General Chat

A lovely sunny spring day here, too.

From the kitchen window I've been watching a robin busily building a nest. It gathers up dead leaves, and takes them into a hole in the bank at the back of the house.
It seems a very vulnerable place to build - I hope the local cats don't find it.

Joan, for ideas for cooking for one, I find Miguel Barclay's "One Pound Meals" books helpful. All the recipes are for one person.

Another one I like is "5 Ingredients 10 Minutes" by Jules Clancy. Recipes are mostly for two people, but easy to scale down.
They're so easy, they're hardly recipes at all, but more like ideas for putting ingredients together, and with lots of variations suggested for each recipe.

If you prefer more traditional cookery, perhaps you can find a second-hand copy of Delia Smith's "One is Fun" - now out of print, but copies available on eBay and Amazon, among other places..

Also, there's lots of stuff online.
For example:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5774513/cooking-for-one-mark-three/p1

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5520090/meals-for-one

Morning to you all.
Todays weather is not so nice at the moment, a bit dull & looking out of the window there must have been a wee shower, so that has scuppered what I was going to do in the garden.

Yesterday was a nice day apart from the wind, which stopped me from doing more jobs I had planned for the garden.
The Snowdrops are beginning to fade but the Crocus are putting on a lovely show & the Daffies are aslo starting to bloom.
I can see new growth on other plants, Roses, Potentilla Ferns & the 4 brand new Clematus that I planted up last Autumn are also showing buds, really please about the Clematus as I wasn't sure if they would survive the high winds & icy days.

Our youngest daughter (in Lanark) is coming for a visit on Saturday, she is bringing the youngest child (nearly 3yrs) with her staying until Monday, soo looking forward to seeing them.

Florence, I really can't see me changing/reversing my name back to my birth name, I have been Joan all my days & have used it on all offical things for many many years.
It's only hubbys Private Royal Mail Pension folk that are having an issue, ALL other offiacial places have never had a problem with which name I am known under.

Well I must go & have a tidy round, not that there's much to tidy, just the bed to make, not sure what to have for my tea, I don't find it easy thinking up meals for just me.

Hope everyone is well & your weather is better than ours today.

Joan.

Morning all.

Lovely sunny spring day here and not too chilly in the sun but cooler in the shade but overall a nice day. I shall be going outside soon to have a wander round and maybe a short walk if legs allow!

Had a nice surprise from the electric company today on mums flat. I submitted a new reading and for some reason, they reversed 4 months worth of charges and we are now in credit??? Only about 5 units have been used in last month but i don't understand the reverse charges, however I'm not going to ask lol.

Been busy this morning sending emails chasing up appointments and replies....it never ends does it?

made a lovely veggie bake last night using up the veg, cauliflower, mushrooms, red & white onions etc. made a cheese sauce using a tub of herb & garlic philly and then scattered some grated cheese on top. In the oven for about 20 minutes.

Well it was sooo tasty. all the best dishes are not made to recipe but those that are thrown together, well that's what I think.

Hope everyone else has the sunshine we have :-D

Florence in the hebrides

Morning all

Its still gales here as its coming to the Spring Equinox and thats why. After Sunday, it settles down hopefully.

I have 2 Christian names and my middle name was after grandads sister and his mother and a few females further back, a family name. I gave my daughter the same middle name and also my niece was given it too. But i never actually use it.

My first name is rather long, so friends and family shortened it plus old friends from old work days have their own pet name for me. But all my legal things have my correct full name on them.

I'm still not dressed lol as was busy sorting out updating utility bills with submitting readings etc for the flat as haven't been done in ages!!

Joan, please don't apologise for not posting. You have more than enough to deal with just now and if you are busy in your garden weather permitting, then that's great for you. Just let us know now & then that you are ok so we don't worry about you.

Sylvia, I hope you enjoy your visit and the weather is kind so you can go out together somewhere. The problem up here re names is that they have Gaelic versions of English names and use them to register with drs etc and that causes a lot of confusion. Eg In England you have Malcolm but in Gaelic it is Callum. But many people I know called Callum are actually Malcolm on their BC so it is very confusing at times. So Callum Alasdair is actually Malcolm Alexander but in England they would be 2 different names altogether

Right have a good day all. off to shower and get dressed before lunchtime lol

Florence in the hebrides

I have two names.
There is a male name that has gone down through the generations and I now wonder if my parents knew that my second name had once been a family name. It is tha nmae of my fathers grandmother, who he wouldn't have known, and her mother.

