General Chat

Thanks, Joan - I'll investigate Artfone!


ADDED:
Hmmm! Artfone seem to only make mobile phones, according to Google.

But I may get a basic Artfone mobile to replace my beloved old basic Nokia when 2G is finally turned off. A charge lasts a good long time, as you say.
Thanks for bringing it to my attention!

ADDED MORE:
A bit more Googling shows that some landline cordless phones do work for a while when there's a power cut, if their bases have backup batteries, as well as the usual batteries in the handset.
The backup batteries only provide power for 3-4 hours - but at least one could report an outage .

Joan <3

Morning all from the wild west!

Oh my its a gale and getting worse so whilst I have power thought id pop on here for a minute or 2.

No Ferries again yesterday, today and maybe tomorrow so the shelves will be empty in the shops no doubt.
I googled the artfone too and yes as long as your phone is charged Joan, it will last for a while with the batteries or as long as the nearest mobile mast is working, same as here.

I think I may fill a flask in a minute as the wind it says is going up over 60mph so the electric may well go.

Hope everyone stays safe especially those in the SW of England where it is worse.

Florence in the hebrides

Morning everyone.
Well what a wet & wild night we had yet again last night, not much sleep due to the noise of the wind, we've had some horrible stormy weather these past few days & really hoping we get some respite soon.

It's dry at the moment & the wind has died down a little.
My heating system has been playing up this week which was a worry as it's been soo cold I didn't want to have no heat in the house.
I have had it looked at & a new zone thing was needed,fingers crossed all will be well again.

Florence, I hope your ferries will be back running soon, must be a worry when they stop.

Joan.

Florence hope you are not without the ferries for too long. Hopefully you are well stocked up with essentials.

Joan would ear plugs help to shut out the noise of the wind overnight?

It isn’t windy here, just incredibly foggy. From time to time, I can see the sun making an effort to shine through, but then it disappears again.
This morning I got the bus into Harrogate to have my ear wax removed. They said my ears were only half full, but the problem is that my hearing aids catch on the wax as I put them in and keep jamming up. It is all gone now and I am £60 down :-(

I am going school reading this afternoon with one of the year three classes. On Monday, I went into the reception class, they are just four year olds and can’t read yet. They choose a book from the library shelves and I have to read it to them and talk about it. They were very cute, just starting on phonics. It is amazing the difference two years makes, as the ones this aft are all reading fluently

I am pleased that your heating is fixed Joan, as you say it is too cold to be without it .

That's good about your heating, Joan.
I hope the weather has calmed down for you, Florence.
I'm glad you can hear again, Linda!

Yesterday was very windy here, but it died down during the evening.
Today is windless, dry, and actually sunny.
There's even been some of that "faint heat" mentioned by AnninGlos a couple of weeks ago!

But there's snow on the hilltops. It's still only January, though not for much longer.

Linda, I can identify with your hearing problem, as I have the same trouble.
Next week, I will go for my regular 3 monthly appointment with the ENT nurse for micro-suction at the hospital.
They set up this routine and it is a great help.
This week it has been a bit of a struggle to hear readers, but we managed, as they read to me in the library, so there is not the background classroom noise to contend with.

It's really chilly, but no actual frost, snow or rain in this corner.
How bleak for some people to have to deal with all of those and lost power too :-(

You are lucky to get your ears done on the NHS Gwyn, I have to pay

It is my sons birthday today, so we are all going out for a meal this evening, followed by by birthday cake. That isn’t going to help my diet :-(

Yes Linda, I realise I am lucky and am very grateful.
The audiology team set this up and within about a week or so of my visit, I receive an appointment for the next one in about 3months time.
I think it's something to do with the shape of my ear canals and the fact that I've had 2 operations on my right ear, so a lot of scar tissue, so they like to keep a check that all is well.

It does seem a shame that it sometimes treatment depends on where you live.

I would pay for the service if I had to, as it helps me so much, but I don't know if that would be 4 times a year, although when it is coming up to appointment time I definitely know that hearing is difficult, especially if I have a cold, like now.
As you've said before, primary age children do like to share these things ;-)

Relying on sub-titles makes watching TV interesting at times just now, especially news reports, which use the speech interpretation method. Weather forecasts are a hoot with all manner of things, including objects supposedly going to cross over and descend on us later in the day :-0

I don't think I have heard of any other area where the wax clearing is supplied on the NHS. But, as you say Gwyn, you have had ops on your ear so maybe that makes you more of a special case. I used to have my ears cleared of wax the old methos, but since the surgery stopped doing it I have not needed it clearing as long as I use the wax clearing drops when the audiologist says I need to. I have a new hearing test on Friday 13 Februsry as I think my aids are not helping as much as they did. they are 5 years old now.
Sub titles cause many a chuckle as I do have some hearing and often pick up the wrong word.

Sounds like Gwynn problems are not straight forward and she needs a real expert. It would cost a fortune to havevthem cleared otherwise.

