General Chat

Well that's a good job all done now and should stop us getting soaked unlocking the front door and also the wet that came inside from the waterfall when it blew against the door. They got one and a half big humpersful of silt from the gutters, but they'd never been cleaned since they were fitted 15 years ago so not surprising. They swept up and washed all the doors and windows and squeegeed them afterwards as well. I'd told them to be careful on our patio that gets slippy and was wet and he said he cleans drives and patios as well if we want a quote in the future.

Happy Birthday to your son Mandy. :-) I've recorded the prog you mentioned as I usually like progs like that. That's good you have another christmas pud ready for the slow cooker. More delicious wafts in your kitchen tomorrow. :-)

It's good when they take photos of the work needed on your roof AnnG. A chap we had a few years ago did the same. We knew things weren't being exagerated then and it didn't need as much doing as we'd thought. We had noticed a small stain on a ceiling so did have a leak as some mortar was missing directly above the stain.

The curtain of webs reminded me of Morticia decorating the house with them in the Adam's Family Mel. I imagine the chickens peck up any spiders if they can.

So I have cleared out the dreaded under the sink cupboard ready for the plumber tomorrow to fit the new tap. And I have looked at photos of the roof tiles and the crumbling mortar. Jake and Riley are starting that on the 17th should take about a week and that is another chunk of the savings. Still it will be a good job done.
The other job I have done today is to change the bulb on the decorative coals of the electric fire. That entailed Unloading all the loose coals off the front of the fire to get to the bulb. A job I hate but done now.

Vera in case it has slipped your memory, the book thread is still going strong on hobbies board.

Just come in from cleaning the girls out and I got hot. You should have seen the cobwebs in there hanging like curtains and I got some on the top of my hat so thats goping in the wash.

Yes Mandy Happy BIrthday to your son too. Hope he has a great day. <3

I am now going to get something to eat as my tum is grumbling and I need to take a pill too before I eat and then the others after food.

I took the 8 books to Irene's and she was there so had a natter, and they had put the book tent up early so I was able to sve myself a journey tomorrow and geot 6 more books.

Being on my own I do read a lot. However I have actually always read a lot (T never read books at all), but my reading has doubled since being on my own.

Jake and Riley have just been to survey the roof. As we expected from the age of the house there is a lot of damage up there, particularly on one side, that needs fixing. They are capable of doing it themselves so I am waiting for a quote now. I trust them to be fair and it has to be done because it could well already be letting in water as nobody has been in the loft for a long time. Jake did show me photos that Riley took while up there.

Afternoon all,

Very cloudy here but still mild out ,son came this morning for coffee and to pick up his birthday presents.

Mel a day of memories for you <3

I've mixed another christmas pudding this morning and got it all ready to go in the slow cooker first thing in the morning .

Ann your gutter man seems organised you'll be all sorted now ready for the rain .

There's a nice little programme on channel 4 at 5 oclock each day with Jasmine Harman ,she's renovating a home for her and her family in Spain ,we've watched the first two and it's quite good ,bit like the château with Divk and Angel but on a smaller scale .

Thanks Annx and Vera.

I went up the post van to post my parcel and get some money out, it was'nt there so I had to do it in the shop. Ann in the shop told me the van driver is on holiday for a week. Did'nt get money out of their machine as they charge you £1.50 to take money out. Had a nice long natter to Ann in the shop so at least i have seen some different faces today and spoken to people.

My neighbours up the top by my gateway are back from Spain but I hav'nt spoken to the yet. They were there for a month and I feel lonely when they are away even though I can't see them just knowing they are there if I should need to call for anything puts my mind at rest.

Thinking of you today Mel <3

Morning All,

I'm glad it's dry with the gutter man Dan coming soon. He certainly keeps in touch and texted me when he set off this morning. My neighbour who is leaving her gate open for him has asked us to get him to quote for her gutters too as she is having the same trouble as us. I'm hoping it won't take too long as I have a parcel to take to the Post Office like Mel but have printed my own label. Oh he's here and his dad is with him. He's had to park up the road as he is towing a trailer. He even brings a tank of water with him!

I hope today has some happy memories too Mel. <3

AnnG I think you must read as much as OH does, but it's handy to be able to swap books at Irene's. I hope your foot is ok with the walk.

I must carry on sorting the cupboards that will be replaced. I also need to clear out the porch cupboard where they will be fitting new doors and a raised floor to make it level with the front edge so easier to lift things in and out. I might need to pop to the garden centre down the road to see if they have some smaller boxes to put things in later. We just have huge ones to go to the tip in the garage.

Thanks Anng.

<3 <3 <3 Mel.

Morning all,

Another dull and grey day this morning same temp asyou Anng 12 degrees and cloudy, rain later it says.

Need to do this parcel up today and get that posted as the label came through on an email this morning so I take the tablet down for them to read to print the label.

Would have been oh's birthday today.

Good morning all. fairly bright and dry so far 12 degrees. there was a beautiful full moon last night but it was so very high.
Really must take a load of books down to Irene, with my foot problems and bad weather it is ages since I walked down and I have 8 books to take back. Book stall this weekend so they will be needed.

That's interesting how the Diamond Painting works, so thanks for the explanations. They would have been a good gift for the girls Mandy.

