still at loose. I phoned the enviromental health,
first thing this morning,the rat man cannot come till tommorrow.
So it looks like another night of the rat run,and clearing up in the morning.
I asked the lady this morning,if when the man comes,could he bring something stronger,but she reckons that what he put down was a strong
rodent killer,and should have worked.
All I can say is,Roland Rat must have a strong constitution,to be still alive.
This is really getting me down now,I jump at the least noise,and am feeling like a nervous wreck.
Enough of that. I hope you are all well. Sending you all my love. Mo xxx

P.M. sent Mo...


Jean xx

Do you want to borrow our cat, MO? We havent seen or heard sign of any rats since shortly after we got her when she was catching lots of rats, mice, rabbits. Unfortunately she now catches the occasional bird. I have to tell myself it must have been sick to let her catch it.

Huia.

Mo, hope tonight is its last night of freedom.

Ann

Sallie, I am still laughing!!
She also asked if she would have to have babies when she was older, her Mum said not if she didn't want to. Her next question was 'what if **** (her 'boyfriend') wants babies? Mum's reply was that then he would have to marry somebody else. Oh she says I had better have a talk to him when we go back to school!!!!! They are 7 bless them,