General Chat

Yes there must a lot of wires Anng as you have a lot of cottages .

Yes it was like we were meant to try the door handle on the car we don't usually just press the button and presume its locked so it's a good job we tried it or we would have been none the wiser and the car would have been unlocked

A reminder for those that watch strickly ,it's on Friday night this week not Saturday night because of the football.

Mandy, mostly I keep them the same as that is how they fit the space, although a couple of years ago I did change a couple of things, It is all the wires from the cottages to the plugs that cause the hassle and once everything is on display the actual plugs are out of reach. They will be on for very short times this year with trying to keep the electricity down

Oh that was worrying about the car. Good job you found it though.

Morning all,

It was foggy last night when we went bed but this morning it had mostly gone just a bit misty.
Yesterday I drove the car as Colin had a blood test at the doctors, we called and got dog food then came home, when we locked the car we just happened to try the door and blow me the back passenger door wasn't locked and when you opened it it then unlocked all the other doors so it's gone to our man who does our car ,he's busy at the moment so don't know when we'll get it back but at least its locked in his garage .

Ann I keep meaning to say that Aldi had the Christmas fat quarters about a month ago ,I saw them advertised and son said when we go shopping I'll come and pick you up so you can pick the ones you want so I got three lots.
Its a devil about your alarm ,good idea to get it checked out you'll be able to get some help on what to do if it happens again .

Oh Vera thats annoying the water going off today when it was planned for yesterday thats another day now youve got containers to fill let's hope they can do what ever it is that needs doing .

Your going to be busy Anng getting your cottages set up they did look pretty when you sent the photo last time ,do you try and arrange them differently each year.

I've finished making Harry the Ram and I've started on the Owls clothes .

Still quite foggy here and 5 degrees. I went out to bring in the garden bin and it felt very nippy. Not going anywhere so indoors in the warm.
Oh Vera how annoying, I am sure it doesn't occur to them how they inconvenience people by messing around. Hopefully it will be all sorted in the times they say.

Morning girls,

We have bright sunshine here at the mobut pc says fog! and 5 degrees but just now before when I was reading your post it said 9 degrees.

Shopping arrives today and my driver is John and he's 10 stops away. Forgot to see if there were any subs this week.

It could have been frosty last night but the suns burnt it all off now.

Better get myself in the shower.

I hope the water not off for long today Vera its so annoying when they don't do something when they say they will and then you have to start all over again. Thing is they usually do it within the time stated if they are fixing leaks or flushing the pipes through so it dos'nt seem as long as they say.

Good morning AnnG and all

6 degrees but feeling like 4 here. It’s not supposed to get above 7 all day. It’s also dry but thick, heavy cloud so it looks really dark.

I was going to wash bedding today but we’ve just had a card through the door to say water will be off 11 am to 5 pm. They clearly didn’t do the work yesterday. It’s annoying as I rearranged my week to allow for having no water yesterday. I even arranged my Tesco delivery for today instead of yesterday.

It’s awful that the e-bikes were vandalised. Sadly it seems to be a sign of the times.

I’d better go and shower while I can and start filling containers with water again.

Good morning all 3 degrees here, I am not dressed and the heating is just on but I am wrapped in a large thick cardigan.

It does seem that vandalism is getting worse, people with nothing better to do? Or envy/jealousy because they can's have things. I guess the stolen electric bikes will not be a lot of good without chargers so they will also be wrecked and dumped. what a waste of council money.

I do like a good fish finger sandwich/roll. But I also wish these places would balance out their meals a bit, not everyone likes spicy food all the time.

Hoping to get my cottages set up today.

Yes of course it was Fleur in the dance off AnnG! What was I thinking!! Mel it was clear to me before the dance off that Ellie would lose so I shan't bother to rewatch it now, but it's useful to remember that although just the main dances are on youtube, the dance offs aren't and I hadn't thought of the iplayer.

Vera what a palaver it is when the water's switched off with all the collecting it to use. I would miss our caravan big water carrier now. I hope they did switch off and get the work done while you were out.

Yes calm reading of instructions that aren't clear anyway with a loud alarm ringing in your ears isn't easy is it! Ours are so sketchy (2 sides of an A5 sheet where they only tell you about setting it and setting different zones and switching it off when you get home which doesn't work in a power cut if it triggers it!. Yes it's odd only ours went off, especially as others nearby have gone off in previous power cuts but not ours!

