General Chat

The pj's are a bit confusing as they have elastic sewn in around and thats gone and got too big but they also have a ribbon tie that is attached to the back. I am having a job to unpick the stitches to get at the elastic so no I have left them on the ironing board and shall have another go maybe tomorrow. If I can I am just going to put new elazstic in them. I don't do the tie up as if its urgent I don't have time to undo it.!!!!!

Hope you all get enough sleep tonight to get you through another day.

Hope too theknees are better for you tomorrow Mandy.

Sending love and wishes to Gwyn and EOS if she is looking in.

Yes both knees Ann I think its reactive arthritis again but I don't know as I did the email thingy on the doctors website so I didn't speak to anyone just had a reply saying the tablets prescription was at boots .

Vera Colin had his ears done in spec savers hearing centre I think it was 60 pound or 25 if they don't find any wax .
You've had a busy day I hope you have a better night's sleep tonight ,it a lot cooler here now we went to sit out for a while earlier but it was to chilly .

It’s been hot today but more cloudy and with a breeze so it hasn’t felt quite so bad. It was another bad night when I didn’t go to sleep till around 4.30 and was up at 7.30 am. I must be getting enough sleep or I would be ill but these sleepless nights leave me so lethargic and headachy that it’s hard to get motivated to do anything much.

I hope your body gets used to those new tablets Mandy so you don’t feel so odd and that they help with the pain and jumpy legs. Rest as much as you can and let your lovely family run around after you for a change.

It’s good that you are making progress Gwyn but what a long wait you had at the hospital. Just hanging about waiting is very tiring. I hope you aren’t kept hanging around so long next time you go and that they can sign you off.

Oh Mel, you could have done without Stu messing up your telly for you. I expect he was trying to be helpful and it does sound as though the colour isn’t good for your eyes but still annoying that you had to get it set up again. I haven’t yet got to grips with the TV daughter gave us in February. I need an hour by myself to play with the remotes and see how to get in to all the various channels and programmes but when I have the time OH is invariably watching something on it and I’m not a great fan of the programmes he watches. I don’t think he has tried to watch anything other than the normal terrestrial and Freeview programmes.

I haven’t read any of the Tim Weaver books AnnG but I’ve looked him up and his books sound as though I would like them. I’m reading one of the Fiona Valpy ones at the moment but I’m a bit unsure about it. It’s not quite to my taste but I do feel I want to finish it so it’s not that bad.

Annx, you and Mel have now got me wondering what happened to my unpickers. I had a couple but I haven’t used them for years as I seldom do any sewing these days. I don’t think I would have thrown them away – I would have kept one “just in case”. Yes, granddaughter is excited about her 6 month contract. She is a feisty young lady and has travelled a bit on her own before. It’s quite a while to be apart from her boyfriend but the money is quite good so will help with saving for a future house deposit. It’s her birthday next week and I asked if there was anything she particularly wanted and we agreed on a cash contribution as she wants to get some bits and pieces together before she goes.

We’ve had a bit of a hectic day. OH has got so fed up trying to arrange to have his ears syringed by the company that rent space in our local health centre. Their website is a pain, one of the phone numbers he was given is unobtainable, when you do get hold of them they say they will ring back and don’t and they keep trying to send him to another town 12 miles away when they have a branch here. Anyway this morning he decided not to bother with them anymore but to walk into town where SpecSavers have a hearing centre and talk to them. What a difference! Their first available appointment is next Wednesday and the audiologist checked his ears to make sure that they were OK for the procedure and he didn’t need more of the spray the doc gave him and he’s all booked in for next week. I’m looking forward to it as well as I’m getting a sore throat from constantly shouting so that he can hear.

While he was gone I showered and washed my hair, made beds and tidied the kitchen. When he got back we went to the Thursday coffee meet as we knew a couple of old friends of the group who live quite a distance away were going to be visiting. It was nearly a full house today. I think there were 11 of us. Before we came home I stopped and bought a bit more salad and some more birthday cards. This afternoon I set up a Tesco order for Saturday and did some admin and then did lots of those silly jobs that take time but you don’t feel you’ve actually done anything. Then it was preparing and cooking dinner which was disappointing. It was smoked haddock from Sainsbury’s and was as dry as anything.

Now I’m feeling very tired but want to read the local paper. I pay a sub to read it online as it’s much cheaper than buying the paper version. If I don’t read it on a Thursday when it comes out I forget it and then get cross because I’m wasting my sub

Fingers crossed that we all have a comfortable night and sleep really well.

