General Chat

Evening ladies, I hope you have all had a good day.

We have had a lovely day with daughter. She arrived around midday and left just after 6. It was so nice to see her and there was plenty to chat and laugh about and, of course, we fell in love with the dogs. They were as good as gold and weren't the least bit fazed by a strange house and new people. Maggie is a perky little thing and very bright. Daughter does short training sessions with them a few times a day and she will now come, sit, stay and wait (used when waiting to cross a road). Benji, bless him, seems to be a sandwich short of a picnic and we're not convinced he's even learnt his name yet even though the RSPCA named him a few months ago. As for responding to commands, he mostly just follows Maggi though he did sit on command twice this afternoon which he hasn't apparently done before. They clearly adore my daughter and follow her around but they seemed very friendly towards OH and me as well. Now we have met them we have said we are happy to look after them anytime.

We had our main meal at lunchtime but I expect OH is getting a bit peckish again by now so I'd better go and make him a sandwich. I think a couple of biscuits and a cup of tea will be all I need.

Afternoon All,

Dull and misty here first thing but a weak sun is trying to break through now. I liked Pauline Collins too but always thought she was about my age so she was older than I thought. I think Mel and Mandy are younger than me. My mother spent all her life till she was pension age and needed to request a copy of her birth certificate thinking she was a year older than she was. Once she realised she thought she must have started school too soon, but I don't know what you have to show to prove age when a child starts school.

That's good your leaky tap will be cured and that you will have sorted out the cupboard too AnnG.

Mandy I watched the renovation programme last night and enjoyed it. It reminded me of doing the same to a lesser degree with an old house with my first OH. How did her husband break his leg? Good idea to go through the freezers. I was thinking the other day that I must have some things to throw out. Probably some subs on the shopping I thought I might use then didn't. I think I must still have the remainder of last year's pigs in blankets as OH would have been on his more cardiac friendly diet soon after Christmas!!!

I expect your two little dog visitors will soon be settled in your house after a sniffing explore Vera. I expect they will be looking smart after their visit to the dog groomer too.

We did the errands we planned this morning and I now have a selection of smaller boxes from the garden centre.With them emptying small boxes to do their Christmas displays there were plenty the right size for me to use so I''d better go and make a start on emptying the drawers now.

All go at yours the. Mandy.

Morning all,

Overcast here and dry so far , the suns trying its best to peep through at times and it's still very mild .
I have just been through the little freezer and I'm ashamed to say I have thrown lots of things away , just end of bag things and things that have been in a while that are old .
I gave it a good scrape out and got some ice off so it's all tidy now ready for some Christmas bits .
I have the big freezer to do next but the green bin is quite full so I'll do that after its been emptied next week .

Yes I saw Paulins Collins had died I liked her in Up Stairs Downstairs when she played Ruby and in the films Shirley Valentine and Mrs Cauldicots Cabbage War.

Christmas puds cooking ,I'm just having my coffee then I might make a cake .

Pauline Collins was the same age as me Mel. I am MUCH older than you!! :-D

I think I should have this pinned up over my desk

When overwhelmed remember!
ONE DAY AT A TIME
ONE MOMENT AT ATIME
ONE THOUGHT AT A TIME
ONE TASK AT A TIME

:-D :-D :-D

Morning girls,

Dull and dreary grey and grusome here this morning and its 13 degrees and pc says heavy rain so I don't think BIL will come today.

Pauline Collins has died aged 85 I did'nt think she was that much older than me. all later on.

Good morning all a bit dreary out there this morning and 11 degrees.Slept well after an iffy start.

Got the plumber coming this morning to change the kitchen tap. spent a while yesterday clearing everything out of the cupboard so after he has gone will be a few minutes putting everything back again. Surprising the stuff that was lurking out of reach in that cupboard.

Jake and riley will do the roof from 17th, not sure how many days it will take and just hope that is not a wet week.

