General Chat

Good morning all. 14 degrees light cloud cover, no wind, no rain. Nothing planned today, depends how hot but maybe a bit of weeding.

Mel well done on getting a first. Looks like you had a good day.

Ann annoying to get all the way to the shops to find OH had forgotten his wallet. did the chinos not fit? It never ceases to amaze me how M&S clothes (e.g. trousers, of different styles seem to not fit the same.

Mandy glad you got the crab ok, bet you enjoyed that.

I'm back and need a cuppa. I had to stay as you're not aloud to take your things out till after prize giving at 5pm. I had only two things in as I said, my Tudor man Gwian and his wife Emlyn. I got a first for Gwain and nothing for Emlyn. The second in my class was a lamp made out of a bottle and I can't remember what the third was and I forgot my camera. My nieghbour but one got a special prize for her Elderflower cordial and it was three pots of cake sprinkles and something else in a pretty box. I got a £1 for my one first. When you think its only 10p per entry its not surprising so many people put stuff in.

I did'nt win anything on the raffle with my three strips and I had a sausage in a roll with onion and tom sause.

Achy now and am going to have a cuppa.

It does sound like arthritis AnnG. My knees are worse first thing in the morning and OH finds his back and neck seem to be better after his walks. Fancy you having to wait till March for an appointment!! Things have certainly changed as you say. OH when visiting hospital he had always been to with his eyes earlier this year got a follow up appointment at a hospital seperate clinic the other side of the city miles away. It's not helpful for patients. I used to get trouble with my thumbs lifting heavy volumes down at work. I think it was my thyroid affecting joints then. They are ok most of the time now.

I missed you there Mandy. You will enjoy that crab you have had to wait for now! :-D It's good to get stocked up on some meat with the tomato sausages that sound nice too and be served by your grandson. It's good for trade that they were busy too and their meat must be popular.

Yes I've felt a bit less tired today but not done much. I find I can't relax or concentrate when workmen are here although they've all been no trouble, fairly quiet and cleaned up well afterwards. Monday and Tuesday the painters are here, just in the late afternoon. They won't be long on Monday as they are just leveling the edges of the ceiling where the coving was and filling holes in and it has to set then before they can sand and paint on Tuesday and it is a tiny room. Then there is just the window blind and and it will be finished then. I wonder how many squares you've done now, you are so quick. :-)

Mandy I have had a problem with my leg for over a year now, actually it is both legs but it is spasmodic so sometimes better than others. sitting or laying for too long stiffens them up sometimes walking eases it and sometimes makes it worse. so I suppose I should go to the GP if I can ever get an appointment. but given the appointments come up at 3 weeks now I will wait unti I have been to son's. I do get what I assume is arthritis in my thumbs, sometimes hands and shoulder so it could be that in my legs.

Afternoon All,

It was raining when I got up and OH said it had been raining in the night but it wasn't due till lunchtime. It was mostly the fine stuff, so not very helpful to water the garden. We were going to M&S to take back OH's jeans he got for a refund and to see if we could get the same style as his others he bought and decided to call in Costa nearby for a coffee first. Next thing OH came back to our table and asked me for some money as he'd forgotten his wallet! It also meant he hadn't got his credit card to get a refund from M&S so we'll do that errand next week. He's gone with his friend to a match about an hour away and taken more books to swap with him and a bottle of Sherry he was given by one of the schools. His friend's doing well with bottles from us with us being non alcoholic. :-)

It seems still and humid here AnnG, but the sun is breaking through now. I should go and pull a few weeds soon when I've had my COT if it isn't too hot. Yes it's good to get jobs done, especially improvements. OH said when he had to get up in the night he went and checked whether the light by the back door lit up the gate and lock and it did. You have got a lot of things sorted this year too.

I hope you enjoy the show Mel and that there are more entries today. I have found a show I've not heard of before that's not too far away and is at the end of August and I might just go along and see what it is like if I remember.

