General Chat

You too Vera. I have made an apple and blackberry crumble for dessert and manazged two tiny strudles but they may be a disarster as I think I have put too much apple in them, they'll probably burst but it was just using the pastry up. Apples and blackberries out the garden. I must freeze some apples as I like apples and custard.

Better get on now as I may make a few buns while the ovens on.

Good afternoon all

It looks beautiful out with blue skies and bright sunshine but gosh it’s cold. iPad is telling me it is 6 degrees and feels like 7, phone is telling me it’s 4 degrees and feels like 3. I know which one I believe. There was a heavy overnight frost and at 10 am the roofs (or is it rooves?) were sparkling in the sun as though they were coated in diamonds. It looked quite magical.

It’s good that Jake and the other chap (is it his Dad?) can fix your garage roof for you AnnG. It does sound expensive but a necessary job. Isn’t it amazing how all the expensive jobs seem to need doing one after another? You are very good with all your Christmas decorations. I regret now that we haven’t collected a few more over the years. Some of them seem so expensive now. We have always had our cards on display, usually in the hall, and a few bits of tinsel and baubles around but our main decoration was the tree. We used to have a 6-7 ft Nordmann fir with lots of lights and red and gold baubles Red and gold is “old hat” now but I still like it as I think it’s warm looking. Last year we decided just to have a smallish, pre-lit artificial tree and I didn’t like it at all.

Mel, enjoy your meal with Stu tonight. I didn’t realise he had Parkinsons. It must make life difficult for him. It can’t be easy getting meals if you don’t know when he is coming but having stuff ready in the freezer is the best thing to do. Mince is a great standby as you can turn it into so many things. That was a shame about your car last night. It’s so easy when it’s dark to slide on a frosty or icy surface.

Don’t wear yourself out carting your logs round Mandy. You don’t want to put your back out again. Let your son do the bulk of the work.

I hope your boiler man has got your tap sorted out for you today Annx. I do feel for your OH when he gets a migraine with the flashing lights and ziggy zaggy lines. Sometimes if that happens to me and I lie down or sit quietly with my eyes closed it will stop after about 30 minutes and I am OK again. Sometimes it will develop into a full-blown migraine. For years I had triptans to take but now I just have a strong co-codamol. I’m functioning OK now after the one I had Sunday and Monday but I still have a pain over my left eye and my head still feels as though it’s full of cotton wool.

We went for our usual Thursday coffee this morning. 3 couples and one single lady today. On the way back I picked up some fresh salad and veg and then called at the PO to post 2 cards to Australia The cards were from one of my charity packs and cost about 80p for the two, postage for the two was £5.60!!

Sun has gone now and it is getting colder. Since I started this post it has dropped from 4 degrees to 2 degrees. Time to make a hot drink I think. Stay warm everyone.

So you now have to have your roof done. Mine was expensive too but that was over the huge lounge I have.

Really miserable here and its gone down to 5 degrees

When I put the bin bag out last night the windscreen kept frosting up and when I got to the top to turn on the carpark to come back in I heard an almighty crunch. Breaked right away and reversed but could'nt see anything I had hit so came on back down. This morning I looked at the front of my car and the sort of bumper bit had a hole in it and had come away from the side. There was a bit missing so I drove up to the carpark and had a look and I must have slid across the road as it was so frosty last night and I hit the bank. I could see in the daylight that I had loads of grass and stuff on the nearside front so walked across the road and low and behold there in the bank was my miss bit. I shall have to ask Stu if he can do anything about it even if its only to get the front back where it should be.

It is still only 0 degree here.

They have been to look at the garage roof. I think it is going to be an expensive job.
. They have gone to get some sheeting to cover the drive then they have to remove all the black tar stuff and some of the wood. The wood underneath the tar has rotted and is crumbling. they showed me photos. And also the facia round the garage is rotten so they will replace it with the white modern facia. (We have to think the facia is going to be about 40 years old and the last time the garage roof was tarred was over 10 years ago.) They only guaranteed it for 10. I remember that. I am certainly getting the more expensive jobs needing doing now. I bet the next thing will be a new boiler. Anyway they will strip all the stuff off then nail down thick sheets to replace it while they get the new wood and other stuff so more than today to do it.

