General Chat

It hasn't been a very nice day. It was dry first thing, then we had drizzle, then much heavier rain for a while, back to drizzle and now it's raining on and off.

A few years back we went to a "do" on St Andrews Day and were served haggis, tatties and neeps. I expected neeps to be turnips and was surprised when we got served swede. That's when someone explained to me about them being called Swedish Turnips. I don't really care what they are called because I don't like either. If I'm given swede in someone else's home I do try to eat at least some of it out of politeness but I find it quite sickly.

I hope you can drive OH to and from the hospital on Tuesday without too much pain in your heel and your knee Annx. Rest it as much as you can before then. Yes, I saw that piece about one of the unions saying teachers should be able to take time off to go to Glastonbury. I wonder how many teachers have actually said that or is it just the boss of a rather militant union spouting a lot of nonsense? There are a lot of very dedicated teachers out there but some union leaders seem to have no compunction about disrupting the children's education. It just makes me so cross.

Good job Amazon told you that you had already got a powerbank AnnG. We senior citizens all have these forgetful moments. I knew exactly where ours was but do you think I can find any booklet that came with it? All I seem to have is the unit itself and a silly little charging cable that's only 3 or 4 inches long.

I've done washing, changed my bed and sorted out a Tesco order for delivery on Tuesday, done some filing and managed to fit in a shower and hairwash as I won't have time in the morning. OH has a hospital appointment for a procedure and we will need to leave by 9.30 am. His letter from the hospital said he should be fine to drive home afterwards but I will go with him "just in case". In an emergency I would drive home but it would be difficult without proper glasses and I would have to concentrate hard and strain my eyes so much I'd probably end up with a migraine. Hopefully OH will be fine.

I am still not sleeping much so am keeping my fingers crossed for a decent night tonight. I hope you all sleep well too.

Well I checked the swede dand I think it must have ben very old when it was delivered as it was not very nice so will go in the compost. I seem to remember not cooking it because I didn't like the look of it. I like it mashed with butter and pepper and I do sometimes addit to mash for cottage pie.

I really think my brain needs a re-set!! it is too overloaded with stuff to remember. After reading about power bank a few days ago I decided I should do that so asked daughter the best one to buy, she found one on Amazon and this morning I put it into Amazon ready to order and a note came up. You last bought one of these on 21 January 2025. Errm! I came off amazon and checked in my top desk drawer which is where I keep chargers etc and there is was, still in its little net bag with the charging cable still all coiled and wired together and obviously not charged up at all. I do now have vague recollections of discussing it with daughter but had no memory of ordering it. so it is charging now. It doesn't tell me in the little booklet how long the first charge takes. I guess it could be quite a while. :-S

Afternoon all.
I'm like the rest of you regarding which veg is called a swede.
OH, having a Scottish mother would sometimes call them differently though.

I'd agree with Mandy that a swede can be fine for ages, if it's been in a cool place. We only recently finished one which was bought pre- Christmas.
We like it just cubed and cooked and served plain like that or in stews/ casseroles or we sometimes mash some into potato, as a topping for a cottage pie.
It's a good stand-by veg. for winter months.
I seldom buy turnips, in fact I can't remember when I last did, - probably if I bought one of those mixed fresh veg. stew packs that you sometimes get in supermarkets.

It's dull and dismal here, but into another month makes it a bit nearer Spring.

Thanks Mel , we've always called them swedes ,I never buy turnips as they are quite peppery but mum use to buy them .
Anng your swede might be OK if it's been in the cool they keep for a long time .

Very fine rain in the air now I could feel it on my face when I went out to the bin .

AND HERE'S WHY.

Do you know your swedes from your turnips?
Some people call a swede a turnip because, historically, swedes were introduced to Britain as "Swedish turnips," a term that became shortened over time, particularly in regional dialects. While they are distinct vegetables—swedes are larger, yellow-fleshed, and purple-topped, whereas turnips are smaller, white-fleshed, and faster-growing—they belong to the same Brassica family, leading to interchangeable usage in places like Cornwall and Scotland

I call it swede and can never understand why some people call it turnip as you say two complete different things and tastes to my mind. I think they are both the cabbage family.

Gosh where did January go?????????????????????????

