General Chat

Oh Ann, I am so sorry to hear about your sisters results, bless her and you. Cancer is such a blighter, and oh so cruel to those who suffer, and family who are supporting them.
I hope and pray they get cracking on her treatment as soon as possible.

Ooh Elizabeth, it's so nice to hear from you again.
I do hope you are keeping well, and many congratulations on your success discovering your ancestors.
I have given up on looking for mine, especially on my Grandfathers side of the family, they are like looking for a needle in a hay stack.

Don't forget our clocks go forwards one hour this weekend girls, once again our systems have to readjust , all this backwards and forwards is a pain in the BTM.

Well girls, have a lovely weekend, and enjoy Mothers day. We are being treated to Sunday lunch out by the family, so I shall enjoy that.
Take care everyone, xxx

Ann ........ I am so sorry to hear about your sister. I do hope that the treatment works, and gives her, and you, more hope xxxx

Elizabeth .......... how lovely to see you. Isn't it marvellous when you get that break in your ancestor's trail?!!

Jean ........... I hope you know have your leakage sorted out.

I bet having your hair done made you feel like a million dollars :-D I had mine cut on Wednesday ........... I hadn't been since just before we went away for Christmas ........ the cough and fatigue really didn't make me feel like going!

It was a strange experience this time though .............. I had to use a chair where you actually lie down to have your hair washed and shampooed. It's high (as you might expect), and there is a foot stool to help you climb up. It was weird!!


Mo ..... I hope you and R are beginning to feel better, and that things are going better with your family.


Sallie ............... I hope you are looking in now and again, and that things are alos beginning to improve for you.


The rain trip ................ there is a day train from the town where our friends live that goes to Jasper, it takes from 9:45 am to about 6:30 pm. We then stay overnight in Jasper, and get on another train at 2:30 pm for an overnight trip back here.

This second train is the one that we take to Toronto when we go to spend Christmas with our daughter .......... it takes 4 nights and 5 days to get from here to Toronto :-0

We really only have long distance trains, only the biggest cities have any kind of local service .......... there isn't the population elsewhere.


Mo ................... our clocks changed 2 weekends ago :-D

Thank you ladies for your support it has been a shock. We are not that close with the age gap but as close as many sisters I suppose. She lives two hours from me so we don't meet up often but she has a tremendous support group of friends and we are in touch on line all the time. Hopefully the medication will help, it can't cure it but can control it.

Ann so sorry to hear about your sister, I pray that she gets the right treatment and it makes a difference to her life... its good that she gets support too.

The bird I wrote about came two or three times ,always to the same tree that is what took my interest the breast is a pale pinkie colour, its not been for a few days now .so may have moved on,the weather here is lovely as we are on the top floor and in direct line to the sun nearly all day we have to close the curtains when watching tv or reading.... but with the clocks altering it will be somewhere else...

They still havent been to see us about the leak ,but that has not leaked for quite a few days even when it rained, I just wonder were it has travelled to...

the train trip sounds great Sylvia, I think the price of travelling by train in this area is so big only people that have to get to work seem to use them...

I cant believe how quickly the days go by it doesnt seem that long since we altered the clocks....J is conivinced we have two christmases a year..lol.

Mo have a lovely day with the family , sadly we never had more children so we will have to see if we get any visits....

Sallie you have been on my mind latley hope things are moving in the right direction for you all,

Elizabeth great to see you on here, did you know how calming your words are I would have loved to have met you, you seem a gentle soul, so thank you for your input to us all.......

J went shopping yesterday , big mistake he came back with loads of stuff thts not on the list I gave him we have a small freezer and had to juggle trying to get stuff in....we found if we took stuff out of boxes and put into plastic bags somehow it all went in, now we have lots of cholcolates to eat quickly and cake doesnt he ever listen to me I am going to be double my size at this rate....well you cant bin all of it can you??

see you all later take care love Jean xxx

Received an email off Mo this morning thanking me for the Easter card I sent them. Jean and Ann hope you have received your cards off me too.


