General Chat

Afternoon ladies

Not a bad day weather wise. It was dull earlier and then we had a bit of sun but it has stayed dry. It’s been fairly warm as well for the time of year but it’s still windy.

I hope you enjoyed your U3A group AnnG. Did you all talk about the crafts you do or were there any demonstrations?

Annx, your post about G’s Christmas book reminded me that OH bought War & Peace a couple of years ago. I don’t remember seeing him reading it so I wonder if he put it on the bookshelf and forgot about it. As I read a lot and love books I’m normally happy to give anything a go but somehow I’ve never fancied War and Peace. Perhaps I should read a few chapters. I might find I love it.

Mel, I think you must have had your curser part way through the sentence and then accidentally brushed one of the keys that deleted half the sentence.

I’ll be interested to learn how long your penstemons in water take to develop roots Mandy. I have 7 or 8 cuttings in water but I think I’m going to put them in compost when I get a few minutes free. I’ve still got some Argyranthemum cuttings in water but they develop roots quite quickly. I’ve potted up 6, though one looks as though it has died. I’ve got 4 more in water and 2 are developing good roots.

I had my hair cut this morning and then went to Boots for some bits and pieces. I wanted something that you don’t need a prescription for but you have to get at the medicine counter. It’s not on display. It took ages. There was just one man dealing with a long queue of people collecting scripts and a few people, like me, trying to buy stuff. He was so slow. I try not to judge as he could have an unseen disability but I don’t think he did. I eventually got what I wanted but was so long in Boots that I had to really dash round for the rest of my shopping or I would have overstayed my car park time.

Next stop was the pharmacy. I was given 3 bags of tabs. Inside were 2 prescriptions, both showing all my meds but 1 showed my bp tablets at the old dosage and 1 at the new doubled dosage. Someone, presumably the pharmacist, decided just to enclose the old dosage pills. I know I can take 2 tabs instead of 1 to get to the dosage that’s correct now but that means I am going to run out in 2 weeks instead of 4. So it will be a phone call to the surgery tomorrow and hope I can get something sorted. On the plus side ordering my painkillers on the NHS app worked like a dream. I really didn’t expect them to be ready as I didn’t order them till Friday but they were there waiting for me.

Well, I’d better start sorting out our dinner. I want it a bit earlier than usual tonight as I’m out this evening at a Ladies Club meeting. We’ve got somebody from Colchester Zoo coming to talk to us. Enjoy whatever you are doing this evening and sleep well everyone.

Yes girls it was something like that. I have a narrow cupboard next to the cooker and there are cleaning products in there, washing stuff for the machine and cleaning stuff for worktops and cif and window cleaner but at the back there must be stuff I don't use anymore which needs clearing out.

I am just going to do some ironing as I feel cold and that always warms me up and I have the heating for a while too.

Seen no sun here all days its just grey and dismal cold and damp.

Afternoon all,

We have had a little sun today after a dull start and I've hung some washing out .
Been shopping in Tesco my goodness the prices have shot up ,looking at all the Christmas biscuits,chocolates etc all a lot more money than last year ,I feel sorry for some of the families that are struggling to buy just the everyday things never mind buying extras for Christmas .

Anng I wonder what the crafts will be at the meeting ,is it everyone bringing their crafts ot someone showing a craft .

Not sure what your talking about Mel was it going to say you've sorted a cupboard so the things on the worktop can go in .

Mel, I think there is a sentence missing from your last post :-D

Morning all,

Dull, grey and miserable again here todayt it not cold its 14 degrees but the house always feels cold in the morning so I have turned the heating on for a bit.

Shopping comes today and no subs which is good but its not a big order this week.

The new group sounds quite interesting Anng with different things going on each month. I wonder what they will do at the crafts one? You'll have to let us all know if they do one crafts or different ones.

Iv'e had fireworks going off round here an few times this week and I can hear them even though I have double glazing.se things that are in the back of it and I expect a lot could go and then perhaps things on the work surface could go in there.

Good morning all, dry so far although the forecast is not good. 13 degrees so not cold for the time of year.

I am sure there are fireworks going off around here but I don't hear them through the double glazind and TV. And at night once the aids are out I don't hear anything.