Good morning all. 10 degrees here but very grey at the moment. Still it is early, woke up at 0530 and couldn't get back to sleep. Not dressed yet though.
Good to see you posting Joan. Don't worry about not posting, we all know your situation. One which takes a lot of getting used to and it is good to get outside and do jobs. three years ago I found that helped and I still do. <3 Come on here when you are ready.

Sylvia. OH only had one name, luckily I had two as our first initial was the same which would have been difficult for official things like banks. Son we gave three names but he hates one of them so doesn't ever use it. daughter has two names but hates her second name so ignores it. I do wonder about the current generation of babies. what will they think of some of the weird names they have been given,
We too have unseasonable warmer weather at the moment but are in for a cold snap shock at the weekend.

Good to see you posting, Joan <3 <3 I do hope that you get that darn pension sorted soon. It's unbelievable hat it should take so long :-(

It's hard to realise that we will also celebrate 57 years in August. It also rained on that day, but we also got held up going to the reception by a herd of cows being taken for milking :-D

Linda ....... I feel tired reading all that you guys are doing! We no longer have that energy, unfortunately.

Re names. I only have 1 name but always longed to have 2 like my brother who had our mother's maiden name as the second name.

OH has 3 names and then his surname .... the Scottish version of an English name, the name of his mother's deceased brother, and his paternal grandmother's maiden name. His father also had his mother's surname, and ran his business using both that and his surname as there was another business in the same city that was owned by someone with the same surname. So he was always known as Mr. A B, instead of Mr B

Result was that OH also became known as Mr A B Jr.

After we got married, we knew that anyone who contacted us using that Mr A B name must come from Chester! It took at least 20+ years before we never heard that!

We do have a problem of remembering which names and/or initials he has used for various things.

When our daughter was born I gave her 2 names, C D, intending C to be used. But I realised that there was then a very famous person in Canada who was always known for using the initials C D. I decided that might not be a good idea as it could lead to teasing, so told the nurses that her name would be D C to be known as C, but they all called her by D. UGH!

I managed to catch OH before he went to register her birth, and so she is legally C D.

We have a niece who was called E F, to be known as E and was until she reached her mid- to late teens when she decided she wanted to be known under the 2nd name. Took the family a long time to remember, her maternal grandmother (my sis-i-l) never did use the second name. One of my 1st cousins did the same thing, but her sisters didn't like the change, so most commonly called her by both names, much to her annoyance!

We're having a few days of record weather ............. a high pressure ridge offshore is directing warmer than normal temperatures, sun and blue sky to us! Yesterday's official temperature was 15.8C, breaking a record for the date set back in 1900 :-0
The nights are down to 6 or 7C, so nice and comfortable. All the spring shrubs and flowers are budding and/or in full flower! Back to rain and colder temperatures mid-week.

Some nice news today for us .......... our daughter is going to be able to visit us for about 6 days in early May as part of a business trip. She will only have to pay half of the airfare as the group will pay the rest of her return trip home. But she will have to stay in a local hotel about 10-15 minutes walk away as we don't have a spare room, and also get up much later than she does. So we will pay the hotel bill for her.

Take care everyone

Evening all.

Good to see you posting Joan :-D

I know many people that are known by their middle name like my Aunty but for anything official, like bank, pension tax etc, you have to have the name that is on your birth certificate/marriage .

Joan, once you have sorted out your hubby's pension, can I make a suggestion that you go through all your accounts with your daughter etc and if necessary change the account name to show your actual name as on your BC.

People will still call you Joan but its for legal stuff and one day when you are no longer here, your children will struggle with probate etc if your name isn't correct.
It's better to get it all sorted now and then you wont have to worry about things.

When I went through my divorce, i had a similar problem as the name on my marriage cert for my ex husband was not the same as his name on his BC! So the divorce papers had to be redone which delayed things. If you were to look up a marriage using the name he put, you wouldn't find it as that person doesn't" exist".
After i got married and realised I then had to get the drs, dentist, hospital, HMRC etc all changed to his correct name. he didn't think went he went to his sol to tell them about the name on the marriage cert being incorrect. I thought maybe it meant I wasnt legally married to him but no such luck.

Anyway, sorry you have had all this upset to deal with.

The day went downhill here and gales rain and more rain so blooming awful. heating is on and drawn the blinds.