Mo has asked me to let you know that she forgot to renew her GR membership so she has to rejoin. But she thinks that for the moment she won't rejoin because there isn't a lot going on here and that she is finding it boring. I feel disappointed that we have lost Mo as I'm sure you all are......such a shame that this thread has gone the way it has. I know and am sorry that I haven't been able to contribute much to it for a long while, but I am still struggling along at the moment. Still seeing the Psychologist and my CPN, I see my
Psychologist one week and my CPN the following one. They have both told me that I am moving forward slowly, but with all that is happening in the family I keep falling back and that it could take another year or more of therapy before I am able to manage my illness without their help.

Our first grandchild is due in three weeks, so we are looking forward to when the baby arrives. Richard has told us that when he rings to let us know when Christie starts in labour, they would like both Alun and myself and of course Christie's mum to go down straight away, as they would like us to see the baby as soon as it is born. Just hope that Christie's labour will last long enough for us all to get there in time.lol!!!


Ann I am sorry to 'hear' about your sister, I really hope that everything will go well for her. Also hope that all is well with both you and T, and all your family. Thank you for the Easter card, it is very pretty.

How old are your great- grandchildren now? They grow up so quickly, they don't seem to be babies very long.
I wish that we had had grandchildren when we were younger...I will be 70 in July so won't be able to do as much with them as I would have ten years ago.



Jean I hope that all is well with both you and J and that all is well with D and family. How old is Charlie now? I hope that you and J see him fairly often....little ones are such a joy.

Are you still making lots of cards and still doing the card making class for your neighbours?


Sylvia, how are things with you and your OH? Hope that everything is alright for you both.
Both you and OH and Alun and myself celebrate a special anniversary this year. I can't believe that we celebrate 50 years of marriage, yours on the 12th August and ours on the 28th of August.

Also hope that all is well with your daughter and her family. Your grandson must have started school by now. Have you and OH got any holidays planned for over the summer?


Liz and Elizabeth if you are looking in, hope that everything is okay for you both and your families.
I really must try and post on here more often....it would be nice if we had a few more join our thread too.

Well that's all for now must have a cuppa after doing all this typing.lol!!

Take care everyone.

Love and best wishes. Sallie. xxx :-) :-) <3 <3 <3

Hi all who are still here.

Yes Sallie, sad that Mo has decided not to rejoin Genes, it will never get to be interesting again if everyone who normally posts leaves. What it needs is for those who say it is not interesting to put threads up. We are all guilty of sitting back leaving it to other people.

Exciting days for you Sallie with your grandchild due in a few weeks. Do let us know when it happens won't you. Thank you for your card, we came back from Dorset today to a little pile of cards.

We have three great grandchildren Sallie, Luke will be four in July, Adam was one in February and Inara will be one in June, she is bigger than her cousin and crawls fast everywhere now.
Jean yes the time flies by doesn't it?

Sister is coping ok, she is on a hormone drug and has been told she could well live five years plus with it.
Please do try and come on here more often Sallie then at least we can keep this thread alive. My subs were just renewed. So I am here for another year. :-D

Hi Ann, that was a quick reply! I didn't expect a reply so soon.

I can't get over how old your great grandchildren are, apart from Luke I still think of your other two great grandchildren as babies.

Yes I will let you know when our grandchild arrives....hope that it will arrive early, as with everything else I am very anxious about how things go, but that is part of the illness I have.....difficulty in controlling my emotions.

Hope that you and T enjoyed your week in Dorset.

I renewed my membership towards the end of March, although I did wonder if it was worth it, but thought as I learn to control this illness more and more, I will be able to post on here more often.


Will speak to you again soon.

Love, Sallie.xx

Sallie, well I suppose they are still babies really. Adam is still quite small and dainty and Inara is large, tall and a bit chubby, should be the other way round. We haven't seen Inara since December so are looking forward to May when we are going up to the Lake district. All change there as daughter's new partner is moving in with her, it will be strange to have somebody else in the bungalow, we had got used to it being just her.

I wonder where Jean is, she was coming on here regularly and now she has stopped. I do hope she is ok.