It's sad to see how places are changing now isn't it and how the small individual shops are closing yet eateries are thriving, but downgrading their menus and cafes are springing up everywhere. I was just looking at the menu of one of the best carveries we used to go to as we are thinking of going there after my hair appointment in the morning. They have never resumed the daily carvery since the pandemic and now it seems to be mostly burgers, curries, things with chilli in, none of which I like and chips with everything. Even a lamb dish was an african curry. I will probably end up with the fish finger sandwith with coleslaw and salad.

It's sad the long lost relatives you found are now slipping away. When I see how recently some I have traced have passed away I wish I'd found them sooner so we could perhaps have met.

Well the new e bikes and charging stations they set up in one area of the city are being removed. A lot of us said they'd be vandalised where they were putting them and so they have been and 8 of the bikes have been stolen and the charging docks vandalised with sustained attacks.

I certainly would'nt know Colchester now either as I hav'nt been there for over 30 years. I used to like to go into Colchester on a day just looking through the shops. Shame Vera and I never met when I lived in Suffolk not far from her.

Vera, that was a shame you had a quite disappointing lunch. Strange that shellfish was in a lot of the dishes as quite a few people are allergic or intolerant to it. I am sure that I would not recognise Colchester now, it must have been late sixties I was last there.

You seemed to get quite a lot done. I would have liked the new M&S.

You could always watch the dance of on Iplay Ann.

I hope you haven't had any more power cuts Ann. I wonder why it was just your burglar alarm that kept going off. I'm terrified of that happening at our neighbour's house when they are away as we have their doorkey and instructions for the burglar alarm. When it did keep going off once we got in a terrible muddle with the instructions which weren't very clear. I ended up having to ring the company that fitted the alarm and they talked us through it. Horrid for your OH to have 2 deep fillings but at least someone has done something at last. I hope they don't ache too badly.

I woke at 6 again this morning and just lay there till 7 am but then I got up, made tea, washed, cleaned teeth. Then OH filled buckets for loo flushing and I filled kettles and pans with water for our use, ready for the water to go off at 9 am. Well, it was still on when we went out at 10 am and was on when we got back just before 4 pm so I don't know if they dealt with it more quickly than they expected or if the water didn't go off at all.

We went to Colchester, first to the big new M & S outside town. It is enormous and on a retail site with a few shops including a big B & Q and what looked like a very big Aldi, although we didn't go in there. I'm not a great fan of M & S for me but I did get some presents for other people there. Then we went into the town which has changed a lot since we were last there several years ago. So many of the nice shops have closed and even the eating places we used to go to have become burger outlets or fancy wine bars. We tried one of the nicer pubs only to be told it didn't open for food till 3.30 pm. That seemed silly to me as it was too late to open for lunches but a bit early for the evening dinner trade. In the end we went into a hotel restaurant where OH had a very nice main course but I ended up with what was basically a cheese and ham toastie. Well over half the mains contained shellfish in some form or another which I can't have. A couple of things I just don't like and I was pretty much left with steak. It was very expensive and I knew I wouldn't manage to eat more than half of it as I'm not a big meat eater. So toastie it was.

After lunch we picked up a present for granddaughter that I had ordered online to collect from a shop and then we drove home via the Farmfoods shop in our town where I picked up a few bits and pieces.

When I got home and was checking emails I found a sad one. Many years ago when my brother and I were researching the family we had contact with 4 others also researching the same family. We were all distantly related and became a group of "cousins" who shared research and family stories. One lost interest and just dropped out, then my brother died in 2020 and this email was from the son of one of the others to say his mum had died on Saturday. We never met but I feel as though I have lost a family member. Our original 6 are down to 3 now and we tend to only exchange Christmas emails these days.

I'd better respond to the son's email now and then I think I'll have an easy evening.

Pleased all is well with the teeth Ann.
I think you meant Fleur in the dance off with Ellie. But yes she was definitely better than Ellie.
Pleased the trees are nice and the air frier is suitable. What make us it?