I suppose with a thatched roof Mel, it would be good then if Bonfire Night started with a good drenching of rain. Nowadays it's gone on for many nights here though starting before Diwali, but this year it's been quieter for more nights, but not just now! Mind you we looked at some fireworks in a cabinet at the garden centre and were surprised at the cost, some over £50 each and one over £100.

I'd better get to bed now, another early start tomorrow as Dan is coming to clean our gutters. I need to move the bins from down the side and put my car on the gravel in the morning so he can put his van there with his ladders etc handy. I'd best set the alarm.

Blimmin Ebay. I have sold 4 items to one person and they won't let me send an invoice because when the items come listed to me theres no buyers protection on the price which the buyer has to pay. They keep changing things....... its so frustrating :-S

Thanks Mandy you explained better than me.

Evening all,

Been very mild today we even had the back door open for a while this morning when we came back from shopping.

I bought the girls those diamond painting kits a couple of Christmas's ago ,the picture is sticky with a plastic cover so you pull the plastic back to work on a bit ,you have a small bit of wax that you push the pen into and that picks the diamond up quite easily ,you have to make sure you pick the diamond up on the raised side so the flat bottom sticks to the picture ,it's just like painting by numbers as you do each colour and the diamonds come in individual bags ,there's a tray that has ridges in so the diamonds lay in that and any over you then slide back into the bag.

Haven't heard any fireworks so far ,yes I wouldn't want to be in a thatched place with fireworks whizzing about .

Gosh that was expensive Ann. Egg on toast in future then. At least OH was pleased to have got a bargain with his cap from EW..

The diamond painting has little trays to put beads in while working with them. There is a small pen shaped tool with a special point kit is held agains a special tacky surface thing then you pick up the beads with it and press then into the base. It works well with little effort.

When I lived in suffolk I had a thatched roof and next door always held the village fireworks display but it was quite a long way down from the cottage but always a worry and no mobile phones then only the great big ones you had to carry a BIG battery pack with and the neighbour who hosted the display did have one of those cos when my son worked for him for a while he had to carry it around with him.

Must think about what to et tonight.

O yes bet wishes to Jake for his driving test next week.

Not heard any fireworks tonight I think a lot of people had them at the weekend as tonights a school night.

I can remember going to school the day after bonfire night and seeing how many roacket sticks we could find.

Going back to the diamond painting I think the little pieces have a pip on the back that fits into a hole on the printed board. The wax you pop the pen thing in is just so you can pick up the diamonds this means you have to be able to find the very small hole.

Afternoon All,

I slept quite well and today has been better than expected weatherwise as I'm sure rain was forecast the other day. We went to the garden centre in Rutland that has nice Christmas displays this morning. The drive there was nice with all the autumn leaves, but they have several rows of disabled parking spaces now on their very steep carpark, so it was a climb my knees could have done without and OH said he should have dropped me off outside. Once inside there is a steep slope down to the restaurant and christmas area, but I could at least hang onto the raised plant display trays. There certainly seem to have been cutbacks this year and the restaurant was very dimly lit and no nice fires lit. We chose a plate of individual items each with no bacon or hash browns to avoid some saturated fat and had a vegetarian sausage, mushrooms, beans, tomato, two eggs each and toast and OH had black pudding. I know individual items can be dearer but we couldn't believe that with two teas it cost over £32!! I think we'll just have toast another time. The displays were nice, but less decorated trees this year, but the model village was just as good. There were very few people looking around but I got some christmas cards I liked. OH looked at some caps like one he recently bought from EM and those were twice the price he paid at EM.

I looked at the Diamond Painting online as I'd never heard of it either AnnG. It made me think of cross stitch with the way you fill squares in with colours, but I could imagine me tipping what I was using on the floor and spending ages picking them up. I wonder what holds the bits in place,....glue? It didn't seem an easy craft to try the first time for people. Maybe it would be an idea to take an old apron another time. I mustn't be tempted as I have too much craft stuff already till I've used more beads up and I know my eyesight isn't good with tiny beads. What a game with your prescriptions today. The old systems worked ok and what happens if computers go down with a power outage they tell us there is risk of in future.

What miniatures have you made this time Mel? Is it acrylic paint you use to paint them and then varnish?

Mandy that was so nice your son was going to give the airfryer to the lady if he won it and how lucky she won it herself anyway. She must have been delighted. Yes the farmers round here cut a lot of the hedges lower than they used to now they do them with the tractors and attachments, so they wouldn't stop snow drifts like they used to. I'm sure they don't even try to work around lovely, big trees anymore to leave them. Probably H&S concerns, but these lovely trees take so long to grow and they take so much water up it helps prevent flooding. The big otree on the bank next to the brook where the yarn bomb is held was there and quite big when I was a teenager over 63 years ago. It's a wonder H&S haven't said to chop branches off before now.

Best wishes and crossed fingers xx for Jake's driving test next week!! I hope he does well and passes. :-)

A day of HW and other jobs for you then Vera, which is what I need to start doing next. I hope you have success with your Penstemon cuttings and that they all take well when potted up.

Isuppose it's going to be a noisy evening with fireworks. so not good for an early night. People with thatched roofs must worry a bit.