Today we havet been to two garden centres. You can tell that people missed their Sunday trip out. Both car parks were really busy with people waiting to park as cars left. All in all spent over £70! That included bird food, three 60 litre bags of compost, One 60 litre bag of manure, plant food, spray for the apple tree, a Heuchera (I wasn't going to buy replacements for those we lost last winter but we both loved the Lime marmalade), a fern, a tray of 20 mixed geraniums, 5 basket type plants, 2 larger geraniums (pelargoniums not hardy) and a large tray of purple primulas for a £1. Oh and a book!! Now they all have to be planted! T did manage to get a couple of the plants in before he was rained off. And I managed 30 minutes pottering, cutting off tulips that have finished etc.

We are out tomorrow with the U3A garden visits group, going to a garden in Cirencester. Sallie, do you like gardening. Pottering around in the garden is very calming. :-) :-)

Hi Ann, just read the posts, I havent been very well, very tired, so have had a nap most afternoons,I did reply to Sallies message and asked her to tell you thanks for your Easter card, and I replied to the e-card you sent.it was lovely, I havent been doing much craft wise. shame about Mo, maybe this thread has runout of puff, like me lol..

We saw Charlie last week ,he is growing fast, and loves his Gramps Steven has always called Jeff that, funny how littlies work things out, because there is two grandads also two Grandmas and one great grandma, poor love couldnt decide what to call us all, he solved the problem , Debra is grandma
on her own, I am grandma somewhere else :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D,

we have a new bistro type cafe here now , reports say its lovely food although the prices have gone up.we might give it a go... most of the folk in here cant afford it now which is a pity.....

I will try and come on with more news , cant promise though....

take care with all that gardening, hope you back can stand it....

Love Jean xx <3 <3

Sorry to hear Mo has not renewed ............... GR is slowly dyig, which is not surprising as it is not supported by the powers that be, and I've long said that this is what they want.

They can go to the Competitions Board, and say "look, no-one's on there. Can we close it down?"

Pity :-(


It was a lovely day yesterday .... warm and sunny. Today?? Cloudy, light rain, and heavy rain expected this afternoon.

We shall just keep going Sylvia, maybe I am stubborn but I will wait until they shut the doir on me. Just renewed again.

Jean sorry you have been poorly, have you been to the doctor to see why you are so tired, could you be anaemic. Such a shame you have not been crafting, I missed your Easter card. What about all the stuff you have are you not using any of it now? It doesn't seem long since you were saying how well your cards were selling. It seems a shame to stop. Hopefully some sunshine will make you feel better. <3 <3

Jean lovely to see you posting and hope that you are feeling a bit better today. Shame about not being able to do your cards, as all the cards you made were really lovely.

I was just going to send Ann a pm, but you all beat me to it. I had already sent some pm's and emails, and since then I have been busy doing some extra cleaning. I have cleaned the cooker and all the kitchen cupboards, inside and out......they really needed doing. Also been doing some washing and managed to get it all dried....now it has to be ironed.

Still not able to do any cards....made two birthday cards in March, the first one I did with no trouble but the second one took me three days, just couldn't think how to do it.
Anyway I did finish it in the end, but wasn't happy with it.



Ann, I use to like doing the garden, but it is a good while since I have done any gardening, we only have the back garden which is medium sized, our front is all bricked so that our car and any visitors cars can park on there. We have five tubs underneath the windows so that it breaks it up and have a bit of colour.

At the moment I am into knitting, I have made some little coats and some blankets ready for the baby, no good doing anymore now until the baby is born, and then I can make some coloured ones. I have bought some some new pattern books for babies with some more modern knitted things in them.

I have just started to knit a Noah's Ark with Mr and Mrs Noah and two of each animal, elephants, giraffes, doves etc., so hope it will turn out okay. It is for my brother's church in Abergavenny, although I haven't told him that I am making it yet. My friend knitted The Last Supper for his church in time for Easter, it was really good, the thirteen figures, a wine skin, loaves, and wine goblets. Alun made the table out of some wood that he had and I made the white cloth.....both my brother and sister-in-law
were thrilled with it....as they didn't know she was making it.


Sylvia, as you said GR is dying and none of the people that supposed to run it, doesn't seem to care about it either.

It's a shame that so many people are either not renewing or just not bothering to post.


Will speak to you all soon.


Take care of yourselves.

