General Chat

That's good you are home now AnnG. It sounds like you had a careful journey with a few holdups from those that weren't so careful. It was a nuisance having to sort out the washer nozzles, but it has to be done. I will make sure I put some spray in my car boot now in case needed, as it's horrid when you can't see properly because the washers stop working and won't clear the drying salty spray I think we have two or three sprays, but probably all half empty as OH just grabs the nearest to him to use. I hope you sleep well after all the time sitting for your leg though.

Mandy I nearly missed the pottery programme but spotted it just in time. I see Keith was soon welling up wasn't he and yet he looks the least likely sort of man to be so emotional! There are some really good potters this time and I thought making the toureen, dishes and spoon was a big ask, but they had some lovely clever results. It sounds like you are getting more snow than us.

Vera we are the same and can turn the outside tap off under the sink, but it's stiff and I couldn't face having to empty the cupboard to get to it. That's bad luck just getting over your migraine and now catching something from your OH. I hope it's something that clears up quickly. Hopefully you can go to your rebooked chiropody appointment. What a bother with your meds again, so hopefully the pharmacist has them sorted better now though. If ours were all synchronised it would save us so many trips to the pharmacy. At least we get two months' worth though.

I was watching the Magpie with some seeded bread through the patio door at lunchtime while we watched the recorded London Wild Life with David Attenborough. He was getting great beakfuls and flying off with them into the field, then into the shrubs behind the birdfeeder. Then he flew onto the island bed with some and made a hole through a spreading alpine plant by using his beak from side to side, dropped the bread in it and then teased the stems of the plant over to hide the bread! Clever little devil. The Red Kite was flying low and watching him and we haven't seen him since I got those photos that time.

My windscreen cover came at teatime, no ringing of the doorbell, just the sound of it being rammed through the letterbox and him running off! I'll check if it fits ok tomorrow. OH wants to try it on his too, so I can order him one if it fits as scraping the screen will set his neck and shoulder pain off.

Sounds like that was a nasty journey home. Will daughter and sil stay with you tonight and journey home tomorrow? They must take it easy as the roads can be treacherous with the kind of snow we've had.

There's a new series of Father Brown on Friday 9th at 2pm.

Finally got home around 3pm left daughters at 0800. The first hour through zcjmbria was great lovely sunrise, beautiful all coloured skies over the mountains lakes and rivers. Then onto the M6, just coming down off Shap probably the highest point of the M6 and the screen wipers were not spraying water and anti freeze and the screen was covered in salty spray so pulled into the little garage shop and SiL got more anti freeze and a spray, the nozzles were not thawing. Sorted that out and we were not alone. Got further down and had to stop again at a service station for another spray. All the trees along the motorway were covered in snow and frost, very pretty but forecast was for -5 so that was the problem. It did gradually thaw. But the. There were at least four hold ups for collisions, the traffic was very heavy. One hold up we came to a stand still for 20 minutes and had to juggle a way through fir an ambulance. Most people drove carefully and a lot of the journey was at 60MPH.

I expect AnnG is home by now. I hope the roads weren’t too bad for them.

Mel, don’t go overdoing it. Let Em help with getting the decs down and it won't matter if it stays dusty for a few more days. Just give yourself time to recover.

Annx, you reminded me about our outside tap which I suspect OH has forgotten. He usually shuts the water to the tap off under the kitchen sink, then drains off any water still in the pipe going out to the tap but he hasn't mentioned it this year. I must ask him. What a palaver with your garage door and then not finding your fleece throw. It certainly wasn't your day yesterday. We're not going outside today either. OH didn't go for his usual walk this morning.

We had a good covering of snow this morning like you Mandy, but it just doesn't seem to be melting even though we have had bright sunshine all day. I suppose it's because the temperature hasn't got above 0 degrees yet. OH took some decorations back out to the garage and said it was very crunchy underfoot so it will be really icy later.

I checked on my neighbour to see how her husband is doing and if she needs anything and the lady who does her ironing each week is going to take her to the hospital to see her OH tomorrow.

My OH has had a bit of a chesty cold which he is getting over but he has kindly decided to share it with me so I now have a sore throat, runny nose, chesty cough and a head full of cotton wool. I had a chiropody appointment tomorrow but have just rung to ask if they are happy for me to go with a mask or if they would prefer me not to turn up. The receptionist said they had just had a cancellation for Wednesday and suggested she put me in there which gives me an extra day at home but said to ring up if I don't feel well enough on Wednesday. I'm happy with that. Then I had to ring the surgery to try to sort my prescription out again. Everything works fine till there is a change then things go haywire again. At the end of October another tab was added on a separate prescription. Our docs will only prescribe 28 days at a time so if repeat meds are on different prescriptions it can be a nightmare to get everything to match up. Anyway, at the surgery I got through to one of the pharmacists who seemed to know what she was doing and she has amalgamated everything onto 1 script for me. I don't collect those till 27th of this month so I hope it will all work out OK.

