General Chat

Morning all on this very windy wet morning. Its 11 degrees but O so gusty and its going to stay like it all day I think.

I have been having a parcel delivered for three days now so lets see if it turns up today The last two days its supposed to be coming between 8pm and 9.15pm but if the drivers don't know my house they won't find it in the dark and theres no house name outside.

Glad you're feeling better after the nasty bug Gill and just before Chirstmas too.

Just a quickie as it's very late and I'm just about to go to bed.

Thanks for your get well wishes, I'm feeling much better now so hopefully that'll be the end of it.

Your card arrived today Mel, thank you.

Dull and damp here all day today. The temperature has been 9 degrees all day and is supposed to stay at 9 degrees all night too. We’ve got a warning of strong winds tomorrow and it sounds as though the wind is getting up now.

Good luck with shopping tomorrow Mandy. Everywhere is getting so busy now. Yesterday it took a friend 25 minutes to get out of the car park, though we didn’t find it too bad today.

Sorry to hear you are still having trouble with your car Mel. You need to get it looked at. You don’t want to risk getting stranded somewhere.

Poor little Maya. It’s so difficult when babies are ill. The can't tell you how they feel and the parents will worry. I hope she recovers quickly.

I hope you found some nice greenery Gwyn and you showed off your skills as a thatcher. You put me to shame, you do so much in your community.

Are you feeling better Gill? Christmas isn't a good time to come down with a bug.

I took my prescription into the opticians today to get my new glasses ordered before my next hospital appointment. I started with the varifocals I wear nearly all the time. I picked a pair of blue frames for a change, not the cheapest but by no means the dearest. Then I moved on to the prescription sunglasses I have to have and went for cheaper frames as they are more to protect my eyes than look beautiful. Finally I said to the lady dispenser that I also had to have single vision reading glasses to use late at night when my eyes are often sore and tired but, because of the cost, I would leave those for another time. She then said if I picked from a small choice of frames with a free sticker on them I wouldn’t have to pay anything. I asked about the cost of the lenses and she said that as they were just single vision they would do those for free as well. I was happy with the free frames as I only wear them reading in bed late at night. Then she went away to tot everything up. With 10% off my main glasses because of my age, getting my sunglasses half price as a second pair of specs being bought at the same time, and getting my single vision glasses for nothing, my bill came to £800. Without the discounts it would have been over £1200!, How on earth does anyone on a low income manage, particularly if they are on the borderline just above the level where they can get help. I also wonder what sort of profits the companies are making if they can afford to give these discounts.

I had to pause this post in the middle as Tesco came. It was a big order and there were 3 subs. 2 were fine but I sent the third one back. Luckily it wasn’t needed as I had only ordered it to have handy in the freezer. Everything is put away now and I am feeling quite tired so I’ll say goodnight, sleep tight.

Evening all

It's been very dull here and the wind seems to be getting up.
I seem to have been on the go all day, with family coming we had to get the extra chairs up from the shed and give them a good polish and I mopped floors and sorted washing out .

Anng poor little Maya her first Christmas and she's poorly bless her ,I hope it soon eases for her and she feels better soon.

Oh Mel did you find a washing machine you liked ,you might get a bargain after Christmas in the sales .
That's a devil the car playing up again, you must have worried if it would start again while you were out .

Hope you managed to find some nice greenery Gwyn ,I use to love the christingle service seeing the littleones with their candles in the orange and them holding them up high when they turned the lights low in the church and all you could see were the flickering lights it was lovely.

I hope to go out early tomorrow to get a few last bits ,I'm hoping cream etc will have some good dates on them to save going later in the week .
We have the hairdresser coming tomorrow too so I hope I don't get stuck in the traffic on the car park .

Cakes out the oven and smelling wonderful.

Back from Holsworthy and the car played up again. Started ok from home and I did the 9 miles to Holsworthy and it was market day so I parked in the car park but a car went behind me so I thought I would back into that space as it was a bit tight where I was. Went to start her up and she played me up again not starting and it sounded like the starter moter was still going so I switched her off and just hoped she would start when I had had a look at washing machines and a quick look around the market. I was so worried I was going to get stuck so I had a look at the machines and then a quick look at the stalls but no shops and I forgot to go into Dave's the greengrocer for my bit of mistletoe but I did buy the beef stew and dumplings off a lady with a stall. Came back to the car and tried her again and she started so I left her running and ate my beef stew and dumplings.