Love, Sallie.xxx <3 <3 <3

What a busy bee you have become Sallie, I used to knit mainly toys, but cant do it now
I still manage some cards but it was becoming a job and I dont want a job, I have had
folk knocking on the door at nightime wanting special cards for the day after, so have now put a notice stating that i need at least a week for such orders, I usually fill the stands up when i have my hair done on thursdays, last week someone had bought twelve card and a decorated bag,J had a look this morning and said a lot more have gone, I hope they dont think they are free ;-) I want a notice on to inform folk that all proceeds go to the tenants fund....I have been putting inserts in my cards and stamping verses on them today.

I havent been out since Jan, I feel safe inside still fearful of falling, but tomorrow I am hoping to go shopping with J, if it gets too much I can sit in the car..

Just had scampi and chips for tea followed by a big chocolate muffin , very nice ....
J decided to have a lasagne in the freezer only to find out it was cottage pie :-D :-D

well I shall have a coffee now ready to watch the soaps....

love Jean xxx

Hi Jean, I am so pleased to hear you are still making some cards, it is nice to have something to do, as they tell me it is therapeutic. I don't blame you for not wanting to make cards as a job, the problem with that is that some people expect you to make a card for them at such short notice.....so what you enjoy doing then becomes a chore.
And you don't want people knocking on the door at night wanting and expecting you to make a special card for the next day. You would expect people to use a bit of thought and common sense......at least now you have got a message up telling them you heed a weeks notice.

It sounds as though you enjoyed your meal this evening an especially the chocolate
muffin.lol!! I hope J enjoyed his cottage pie and wasn't too disappointed that he didn't
get his lasagne.
Alun likes scampi , and sometimes has it when we go out for a meal as well as at home.

I am still busy giving the house a good cleaning, today I have sorted and cleaned the spare bedroom, so the cleaning is slowly being done.....can only do a bit each day now.lol!!!

It has been quite a nice day here mostly bright but there has been a chilly wind....still, so I managed to dry towels and the bedding off the spare bed, so pleased that they are done.

Yes, I have enjoyed making the things for the baby, so I expect that once the baby has arrived I will start making something else.....when Richard and Christie were here Christmas, Christie asked if I would make make a hooded jacket if they have a girl and
a jacket that she likes if they have a boy.

At the moment I am concentrating on knitting the Noah's Ark, just hope it turns out okay.

I had my hair done on Saturday morning, I go to Derby to have it done, as I like the way Vanessa cuts it. She couldn't get over how much it had grown as it was only five weeks ago that she cut it last. My hair seems to be growing quicker the older I am getting.lolol!!!

Well I am going to have a cuppa now, so will chat again soon.

Take care.

Love, Sallie.xx <3

Pleased that you have not given card making up completely Jean. But people can be very thoughtless and take advantage if you let them. Is there nobody watching who takes the cards? Are they priced? 12 should have cost a fair bit.

Hope you enjoyed your meal, even though J's was a surprise!

Sallie that Noah's ark is quite ambitious. I like knitting but don't like seeing things together.

I suppose every time we put the TV on now it will be politics, politics :-D :-S

Jean, how are things with both you and J today? I hope that you are both alright. It looks as though your cards are popular and selling well.....as Ann commented, I also hope that they are paying a good and fair price for them. Some people think that because you make them yourself, that you can make them a lot cheaper, they don't think about the cost of buying the cards etc,to make them nor the time you spend making them. I have made cards myself for a couple of people like that.

I have also made a comforter for the baby, it's a teddy bear's head and arms which are sewn on to the middle of a tiny blanket, I made it in cream, which will be okay for either a girl or a boy.



Ann, hope that both you and T have had a good day. It has been quite nice here today, but haven't done much housework today, just the usual day to day things.


My friend is really good at making toys, and things like the Nativity, The Last Supper and also all the small different animals, for the Nativity and of course the animals for Noah's Ark. I have asked her if she will help me with putting them together, as she is much better at sewing than I am.



Been to see Joanne this afternoon,I found it difficult to talk to start with, so she started by talking first to Jennie and then Alun. She then started asking me some questions that I found a bit difficult to deal with, So she has decided that from next week she is going back to do one to one with me, for four sessions and then do a couple of sessions of family therapy again, so that she can then assess what the next step will be. I found the whole session very difficult today, and still feeling upset by it.

