General Chat

Hi everyone

Florence ..... glad to hear that your buffet went well, but sorry that you had a migraine the next day. Not fun at all.

Pleased to hear that you all seemed to have had a great Christmas. Ours was very wet and miserable, with 50 mm of rain between Christmas Eve and early in Boxing Day morning. Almost 20 mm of that was on Christmas Day! :-( At least we dodged the high winds, although some of the ferries were cancelled.

We had a very quiet Christmas, which wasn't helped by OH getting into an awkward mood on both Christmas Day and Boxing Day. It was hard to know how to handle him as he found fault if one didn't answer him in exactly the way that he wanted.

Things are pretty festive in the Residence as we are now in Hanukkah, with some special foods, etc.

The rain is still with us, expected to last until New Year. Hopefully it is going to get a lot colder up on the mountains so they can get snow and the skiers can get onto the slopes. Down at sea level, temperatures are between 10-12 C most days :-0

Take care everyone

I am sorry that you were ill Florence, but at least you were able to enjoy your buffet.

It has been very quiet since we came home. I told Esme over FaceTime that I was bored because I had no one to play with, she told me that I should play with granddad :-)
My son had a dreadful journey home on Friday because of the fog, it took him nearly twice as long as it should have. I was glad when he texted to say that he was safely back.
The weather today was much better, so we went out for a walk this afternoon and had a drink and a naughty scone in a cafe . I dread to think how much weight I have put in this week :-(

I will miss all of the bulbs which were in my old garden. There is nothing here at all. Sorting the garden out is our next big task

Snowdrops aren't showing above ground in my garden yet, Ann, but will be on their way in due course!

Some daffodils are about an inch above ground.
They'll be a lot further on with you.

Unusually early, I have tulips in pots outside, with 3 or 4 inches of leaf.
Instead of lifting them last year and then replanting in autumn, I just left them in their pots, but stored the pots under the carport to let them dry.
The shoots started showing before Christmas, even though the compost was bone dry.
I took the pots out from under the carport when I noticed the shoots, so they could get some water - and they've had plenty of that since then!

I do hope they don't get clobbered by frost as winter progresses.

AG lovely photo of a snowdrop. Won’t be long before w see them.

Florence, sorry you were so poorly. Hopefully a day relaxing and resting will return you to normal.
But good that the buffet went well.

What a shame after such a nice day.
I hope you're feeling back to normal soon, Florence.

Afternoon all
Not a great day as raining hard and we are on warnings for rain & snow!

My buffet was a great success and everyone enjoyed a feast. We played some games afterwards with prizes I had wrapped, just jokey prizes but was all good fun.

but yesterday afternoon, I developed a migraine and by teatime it was the worst i have ever had. Thought my head was going to explode, it was that bad. Shivering and being sick didn't help help either. i got into my bed and tried to sleep but i just couldn't get warm or settled but i stayed there apart from getting up for the bathroom.

Daughter had gone out for a meal and came home around 10.30 and she said i looked pale and awful! So eventually I drifted off to sleep until 2.30 and 5am then managed to sleep a but after that.

I.ve showered and washed hair and feel almost normal but a bit shaky and fragile as was severely dehydrated and not had anything to eat. But I managed some water and crackers at lunchtime but that's all.

Think it was a combination of stress, tiredness and eating a lot of rich food!

Anyway hope everyone else had a nice day or 2 and no bugs. i know there are bugs about as heard a lot of people have them and not nice at all.

New years Eve is looking like we are in for a bucket load of snow!!

Stay safe everyone and keep warm

Florence in the hebrides

I hope that your buffet went well Florence.

We had a very nice Xmas day, the girls had a massive amount of presents, so there was plenty to play with. Every time I sat down, Esme would say “ play grandma”, so I spent most of the time in her play room while the others got to lounge in front of the fire watching movies, I didn’t mind though. Yesterday we went out for a walk in the afternoon just to the local playground . Eve wasn’t keen on going, but once she got there, she forgot about being a teenager and was on the swings and seesaw, she even went down the slide.
We came home last night,just in time to go to bed. It is really foggy here, our son is driving home this afternoon, so I will be glad when he gets there safely

I hope everyone had a good time, whatever you chose to do .

Afternoon everyone
A quiet day on the roads as was yesterday but Ive been very busy prepping for my buffet tomorrow for 8.

Chocolate and peanut butter cheesecake now in the freezer and a mixed berry crumble all done as well. I shall need to be up at 7am though tom as plenty of small snacks to cook et and guests coming at 12.30 but it will all be fine as I did the same thing last year.

Hope everyone had a good day yesterday and maybe a more relaxing day today unless anyone goes off to the sales??

