General Chat

Afternoon All,

A misty day here again too, but we both slept well last night so feel a bit more 'with it ' today. We discovered some cottage cheese needed to be eaten in the next few days, so that will be our Sunday lunch now with a jacket potato and salad! We can have our Sunday lunch on New Year's Day instead, although OH will likely go to a match then. He was all ready to go today, then decided it would be cold and stayed in the warm instead and has been gathering the papers he needs to do his Tax Return.

I am quite worried about him Gwyn but he has a phone appointment now that he was asked to make yesterday, so he should know more then. He's mentioned getting a lightweight briefcase with his back hurting so I'm going to see if I can find him one. That's an advantage I hadn't thought of being able to have a get together for your birthday when people aren't working!

I expect you are all cosy back at your daughter's now AnnG. What happened with the pussycats while you were away? I saw the white cat this morning after not seeing him for months now and I think his smart red collar may have been from Santa.A ;-) I like misty landscape scenery too. It is quite magical isn't it.

The new kitchen bin arrived this morning, but I'll wait till the bag is full before swapping it for the old one, although we keep forgetting the soft close has stopped working on the old one and we scare ourselves to death when the lid clangs down.

I keep mixing the days up too Mel. Yes I need to get some washing done too but won't be putting it out.

Luckily, although it is foggy all over the Lake District it tended to stay away from the road which sere just Misty, it is light musty/fog here now and taking a while for the house to warm up.

Luckily, although it is foggy all over the Lake District it tended to stay away from the road which sere just Misty, it is light musty/fog here now and taking a while for the house to warm up.

Good morning everyone and thank you for all my birthday greetings.
I'm very lucky that we usually can get together as a family, for at least part of the day depending on son's work shifts. He was 'on call' on Boxing Day, but didn't have to attend any incidents until late in the evening, so we had a pleasant day chatting, eating and trying out 2 family games that son and I had for Christmas.
There are some advantages of having a Christmas time birthday, when many people are not at work :-D

We had rather a lot of turkey left, so younger daughter stripped it right down and we shared it with son and elder daughter. We have frozen slices and separately we have smaller bits for a curry or soup. Mandy, that was so kind to give some tasty meat to your neighbour. I'm sure he would have enjoyed that.

Vera,That sounds a more complicated system now for registering a death. I know when we had to do it, when OH died, there was a delay as the doctor on duty at the hospice that night had gone back to his home area in North Kent and I was concerned about the 5 day rule. Many of the Registry offices have closed and instead of a designated building, there is now a room squeezed into a space in the library in a nearby town or in our local library just one day a week. I just looked it up and find that I made an appointment and registered in the nearby town on the 7th day, because of delay in getting medical certificate and we had gone past the day of the week in our local library. Another delay often occurs in arranging a service and locally that can be a month after death. That's such a horrible time, in limbo almost, that it is a relief when the funeral can actually take place.

It sounds like your family remembered your son-in-law in a very special way AnnG. Lovely that you could be together to do that.

Annx your poor OH does seem to have a lot of pain lately. I hope things improve for him.Good to have a catch up on some rest.

Mel, it sounds really murky there. I was watching the TV news earlier and it seems that the fog is quite wide spread and disrupting a lot of travel plans. It must be horrible making a necessary car journey in that weather. Some people are in such a tearing hurry and don't seem to drive with care and consideration of visibility.

A sorting out day for us today and trying to find a home for some of our gifts. We have quite a few chocolates and biscuits, so we will check the dates on them and tuck some away for later in the year. I do likethem all, but try to ration my daily consumption ;-)

Good morning all. Back at daughters now and unpacked for the third time. Very foggy in Far Sawrey but was a mixture of fog and mist all the way home. There is a certain mystical beauty of the lakes and fells, even when you can’t see them properly.
Despite the weather there are still a lot of cyclists and walkers up here.
In now for the rest of the day.

Mel I would think it is a waste of time hanging washing out. The air is so damp.

The fogs cleared so that makes a change. I must bring my washing in as its been out there for three days and is probably wetter than when it went out with all the moisture int he air.

Not done the shop yet but I have a bit of clearing up to do first and washup.