All being well going to a U3a meeting this afternoon in a house. This is the fairly new group called Ladtbirds, ladies only a sort of social group that has different things each month. Last month they had a wine tasting, the time before a coffee meet up at the garden centre. today it is craft.

That was good to get your carpet cleaned and dry Mandy. I watched the knitting programme and must say I didn't like it that much, but will watch it again in case it's better. It seems like a copy of the Great Sewing Bee, but not as good. The presenter seems to have no personality but I diid really like what one of the ladies knitted. I think it's a good idea to get meds delivered and have wondered about doing it. I know some of the pharmacies deliver, but I don't know whether they charge for the service. I have a friend who has them posted to her and she hasn't had any problems.

Yes I was done in by the time I put nearly all of it back in the utility Mel. I left some things to save moving them out again when he comes on the 14th and got OH to put some weedkiller that was in there back on the garage shelves. My next job is to get rid of some things under the sink and next to it that are in there. It's a case of out of sight out of mind once the utility door's shut. I need to do a shelf at a time I think and get more baskets to put the smaller things in so I can slide them out to get to things. I bet I have dupricates of things because they are hard to see. I think this book for OH is 'War and Peace' so should keep him occupied a long time. He usually chooses a few books for me to get him for Christmas. He doesn't like surprises so I just get him what he wants.

Yes a panic this morning Vera in case he turned up after all! OH had another panic as we were about to go out later when he couldn't find his wallet!! He always keeps it in a particular place when he gets home, but he couldn't believe he'd left it in the jacket he wore to footie on Saturday. We used to have to use a diary on the PC at work, but I've not done it at home yet, but probably should You were very kind spending time with your friend with health troubles and her husband poorly too. I bet she really appreciated a little break and chat. I've never used the NHS APP to order my meds. The option is there now on our surgery website, but there's also Systemonline that I got used to using before and have continued with. We just tick which meds we want and it tells you when your meds will be available at the pharmacy.

We've had fireworks whizzing and banging here for the last week but it is strangely quiet tonight, so maybe they are saving them for tomorrow now. Yes I keep getting charity letters now. It's mostly because I dealt with all the post for MIL and FIL when they passed away and so these companies got my address on their records and started sending me things instead.

I hope we all sleep well tonight, especially AnnG with her poorly leg and foot.

Evening all,

It's been another drizzly day ,I did think it might get out mid morning as the sun peeped through but it was very short lived and that was all we saw of the sun .
I got my lounge carpet cleaned this morning ,its a good cleaner and it really sucks the water up and leaves the carpet quite dry by just after lunch it was all dry .

Ann I recorded the knitting programme last night but reading some of the comments I don't think people thought much of it but I'll give it a go and see what I think of it .

I have two Penstemon cuttings I put in water so I'll see how long they take ,this morning I potted up two Hydrangea cuttings that I had in water ,they had some nice roots on them .

We're thinking about having our medication delivered by the postman, son has his come by post and he gets on fine with it , he has a text to say they are do he brings up on screen all the medication he takes and he just ticks what he needs and it's send through , when it's ready for delivery they text to say which day it will be delivered .

I will be interested in how long that will take Vera as I might try using it with my pathway prescription.

Good luck with the cuttings hope they root whichever way you end up with.

I am mirroring you on Sednesday, hair cut and hopefully picking up prescription ordered last week. Should be five working days and it will be six so hopefully ok.

Oh that's frustrating to lose another long post Mel. You'll have to get into the habit of typing long posts into Word or Notes or whatever system you use on your PC and tablet, save the work as you go along and then copy and paste into Genes. I know what you mean about the post. At the moment all I'm getting is Christmas letters from every charity we have ever donated to and catalogues from every company I've ever bought from. I don't think I could cope with a raven tapping on my door; it would give me the heebie-jeebies. Talking of birds we had a female bullfinch on the seed feeder recently, the first bullfinch we've seen since we moved here 12 years ago, though we used to get them in our old house. Yesterday we had one of our periodic visits from a big flock of long tailed tits. I love seeing them as they are such lively little birds, flitting round the shrubs and the feeders. They didn't stay long and we never know when we will see them again. It could be tomorrow, it could be in a few months time.