After that I went to Mole VAlley and had to turn her off there to buy the chicken food, woodshavings and wild bird seed. Could'nt have a brouse as I was worried she would'nt start again. Anyway she did so I got the food and shavings and came straight home. I did have a stiff word with her before I tried to start her again in the car park. By doing the carpark I walked down the steps to go to the shops and market and there in front of me was a Morrisons Daily shop or something like that. So I had a look and bought a small waxed cheese in there just to have a look and see what they sold. If I had gone the normal way out the carpark I would never have seen it as its in what we call the small square and used to be a newsagents with some groceries mags and a few toys and stationary. It now does fresh sandwiches and lots of foods chilled and frozen.

Just had a cuppa and a hot sausage roll and now I am going to cook my Christmas cake and pop some more samll buns in with it and maybe some roast pots and veg.

I also dropped off two table arrangements at the local shop. They had no wreaths there so they looked nice and cheery on the windowsill. If they don't sell I shall give one to Em and one to Hazel.

Morning all,

A bit brighter here this morning but still not what you would call a nice day but the sun is trying to shine now and theres no wind pc is saying 9 degrees today so cooler than it has been this week.

Got up when it was dark for the loo and then slept till late again.

Lots to do today so I better get on and I will get back on here later on.

A lovely bright morning here and relatively mild. :-D

I will make use of this fine day to collect some greenery to decorate the church window sills and to collect some fir tree that grows in a flat formation.... ideal for thatching the stable before the Christingle service.!

I hope little Maya soon recovers Ann. <3
My memories of scarlet fever don't feature a white sheet, but my sister caught scarlet fever, when she was about 3. We shared a bedroom, but I never caught it. I remember watching from my parents' bedroom window as an ambulance man carried her out in a red blanket to the waiting ambulance and I wondered if I would ever see her again :-( I was 5 years old.
She was taken to an Infectious Diseases hospital in Portsmouth and we couldn't visit her, but after a week or so, I think my mother was allowed to see her through a window. Everything mum took her had to be burnt after use to stop infection.
She recovered and came home after about 3 weeks, I think, and they always wondered where she had picked up the infection. Mum was asked if we belonged to a lending library... We didn't and it was many years before Mum would let me join one, as she didn't want to risk any more infections.

Good morning all, another wet one. We are going out to lunch later to what is becoming a favourite pub restaurant.
Vera I have the same memory if the white sheet over the door when my sister has scarlet fever. I didn’t catch it. Poor little Maya is only nine months old. Usually a very happy baby she is obviously feeling unwell as she had a bad night. Difficult to explain to one so young why her throat hurts. She caught it off older family children.

Gill sorry to hear that you were not well. Hope you continue to feel better.

Sorry I haven't been on here for a few days I had a bug and felt terrible, thankfully I'm starting to feel better with just a small headache to deal with, hopefully I'll be okay in time for Christmas. Needless to say we haven't done anymore on the kitchen since the other day, although OH did nip back to the shop and bought two more units and doors so we can hide the fridge and freezer then they'll only be the cooker on show.

If we hadn't decided to hide the appliances then our kitchen would of looked like a shop for white goods as we have five in total LOL :-D

I'm pleased to see your Christmas cards arrived okay Mel and Vera. It's strange only three have arrived and quite a few days between them considering they were all posted at the same time. I hope everyone receives their cards before the big day.

I received your card today Vera, thank you <3 60 is a lot of cards you must be very popular :-)

Have a lovely time away AnnG. Sorry to hear your step great granddaughter has Scarlet Fever, I hope she's over it by Christmas. Apparently there's a lot going around at the moment. The fella at the flooring shop we went to was wearing a mask as he said Whooping Cough was doing the rounds and that was almost two weeks ago.

I see your cake has it's marzipan and icing now Mandy . One less job to do before the big day.