Morning all,

Yet another foggy day here in deepest Devon and pc says mostly cloudy and 6 degrees. Its been like this for days now without it lifting for just a little while during the day.

I keep forgetting what day it is so I know its Saturday today and I need to go to the shop for my paper.

I have to let the girls out too as I shut them in last night as I have a rat round there. I fed them their corn in the house yesterday but they have no wter in there.

Yes you are right Vera and as you say it was the paperwork needing to be signed by the hospital when MIL passed away in 2015 that caused the delays in OH being able to go and register her death and get a death cert. It was during the August Bank Holiday week and I remember him fretting was because there was no-one available to sign it for a few days so it was cutting it fine! You've jogged my memory about Shipman and the change to try and prevent what he did happening again! I agree everything seemed simpler years ago, we seem to be saying it more and more often about all the hoops we have to jump through to do anything nowadays!

I'm up late tonight for me after my lie in this morning and it's perhaps as well. I just happened to look on ebay and I noticed at the top it said I'd had a parcel delivered today. I looked at the detail and tracking and it said it was delivered at 5.43pm when we were both in all day and me in a room next to the driveway and OH in a room next to the porch. OH had gone to bed so I went to tell him to ignore the outside light coming on while I went to look outside. He decided he didn't like the idea of me wandering outside in the dark by the bins on my own so decided to come with me. We opened the front door and there in the middle of the drive where we walk, not even close to the front door lay a packet in green polythene, soaking wet with the rain! It wasn't to be signed for and would have slipped through the letterbox easily! Whoever delivered it didn't even walk as far as the front door before slinging it up the driveway! It's a good job it wasn't breakable as one of our papers gets delivered between 4-5.00am when it's dark and it could have been trodden on or it might have disappeared! I'll be giving Yodel some feedback.

Just spotted you Mel. Your gammon sounds nicer than ours which seemed to shrink a lot!

Everything was much simpler years ago than what it is now as there's so much red tape.

The gammon cooked beautifully and I had it for dinner with mustard mash and brocc as I said before. There is so much of it left I may see if Stu is doing anything over the weekend if he wants to come to dinner.

Hope you all get a good nights sleep tonight and wake refreshed. Good night. <3

Sorry your OH didn't have a good night and hope he sleeps better tonight Annx. It sounds as though you slept poorly yourself but perhaps a nice lie-in helped make up for it. I slept OK last night for a change. I woke just before 7 am and normally I would get up if I'm awake at that time but it still looked so dark and cold out that I went back to bed for an hour.

Yesterday and today have been very misty-murky and this afternoon it seemed to be getting very foggy. I've been struggling to get warm all day.

I've been thinking today of you and your family AnnG, and in particular your daughter, as you mark this important anniversary. The sprinkling of the whisky and laying of roses were lovely gestures.

The system of registering a death has changed now. From what I remember I think that pre-Covid we were given a confirmation of death by the GP or hospital doctor and then we just took it to the local registry office and waited our turn to see the registrar. During Covid and lockdown everything was sorted over the telephone or by email. However, new rules came into being in September this year. The Medical Examiners Office is notified of the death and the cause. I'm not sure who does that; presumably a GP, hospital or hospice. A Medical Examiner then checks that he is satisfied with the cause. He then contacts the next-of-kin or other relevant person to confirm that they can now register the death. Registration has to take place within 5 days of that contact. Problems arise, of course, when there isn't a local registrar's appointment available within the 5 day time limit.

I think a lot of this has come about because of the Harold Shipman case and a few other cases. It does mean that every death that doesn't need a Coroner's inquest gets scrutinised, but it adds time to the process. Somehow everything was so much simpler years ago, or am I looking at the past through rose tinted spectacles?

I think it's time now for a nice hot drink and maybe one of those yummy chocolates that are just begging to be eaten.

Afternoon All,

OH had a bad night with his neck aching last night and I took 0ver 2 hours to drop off. So we had tea in bed this morning and got up at midday! I froze enough of the turkey for three meals yesterday, so we had lemon sole with mash, peas, and swede and carrot mash with hollandaise sauce for lunch and OH wants turkey with pork pie and gammon tonight. There won't be too much left then.