Just settling down ready for the soaps tonight. Corrie is interesting with Lauren who has disappeared.

Linda, wanting cash is so he can put some through the books and keep some back. This way he can keep his income below a level so as not to pay a higher amount of tax! Hope you OH can cope with all the sanding and painting? But it will keep him out of mischief lol

Well off to put the kettle on and get my blanket for my legs as they are freezing.

Florence in the hebrides

My children only have one name as well Joan. I don’t know why, but while I was having my first baby, I thought it was a girl, so had selected a girls name. There was no chance of including my mother’s name as the poor thing would have been saddled with Gertude :-(. Even my mum hated her own name. During the war when she went away from home to join the ATS, the girls were all introducing themselves and she said she hated her name, so someone said well chose a new name, so she chose Babs, short for Barbara. So when she met my father, he and all his side of the family always called her Babs, whereas her side called her Gert.
My first baby turned out to be a boy and that floored me as I hadn’t thought of any boys names. OH chose one and registered it within a couple of days. I was so shattered after the birth, that I went along with it, but to be honest, I have never really liked it. I regretted not adding James as a middle name in honour of my father and all the past generations , so when the second one was coming along,I decided on Andrew James, but it turned out to be a girl, so she only has one name like her brother.

Hello Argyllgran & Linda.
It iss o hard AG, so many memories & the simplest tof hings start me off.
I find listening to music the most difficult, we both loved most of the 60's stuff & different songs throw up a particular memory.

Linda, we didn't mind paying a bill with cash whenever we had work done as the workman always took off the VAT that way.
I loathe vat, especialy on household fuel bills & feel it should be stopped.
I had a delivery of heating oil last week & my bill is almost £373 of which almost £18 is vat !

As for names, our 5 children were only given 1 name, I just don't see the point of giving children several names in a certain order & then not using the 1st one, just seems daft to me, lol.

Joan.

I’m too have the name problem Joan. It is a tradition on my father’s side of the family that everyone uses their middle names. It is the same for me that I have always been called by my middle name, but anything official has my first name on it. So driving licence, passport, NHS etc all use my real first name . In the old days when we used cheques people would write them out to me using my middle name as that was what they knew me as, but the bank would cash them. Then things started to change and they wouldn’t accept them, so I had to make sure that people put the correct name on them. I find that more and more I am answering to my real first name, it is only friends and family who use my middle name.

Things are progressing with the house, a huge pile of wood flooring arrived this afternoon in preparation for Wednesday when the fitter is coming. I paid the rest of the invoice yesterday, but the fitter wants to be paid in real cash. A scam no doubt as he won’t be declaring all his earnings. I have already been to the cash machine twice as there is a daily limit on the amount you can get out. I will have to go again.
The new dining table arrived this afternoon as well, but it is in the garage, so hasn’t been unpacked yet. We will have to move most of the things out of the lounge before Wednesday, but the two sofas will have to stay as they are really heavy, so we will just have to carry the from on side to the other. OH took the sink and toilet out of the downstairs loo this morning, luckily they came out without much problem. He has a large pile of skirting boards in the garage all of which have to be sanded and repainted before they can go back, o that is going to be a very slow job. We have chosen the new colour for the walls, but he has decided that he is going to do the painting, so that is going to take an age as well.

I forgot that you are a vegetarian Florence. My daughter went through that phase when she was a teenager, so I was very adapt at cooking vegetables food. We usually have vegetarian dishes three times a week even now.

The first year is the hardest, Joan, with all the first special dates - first birthday, first Christmas, first anniversary, etc, without the person who would previously have shared them with you.

After that, it does gradually get easier.

I understand that everyone is very keen to prevent fraud these days - but your pension situation seems ridiculously tied up with red tape.
I hope it's sorted out soon.
Perhaps a letter from a solicitor or GP would help, confirming that you are always known by your middle name?

Bright, sunny, and breezy here today, and not cold.
A lovely change!


EDIT approx 16:30 -
but now it's raining!

Good afternoon to everyone.
I am so sorry not to have been chatting recently but to be honest I haven't been able for it, I am finding things really difficult at the moment with the slightest thing setting off the tears.
Today it would have been our 57th wedding anniversary & I have been rather upset whilst remembering what a lovely day we had all those years ago.

................................................................................................