We've taken down the tree and got all the decs put away for another year and I've done all the washing but though I'm not really ill this cold is making me feel very tired so I'm not going to do much more today. I made a big beef casserole yesterday, enough for 2 days, so I put half in a fresh pan and only have to reheat it on the hob. I'll probably throw in some dumplings and maybe do a bit of green veg and that's tonight's meal sorted.

Keep yourselves warm and take care if you have to go outside.

We had a few more snow flurries this morning but a lot has melted in the sunshine now , got a lot done this morning so now having a rest .

Oh well done with Ernie Ann that was a nice start to the new year , did you see the new pottery throw down last night , I liked some of the soup bowls they made .

Oh now snowing again

Coughed and lost the lot.

Pc is now telling me that theres 6 rainy days ahead and at the mo it 3 degrees.

Been taking down a few decs. I hate it when they all come down and it looks bare and very dull but I need to have a good dust and suck up the spiders.

Afternoon All,

We woke to a covering of snow too Mandy but it's melted off the cars and is bright sunshine now. I have a few jobs lined up I must get on with but I don't think we will be popping anywhere today either, even OH for his walk. It's nice to be in the warm inside. Also I have a parcel coming today.The thermometer was 2 degrees colder than the last few days and the PC says -1 degree now despite the sun. ERNIE has started the year with £50 for me so that was good.

Better get showered and then lunch. I imagine AnnG has done the bulk of the journey now so nearer home.

Morning all,

Nice bright morning again and very cold. we had a bit more snow in the night as the roads covered again. Its 1 degree and pc says partly sunny. There's plenty of blue sky with a few white clouds at the moment.

Got to get my decs down today. Em said she would come and help so I must give her a ring.

Hope Anng dos'nt get any holdups on the way home and a safe journey too.

Morning all,

We have a good covering of snow here this morning the suns trying to peep through the cloud but irs really cold .

Not a lot planned for today just the usual jobs, a bit of ironing ,hoovering and washing and keeping in the warm .

Hope Anng has a good journey home .

Hope Anng and family have a good drive home tomorrow and a safe one.

I am watching Monach of the Glen AGAIN.

Evening All,

Your lunch sounded lovely AnnG! So you are pretty much all packed and ready to set off tomorrow. I hope it's a good journey,still no snow here, but OH said there was a dusting on the way to the match yesterday and they went part way on the M5 and M6. Gosh I wouldn't like coming across a dead crow in the house! It's a big bird for the cats to tackle.

I used to tell OH that cornflakes were low in fibre and not good for blood sugar levels and now he has fruit and fibre cereal, porridge or weetabix and even sprinkles seeds and nuts on them. He's turning into me! No added sugar of course, so I hope you didn't add any Mel. The fruit you had would be good and compensating later with Vera's suggestions would be good.

I wondered whether the insulated travel cups leaked where you drink out of them if they tipped over as OH isn't that careful with his shoulder bag?

I'm glad you are feeling better today Vera. It's a shame your neighbour is back in hospital and his wife not that well either. I'm sure everything you manage to do for her is a big help. It's a pity she doesn't visit earlier if she could, but your OH is right not to drive when it's dark.

I suddenly realised the pipe to the outside tap wasn't covered against the frost and OH went in the garage to find it.......nowhere to be seen, yet he put it away along with the tap cover. He can't even find the rest of the foam tube he cut it from. He decided to make do with some clothes rags wrapped round for now, so I made sure he wasn't going to wrap it up in any of my old pants for the neighbours to see!!!

Then we had a panic after the food delivery arrived. OH went in the garage to put some food in the freezer in there and the electric garage door got stuck halfway down! All it would do was go down a foot or back up a foot but no more! It had worked perfectly for me earlier. OH noticed some cobwebby bits on the sensors so fetched a brush and flicked some off. Still no joy so I took the brush and gave the sensors a good brushing and along the bottom of the door as well and it worked fine then, but we daren't open it in case it happened again. We aren't going to use it this week while it's bitterly cold and then try it after early in the morning so we can get someone in if needs be. With the garage having a back door we can use that to go in there to the freezer. The electric door does have a bar thing to slowly wind it by hand if needs be. I think OH was thinking his footie programmes could disappear overnight!

We saw some Fieldfare birds today in the Hawthorn tree the Magpies nested in. They were eating the odd few berries that remained. They'd gone by the time I got my camera.

Something else that can't be found is my second thin fleece throw for the bed. It's not as if it's small is it and I've looked in all the places that are probable although I've always put it in a particular drawer before. Another search tomorrow or I'll have to use my fleece dressing gown if I get cold. Hope we all have a good sleep.