No Vera we don't want that thread to die although it seemed to be ok after a long break. :-)

Evening all

I hope you have all had a good day. Did your gutters get cleaned Annx? I hope it’s a reasonable quote for any roof repairs you need AnnG. That’s the problem with owning your own house – there’s always some maintenance job that needs doing. EDIT: Have just seen the latest posts so see your gutters are cleaned Annx and your roof repairs will start soon AnnG.

Mandy, our friends were talking about that renovation show with Jasmine Harman today. I haven’t seen it but they seemed to be enjoying it. Happy birthday to your son and best wishes to Jake for his driving test.

it’s good that you had a nice long chat with the lady in the shop, Mel, and also that your neighbours are back home. You don’t want to feel isolated, particularly today.

There were hardly any fireworks yesterday evening, just a few going off between 5 and 7 pm but there is always a big display at the weekend in the rec at the bottom of our Close. It’s run by the local Scout group and is a really professional display. I see it every year either by just putting a coat on and standing outside or by kneeling on a bed upstairs and looking out of the window. I do feel a bit guilty sometimes as I get to see it for free whereas anyone going into the field pays £3.

It’s really been quite mild but has been a very damp, cloudy day so it’s felt colder than it really is. The forecast was for light showers. I can’t say it’s really rained but the air has been mizzly all day (if you know what I mean) and everything has felt a bit wet.

It's been a busy day again. After we were showered, dressed, breakfasted etc I made a shopping list and we went to our Thursday coffee meeting. There were 6 of us today and, although we all see each other regularly there still always seems to be lots to talk about. As the coffee place is above Sainsbury’s OH and I did our shopping there. By the time we had shopped and got through the checkout and driven home it was nearly 2 o’clock and we hadn’t yet had lunch. I then decided I’d better phone the pharmacist at the doctors’ surgery about not having the right dosage of my bp pills. She is sending another script with a note through to the pharmacy in town where I pick up my meds and I should be able to pick up the right ones after a few days. In the meantime I have to carry on taking 2 of the lower dose one. I used to brag about never having problems with my meds till “they” decided to change the system, even though it worked perfectly. Now it’s based on having a monthly script for 6 months. If, like me, you are permanently on medication the script gets reissued after 6 months. Again it works well unless there is a change to your medication during a 6 month period. Then it all seems to go haywire. Last time it happened it took me 3 visits to the pharmacy and 2 to the surgery to sort it out. Fingers crossed that this time I’ve managed it with one phone call.

After that I had a choice of doing something in the garden, doing h/w and just blobbing about. Time was getting on and it seemed a bit late to start gardening so I decided it had better be h/w. I managed to hoover right through the house so I’m feeling quite virtuous now. I’m also feeling quite tired but I only have dinner to get now and I’ve got a very easy meal.

Tomorrow daughter is coming and bringing the dogs for their first outing to someone else’s home so we’ll see how we get on. I said I would cook her a proper dinner at lunchtime so she doesn’t have to cook as soon as she gets home in the evening.

For AnnG: I check the book thread a couple of times a week so I hadn’t yet seen the posts from yesterday or today. I was surprised to see that I hadn’t posted for a month!! I know I kept meaning to put something up but never seemed to get around to it. I’ll try and post after we’ve eaten tonight. We don’t want the thread to die on us again, do we.

Well that's a good job all done now and should stop us getting soaked unlocking the front door and also the wet that came inside from the waterfall when it blew against the door. They got one and a half big humpersful of silt from the gutters, but they'd never been cleaned since they were fitted 15 years ago so not surprising. They swept up and washed all the doors and windows and squeegeed them afterwards as well. I'd told them to be careful on our patio that gets slippy and was wet and he said he cleans drives and patios as well if we want a quote in the future.

Happy Birthday to your son Mandy. :-) I've recorded the prog you mentioned as I usually like progs like that. That's good you have another christmas pud ready for the slow cooker. More delicious wafts in your kitchen tomorrow. :-)

It's good when they take photos of the work needed on your roof AnnG. A chap we had a few years ago did the same. We knew things weren't being exagerated then and it didn't need as much doing as we'd thought. We had noticed a small stain on a ceiling so did have a leak as some mortar was missing directly above the stain.