We are lucky here that our village pharmacy now has someone come in once it twice a month - saves going into town.

I had a tooth out yesterday and was told the sedation felt like being a bit drunk - well I’ve never benn legless before. But do feel a bit squiffy this morning.

I hope you “sober up’ quickly Names and that it isn’t too painful

My hearing aids are about the same age Ann and I am thinking about replacing them. I don’t think that I can hear as well as I used to, but is that because my hearing has deteriorated or is it the aids? Some TV programs are very difficult to hear, they seem to mumble. On Tuesday it was the memory cafe which I volunteer at. We had a film afternoon complete with popcorn and choc ices. The film was Esio Trot which I have seen before. The dialogue was quite clear, but they had the sub titles on and I did find it extremely helpful, so maybe I should bite the bullet and get new aids despite the cost. I have the rechargeable ones which are Bluetooth and connect to my phone. That is a feature I can’t do without, but it also makes them expensive. I am sure the technology will have vastly improved since I bought mine, so it does seem silly to keep putting it off just because the current ones are still working

Some TV programmes ae indeed difficult to hear, Linda, and it's nothing to do with hearing aids!

I'm fortunate to have good hearing, and don't need hearing aids, but in recent months I've often had to resort to subtitles because of actors mumbling, or because of strong accents.

Same here AG. Also saves me from the ‘can’t hear’ & ‘it’s too loud’ from the hearing aid wearer :-|

I’m getting there Linda. I’m surprised it wasn’t more painful. I don’t think I really needed yesterday afternoons cocodamols and could have got by with paracetamol. Cooked up a big vat of soup the day before and don’t think OH was amused when I said he had to get his own supper ;-)

Afternoon all

Names, hope you are felling better now and the sedation has worn off! Its a terrible feeling like that. Once the balance in my ears was all upside down and I felt like walking on a ship in bad weather. Gawd I never felt so seasick in all me life.

The GP gave me sickness tabs and 3 days later I was back to "normal". All very strange but the feeling was terrible.

I am vey lucky in that my hearing is excellent. I can have the tv volume at just 2 and still hear. Sometimes I wish i could turn the volume in my ears down as when it is noisy to me its extremely loud.

Someone slamming a door for instance sounds like a bomb going off in my ears!

Hope Linda & Gwyn, you both get your ears sorted very soon.

Its a beautiful sunny day here but breezy and rather chilly again. There was a light frost on the back lawn earlier.

In the process of reorganising my craft cupboard. At the moment everything is on my bed and it looks like a boot fair lol!

So better crack on as I have a prawn stir fry to make for later.

Have a good afternoon all

Florence in the hebrides

Morning all

A bit frosty here today and flat calm! The sun is gently peeking through the clouds so I think it will be a nice day and that means we may get out for a walk with poochie.

Making a small roast chicken dinner with chicken breasts for our evening meal today for a change. Sometimes, I get fed up with food and the same menu lol so change things up!

Hope everyone looking in today is well and keeping warm.

Joan, how is the new top loader doing? Does that dry the clothes as well like a washer/drier?

Well off to be busy now so we can go out after lunch.

Florence in the hebrides

Morning to you all.
Another rainy day, & it's so dark, another day with the light on all day long, better than snow but the constant rain is depressing.

Florence, the new washer is fine, exactly the same as the previous one I had, no it doesn't driy the clothes, just a washer & spin dry,

Looking out I can see our Snowdrops in full bloom, hundreds of them everywhere, & they all came from one original wee bunch that we found in the garden when we first moved in to this house 40yrs ago.

Nothing much going on here, I just keep on top of the household chores & watch the telly & I keep working at my Family Tree, I have been doing it since 1986 & still enjoy working on it.

I don't sleep very well even though I feel tired & sleepy when I go to bed, the nights are soo long when I don't sleep !

Hope everyone is keeping well.

Joan.



!

It is a dreary day here as well Joan. I haven’t done much today apart from spending an hour this morning playing school buses with Esme vis FaceTime

I bought myself a new pillow a couple of weeks ago and it has made a big difference to my sleep. I was waking up every two hours and of course when I wake up I need the loo. Now I am only waking up once or twice which is a big improvement

I still work on my tree as well, I could keep going sideways for ever, but there are some central line things such as baptisms which I would love to find, but can’t. A lot of mine were Methodists, so the records are sketchy

Hello all,
Cloudy and chilly here I think the sun has decided to hide for another day. Really fed up with so much rain now. The back garden is so wet even the dog doesn't want to go out there.
Sadly we have a family funeral to go to this week, a nephew had been fighting cancer and diabetic issues for some time . He was only in his 50s so young really.

I also am still doing some family tree work and have been looking for baptisms but I can't find one. Found 2 of the 3 sisters but not the eldest one. Keep looking though.

We have been watching the darts on tv, the young 19 yr old Luke Littler won again. He can certainly throw his darts. Hope he has good financial advice he has won a huge amount at a young age.