General Chat

Yes - in fact I got them out yesterday, just in case, because the wind was so strong.

And as it turned out, they were needed. We had a power cut for two hours yesterday evening!

Hope you Scots will be ok tomorrow (Sunday) and that you are well stocked with candles and batteries and that you have already got them out ready.

Hello all,
sorry to hear that the weather is bad again for some of you. Not to bad here atm raining yet again but not windy thankfully.

Been pottering about doing housework and trying to sort cupboards out in the kitchen. Have to keep stopping as my back is painful today but I need to keep moving or I will stiffen up completely.

Have started getting a few Christmas presents and the usual small treats for when the family are here. Still need to get some cards but don't send many now by post as sadly many of our friends and family that lived away have died in the last few years. :-( .

Hoping that you are all ok health wise and those not posting are ok,

Wet and very windy here too , though not as bad as with you, Florence.
There won't be many leaves left on the trees after this - clouds of them are whirling across the garden.

I'm sitting here in the warm, watching excellent Gaelic choirs competing on BBC Alba.

Morning all.
Crikey its blowing a right old hooley here!! Im def not opening the front door lest I fly off somewhere lol. So this gale is a taster for the windier one we are expecting on Sunday.

Gently pottering about after all the work I did yesterday. A bit of dusting in my bedroom as its always dusty :-S I have no idea why? But the room its self is quite small and I have a lot of furniture so maybe that's why. Anyway that will keep me out of mischief until lunch.

I ordered myself a 1000 piece jigsaw. Its of a Whimsical village all in very bright colours so may start that this afternoon.

Hope everyone else is staying safe. I think there is quite a bit of flooding too around Kirby was hearing that on the radio news.

Florence in the hebrides

We saw it down here, very bright.

We missed our chance to see the comet last week as it was cloudy all week, maybe next time ;-) ;-)

It wasn’t cloudy here, so we saw it as well

I'm glad you mentioned that, Florence - I hadn't known about it.
I've just been out to have a look.
It's raining here, so there's cloud crossing in front of the moon, but even so, it's bright.
And big!

I have just been outside to see the supermoon and it was amazing. Clear skies here tonight so a fab view and I looked through the binoculars.

Just so bright.

I have used the same hairdresser for 45 years AG, so it was daunting changing. It looks OK, I will reserve judgement until after I have washed it myself.
I collected my new glasses yesterday and I am pleased with them. The lenses are nice and thin and I can read small print much better . I hope you manage to find a new optician to suit you as well

Like Andysmum, we're supposed to be getting wind during Sunday night - but apparently only about 30-40 mph, which isn't too bad, although strong.

That's according to Accuweather, and BBC Weather online.

I hope your polytunnel stands up to it, Florence.

Are you happy with the way your new hairdresser has done your hair, Linda?
It's a daunting thought to change hairdressers, especially once you find one who does it the way you like.

The same goes for changing doctors, dentists, etc!

I have an optometrist's appointment on Monday, and feel some trepidation. My usual optometrist, who knew my complicated eye history over many years, has retired, and I'll have to trust that a new person will take it all properly into account.

I am glad that your daughter is better Florence.
I hope that the storm isn’t too bad for you
I have had a busy day, it was Slimming Workd this morning, then I went to get my hair cut this afternoon. I decided that I needed to change to a hairdresser down here as it was an hours drive to where I used to go and with the winter coming up, I didn’t want to do the drive in winter.

Aw well I believe that keeping myself busy whilst im stuck indoors makes the day pass more quickly. and makes me feel better when I have done lots.

I really dont understand those who have the tv on all day!! I just have the radio on for background noise and the news and that means, i can carryon working. If the tv was on, you would keep stopping to watch it lol. Its better for my legs too as kicks the circulation which helps to keep the fluid down.

Stay safe. You say Sunday but we are getting it tomorrow and looking ahead all of next week as well so dont think there will be any ferries for several days! Im well stocked up anyway and could do to empty the freezer a bit.

Thank you, Florence. We are scheduled to get it (70 - 80mph) on Sunday, so we shall see.

The amount of work you get through makes me tired just reading about it!! :-)

Afternoon everyone looking in.
I have been a very busy bee today as tomorrow we are expecting a storm with winds of to 80mph!! so i emptied all the bins in the house and took them outside to the dustbins and then shifted all my little pots which are still in bloom such as the Dahlias and moved them to shelter.

There isn't anything now that will get blown away hopefully. It will be a good test for the Polytunnel to see how it fares.

I also did 2 loads of washing & dried it all off in the tumble so laundry all up straight.

Next I wrapped several gifts and that was another job off my list.

Swept the kitchen & bathroom and tidied up in general before remembering that some of the batteries haven't been charged since 2022. So they are now recharging just in case power goes but i do have about 50 batteries of varying sizes so all sorted there..

Phew i'm quite exhausted so now sitting with a coffee and having a look at the news etc and see what's happening in the world.