Florence in the hebrides

Happy Christmas everyone <3

It is 7 am and I can hear Esme stirring, so it won’t be long before the onslaught., she was so excited last night. When she was in the supermarket yesterday with her mum, she said that Santa would be fed up with mince pies, so he would really like a doughnut in the shape of a tree, complete with pink icing and sprinkles., so that was left out for him last night with a carrot for Rudolph and some whiskey for Santa. Eve ate some of the doughnut and carrot while she was making footprints with icing sugar. Daddy got the whisky of course. :-D

Oops I only found out that Esme actually had been awake from 4 am, so poor mummy is really tired

Happy christmas to all on here

Merry Christmas and Happy and healthy New Year to you all. <3 <3

Just popping in to wish you all a very Merry Xmas. <3 <3

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all <3 <3

My mail's been very odd for the last couple of weeks, Florence. Several days go by with nothing (at least not for me - I know the van's been round) and then a big batch all at once.

I was in town yesterday. Lots of traffic, and busy shops, but I was lucky and didn't have to wait long at any checkout, and had no trouble parking.

By contrast, a neighbour who had arranged to pick up an order at Morrisons yesterday at 6pm was affected by Morrisons computer glitch.
At 6pm the 4pm people were still waiting for their orders, and she didn't get hers until almost 8pm, which meant she completely missed our carol service in which she was meant to be taking part.

Wet here, but very mild.

Best wishes to everyone for a peaceful Christmas Day.

Afternoon all.
Its back to the gales sadly and raining hard and thats the forecast for next 2 days here!

All organized, Türkey cooking, veg all prepped and in pans of water. Table set now.

I have hoovered and tidied up so pretty much all done.

Postie came with a box from a friend of daughters and about 8 cards!! So where were they all hiding I wonder but at least they turned up this side of xmas.

Hope everyone has an enjoyable day how ever you choose to spend it. <3

Florence in the hebrides

I hope that your weather is better Florence. It has been very cold here, but today is much warmer and calmer.
Yesterday, they all came over for dinner, so there were seven of us. A bit of a squeeze round the table, but we managed. I had intended doing a curry, but my daughter had bought a beef joint for Sunday dinner , then never used it. So I ended up doing a Sunday dinner yesterday. A bit daft as we will be having Turkey dinner tomorrow. There were lots of left overs, so OH and I are warming them up for tonight’s dinner, so we will have three dinners in a row. :-(

I had my hair cut today at 12.30, the town was very quiet, people must be organised. We are going to my daughters after dinner and will stay tonight and tomorrow night, coming back here on Boxing Day. My son is there as well, so we will all be together

I hope that eveyenjoys their day, no matter which way you have chosen to spend it <3

Morning all
Joan glad you are safe and well. Yes I agree with winds of 93 mph up here, how come we didnt get the storm named then?/

Anyway, the wind went down late last night thank goodness but its pouring hard and still breezy. Not sure the calmness will last as there already warnings for more cancelled sailings!!
One reason i have never decided to travel south at xmas....the weather is unreliable!

Im just waiting on the fruit mixture to cool before I can mix it with the other ingredients for my cake.

So with that I wish everyone looking in on here a very Happy Christmas.
Eat drink & be merry but not too much sherry, ;-) ;-)

If you are on your own this year, do come on here as there will be peeps about to chat with I'm sure.

Better crack on with me xmas cake.

Florence in the hebrides

Good eveining to all.

It has been very stormy here, started yesterday morning & last night it was terrible continuing well into today, very high winds & rain, it hasn't let up for most of today, & soo dark, it's still very windy at the moment, & has managed ot topple 4 of my bird tables & a bird bath !
I hope it calms soon, I haven't heard anything as to when it might ease up.

I don't understand as to why this spell of bad weather hasn't beem givne a name ?? it's as bad as any other storm that we've had this year, in Scotland at least !!

Everyone seems well organised for Christmas, I hope it will be a good one for you all.

Joan.

JustGinnie, think our posts crossed.

Yes wishing you a Happy Christmas too and hope you manage to send all your messages.

Afternoon all
ArgyllGran, good to hear you are ok and have power. We didnt lose it but several other places did for a few hours. Its still wild at over 50 mph and no sign of it abating yet!!
I havent slept properly for 3 days although was so tired last night, i did sleep til around 5am!

As for carol services here???? Er no way. There may of been in the town but due to the inclement stormy weather, it would have been cancelled along with the ferries' & planes.

Gwyn, I'm glad you enjoyed your carol service though, sounded really traditional and well supported and in the courtyard of an old castle, how wonderful.

I have just managed to shower and do my hair and so glad the power didn't go off, as I didn't fancy having to leave my hair to dry naturally. I would have looked like "shaggy" from Scooby Do lol

I'm about to get everything ready to make my xmas cake tomorrow and then ice on xmas eve. Its not a heavy traditional xmas cake but one recipe you boil in a pan so much lighter and you make it the day before xmas and ice.

I hope Joan is ok? If you are looking in Joan, hope you are warm & cosy and are keeping a torch handy just in case.

Well I better had get on as quite a lot to be organising today and then to do some cleaning.

Stay safe and warm all

Florence in the hebrides