So I thought that I would come on here and Shaun's thread to talk to all my friends, so that I will start to feel a bit better, and hope it will take my mind off this afternoon.


Well I will speak to you all soon, I am going to put the kettle on so that I can have a nice cup of tea.


Take care.

Love, Sallie.xxx <3 <3

Hello everyone

and especially nice to see Sallie posting again <3

I'm afraid that I have had to give up knitting, it was too painful ......... I was only managing to do a couple of rows before having to give up. So I am in the process of packing up all my wools (or yarns as they call it here) to send to my daughter. She will take what she can use or likes, and pass the rest on to knitting friends of hers ..... it's become quite common again among the 30-50 year age group. If there is any wool that no-one wants, she'll take it to a thrift shop.

We are having real April weather here ............. rain, showers, clouds, sun. I do wish we could have more sun!!!

Hi everyone, I have been out today first time since Jan, I found it very difficult going out
I cant explain why I feel this way, confidence very low, but I do intend going out more , cant let it beat me...the cards are kept low priced for the folk in here but now the cafe is so busy we have a lot of visitors.still i dont mind if it brightens someones life .I couldnt believe how busy the cafe was when we got back from the shopping , it was heaving, I did hear it was owned by witherspoons I think thats the name.

today we have had quiche and baby potatoes with broccoli, it was lovely follwed by a custard doughnut :-D :-D :-D :-D

I had another lot of craft stuff given to me off one of the ladies who bought cards , it was a big surprise, even bigger when i looked in the bag there was a 12x12 memory album..but I dont make any more albums, I may take it to a charity shop, it was brand new with lots of 12x12 backing papers in it...unless someone on here would like it....let me know

:I will say nite nite early night I think

love Jean xx

Jean, glad you managed to go out today, I'm sure you feel a bit better now that you have been. To some extent I know how you feel about going out, but for a different reason. I find that the more I stay in I don't want to go out, but like you I have to make myself do it, we can't let it beat us. I only go out when I have to, either for an appointment, to get my hair done and if I need something new to wear. I'm ashamed to say that most of the time now, Alun has to do the food shopping, I just go with him the odd time.

Glad you enjoyed your meal this evening, sounds lovely.Making me feel hungry.lol!!

Will speak again tomorrow.

Take care.

Love, Sallie.xxx <3

Just popped in to say hello and hope that you are all okay.


Jean, hope that you got your hair done. I think we always feel better when we've had it done.

Weather has been a bit changeable today, this morning it was grey and drizzly and then it brightened up for a while and now it is cloudy again, but it is a not as cold as it was yesterday.

This morning I gave the lounge a good cleaning, then made our lunch. After lunch we popped over to see Jennie for an hour and then came home and made a rhubarb crumble. One of Alun's mates in the model railway club took in a big bag of rhubarb from his garden yesterday, so I couldn't let it go to waste. Ian, usually takes in fruit and vegetables when they are in season, so some of the members share it between them.

I posted on Shaun's thread last night that Richard and Christie are going to Eastbourne on Sunday until Tuesday to celebrate their first wedding anniversary,
But with the baby due in just under two weeks now, I think they are taking a bit of a risk.....and so do a few of our friends on the thread.
On Monday, the day of their anniversary it will only be ten days before the baby is due.
But when I said this to them, my answer from them was 'well, there is a hospital in Eastbourne ', the younger people these days have a totally different way of doing things than we did in our younger days. Oh dear, I wouldn't even think about going away with such a short time before either of mine were due.How times have changed.


Ann, I forget to mention your sister,sorry, and how pleased I am to 'hear' that she is going along alright. I will be thinking about her.


Sylvia, yes a lot more have started knitting again, I was surprised when I first started knitting again and looking for wool and patterns, how many others were in the shops doing the same. My sister-in-law, Alun's sister started me off when she was here near Christmas showed me a photo of the blanket she had made for her son and daughter-
in-law's baby that was then due in January. She sent me the pattern book down when I said that I wouldn't mind making one for our expected grandchild. She was saying that a few of her friends have also taken up knitting again.


Will chat again tomorrow.


Take care.

Love, Sallie. xx <3 <3 :-)