Going to make myself a drink now
Night Night all :-)

Good evening all

Another bad night and another very wet day - sigh

AnnG, I had been reading about scarlet fever being around again only a day or two ago. I hope your youngster gets better soon. At least these days we have modern antibiotics. One of my earliest memories is of my cousin having it when I was very young. There was a white sheet hung at her bedroom door and no-one but her mother was allowed in. She seemed to be ill for a very long while but it might have just seemed a long while to me as I was so young.

Your card arrived today Gill. Thank you very much. We have a good selection of cards now - nearly 60 - so I shouldn't think we have many more to come.

I went to the chiropodist this morning so my feet are nice and comfy at the moment. On the way back I hand delivered a couple of cards and then popped in to the Co-op to get a jar of Branston pickle. For some reason they are the only supermarket round here that stocks the medium size I like. There were only 3 jars on the shelf so I decided to take them all, then I saw a mixed pack of fruit teas that my daughter likes and they were on offer so they went in the basket. Next I saw some cakes that OH likes so they got added. By the time I got to the checkout I could hardly carry the basket and the bill was quite large. And I only went in for a jar of pickle, lol.

We had a good evening at the Club yesterday. It's very informal so you just take along whatever food you like and sometimes it's a bit samey but there was a good variety of both savoury and sweet stuff. One of the committee members who is a very clever crafts lady had made some beautiful little crackers and inside each one was a lottery scratch card. I assume the cost of those came out of club funds. We all scratched away like mad and we had 3 winners. One person won £1, I won £2 and someone else won £5. I think a lot of people had forgotten that pre-Covid and lockdowns we had started marking gifts for ladies or men and so had reverted to the "will do for either" attitude, so lots of boxes of biscuits etc which doesn't show a lot of imagination. I got a nice box of chocolate biscuits and OH got a bottle of Merlot so he was pleased. AnnG I laughed at your daughter's comment about a gift for someone not identifying as man or woman. Tell her I don't think there's any chance of that with our elderly group. I doubt if most of them would have a clue what non-binary means; probably think it has something to do with gardening. I've just had a thought - do you think if I identify as a dormouse I'd manage to get more sleep ;-)

I've got an appointment in the morning to go and sort out new glasses so more expense. Then it's back to Roy's to see if our tree is there. They said they would ring if they couldn't get it, otherwise we could pick it up after 11 am. In the evening I have a Tesco delivery. I don't usually have an evening delivery but I was a bit late booking my slot and being so near Christmas it was the best I could get.

Time for a cuppa now I think and then I'm going to relax with the crossword for a while.

All on my own again.....

I have made two flower arrangements this afternoon and will take those down the shop tomorrow. I also have to go and get chicken food and woodshavings.

Shoppings come nice and early and I have mixed up the Christmas cake just got to bake it tomorrow.

Morning Anng and all,

Really dark and dingy here this morning 12 degrees and pc says cloudy but we have that sort of yellowy sky and its been raining. It also feels colder than 12 degrees in here so I have just turned the heating on.

Nothing planned for today might go and put oh's flowers down there and still one or two presents to do up and there is always ironing.......

Good morning all, not dressed yet so just answering this first. I can’t hear if anyone is up but they have hair appointments so won’t be long. I am usually up before them anyway. So town and Morrisons this morning then just staying home this afternoon. Daughter has a few presents to wrap but nothing else to do so I shall read.
Apparently step great granddaughter has got scarlet fever, I had not realised it was around. Hopefully she will soon get ove it with antibiotics. We were not planning to see her until next week.

In that case they could have a ladies and a mens present!!!!

I have made oh's ring today and it took me well into the afternoon. I had decided to only put things in that were natural, no plastic flowers or silk flowers and no bows. I am quite pleased with it and shall take it down tomorrow afternoon as the shopping comes late morning so I will try and do some table arrangements in the morning whilt waiting for the shopping to come.That way if I am in the shed I should be able to see when it arrives or hear the big van anyway.

Glad you arrived safely Anng and now feel quite at home enjoy.