Before I do anything I must go and put a polythene tube on the new light pull in the ensuite. I do hate a dirty pull cord and this method keeps them like new.

Because the appointment for January for the BCCs was after dark I asked for another appointment to be safer. It came today (took 2 days so that was good). For 25 MARCH AT 2PM.
but why is it so different now to how it was pre covid. Pre covid dermatology was in the main hospital, now it has been 'contracted out or whatever' to the Aspem centre down the end of Horton road a fair walk from the hospital with hardly any parking spaces. And pre covid from seeing the GP to seeing somebody in Dermatology would be 2-3 months at the most with the procedures usually done a couple of months later. Mind you 15 years ago I used to get called in by the GP who worked regularly in Dermatology (not from our surgery) so that he could check me over to 'catch' any BCCs. What price progress?

Afternoon all,

Dry first thing but we've just had a down pour its now brightened up a bit , son ,dil and Lewis called in this morning with a few bits of shopping, they went home with three cucumbers and some runner beans .

Yes ladies we finally got a crab :-D fish man was there and there were quite a few other stalls so that was nice to see .
Went to the butchers and got a couple of chickens ,some tomato sausages and a nice piece of gammon ,Jake served us and they were very busy queues out of ths door .

Mel hope you win something for your miniatures and it stays dry so they get a lot of people there .

Hope Vera is enjoying her family weekend I bet there will be lots of chatting and catching up with people who they haven't seen for a while .

Anng is it the gardening that has made your leg hurt or just how you laid in bed ,hope it's improving now after having the cream rubbed in .

Ann hope your less tired today ,having the workman in and out is tiring is that all finished now .
Have a nice rest today and get some beading done, I'm still plodding away with these squares .

It is 22 degrees here and humid again.. I did weed the lower patio then used the weed spray on the srubborn weeds. Also walked down to Irene's with some books and a few charity bits.

Off to the shop and then the show.

Morning all,

Pc is telling me rain to stop son but I don't see any rain. Its 18 degrees and I did sleep well but boy do I ache this morning, hips knees and an itchy hand. I took a pill lst night but I think I may have to take another today. Up once inthe night and then back to sleep again and woke at 11am!!! Everywhere out there looks refreshed but I don't think we had any real rain just a heavy mist.

I have the shop to do this morning and I am going to the show this afternoon. May ring Diana and see if she's going. You do get a nice burger or hot dog there or coffeee and cakes.

good morning all, grey and dry (nothing new there, still no real rain) this morning and 18 degrees already. slept ok woke at 2ish and put Ibruleve on the leg that was hurting, then soon went back to sleep. finally got up at 0800.

Hope that you were not too itchy overnight Mel, and that Vera and Ann have slept away yesterday's tiredness.

Vera have a lovely time at your daughter's, you are having a bust time lately, good job it is a bit cooler than it was a couple of weeks back.

Mandy did you manage to buy a crab yesterday?

You are gettting a lot of bites lately Mel.

I picked 1lb 4oz of blackberries and got a horse fly bite on the side of my right hand.

Good luck with the show Mel and enjoy the weekend.

Vera enjoy your weekend too, and safe journey there and back.
Ann pleased the electrics are all done.

Good luck with your Tudor couple Mel and I hope you have a lovely weekend too Vera.

I wonder if Mandy got a crab this time?

I feel worn out so am off to bed.

I,m back there was'nt a lot of stuff in the hall and my Emlyn and Gwain were the only things under 182 but I bet there will be much more in the morning.

Came back and put the trailer in the garden and picked a load of blackberries hav'nt weighed them yet but I pick 8 oz of blueberries this morning. I have two toms ripening and more cues coming along. Theres rain in the air now.

Right time to find something to eat now.

You too Vera. I am just going to the village now with my tudor couple and I will take my camera.