Late birthday greetings Gwyn and I hope you had a nice day.

I had a letter today from an old school friend whose husband passed away just before last Christmas. We don't have much contact these days, but she said she has only just come out of hospital, having had pnuemonia! She lives in what is now a busy part of the city with heavy traffic and is thinking of selling her house and downsizing to live near the field she owns and where she keeps her remaining two ponies. Having spent time with her ponies daily there for years she has friends in the area so it seems a good idea.

Ah so Range Rover have tried with a step AnnG, even if it isn't ideal for everyone. Our caravan had one years ago and all the horsedrawn coaches had them years ago. You are having a foggy/misty time, but it's spread down here now as OH said the pitch was misty at the match he was at yesterday and it's been misty all day here today.

Vera, what a journey for your daughter to register the death and having to make an appointment nowadays. MIL died in hospital over a Bank Holiday and we had to wait several days to get a certificate. The hospital didn't register her death, but I think things were likely different during covid. Something certainly needs doing as it isn't fair that the newly bereaved have to make long journeys to areas they likely aren't familiar with.

That was kind taking some meat to the neighbour on his own Mandy. I bet he enjoys them!

Mel at his funeral whiskey wa poured onto his coffin. At 8pm every 27th December a whisky toast is drunk to him. Yes the roses did look bright, all over the woodland site there were splashes of brightly coloured flowers. It is a very peaceful place.

We have cold gammon to eat tonight, we had it cooked last night, it was lovely. I doubt I will want much as I a m still full from lunch.

That was a nice thought to sprinkle his favorite drink on the grave. I bet the roses looked lovely and bright in the dimness of the day.

Had a lazy day here too. The postman came with a parcel and thats all the human company I have seen.

I cooked the gammon this afternoon and am going to have it with mustard mash and broccoli, may even do a little cheese sauce.

It has been foggy all day up here. We left to go south to Burton in Kendal to the woodland burial place at Dalton we got there in Ma out an hour and a half. It is Mosley winding and badly surfaced road. Grandson got there at 1,20. It was dry although Misty but a bit soggy where the leaves had fallen. It took a bit to find the grave as the little name slabs were covered in leaves luckily daughter and grandson knew more ir less where it was. Grandson had given us each a fed rise to lay on the grave, even our little three tear old put one down grandson the sprinkled the grave with Jon’s favourite drink (whiskey). We stayed quietly for about ten minutes and then left as it was getting too cold. Went to a hotel down the road for a very nice lunch fish and chips and shared lemon drizzle cheese cake and raspberry sorbet. Got home about 4pm.

Next job was to pack as leaving here tomorrow.

Afternoon all,

Firstly belated birthday wishes to Gwyn for yesterday ,hope you had a lovely birthday .

Very foggy here again it didn't clear at all yesterday and I don't think it will today .

It sounds like everyone had a nice Christmas, we had two lovely days with the family but gosh it does tire us out I think its all the chatting.
Turkey was lovely and there's so much left ,I cut some off with some gammon and gave some to a neighbour across the road ,he lives on his own and he was so pleased I don't think he cooks much for himself.
We all said it was the best turkey we've had ,the beef and gammon were very good too.

We had some nice pressies chocolates ,books jigsaws ,I had some hand creams and lots of other bits and pieces .

We're just having a lazy day with not a lot of cooking lots of veggies were left over which we'll have a nice bubble and squeak with pickles and turkey tonight .

Morning all,

I decided to have a lie in this morning so did'nt rise till 10.10am. Still foggy here so I think we are in for another very dull day. Not doing anything today just staying in and will probably do some cooking. I did dinner in the airfryer again yesterday. It was lattice chips again and a steak slice but I was'nt too sure about the timing for that so it had to have three lots till it looked cooked properly. It was nice though and I bought them from Lidl.

Vera you'll have to draw a picture f what you want in future or at least write it down.

Hope you all slept well last night and are ready fr another day

Good morning all another thick fog start to the day. Hoping the fog will lift a bit as we are travelling about an hour south to visit the Woodland site where late son in law is buried. Then out to lunch with Grandson and family.