We have a lovely day today, the sun is out ,the sky is blue, flat calm & warm, just like it was on our wedding day except it was VERY windy on that day.
We have had several nice days recently but it's been chilly but yesterday & today it has been soo nice I managed to get out into the garden, planted up a few more Primroses yesterday, & today I managed to clear away the few piles of branches from the gravelled areas.

I have been reading about everyones adventures & you all sound very busy, especially Linda & hubby, goodness me Linda what a pair of busy bees.

Once again we have had to contact the Royal Mail Pension folk re Jacks pension, it is now almost 2 months since Jack died & I am no further on with his RM pension being amended.

All the relevant forms have been sent to them including several lots of paperwork to identify ME but still they want more !
Letter is now asking for proof of who I am via my birth certifiacate, Dr licence & Passport.
I have never driven a car & never had a Passport.

Because I am known by the name of JOAN whereas my B cert shows my name as Evelyn Joan "they" want further proof that Joan & Evelyn Joan are one & the same person, I am 77yrs of age & I have never been known by the name of Evelyn, I have been JOAN forever, Utility billls, my State Pension, the Bank, everything, all show me as Joan & all those places were sorted without any issue regarding who I am etc..

These R Mail people have already seen my B cert & several Utility bills but they are not happy, my daughter managed to speak to someone this morning regarding the latest letter etc & we have been told to send an email or letter explaining the situation.
We asked how much longer all this would take in regards of getting hubbys pension sorted & was told between 1 & 3 months !!!! Nightmare.

Well that's all for now, it's been nice chatting to you all, I will try to get back to the thread more often.
Thankyou for being there, take care.

Joan.

morning all....just

Bright but cold & breezy day here.

Have just received the new C Tax bill for mother's flat. It has doubled to £348.!!!
We did get free period until Probate and then 6 months free but when that expired we have been paying it since. So now there is an added premium ie doubled.

Thankful mum has some cash left from her accounts to pay these bills as i certainly couldn't afford to pay hers & mine. I so hope we get a completion date before !st May.

Rang the opticians today as still not had an appointment to discuss my cataract surgery. They advised me to ring the hospital, which I have but noone available. Opticians think, you don't get an appointment until nearer your surgery which is about a years waiting just now! So a long waiting game for that to be sorted.

AnnG, I hope you get your new appointment very soon. How long did you have to wait foe the original one?

Linda, I am a veggie so don't eat roasts with the exception of turkey at xmas. When I was very young, I used to have cheese on toast for Sunday lunch and everyone else thought I was"weird". Roast potatoes just bloat me out and as for gravy...er no ty as cant abide any fat etc. On occcasions i have made a roast chicken but I eat very little of it. Daughter doesnt like roasts either. We make pasta bakes or salmon with little new pots and peas. My fav dish would be sweet & sour king prawns with basmati rice yummy.

Dad told me last night, he was going out in the car today and up to his workshops to sort a few things out! Whilst its good, he is feeling better, hes not supposed to be lifting or straining his heart so hearing this last night scares me greatly!

So better crack on with my list of things to do as its rather a long one this week lo

Hope everyone is well.

Florence in the hebrides

9 times out of ten we would have a roast when T was alive. Now I do so very occasionally but yesterday I had a small lamb rump steak which was nice with vegetables.

anyway, good morning all, still waiting to hear about a replacement appointment. This is so disrupting. I know it has to be done but it would have been better had they not cancelled the appointment. Next week I have hair, and chiropodist appointments, what is the betting one of those will now have to be cancelled.

it is 12 degrees here so quite warm dry but very dull so far.

It is the law that you have to have a roast in Sunday Florence :-). We had beef, there is always some meat left over for Monday dinner.

There was a huge tractor run here today, 450 tractors all together. They did a large The circle through the Dales. We didn’t go to see them as we were too busy in the house. They drove right past my daughter’s house, so the girls saw them with their daddy, but my daughter was too ill to bother. They have a perfect view of the road from the large galleried landing window, so they didn’t need to stay outside for all of the time.

Well, the day has brightened up and the sun is out....for now.

Ironing all done and put away. My legs were aching a bit so am sitting with me coffee for a bit.

My new garden fork arrived yesterday and cant wait to try it out. We need to put down new grass seed as the lawn is awful and bare patches. Was only turf laid originally and not that good quality. Anyway, we need to mark the lawn with holes all over so the seeds will drop in and then hopefully produce some new grass.

Ah Knaresborough Linda, yes its not far from Harrowgate then.