I just asked him thank you AnnG and he said his teeth feel fine now, so it sounds as if he's better than the dentist was expecting him to be. I suppose all the numbness may not have all gone yet though. I think these white fillings they do now do seem to 'cure' quicker than the old metal ones. I only seem to have a couple of teeth with metal fillings now, the rest I had have been taken out over the years. :-S

Well I unpacked the 2 little Christmas trees and tested the lights and they will be just be great for what I want. I tried to get some last year but they weren't very good quality and I had to send them back. I unpacked the air fryer next and both of us decided it will be big enough for what we want, certainly for now. I'm sure I could get a chicken crown in it or even a small chicken with the drumsticks off if needs be. It's more compact than I expected so will actually take up less room than the slow cooker.

Some of my recording of Strictly Results failed, so I missed the dance off!! I would have guessed the result though as Mollie's Samba was better. She doesn't seem to have had an easy time of it with the public though, despite being a lovely dancer and a nice person.

ah yes Mel I was forgetting it was a bungalow and had not realised it was a flat roof. Our garage has a flat roof on the bit that sticks out from the house. Half is under the front office. If you remember a year ago in August I had a leak in that and Charles came and redid the edging which was where it was leaking. He did it in less than an hour.

Ann Has OH had pain in the teeth that the dentist filled? Glad they have been done and hope they soon settle down. Things change very quickly with dental technology and I suppose the filling material is different and the anaesthetic too.

I still have Fiona's old address Mel. I didn't know she'd moved and I have destroyed the envelope from her christmas card now that probably had it on the back! I'll have to message her on FB.

The roof is quite a job to do then Mel. At least full scaffolding isn't needed with a bungalow which saves some cost. That will be a saving too if BIL gets you some boards if they are needed.

Well OH ended up with 2 fillings in the end and a warning that they may ache for a few days as they were deep ones. He was told not to eat for just an hour AnnG, much less time than it used to be once, so he has had some parsnip soup he likes and now he's sitting quietly and doing some of his work. :-) Sadly it seems the combined Post Office/Pharmacy is closing down the Post Office side due to lack of business! It was ideal having the two in the same premises and you could park right outside. We have 2 Post Offices that are nearer to us, but parking is awful, with parking charges at one so we were happy to travel that bit further and have less hassle.

I've just unpacked 2 nice tops I sent for from an online clearance store. Next I will unpack the christmas trees and air fryer! Then I must get on with the sketches I need to do for the course.

No not a day for the scaffolding as I think think they have a tower if not I have one but they have to take the old felt roof off and they boil up tar stuff to tick the felt down . It is a felted flat roof but seems to be leaking where it joins the tiled roof. I expect after all this time with the water comking through I shall need a couple of new boards at £85 each. My BIL who is a roofer said those boards cost him £42 each.

I have been up the poost van again this morning and posted my cousins card to the USA.

Does anyone have fiona's new address please, if you do can you please send me it by pm. Thamks. I have waterside gdns. but I think they moved.

Depend what time you eat Ann but I would have thought two hours his mouth should be fine.

I think I could just about get a small chicken in my air drier Ann although I haven't tried. I have cooked three chicken thigh fillets in it though, It would possible have taken four. But two drawers are useful if you want to cook several things like a chicken and roast potatoes.

I expect one of his three days could be to get the scaffolding up mel.

Morning All,

Quite misty here and only 6 degrees. OH is at the dentist having a filling which his dentist finally agreed to do but still not the extractions.

That is just the same quandry I had AnnG about 2 drawers or 1 in the air fryer! The 2 drawer ones are bigger to go on my worktops and I hoped I might fit a small chicken in a single drawer one so that's what I have. I need to unpack it today as I've had it 2 days now and once I see the size of the drawer I can decide whether to keep it or get the bigger 2 drawer one. That is a great idea of your daughter's to put them in the utility. If I could find a new home for the laundry basket and extra pandemic food stores in there I could do the same. Thankfully no more power cuts since the 3rd one, but we were thinking the same as you suggest and I am going to ring the service engineer we use and see if our alarm needs adjusting or something. It's serviced regularly and has a new battery each time, but he might throw some light on it and be able to make it less sensitive. We could have been away for the week when it happened which wouldn't have gone down well with the neighbours!

Is it a felted roof or tiled Mel as 3 days sounds like a long time to just fix tiles and flashing. I suppose there might be more to do though once he finds the source of the leak and if it's caused other damage.

Better get ready to call at the chemist for our meds as OH should be back soon. At least no cooking today with his frozen mouth as I think he will have soup.