Oh dear Annx, that was a bit of a panic this morning and all for nothing. At least you know the date your man is coming now. I keep scribbling dates in a little handbag diary and then forgetting to put them on the computer. I've got the computer set up to remind me 2 days in advance of appointments etc but, of course, that only works if you put the appointment in the calendar in the first place. I never remember to check my handbag diary so I've had more than one last minute panic.

I did a bit of googling about penstemon cuttings AnnG. Apparently they will root in water but still take several weeks. I watched a Carol Klein video about it and she does much what I used to do when I put the cuttings straight into pots so when I get a moment I'll take mine out of water and put them in compost to root.

It rained this morning but stopped quite early. Even so it has felt damp all day and has been grey and generally dismal. If anyone has some sun to spare please send it this way. I hope it's better tomorrow as I've got quite a busy day and I don't fancy walking round town in the rain. I'm going for a haircut first and then have a number of errands to do, including picking up my meds. I hope they are ready as there is sometimes a bit of confusion when a prescription is changed. Most of the items on my script are sorted automatically each month but I order one item myself when I am running low. Usually I just request it at the pharmacy but I didn't want to go into town and pay for parking just to do that so for the first time I ordered it through the NHS app and I don't know how long these orders take to go through the system. Well, I'll find out tomorrow.

Just had the postman come and all he left was 7 begging letters and bumph. At least there were no bills. It all went in the recycling.

I can only think that your arm caught one of the keys across the front of the keyboard then Mel. I do that sometimes.

Ann that was a panic for nothing then. All clear again now.

I have just put veg to make soup into the soup maker, mainly carrot and butternut squash plus small amounts of other veg lurking.

G does love a book Annx but it good as men are hard to buyu for. What a todo with the boiler man after you clearing everything and having to put it all back again.

No Anng I was on the pc not the tablet. I have the tablet on as it tells me if I get an email by giving out a trilling noise and I don't have the noise on the pc cos if I am playing a card game it makes such a row.

We had another drama yesterday as, unusually, neither of us had noted our diaries with the date the boiler service was booked for this month. I texted Riley and he said it was today at 10.00am! So I was up at 7.00am this morning and cleared things like fruit and bottles from the worktop space in front of the boiler, took the cover we had made to hide the pipes off and moved the cool boxes into the conservatory ready for him and unlocked the side gate. I got another text then to say the service was booked for the 10th and not today and if we preferred he could come on the 14th as he is having a log burner fitted on the 10th and it would be better for him as well then. So now he's coming on the 14th and I've put everything back in the utility again. Phew!

The Raven sounds like the pet Jackdaw I had Mel. Once I freed him, but still gave him food till he could fend for himself, he spotted me inside and then used to knock on my bedroom window at an ungodly hour. I kept schtum and never told mum, but then he started doing it on their bedroom window which didn't go down well at all well! They are such intelligent birds being the Crow family. You'll have to watch he doesn't come inside as they take anything shiny or sparkly.

OH has finished his online chat and wants to come to the shop with me so he can pick up a book he has ordered for me to put away for Christmas for him. BBL

I guess you are using a tablet Mel maybe? If so sometimes if you touch the part around the screen it will do odd things.

Morning lovely ladies,

No I had'nt copied it Anng. It was all about what I did in the garden yesterday morning. I spent a lot of time in the shed repotting patio plants and tidying up in there etc. Of course today I can't remember all I wrote so its now gone forever.

Glad you slept well I did too up at 5.04am for the loo and thought I was'nt going to drop off again but I did and woke at 9.05am.

The blimmin Raven was knocking on the door again when I got up I'm not sure if he can see himself in the glass as he does this down behind myMorning lovely ladies,

No I had'nt copied it Anng. It was all about what I did in the garden yesterday morning. I spent a lot of time in the shed repotting patio plants and tidying up in there etc. ond where there is a mirror

I think I have gremlins in the pc look what its done now.

As he does this down behind my pond where there's a mirror that oh used to use when I cut his hair in the garden. He did'nt put it back there once and it blew down and broke and its stayed there ever since. Its was a full length mirror.