It is obviously worth having it done. If I had tried to sell the house that would have caused problems. :-)

Morning all,

Gosh there was a hard frost last night and its still on my car roof. Its 5 degrees here and mostly cloudy.

I did'nt fall asleep till after 2.48am last night well that the last time I looked at the time. Woke at 7.58am for the loo and went back to bed as it was cold and woke at 9. 47am and here I am after having a nice coffee. Have fed both Robins and Jenny Wren out on the patio and am now going to get dressed!!

Glad you had agood night Anng. Hope too the the tap is fixed today and that will be another job out of the way. Anng hope for you too that Jake turns up to see to the garage roof where its leaking.

Stu is coming tonight as he had his girlfriend there yesterday and she goes home today so he will be on his own which I prefer as we can just chat between us without interuptions.

Need to have a tidy up and a hoover and dust and do some pots for tonight. May do some stuffed jackets and cakes too.

Morning all,

Very frosty here but the suns shining so I hope it soon goes ,woods coming about twelve o'clock so by then it should all be gone .

Ann I hope you can find a puzzle you like tomorrow, it sounds as if it might have a lot of colour in it , we're now on our second one the first was 500 pieces this one is 1000 piece and is a picture of the inside of an old shop with a post office .

Anng I hope Jake can get to you through the fog today and sort out your leaky roof .

Mel did Stuart turn up for a meal last night ,Nice to have a bit of company and a chat while you eat .

Gwyn fancy the nacissus out in flower already marvellous how these flowers bloom with the frosty mornings and snow through the winter .

Vera hope your migraine is better now .

Good morning all slept well and woke about 0630. minus 2 here so probably a frost but can't see yet as it is very foggy. Hopefully Jake and Riley will be able to get here ok to look at the garage roof. Hope your new tap is fixed ok Ann.

I had one of those snow dome things Mandy and loved it. Every time I walked by I would give it a shake so the snow would fall around the snowman in it. Now whatever happened to it as I don't remember breaking it?? Your little tree that changes colour sounds nice. I've looked at the forecast and it looks dry on Friday here but rainy on Monday so I think Friday might be the best day for us to go to the garden centre after all. We get there for 9.00am and would have had brekkie and a look round by 10.30am when it starts to get busy. I'm hoping they stock Gibson's jigsaws as I've seen one online that I quite fancy OH getting me for Christmas. The picture is of an artist in his studio with all his painting paraphernalia and his works of art on the walls!

The seeds and your lovely card have arrived now so thank you Mel. I'm putting them with the Sunflower seeds I never got round to sowing this year, so hopefully they won't get lost. I keep my seeds in one of those plastic, rolling trug seat things with a top that lifts.

I was surprised when I popped out that the floods on the way had gone right down in the fields. I got stuck in a mile long queue on the way, even though it isn't usually that busy till the schools turn out with parents collecting them.

Well I never got round to washing the bedding, so that can wait till after the new tap is done tomorrow. OH's sides have been more painful today, but I did catch him carrying the food crates into the kitchen on Sunday without waiting for me to take some things out to make them lighter to carry. That may be why or carrying his heavy briefcase when he goes out might be the reason or a combination of both!

What a dreary old day its been ,its drizzled or rained hard all day and we've had the lights on .
Got the bed made and cleaned the bathroom, cleaned the oven and hoovered through downstairs, never got round to making the puddings.

Ann I don't blame you for keeping in no point in getting wet and ending up with a cold just before Christmas.
No we never got round to going to see the trees in the church ,we've decided to go on Friday now as tomorrow we have a load of logs coming and son is coming to help to bring it round .
Ive got a little tree with glitter in that has batteries to spin the water round and it changes colour too.
I was always fascinated with those snow globes at Christmas but have never had one .

Post has just arrived with the seeds and a nice card so thank you Mel. Much appreciated.