The curtain of webs reminded me of Morticia decorating the house with them in the Adam's Family Mel. I imagine the chickens peck up any spiders if they can.

So I have cleared out the dreaded under the sink cupboard ready for the plumber tomorrow to fit the new tap. And I have looked at photos of the roof tiles and the crumbling mortar. Jake and Riley are starting that on the 17th should take about a week and that is another chunk of the savings. Still it will be a good job done.
The other job I have done today is to change the bulb on the decorative coals of the electric fire. That entailed Unloading all the loose coals off the front of the fire to get to the bulb. A job I hate but done now.

Vera in case it has slipped your memory, the book thread is still going strong on hobbies board.

Just come in from cleaning the girls out and I got hot. You should have seen the cobwebs in there hanging like curtains and I got some on the top of my hat so thats goping in the wash.

Yes Mandy Happy BIrthday to your son too. Hope he has a great day. <3

I am now going to get something to eat as my tum is grumbling and I need to take a pill too before I eat and then the others after food.

I took the 8 books to Irene's and she was there so had a natter, and they had put the book tent up early so I was able to sve myself a journey tomorrow and geot 6 more books.

Being on my own I do read a lot. However I have actually always read a lot (T never read books at all), but my reading has doubled since being on my own.

Jake and Riley have just been to survey the roof. As we expected from the age of the house there is a lot of damage up there, particularly on one side, that needs fixing. They are capable of doing it themselves so I am waiting for a quote now. I trust them to be fair and it has to be done because it could well already be letting in water as nobody has been in the loft for a long time. Jake did show me photos that Riley took while up there.

Afternoon all,

Very cloudy here but still mild out ,son came this morning for coffee and to pick up his birthday presents.

Mel a day of memories for you <3

I've mixed another christmas pudding this morning and got it all ready to go in the slow cooker first thing in the morning .

Ann your gutter man seems organised you'll be all sorted now ready for the rain .

There's a nice little programme on channel 4 at 5 oclock each day with Jasmine Harman ,she's renovating a home for her and her family in Spain ,we've watched the first two and it's quite good ,bit like the château with Divk and Angel but on a smaller scale .

Thanks Annx and Vera.

I went up the post van to post my parcel and get some money out, it was'nt there so I had to do it in the shop. Ann in the shop told me the van driver is on holiday for a week. Did'nt get money out of their machine as they charge you £1.50 to take money out. Had a nice long natter to Ann in the shop so at least i have seen some different faces today and spoken to people.

My neighbours up the top by my gateway are back from Spain but I hav'nt spoken to the yet. They were there for a month and I feel lonely when they are away even though I can't see them just knowing they are there if I should need to call for anything puts my mind at rest.

Thinking of you today Mel <3

Morning All,

I'm glad it's dry with the gutter man Dan coming soon. He certainly keeps in touch and texted me when he set off this morning. My neighbour who is leaving her gate open for him has asked us to get him to quote for her gutters too as she is having the same trouble as us. I'm hoping it won't take too long as I have a parcel to take to the Post Office like Mel but have printed my own label. Oh he's here and his dad is with him. He's had to park up the road as he is towing a trailer. He even brings a tank of water with him!

I hope today has some happy memories too Mel. <3

AnnG I think you must read as much as OH does, but it's handy to be able to swap books at Irene's. I hope your foot is ok with the walk.

I must carry on sorting the cupboards that will be replaced. I also need to clear out the porch cupboard where they will be fitting new doors and a raised floor to make it level with the front edge so easier to lift things in and out. I might need to pop to the garden centre down the road to see if they have some smaller boxes to put things in later. We just have huge ones to go to the tip in the garage.

Thanks Anng.

<3 <3 <3 Mel.