Evening All,

Breezy but it's been getting hotter here today. Apart from fetching a newspaper and magazine we haven't been out, except OH is out tonight at one of his schools. It might be one that he is finishing with soon.

I didn't know you were getting a new telly Melly. I still haven't fathomed the one in our lounge as OH watches it most for the sport on the bigger screen. I know you can talk to it to find programmes for you but we haven't ventured there yet! It will be good for you to get a nice telly with a bright picture again. Did you manage to finish your PJs? I have a cream unpicker like your three and you've made me wonder where mine is now, hopefully with my sewing stuff!

Oh Mandy I'd thought it was just one knee, not both. You sound like me having to keep sittng down between trying to get things done. Did you twist them or is it arthritis? I hope these tablets will help with the pain and that the odd effects become less as you get used to them.

Gwyn it's shocking but I can well believe your long wait at the hospital. OH had a few days like that at our hospital eye clinic a few years ago and it was packed each time with people standing. Isn't it tiring just waiting for so long as well. On the good side it is great you are feeling better and able to do more so things are going in the right direction. Hopefully next time they will sign you off.

Your young hairdresser sounds nice AnnG and it's good not to be treated like an old lady isn't it. Mine is in her 40s now, but looks about 30! She is chatty and always looks pleased to see me. So you are ready for the hot weekend now with your newly shorn locks making you cooler. ;-)

Time to clean my teeth and splash the pollen off my face and go to bed. I hope everyone has a good night's sleep.

You'll be OK when you get the new television Mel can't be good watching a blue screen hope you managed to get your pj's done in the end .

It's been a lovely day quite a bit of cloud but some sun with a lovely breeze ,I managed to get the washing out and a few other jobs with sitting with my legs up in-between, I had another tablet and I have my second one later but they do make you feel odd ,I thought I'd see how 2 a day work and hopefully I won't need three a day

Vera have you read any books by Tim Weaver? I have just finished a second one of his called Broken Heart. Sounds like a sloppy romance but it is far from it. This one is about a private investigator who is asked by a lady in America to find her sister from England who has disappeared. It ends up being embroiled in a case of somebody supposedly wrongly found guilty of murder. But there are lots of ins and outs and it gets a bit tense in places. I enjoyed it, he is a good story teller.

Gosh Gwyn that was a horrendous long day waiting around in hospital. I guess you are not looking forward to returning.

I was lucky today, I thought I had finished my 12 months prescription issues and I called in to the chemist to ask if the surgery had renewed it as I had contacted them when I got back from holiday. When she checked, I was wrong and there was still one prescription there.

Had my hair cut, my hairdresser is lovely she is so young, always smiling and, once I have my aids in really chatty but interested in what I am doing etc. never treats me like an old lady. :-D :-D

Em and Ed popped in as I was having lunch to put the tv right for me. I can now get iplayer of BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and channel 5 and still get U & Drams etc. I am hoping BIL will get the new telly for me as I can hardly se the picture on the old telly now and its so dark and blue.

I hunted for ages this morning for an unpicker to put new elastic in a pair of pj bottoms. I kno9w I had my one which was pale blue and mums one which was flat and bright red and another one bought off Amazon which was red and see through so yu would have thought I could have found one of them out of that lot. Then I decided to look in the drawer of the machine table and low and behold there was one in there roya blue and see through. At least I found one out of that lot. I started to unpick the back of the pair of pj's but did'nt get far as I had'nt done the girls so I went and did them and then it was pill time and then I was hungry. Did myself beans on toaast and half way through it Em and Ed arrived. I now need to wash up and then perhaps I can get back to the pj bottoms.

The trouble I have had with the telly for a long while is that the picture was very blue Stu tried to change that and went into all sorts of things that did'nt seem to work so then he put me back on the original settings which I why I lost even the BBC 1 and all the other things too. When I tried to change channel BBC came up as number one and not 101 and the sund would'nt go up so it was very quiet and I had to go up to 25 so I could hear it. I just wished he'd left it alone because at least I had my U & Drama. I did manage to get it back and then it asked me for a code and Stu had found that so I new it and got back in that way. I'm hoping BIL comes tomorrow and puts it all back for me again. Perhaps he will have some news on the new telly more expense as our Frank would say.

Iv'e done some ironing and put lots of cloths away in the wardrobe nw I need to sort therest of the little draw in the bedside table and burn al the receipts from sales oh had in there. I shall then have another small draw to fill up and I shan'nt have any trouble doing that!! :-D

Morning all,

Cloudy here and 21 degrees should be getting hotter as the week goes on .
I didn't have to bad a night slept till three got out for the loo then my left knee started twitching so I was awake until four then woke at eight .
Just hung some bedding out but had enough now so resting my knees

Nice to hear from you Gwyn my goodness what a wait you had and now you have to go through it all again I hope they can sign you off next time.