I am feeling a bit better today at last and bringing up stuff which is making my chest and breathing feel better.

I just fancied cornflakes thats why I had them. Yesterday I had a banana on toast. and today I am having mac cheese with tomatoes. Just going to do it.

Evening all,

It's been so cold here ,no more snow but I think we might be in for a little again tomorrow it has been just above freezing as I could see a puddle and that wasn't iced over but we still have a little snow on ths slabs out the back where the sun hasn't caught them .

Oh Ann I bet OH was annoyed to have just missed the goals but glad to get in the car and get the heater going .

That sounded a good lunch you had today Anng just right on a cold winters day , safe journey tomorrow and I hope the toads are OK with no hold ups .

Mel hope your gradually feeling a little better ,do you like porridge that's nice and warming and filling in this cold weather , good of Em to offer to help get your decorations down for you one less job to do .

Vera glad your feeling better today but don't over do things , I almost forgot to take the wreath off the front door ,I had to wait until the snow stopped as I had fastened it on the door knocker with a reusable twist tie and I knew it would take a minute or two to get it off, and when I did it had snow on it so I had to lay it on the draining board to dry out a bit as itx a wreath I use each year ,I just add some different baubles each year to change the colour a bit .

Finished getting things all away ,I washed two table cloths and the little round table cloth I put in the middle of the table ,checked all my cutlery just to make sure we had everything in the box and we did ,I know years ago I have had to go through a bin bag once to find a fork or spoon .

I'm glad you enjoyed your lunch AnnG and wish you a safe journey back tomorrow. I hope it isn't too icy or snowy. Maybe as your daughter and sil both drive they can each take a turn and share any stress. With luck you'll sail straight through with no problems.

As Ann said, Mel, the milk you had at lunch time won't do you any harm and the clementines you mentioned are good and, tbh, I believe that cornflakes are among the better of the instant cereals but I wondered if you could have something like that for breakfast and then have vegetable soup or egg on toast or something nourishing for lunch. You're not well and you do need to keep your strength up to fight any infection. Please don't go out in the cold until your breathing is more back to normal. How old are Em's boys now? Are they old enough to help with your girls? If I seem to be nagging it's only because I care about you.

I was up most of yesterday but I wasn't really functioning. In fact all I can remember doing was putting away the shopping after a Sainsbury delivery. The rest of the day is a bit of a blur. However I'm nearly back to normal today and have started on taking down the decorations. I've sorted all the cards and put away all the bits of decoration I had around, a little pre-lit tree on a hall table, candles, stars and lots of bits and pieces, and a wreath on the front door. There's just the tree in the lounge and some lights in there and some outside lights. OH will have to deal with the lights. He said he will turn the outside ones off but he's not getting the steps out to take them down till it's a bit less cold and icy.

My neighbour rang this afternoon to say her husband was taken back into hospital late last night with yet another new problem. I feel so sorry for them as she isn't in good health either and the stress and worry over him isn't doing her any good. We do what we can to help but it isn't much really, just a bit of shopping and odd jobs like that. It's difficult to even take her to see him as she only goes mid-afternoon and for OH to get home before it's too dark for him to drive we would have to leave the hospital by 3.30 pm.

It has been a beautiful day, sunshine and bright blue skies, but gosh it's been cold. We did reach the dizzy heights of 0 degrees in the middle of the day but it's -1 at the moment and the temp. is dropping all the time. Snuggle up under those duvets tonight ladies and keep warm. Sleep well.

The milk is good for you Mel, not sure about the cornflakes. What have you got for your meal tonight?

Lunch was really nice. Roast beef, Yorkshire, roast and mashed potatoes, sprouts. Mashed swede and carrot with lots of butter, cauliflower cheese, parsnips in honey and nice thick gravy then I had chocolate cake with fudge sauce and ice cream. And a glass of Sauvignon. Just got home now Al ost all packed

I just had some lunch too. I fancied a big bowl of cornflakes and lots of milk so thats what I had. I have two nice clematines to eat now.

Good morning all off out to lunch now lovely sunny dry day no wind and cold.
I hope the migraine is in retreat Vera <3

Annx I had a couple of those mug things for oh when he went fishing. Ones top came right off soo I could put chukey soup in and it even had a folding spoon that fitted inside the lid. I use them now in the summer to take cold drinks to BIL while he's mowing.

He's just gone.

Its a beautiful morning here with sunshine and blue sky with the occassional white cloud. As I lay in bed this morning the Raven came up at the side window in the bedroom cawing and bashing on the window. I think its done it on the south facing window int he bedroom too as there's wing marks on that one. I noticed them yesterday when I walked in there.

Not dressed yet was just having a lazy day when BIL turned up.

Em popped in yesterday and said she'd help me take the decs down when I am ready. Thought that was nice of her, bless she's such a lovely girl.