Pinch and a punch and all that. :-D :-D

Gosh I must have missed that post from Anng about what she had for lunch. I had posted so when I posted again about BIL coming thats how I missed it. Thought it was strange for her not to tell us all what she had. The lemon tart souded nice, very refreshing.

Morning all,

Dropped off again after getting up for the third time in the night at 7.23am and woke at 10.15am. Its a dull grey dayand I think its that very fine rain but Iv'e not been out there yet.

Not read your posts yet so better see what you had to say this morning.

Thank to Annx for the email.

Yesterday I made one of my dolls house dolls into a Lyons Nippy.

Good morning all dull with a few brighter patches and drips of rain 7 degrees. February already. Nothing planned for today.

Mandy that is an ongoing argument isn't it? I call the large orange coloured veg swede and the small white veg turnip. I love swede but dislike turnip. that reminds me the last order I had a swede but they had sent me a huge one even though I asked them not to so it has not been cooked and I bet it has gone off.
February is full of birthdays for me so I had better consult the calendar.

Morning all,

Not so bright this morning but it's dry .

Ann that was good you thought about putting the gel inserts in your shoes ,hopefully each day it will be a bit easier and you'll be OK to drive OH to the clinic on Tuesday

Anng your meal you had sounded nice and made us think we haven't had scampi for a while so I might get some this week .

Just a lazy day for us today ,I don't have much to do for our meal tonight just a few veg to ho with rest of the meat pattie .
Yesterday we had swede and when I was cutting it up I thought how some people call it turnip but turnips are smaller and white where swede is bigger and pale orange , whate do you all call the swede ? Swede or turnip .

Evening All,

Chilly but sunny here but no rain till late afternoon so OH got soaked at footie.

The hobbling when I got up was less today but I sent OH to the shop as it still wasn't great this morning. I looked up about strapping the foot this morning Mandy and realised I have had reactions to the adhesives in the past, so looked at what else might help.Thankyou for suggesting it though as it hadn't occurred to me to try that. It did say rest the first few days is crucial and doing the exercises regularly should help. It also mentioned the heel gel inserts for your shoes, so I fetched those I use in my trainers to help my knees and put them in my shoes and it has certainly reduced the pain which is good. I could also use the ibuprofen gel for my knees on the foot if necessary. I'm hoping the foot will be much better by Tuesday as OH has an appointment at the Hospital eye clinic again and needs me to drive him there and pick him up afterwards, as the hospital use really strong eye drops and he can't drive. The appointment is mid morning so the worst of the traffic should be over, but goodness knows what time I will be picking him up. Before when going to the private hospital last year, my left knee played up for weeks after with all the clutch work and traffic jams and the foot is on the same leg! lol.

Your lunch with your friends and bus trip sounded good today AnnG and the meal sounded very well organised for a large party. I'm fancying some scampi myself now. :-)

Mandy I like those media units like your son is making and kept a photo of one I saw online in case we did it in the future. It tidies away all the cables and plugs too and those long electric fires are very effective. Yes, like you we get given appointments with the nurses usually and the doctors mostly work part time now??

Vera, OH checked what aspirin he has and feels better about the shortages now as he has more than he thought he had luckily. He's picking up the remainder on Monday now. We have the same bins as you, but we can put glass in the recycling bin, I wonder how people living in terrace houses that open onto the pavement will manage with all the bins too. Everyone is supposed to use them from this April as part of the govts 'Smpler Recycling Initiative.' Most of those living in those houses have at least one car and many of the streets are reduced to one lane down the middle with cars parked on pavements both sides of the road round here, so where should they put their bins for collection? Understandably it's illegal to put them on the pavement where they can be an obstruction, especially with cars on the pavement too and local authorities can issue fines, but what else can they do. In England it's illegal to drive on pavements, but not to park. It all seems mad to me!

Now OH says teachers are wanting time off to go to Glastonbury! How many just want more time off work and wouldn't go and the rest of the country's employees will be wanting the same won't they?

Off to bed now so sleep tight everyone. PC says expect 5 rainy days here!

Mel, Have a look at Ann’s post at 14.47

All very nice then Anng but you hav'nt told us what you had???