Mel why did Stuart have to do something to your TV, was it the colour he was trying to adjust or just retuning it as that can sometimes lose the channels ,glad you manage to sort it ,I wouldn't let touch it again .

Good morning all,

I'm being shown that it's 21 degrees and mostly cloudy here, which about summons up the situation, when I popped to the recycling bin earlier.
We are forecast over 30 next week !

Sorry to hear that many of you have had such poor nights sleep lately, for one reason or another. I seem to wake up at least once or twice, but usually manage to get off to sleep again.
I hope they can sort out the right medication to help your pain, Mandy. The side effects so far don't sound pleasant, although it may be your body just getting used to the tablets. I can understand your feelings though, as a doctor tried to change my medication, some years ago and I felt I was only existing, not living and I knew I couldn't go through life like that, so after giving it a short while, I went back to him, he changed me back and the 'spaced out' feeling left and has never come back, thank goodness.

Following my stint in A & E back in May, I feel much better thank you and am gradually doing more, but hospital visits are still on-going, as each department, which sent me for various tests has to follow up to a satisfactory conclusion. On Monday this week, I was asked to go back to talk over some test results. No appointment, just turn up between 8 am. and 4 pm. at a particular department. We suggested Tuesday and was told that would be good, so off we went, arriving at just after 8.20.
Would you believe that we didn't leave until just after 4pm.so over 7 and a half hours :-0
We saw a doctor about 12.45, but she wasn't a specialist, so couldn't sign me off and asked us to wait in the department until she could speak to the correct team, so I have to go back next week, have one of the tests repeated at 9 am. then, wait around for the results to get back upstairs to the relevant department, then I have to report back in the afternoon,( it's about 12 miles away ) to go through the waiting game all over again. :-| :-|
.....and they wonder why my blood pressure is sometimes raised !

Thank you for the pictures of your front garden, AnnG. What lovely shades of lavendar you have and I can imagine how popular that is with the bees. It must help you a lot that you have plants that can withstand such dry weather without the need for watering. Like you though, I lost lavendar in pots, so I must try again some time and nurture some in the ground. I will have to prepare the soil first though, as our natural soil here is heavy clay and not good.
I can see a lot of dead-heading needed in our front garden, so that should keep me busy for a while.

Mel, I have found sometime these days, especially with series like Vera, that some scenes are shot very dark to make it atmospheric, but as you say it is hard to see what is happening.

What was wrong with the TV before Stu altered it? I am not sure I remember you saying anything. The more you do things yourself and remember what you did, the more confident you will feel with trying to solve things. so well done on sorting that out.

Morning girls,

Pc is telling me rain starting in an hour and that its partly sunny now and 17 degrees.

Stu came to dinner last night and after we had eaten he looked at the telly and siad you can't have that it will hurt your eyes and started to fiddle with the controler. He put it back to the original setting and said it was still not much better, Its darker now and I can hardly see some things if it dark. Also he lost me my U channels and then he left me. I fiddled with it for ages trying to get it back and in the end I did it but at least I found out what the code is for the tv which it sometimes asks me for.

Hope you all had enough sleep last night and that Gwyn is recovering well and Mandy is not too Zombi like this morning.

Good morning all 17 degrees here, which it was when I went to bed last night. We look like we had a shower in the night too. There was a light shower yesterday evening so hopefully the garden is refreshed.

Hair appointment at 12 so that it one time I DON'T want it to rain.

My knees are to painful to drive Anng but no you shouldn't drive with these tablets
I keep getting up but after a few minutes it's to painful

Yes I'm rapidly losing the plot AnnG, so thank you and of course it was a Sparrow Hawk not a Peregrine Falcon!

You can check whether your email address has been exposed in a data breach on:

haveibeenpwned.com

The zombie effect will hopefully wear off as you get used to the tablets Mandy. I'm sure my sister used to take them.

I bet your granddaughter is chuffed and excited to have her singing contract extended to 6 months Vera. Imagine all she will see and learn spending 6 months in Hong Kong. I would never have been brave enough to do that.

Mandy we shall know why then if we don’t hear from you tomorrow. I assume you shouldn’t drive while taking them.

Ann maybe you meant sparrow hawk rather than peregrine falcon. Although I did go back to check in case zi had missed something.

Avatars have gone again on the iPad.