Posting this before it goes again.

Good morning all. 13 degrees, so warmer but still very drizzly. Slept well again with a couple of loo visits and straight back to sleep. seems the clock going back has improved my sleeping.

Vera I wondered if that about the length of time rooting was new to you as it was me. That is a long time isn't it. Often little snippets on that group.

Mel, had you not copied it if it was a long post. What a shame to lose it.

r

IK did a huge post and have lost the lot..................................................

It was heavy rain this morning again but the sun came out later and it’s been bright this afternoon though not very warm. I was up early this morning and got on with preparing all the veg for a big beef stew as a change from our usual Sunday roast. I did plenty so there’s half left that just needs reheating for dinner tomorrow. A shower and hairwash and a long phone chat with daughter and that was the morning gone.

This afternoon I had a friend round for a cuppa. She has a lot of health problems herself but her husband is very poorly and she is quite stressed. Her husband always goes to bed in the afternoons till about 5 pm so I suggested she came round for a little break while he was napping. It’s only 5 minutes by car so she can get home quickly if needed. She did seem to relax a bit and chatted away.

You’ve been busy sorting your Christmas cards AnnG. I need to get OH to get my big Christmas box down from on top of a cupboard in the garage and check what cards I have in there and then get some more bought. Thanks for the penstemon information. I did take some cuttings just recently. I didn’t realise they took so long to root and I have mine in water but I think I might put them into compost now. I think I’ve always done them in compost before. My penstemons weren’t very good this year. They looked healthy but didn’t grow as tall as usual nor flower as well. Fingers crossed they will be better next summer.

Forecast is suggesting it might be a cold night so stay warm and sleep well everyone.

Evening All,

We both slept well last night, despite another night of fireworks being let off, and didn't get up till around 10.00am. OH said the drive home from the match yesterday was all in the dark and mostly pouring rain, but he said it was OK. It's been sunny here most of today, so he did his walk and called at the paper shop for Sunday papers which we don't usually bother with, but he's bought the books and is following the Andrew Mountbatten Windsor saga as it unfolds.

While I was trying to prepare lunch OH told me he'd managed to lose all his saved passwords while trying to get rid of annoying adverts! He said he'd been getting annoying requests to sign into google when trying to access some sites too and I told him it had also happened to me, so I think that must be to do with an update. We eventually discovered he'd had a trial on the adblocker he uses and the free period had run out, hence the sdverts appearing again, so we sorted that by removing it and downloading another free one. I needed to dish up our salmon with Hollandaise sauce, mash, carrots, broc , cauli, beans and leeks then so will look at the lost passwords tomorrow in case they can be retrieved. After lunch I had a routine email notification about our monthly phone and broadband payment to be collected. I know I took something off our package to do with phone calls a month ago, but the new payment looked too low, so I logged on to our account. What a shock as it was requesting me to renew our broadband package that runs out TOMORROW!! If that had happened I think we would have both thought we'd caused it today and needed to lie down in a darkened room! Anyway it was quickly sorted with their discounted next deal so all is well again on that front and I vaguely remember getting an offer some time ago, but had forgotten that we had changed to Fibre35 which changed the date it ran from and to.

I did manage to clean the ensuite but never went in the garden. It's supposed to be dry here in the morning so I will see if I can top up the garden bin then ready for Tuesday's collection. I've also got the slow cooker going with a low fat lamb mince, onions, mushrooms, carrots, stock and a tomato bolognese sauce that needed using up. I'll add some butter beans to it later as OH loves them.

Today would have been my father's 105th birthday. It seems amazing that a few reach that age and see much more of the changes in the world than others.

Mandy are you watching the Knitting programme? OH has just recorded it for me. Did you make any more of the puddings today? The bedroom carpet here could badly do with a clean, but it's hardly worth doing as the cupboards will be done in there soon and then new flooring needed anyway once I decide what's best to have. I'm thinking carpet tiles might be easy to move the bed on.

Your poor leg AnnG. Have you tried raising it on a stool? Mind you it wouldn't hurt laying in bed if raising it helped. I hope you soon get an appointment and also that the antib's start to have more impact. Doing your cards is a good distraction too.