Vera another chuckle from your lovely OH I am sure he was really proud of himself for remembering ears. Be thankful you didn’t get ear muffs. I am sure the earring are pretty though.
I am pleased that the family got through Christmas But how awful that people are expected to travel so far to register a death. With T is was different, as he died in hospital I didn’t have to register his death, they did. Maybe it is time to extend the five days to seven which would open up more appointments.

Ann son’s Range Rover has a small half step above the main step which helps a bit if you are slightly agile but it is still a bit of a leap.

It sounds as though everyone has had lots of good food and nice presents. I hope you have all had a very enjoyable time. Our Christmas was very pleasant. As you can imagine it was a bit quieter than normal and there were a few tears but also plenty of chat and laughter.

OH was running true to form. I seem to remember telling you that I had requested some bluetooth ear pods but that I wouldn't be surprised if he just remembered the ear bit and would buy earrings. How well I know him!! He knew that my pearl ear studs had fallen to bits and he was supposed to be buying me something to do with ears so I got a new pair of pearl studs. As someone else also bought me some pearl studs I now have a weekday and a Sunday pair :-) I also had a cardi, a beautiful set of hand care products and chocs. I know there are a couple of presents to come from people we haven't seen yet this Christmas. Oh, we also had a tree decoration from little great-granddaughter. I don't know if it was made at home or at nursery but it is a white plaster (I think) heart shape with her handprint on it in brown paint and then someone has painted some black antlers and a red nose on it, to make it look like Rudolph the reindeer.

Daughter now has the necessary paperwork to register the death. These days you have to have an appointment and you have to register the death within 5 days. There wasn't a single appointment available reasonably locally and she has been given one a good hour's drive away tomorrow.. She asked what they would do if she had been unable to drive and was told that, because of the time limit, they would have to cancel someone with a local appointment to register a birth and slot her in. It seems to me that the government needs to change the system or train and employ more registrars.

Gwyn, I wasn't able to post earlier to say Happy Birthday but I hope you have had a lovely day.

I am very tired now as I had hardly any sleep last night. OH was snoring and snorting and snuffling all night long and was fidgety because he was too hot. He kept throwing the bedclothes off himself and all over me. I ended up reading for a good part of the night and I was first up this morning as it seemed pointless to lay there any longer. I am quite pleased I am back in my own room tonight. Fingers crossed we all sleep well and wake up bright as a button tomorrow.

Afternoon All,

Still misty and quite gloomy here. OH has gone to a match, but was going to an earlier one as well, but he had one of his headaches in the night that lasted two hours despite taking tablets so we weren't up early enough. So he had bacon, eggs, baked beans and toast with me instead. I've skipped going to the Boxing Day sale at Boundary Mill up the M1. It was a bit disappointing last time I went and it is over 40 miles awayseems to have gone even more upmarket with prices to match since the pandemic

It sounds like you have a full house with the family today Mandy so Max will be pleased with all the fuss he'll get and the young ones will be full of what Santa brought them for Christmas. :-D

AnnG I think these tall motors need a slide out step or an abseiling kit for us smaller people!! They put so many safety features on cars but no thought for everyone getting in and out of them safely. It sounds like you had a nice little walk to stretch your legs and get some fresh air. It doesn' seem the greatest day for a round the islands tripp for those trippers in their coats but it should blow away the cobwebs.

It sounds like you had another good outing and meal Mel. Some welcome and useful surprise presents too. Does BIL live near the beach?

I saved a job cleaning that big, heavy enamelled tin the turkey was cooked in. I've never had an occasion to spit roast anything since 2008 when we had the cooker, so I found a big used thick polythene delivery bag to seal it up in and it's going to the tip!! It's far wider than the kitchen sink so would have to have been cleaned in the bath and done our backs in bending over doing it. :-S

I've got my Santa Claus jigsaw out I never got round to doing last year to start now.

No I did'nt stay over night BIL brought me home about 4.30pm to 5 pm.

Still got two pressies to open yet!!

Just had some toast and I am going to go and clean the girls out.