Afternoon All,

It's stopped now, but when I got up OH asked if I was sure I wanted to go and said to go and listen in the conservatory first. I did and the rain was lashing down so hard like someone throwing buckets of water at the windows. We both decided we didn't want to be soaked to the skin just getting to the car here and then from the carpark to the garden centre, so have decided to either go on Friday or next Monday. I think Friday could be busy with the hybrid workers who often choose Friday as a work at home day, but will check the weather forecast too. Mandy we have a similar sounding decoration that lights up with sparkly moving bits. I'm tempted to get another, so will have a good look when we go.

The postman hasn't been here yet Mel so no seeds as yet, but our post seems to come every few days so we think they hold some back for a day or two.

I must have missed about Stu having Parkinsons, so it isn't surprising that he has some days better than others. Also his workload can obviously be a bit unpredictable too. It does make it harder to cater, so doing things you can freeze if he doesn't come is the best thing to do.

I don't have blood thinners Gwyn so maybe the cards are issued just for certain medications. I know FIL took blood thinners so maybe he had a card too.. Those Narcissus must be lovely to see and I hope the storm didn't spoil them.

AnnG you are so much better organised to get things done than I am! I procrastinate too much. Your village you set up is really interesting with all the figures and 'situations'. I was looking at some like them on line as the garden centre we were going to today stocks them. There was a cat with a big fish in it's mouth being chased by a shopkeeper. The ideas for them are so good.

I'd better nip to the shop now and get the bedding washed as I want it dry and put away before the man comes to change the tap tomorrow.

Mel thank you for the card and seeds posts just arrived ,now as Anng said just got to put them where I can find them next year .

Just have to be prepared then Mel. Makes it hard to cater though.

thank you for the card and seeds. They have just arrived. Now to put the seeds somewhere I can remember them. :-D

Anng I never know if STu is coming becasue he runs a garage and if he has to MOT cars he has to go to Shebbear village to do that at his other place. Also as I have said before he has Parkinsons discease so if its a bad day he wn't come or if he has people staying like his girlfriend. Last week he was doi ng an old friends car and that friend was staying with him for a week. He lived in PLymouth. I can never ring him early as he dos'nt get up early sopmetimes if he's having a bad day.

Good morning all, I didn't wake up until gone 8 this morning so feel 'all behind' now. Why I don't know as I have nothing planned so not late for anything..

Mel why don't you ever actually know if Stu is coming to you or not. It is difficult to entertain people without knowing.

Mandy you have already been busy and sound full of energy.

Hopefully I will get another lot of presents wrapped (nearly there now. aiming for the weekend so I can get at least some of my cottages out for display. Probably going to have a smaller display this year but I will see, easy to get carried away.

Morning all,

Well I think its morning its so dark out there ,it is raining so the clouds are really dark ,I expect it will be lights on all day .

Ann have a lovely look round all the Christmas decorations today do you need anything new this year ,we looked round our QD store the other say and they had a pretty little church with all the glitter floating round inside and all lit up ,I had a look at all the boxes but they were all sold out ,they put letters on each item they have on the shelf so you know which box to look for there was another couple that wanted one too .

A day for inside jobs ,I need to clean the oven shelves , I've stripped the bed so that needs making and I need to hoover round upstairs and if I get time make two more Christmas puds .

Morninganing,

Dull old morning here pc says 5 degrees and mostly cloudy.

Now I wonder if Stu is coming to me tonight or not??? I think I will cook anyway and if he's not coming it can go in the freezer raw for another day.

Hope you all slept well. I went to bed and slung my wheat bags in bed and instead of putting one on my knees one on my hip and one on my back I had them all as I threw them in on my back and it was lovely.

Have a lovely day out tomorrow Annx. I would love to go to Launston to the garden centre that has lots of lovely Christmas decs but the parcel is still on its way as I had a message about "Just missed you "again today. This means another day of staying in so I am frightened to go out as its Evri or something like that and they may not know where I am or they're knocking on the potting shed door.

Afternoon All,

Just wrote a post and OH came in before I posted it and whooosh it went!