Thank you all for Laceys birthday wishes I can't believe she's a teenager now ,Anng Lewis is the youngest he's 10
The tablets are Gabapentine ,I had one and now I feel like a zombie ,tomorrow I take two then on to three a day so goodness knows how I'll be after three.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Lacey! <3 :-) I remember it was quite exciting to become a teenager. The children are growing up fast Mandy. Sorry to hear you've been in so much pain and I hope the tablets will help and that you tolerate them ok. At least the stairlift will help going up and down stairs now.Thanks for the wash cloths info and I will have a look.

This shorter girl has trouble with trouser lengths! I need 25 inch trousers or I have to shorten them and cropped trousers are full length on me. Sometimes I wish I was 'average size' that the shops keep more stock of. Shopping would be so much easier. Yesterday we went to M&S and got OH jimjams, jeans and pants, all in a smaller size, which is the size he wore when I first knew him!

AnnG your front garden looks very colourful as I said in my reply. I ought to pick some Lavender for the bedroom as it's supposed to help you sleep I think. Good idea to pop to Irene's before it got hotter.

I was up at 7.00am this morning and watered the marigolds , but the pots were ok as OH really soaked them the other day. The nasty weed spray came out again as more seedlings from it were sprouting and I pulled a few handfuls of other weeds as I went around. Then showered and took this light fitting I got to the Post Office to return it. It was ok except one of the shades wouldn't screw on with the bulb in as it was tilted. (it's a round 3 spotlight light fitting). I've sent for another now.

Mel I hope that Peregrine Falcon won't be hanging around your bird feeder. They do look fierce close up as Vera says. I don't know what the matter is with these websites, but I don't like Amazon either. They try to force you to accidentally request Prime which I don't want and you have to be on the brink of paying before you can change your delivery option. I didn't find the return procedure that clear either the first time as it could almost suggest you have to choose a Post Office, whereas you can go to any. Customer service and clarity seem to have gone by the board these days. I use to be sent leaflets and instructions to read and check made sense and were understandable that the hospital research unit were going to use and often suggested changes. It was awful at work when they brought in generic letters we couldn't change at work, as they weren't tailored to the recipient. It annoys me when I get emails that tell me an account is maturing and to let them know what I want to do. Then they add, unless you have already told us! Don't they know as they hold my account and can see if I've already told them. Still, as Vera said 'It all makes work for the working man to do.' We used to play Flanders and Swann in the car when we were going on holiday. :-D

Vera those lavender bushes and everything else in the front of the house, thrive on neglect they have not been watered at all this year yet. In the back garden I lost a lavender in a pot while I was away I think it got forgetten in the watering system.

Mandy hope the new pills work. what are they called? Happy birthday to Lacey, it doesn't seem possible that she is 13. I have lost track, is she the youngest?

What on earth is happening with the avatars? They disappear, then they come back, then they go again. Sometimes the space is just blank, sometimes the box is there but it contains a blue question mark instead of the avatar picture. I don’t need anything else to confuse me - I’m confused enough already, lol.

Oh, poor you Mandy. I hope these new tablets help you. It’s horrid to be in so much pain. How can Lacey be 13 already? I suppose we lose track of time as we get older. Happy birthday Lacey.

Thanks for the photos AnnG. Your plants all look as though they’re flourishing and the lavender is a lovely colour. For some reason lavender doesn’t like our soil. We’ve tried different varieties including tough old Hidcote and they always die wherever we plant them in the garden. When the last lot was on the way out a few years ago I rescued a few bits and planted them in shop bought compost in a couple of plastic troughs and they have survived.

49 spam emails Mel!! That would worry me. I doubt if I get more than 10 in a year and I can usually work out where they have come from. Have you reported them as junk or phishing to your email provider? It sounds as though eBay is making life difficult for sellers like you with sorting out postage and labels.

I hope you are still continuing to improve Gwyn.

Well, it’s another hot day and muggy too. I did a load of ironing first thing before it got too hot. In the winter I hardly do any ironing but OH’s cotton summer shirts and several of my tops seem to need an iron however carefully I hang them. I was shattered when I finished but I plodded on with a few other jobs. It’s far too hot to work in the garden now and I don’t feel like vacuuming upstairs which is the next job on the list, so I am not sure what I am going to do for the rest of the afternoon.

I think I told you that granddaughter F had been given a 10 week contract as a singer at Disneyland Hong Kong. She doesn’t go till end August but texted me today to say that her contract has now been extended to 6 months.

I think I’d better post this in case it disappears like the post Annx lost. Enjoy the rest of the day.