Mel, I always feel exhausted just reading about all the work you do on your land. Good luck with your miniatures at the show. It's good to have a bit of flavour in your meal but doesn't Stu find that one ingredient cancels out the taste of another when he adds so many? I use tomato puree quite a bit (not ketchup, I can't stand it) and garlic and ginger are quite good together so I generally shove some in a stir fry or similar. It's good that Stu is a bit adventurous with his cooking and his meals seem to turn out well.

I have read all your posts but it's been a busy couple of days for us so I haven't managed to respond. We had an enjoyable day in Frinton yesterday although the weather was dreary. It was grey and drizzly all day so I was glad I had taken a lightweight rain jacket and a brolly. It was quite a long walk from where we stopped to the front so, in view of the weather, we didn't bother to go and look at the sea. We wandered down the main shopping area and then 6 of us lunched together in a pub we found. It was all basic food and I chose sausage and mash. None of us were very impressed with either the food or the service. The show was excellent and we all enjoyed it. One of our group couldn't make it at the last minute so we asked the driver if he would like to take her place and see the show. He was well pleased as otherwise he would have been hanging around on a wet day with nothing much to do.

Today has been hectic. I've shopped for stuff to make my desserts to take to daughter's tomorrow, have made a large fruit salad and I doubled up on the ingredients for the Mandarin Cream to make a big one. They both look good. We're only away one night but we still have to take nightwear, washing gear, medication and clean undies and shirts for the next day so that's all sorted. I've also wrapped gt.granddaughter's books and written her card and another birthday card to take for someone else. I've got ready a bolognese type sauce to have with noodles for our meal tonight and at the moment I feel shattered. Oh, I also tried to ring the surgery to sort out an appointment only to get a message saying "This telephone number is temporarily out of order. We apologise for the inconvenience". That was it, nothing to tell you what to do if you needed to see someone urgently. No wonder so many people just go straight to A&E.

Eldest granddaughter and her flatmate moved to another apartment yesterday and to save money did it all themselves. It involved carrying all their belongings down a flight of stairs, packing everything in a hired van and driving for just a few minutes to the new place and carrying everything up a flight of stairs. They made 6 trips like that, finishing at 1 am and she couldn't go to bed as she was catching a 6 am flight from Edinburgh airport to Stansted where my daughter picked her up. She sounded shattered when I spoke to her at 10.30 this morning.

OH got a phone call late this afternoon from our painter. He is starting painting the outside of our house at 8 am on Monday so AnnG might want rain but I'd like good weather till the painting is done please.

I must get on now. I'm unlikely to post while we're at daughter's house so have a good weekend everyone.

I've been looking at some reviews for those washers Mel and they do suggest they are ok for car washing and watering but they vary a bit so I'll give it some more thought.

Well you got some more done in the garden, but it's been quite muggy here. OH dug out a stripey grass I had in a tall pot that was too vigorous and had crowded out everything else and was wedged in tightly. He used a pruning saw to split it into clumps, so I will try that when I split the Hostas that are wedged in their pots! I need to get to some green branches in our variegated Holly too. They always seem to be right in the thick of it and harder to reach.

The electrician has been and worked very quickly to get everything done. The shaving point has been re-fitted, a new, very quiet fan and light fitting, a new light fitting in the kitchen, a security light outside the back door that shines on the back gate and a nice long LED strip light in the garage so I can see better in the freezer in the garage at night, especially in the winter.

Not sure what to have for tea so it may be cheese on toast and then some black cherries.

Been up the garden till about 5 mins ago. Between us we got the green out of the varigated holly out the front. I strimmed a bit and BIL cut off all the brimbles sticking out when he mows and emptied the trailer and brought it to me he cut the big green bit out the holly and got rid of that on the bonfire and gave me back the trailer and then announced he was going!! I thought he was here till late afternoon but no he had to pick up a script for wife and collect her. He left me with the trailer by where I was working and I cut down more brimbles from the holly and some small branches off the cherry tree against the wall which were hanging over the holly. Got hot and hungry so I came down stripped off the wellies and shirt and came on here. I have left the trailer out the front and will get it in later and hopefully do a bit more tomorrow.