Better start dinner I have cooked mince so just need to do some carrots and mash. I don't like the carrots in the frozen mince cos they go so soft so I try to eat all the carrots from when I first cook it and then add freshly cooked carrots to the other dinners.

Still got a few presents to wrap so I am going to do the veg and then do those.

I am up at Lyn’s now. We drove up this morning, got here about one and it has drizzled ever since we came off the M6 to join the A66. We had thick, really thick fog around Kendle but the first part of the journey was dry until Preston. All unpacked now and feeling quite at home.

I told Lyn your last bit about buying for the secret Santa. Her remark was it would be difficult if you had somebody who didn’t identify as either a man or a woman. I did say I was sure that would not happen. She was joking of course and it did make me laugh.

Good afternoon all

It was morning when I started posting but I got interrupted by a phone call. It was my neighbour over the way and, bless her, I couldn't get her off the phone. She is a spinster lady in her 70s, not in the best of health, and I think she gets a bit lonely at times so I try and be patient, but someimes it's difficult.

I'm not sure when AnnG goes but if it is today I wish her a safe journey and an enjoyable time with her family.

Not much happening here today. I've changed the bedding and done 3 loads of washing. Some will have to be dried in the tumble dryer but I've hung about half of it out as it's quite windy although the air feels a bit damp.

We've got a Christmas evening at one of the Clubs tonight. I didn't have time to make any finger food so I bought some savoury mini muffins. I've never seen them before and have no idea what they taste like but at least it's something different. I've also got around to wrapping my Secret Santa gifts at last. We don't have a specific name to buy for but, as it's a mixed group, the men take a man's gift and the women a lady's gift and mark whether it's for a man or a woman. We started doing that when everyone took a bottle of wine or a box of biscuits which would be suitable for either sex. In reality, of course, the men don't do anything and the wives buy and wrap gifts from both of them ;-)

I can hear banging from the kitchen so OH must be getting lunch ready. That's one job he does do regularly.

Good morning all

11 dregrees and very mild out .

I did'nt wake till just after 10am and had to get to the post van with two little parcels so thats why I am late this morning.

I left a big note out for the recykling men for a green bag for the papers and they did'nt leave me one but took the plastic bag I put papers in so still not got one.

Is it today Anng goes off? if it is safe journey and hoope you have a lovely Christmas.

Gill card arrived this mroning thank you very much.

I'm glad your boiler is fixed AnnG and at no cost. Your meal sounded good value for money and very filling. Once upon a time I would have eaten the lot and probably had plenty of wine as well. These days I have to choose between a starter or a sweet as I can seldom manage both.

You're right about Roys having some nice decorations Mandy. As a little extra I got one of my granddaughters a lantern with a father Christmas inside and gold flakes swirling around. It runs on batteries or a transformer and it wasn't very expensive at all. They do seem to have gone upmarket with their clothes. In the past I've bought quite cheap shirts and jumpers for me in there but now it's nearly all well-known brands that are more expensive.

Yesterday I heard of the death of the husband of an old school friend and today the wife rang me. I actually knew her husband before she did. I spoke to her a couple of weeks ago and she was near exhaustion with caring for him since he had a stroke 7 years ago. She was very calm and composed on the phone. I think it hasn't really hit home yet. I suppose these things are to be expected as we all get older but it still comes as a shock. In the last 6 weeks or so we have learnt of two deaths and two people who have been told their lifespan is very limited now. It's all very sad.

On a happier note our son rang this morning. He said next year's diary is already getting filled up with work commitments, family commitments and holidays booked so he had decided to make space in his diary while he still can for a visit to us. He and dil won't be coming till March but it's firmly in both our diaries so that's something to look forward to.

I don't know what's the matter with me lately but I hardly slept again last night. I got up at 7.30 am and felt so groggy that at 8 am I went back to bed for a couple of hours. This put me all behindhand and I've been playing catch-up all day. We normally have our Sunday dinner around 2 pm. Today I served it at 5.30! Now I can't stop yawning but it's too early to go to bed. Oh well, I'm still sort of functioning so I must be getting enough sleep for my needs though I'm still keeping my fingers crossed for a few more hours tonight. I hope you all sleep well too.