Daughter is so much better today and has gone off to visit family etc until Saturday so all quiet here and now very tidy lol.

Hope everyone else is doing ok and keeping well.

ArgyllGran and Andy's mum, I'm sure you will cop the gale too so stay safe.

Florence in the hebrides

Good afternoon all looking in.

Windy still here but....quite warm :-S

Got 2 large parcels today so that filled my kitchen table with all sorts of things to add with peoples xmas presents, stocking fillers that kind of thing,

I also received a very heavy box and although its still in my porch for now, I think it is the 2 bar stools i ordered for the polytunnel. They will need putting together but shouldnt take long, just not today.

Daughter has been really unwell with some sort of horrid virus and a nasty cold sore which made her lip swell and therefore she could hardly sip water. So I have been creeping around trying not to make too much noise as she sleeps herself better, This is 3 days now of her being sick! Hoping tomorrow she will turn a corner.

Better to get rid of the bugs now before we have our fayres as that would be disastrous then if she was unwell.

I'm making a cheesy potato pie for tea as a dry food and see if she can manage a few spoonful's. Been quite difficult keeping her sugars stable with not eating!
Also the meds she was given also made her sick , say no more!

I did venture out to the bins with all the packaging from the parcels earlier so got 3 minutes of fresh air lol

Just drying off her bedding which i washed. Always feel better when you change the bed and its then smelling lovely & fresh.

Linda, glad you got your new glasses and yes it does take a bit of time. Please be careful and don't trip!! I expect your OH just wants to be busy whatever the weather.

Well better see to the washing now and sort out the evening meal.

Florence in the hebrides

Well, I don’t know what has happened to the warm sunny day the weatherman was promising us yesterday. It is foggy and drizzling instead. I got the bus into Harrogate just after lunch, it take thirty minutes. I went to pick up my new glasses from Specsavers and got straight back on the next bus home. For once,they have managed to make the lenses fit the frames so they aren’t sticking out without having to have a second go at them. So I have put the new pair on now I am home. The lenses are slightly different, so it will take me a little time to get used to them. I nearly tripped on the stairs as I went up. I can definitely read better with the new pair, so it will be worth it once I get used to them.
OH spent the morning in the garage painting the rest of the fencing materials green. He is now out in the garden constructing part of it. I told him to wait until tomorrow when hopefully it won’t be drizzling, but he wants to get on with it, silly man.

Afternoon all

Very windy day here and of course was recycling day lol. It was a case of looking out for the bin lorry then heading straight out so I got them back in their stations asap otherwise goodness knows where they would have flown away to. I took my neighbours bins in to for him as he's now back to full time work.

These 4 houses have very nice people staying in them and in different ways we help each other out which is lovely.

No sooner had the bin lorry gone, Tesco came. Medium order and only 2 crates today. So that didnt take too long to deal with until......trying to put some things away and decided to empty the bottom cupboard!! So you know when you really wish you hadnt started a job, well this was one of them.

Honestly, the amount of packets of biscuits etc that were right at the back was humongous. i could have had a tea party for 50 and there would have been plenty to go round :-D :-D :-D

Anyway, a good sort out and everything back in its place and a few things shifted elsewhere. So now Im feeling my back with bending over as cant actually bend down and shall be sitting for sometime as done more than enough for one day!

ArgyllGran, many take part in the Mod here but since the removal of the music teachers, there are few to teach Gaelic songs etc so numbers of enrants of younger ones has dwindled. My son was once in the folk group/band for his primary school and came 3rd but that was it.

I think with the National Mod, its mainly adult choirs but we do have some choirs from here that do well.

When my children were doing family history, they were in a minority as i gave then info going back 8 generations and some only knew their grandparents and no further back. So their teachers were very impressed!

Its looking very stormy here and i think it will rain hard soon.

So off to make a hot drink now.

Florence in the hebrides

Family tree knowledge does come in very handy.

I remember a few years ago another grand-daughter was doing a school project, and I was able to give her a family tree.

Another time, one of my nieces needed to know family medical history, and I could tell her the causes of death of various ancestors - though of course not what other illnesses they may have had during their lifetimes.

You have had a very challenging time recently Sylvia, so no wonder you are tired. If you think it might be a medical reason, then maybe you should see your doctor and get checked over.

I am glad that you had a good time with your friend Florence, a holiday no matter how short is always a good thing.

Yesterday my niece asked me if I could send her some info about my fathers war records because her daughter was studying WW2 in school this year and had to do a project on someone who had been in the war, such as a grandparent. She is only in year 6 at school ( top juniors). , so it is actually her great grandfather. I spent some time compiling a suitably aimed word document and attaching lots of photos. My father was the type who kept everything, so I have a massive amount of information. He was actually captured early in the war when his unit was trying to defend the beaches from the Germans during the Dunkirk evacuations. He spent the rest of the war moving between POW camps. I tried to make what I sent relevant to an eleven year old, so I hope it helps.