Not sure about our evening meal tonight and tbh, not feeling very enthusiastic about spending ages cooking lol So something quick it will be.

Enjoy the rest of the afternoon everyone looking in.

Florence in the hebrides

I live in Knaresborough Florence which is just a couple of miles from Harrogate
OH is now taking all the skirting boards off the hallway. He has them all numbered. There is a big pile in the garage which he is going to sand, then paint before they go back on. With wooden flooring, it makes a better job if you take the skirting boards off before the floor goes down. If you don’t, you need to put beading around the room.

He did some tidying of the garage earlier this morning and washed the car. I must admit to having had a lazy morning, although I did do the ironing which wasn’t that much.

I am glad that you enjoyed your day out yesterday, it is nice to have a change.

I haven’t looked at my tree since we moved here, partly because without the internet my laptop wouldn’t work. There have been so many new records come on line in the last few years that I have continued to make new discoveries. My daughter is really keen on the tree, so I know that all my hard work is going to be passed on and be appreciated. OH and I have both done our DNA. I had one excellent result which really helped on my father’s side to confirm my grandmother’s parentage.

Good morning all

Well it is also wet and not a great day here, very drab looking.

But yesterday, I had a lovely surprise. About midday, a white car was outside my house and i wondered who it was as didn't recognize it. My daughter then said "surprise." It was her good friend who had a day off and decided to come over for a visit. She had arranged with daughter first.

I did wonder why daughter was dashing around with the hoover, cleaned the bathroom and tidied up all so quickly lol

Anyway, she's a lovely lass and I was delighted she came. I threw together a mini buffet lunch as it was after 12. We just had smoked salmon, ham slices, cheese, cucumber, crackers and some fruit. Was one of those lunches just thrown together but actually turned out well.

Then around 2pm, she took us for a drive and we went to the lovely shop that sells wonderful crafts and had a nosey in there. Was great as I needed a couple of groceries and got them so was productive. On the way back, stopped at a beach to take some photos before coming back home. The friend had to pick her hubby up from work at 4pm so it all worked out fine.

Sometimes, these days, the ones that are unplanned turn out better :-D

The friend also bought me 2 bunches of lovely flowers too, so I was spoilt.

Today, i have to do my huge basket of ironing a bit later on and then I have quite a bit of paperwork to deal with. My papers for flying on Friday need to all be filled in etc so shall be organised.

Ann, Noone in my family has done a DNA test which I have tried to encourage but none seem that bothered! This family i am researching is dads mums side so he is a little interested but not as much as I am! I did start this side years ago so it wont take long to complete but I found marriages I couldn't before & some children so have actually created new branches.

When my children were young, they would speak to my grandma every week and I would always explain where she came from and show them pictures to keep her memory alive. So when I do finish the family trees, they will be put into A3 envelopes so maybe at some time in the future, my children just might be interested in their own family history.

It is very sad, that my own 1st cousins have no interest nor their children!
My Aunty who is now very old and losing her memory was the one who helped me as she loved the history. I am so grateful, as she gave me family stories etc that helped me piece it all together.

Linda, I hope you have a productive day and are felling better. Coughing when you have dust all about isn't helping either. You OH must be amazing to do all the flooring himself etc. As for the new neighbours, I'm sure in time, they will get to know you both in their own way. It takes time to make new friends/neighbours when you move something you cant rush.

Remind me though, I thought previously you lived near Harrogate and now you seem to be near Harrogate? Or have I got that wrong? i forgot to say actually, that a few weeks ago, I was watching a programme about antiques, in fact I think it was the Road Trip one and they were in Harrogate and I thought then, how funny as that's near to you!

Anyway peeps, time to be busy.

Shall look in later.

Do hope Joan is keeping well

Florence in the hebrides

good morning all, another wet and gloomy start to the day and I so want to get out in the garden. Maybe it will clear up later, who knows.

Linda I do hope that you and your OH don't develop the cough, not something you need with so much DIY going on in the house with subsequent dust. also hope daughter is soon better.

Florence reading about you beavering away with family History reminds me that it is many years now since I really looked at mine. way back I spent all hours researching and got back quite a way, often with help from a couple of long lost second cousins from Australia and Canada. It was fun but then I realised that nobody in my immediate family was interested so I stopped doing it. I do have one first cousin and about three second cousins who are interested and who have all the info I gathered so all is not lost. Goos luck with yours, enjoy the chase.