Very cold this morning and OH had to scrape the car screen before we set off for his blood test. The traffic was awful and was a continuous mile queue from the next village, luckily coming the opposite way although it was bad enough and crawling the way we were going. The fields are like huge lakes either side again and more rain expected tomorrow. We then went for a coffee at Costa and also to Curry's near there to look at Dyson's new, very expensive hard floor hoover/washer. That was a no no as soon as I lifted it, as it's too heavy for me.

The boiler man came yesterday, but none of the seals worked so he is fitting a new tap on Thursday. He apologised again (just wish he would let us know when he can't come though) and he has lost his helper at the moment as the poor man's mother has died unexpectedly, so he is trying to do everything himself.

Vera, OH had a migraine start while he was in the shower yesterday and had to lie down till the flashing lights stopped. No headache like he used to have though, but he does take migraine tablets as soon as one starts. He felt washed out afterwards as usual and went straight to bed after he got home from his meeting. Yes I have OH's number in my phone under ICE too.I'm glad your photo worked this time. I had more IT trouble yesterday using my new credit card to pay on the PC and it being declined twice. Then the card provider txted to contact their fraud, but I wasn't pressing anything on my phone in case it was a scam so rang a seperate number for them. What a game getting through their security, sometimes it feels more like their money than mine! Anyway it was ok and they unblocked my card and I have realised what the problem was. My name and address autofill on sites, but for some reason have stopped autofilling my phone number which isn't visible on screen without scrolling further down than the 'PAY' instruction, so was why my payment was rejected! Hopefully it will be ok now.

Have you still not had your parcel Mel? The camera I returned arrived on the second attempt but they didn't try over the weekend. It sounds like they can't find you? I have clothes on the airer too and need to do the bedding next.Thank you for posting the seeds which should arrive soon.

That's a nuisance about your garage roof leaking AnnG, but good you have spotted it now and Jake is coming to sort it. I remember visiting Bourton on the Water a long time ago and enjoying it. It sounds like you have had a lovely day and meal there. Nice when somewhere has individual shops these days too. I think I would have backache with all that wrapping of presents, but it must look very Christmassy where they are.

It does sound like those extra rooms at your surgery might be for more staff Mandy. Won't the waiting room be a bit small or have they also built on? I think we have about 6 doctors but most work part time. I suppose they can afford to and reducing their hours probably keeps them under the 40% tax bracket. Did you get to see the Christmas tree yesterday?

I'm getting showered now to save me being up at 7.00 am in the morning as we plan to go early to the garden centre in Rutland that has the great Christmas displays, plus a nice breakfast with the cosy log burners in the restaurant.

That sounds a lovely day out Ann and the weather was kind to you too.
I've only been to Bourton-on-the-Water once many years ago and remember it as a pretty little place. I don't suppose it is ever really quiet, because it is so popular, but I can imagine that later in the year like this it would be less crowded, so easier to get around.
Lunch sounds good too, although at the moment I am trying to steer clear of such delights until after my blood test next week ;-)

Vera, I hope you've managed to have a quiet day to give your head a chance to feel better.

Mel, I hope your aches and pains have eased too.
Lovely to get the washing outside for a while even if you had to finish it off indoors.

Mandy, I wonder what they have planned with all the building work at your doctors. Time will tell, I guess. We have many rooms at our GP surgery. Normally the extra ones are used by nurses for blood tests, blood pressure checks etc.

Annx, I hope the boiler man came and completed the work to your satifaction.
You mentioned the Patient Alert Card, which I wrote about recently. There is one in every packet of my blood thinners. When I was first handed my tablets when they were newly prescribed, the doctor solemnly said
"There's no antidote to these" so I was rather concerned when some months later, I cut my finger gardening in the church garden. :-0 Nobody was around, so I just quickly went inside, grabbed some kitchen tissue and bound it round the finger and sat down with my arm in the air. Luckily it soon stopped.

I keep meaning to post that the week before last, I saw those narcissus had started to bloom. I don't know the type, but they look like Paperwhites. I wonder how they stood up to the storm? I'll walk that way later this week. In another garden, their narcissus buds are starting to form. I know that plant often flowers early with clusters of bright yellow blooms.