Vera yes we pre-ordered our food, the organiser had it all on a spread sheet and they already had a copy of that behind the till. We also paid up front for our meals and drinks which made it easier for us and them as it is a. Very large restaurant. Service was excellent. It is a town centre place and was full

Computer is telling me it is 8 degrees and feels like 3. It’s certainly cold out there but we haven’t had any rain today though it looks as though we are going to have several wet days starting tomorrow. Where has January gone? We’re about to start my least favourite month of February. It’s usually a dreary month and holds lots of sad memories for me.

Glad you enjoyed your lunch AnnG. 18 is a large number of people. Did you have to preorder your lunch? Most of the places round here like you to pre-order if you are a large party so that they can get all the meals up at around the same time. I did know about nurse practitioners as, along with several nurses, our surgery has 1 nurse practitioner and 1 advanced nurse practitioner. They seem to do most things a doctor does but I know there are a few things that they don’t tackle. I don’t know if it’s generally the case but in our surgery they don’t deal with back problems. The doctors always see patients with bad backs.

I hope Openreach aren’t making too much of a mess in your road Annx. The chap doing our work is self employed and Openreach subcontract to him so he came in his own van and used his own tools. Touch wood, everything seems to be working OK but I’ve dug out our barely used powerbank and charged it up, just in case. I hope your OH doesn’t have to go without his aspirin. I had a spare 4 week supply anyway but after being given a double amount this week as well I now have enough to last me for the next 12 weeks. I hope your heel is less painful now.

Your YouTube video did make me laugh Mel as the ending was unexpected. Every council seems to have different rules for their rubbish bins and sacks. We have 1 general waste bin and 1 recycling bin plus a garden waste bin if we pay for it. However we are limited with what we can put in the recycling bin. Glass has to be taken to a bottle bank, general paper can go in but shredded paper has to go to the tip. I can’t imagine what you are supposed to do if you don’t have transport. Everything has to be put in the recycling bin loose, nothing must be in sacks. I believe that sometime this year we are getting glass recycling boxes and a food waste bin but that will be a problem for some people. It’s an old town with narrow streets and terraced houses so where are people supposed to keep all these bins?

That sounds quite a big job for your son Mandy but I know he’s good at making things. You must ask him if you can send us a photo when he has finished.

I expected my new glasses to be at the opticians by now but they said they would ring when they were ready and I haven’t heard. I’ll have to ring on Monday to see when they are going to be available. Yesterday morning OH had to go to our main doctors’ surgery for blood tests so I went with him and spoke to the pharmacy there about the mess up with my meds this week. The lady went away for a couple of minutes and then came back and said I could pick them up at the pharmacy that afternoon. I decided not to ask OH to drive me in again and pay another parking fee when I knew we had to go out today so I picked them up this morning. When I have to get the next lot in 4 weeks I am opening the bag and checking I’ve got the right things before I leave the shop.

I have a big beef casserole slowing cooking in the oven and it’s smelling good. Half will do for tomorrow’s dinner as well so I won’t have too much cooking to do tomorrow. Maybe I can actually manage to fit in a bit of h/w or perhaps get some washing done as we’re off to the hospital again on Monday. It’s a morning appointment so OH will be able to drive there and back while it’s still light.

BIL came just as I was driving up my road to go to the shop he drove through the arch.
I went on to the shop and he waited for me to come back. Came in and we had a good chat about where to shift money around for better interest and he put three new bulbs in one of my hall lights. The one I use to see in the bathroom as the bathroom light knocks the leccy out. I could'nt find my recycling bin on the pc and he showed me where that was too. I'm blind as a bat as its the first thing on my desktop!!!!

uneventful trip to Cheltenham, buses were on time and both times we had the more comfortable bus as opposed to the old bone shakers we have had recently. there were 18 of us for lunch, Luckily it is a very big place that I had not been in before. Think it was not there when T and I used to have lunch in Cheltenham. Lunch was very good I had scampi, chips and mushy peas followed by lemon tatr and ice cream and a medium glass of the house red. All the meals, which were varied, came out on time, there were only7 of us having lemon tart, the rest didn't have a sweet at all.

Pouring with rain here.

Morning all,

Enjoy your lunch today Anng and have a good natter.

I can't tell you watch the temp is today as the pc dos'nt seem to want to tell me it just sys rain coming which is'nt news anyway. O its there now its 6 degrees.

Just the hsop to do today for the paper and perhaps a couple of slices of their lovely tastey ham and then back home for the rest of the day. Wonder if BIL will come today???? I need some bulbs put in the lights in the hall.