General Chat

I make between 70 and 80 Christmas cards Ann.

Right leg is still painful but not quite so bad. Left leg where the BCC is is painful too when it flexes

Yes, what a night! I'll have to apologise to the neighbours when I see them. I think it must have been the air disturbance in the car from the Moth's big flapping wings that must have set it off. Thank goodness OH spotted it before the security light went off.

As you say Vera we are so lucky we still have them and they are very good in lots of ways, but they are twins as we've said before! :-D OH recently decided to sort a food cupboard out. I kept quiet at the time, but I tend to group like things together with duplicates behind so I know I have more when I remove the front one. I put things only OH has at one side and things only I have together at the other side. Also with all labels facing forwards so I don't have to turn things round to see what they are. OH had no such system. It all looked very neat and tidy, but I couldn't find anything I wanted and if I asked him he didn't know either and worse, after a week or two was asking me where things were that HE'D sorted! It's gradually going back as it was. As for getting in the way, I'd better save that for another time, but it sounds very familiar!

Mandy you have made the blanket squares far more quickly than I imagined and it will be great to see the finished blanket. Tassels will be a nice finishing touch.

Mel, the baby birds are lovely to see, but it's hard to be sure how many there are as you say. I was surprised to see they have used white feathers in the nest as it would make it a bit conspicuous, but then again when I kept canaries, different birds would use very different materials even if I gave them all the same mixture.

The service list didn't show anything for the alarm AnnG so I don't think the garage had touched it. I think some alarms are quite sensitive. I know with one of OH's previous cars, if he nipped into a shop and left me in the car but had taken his ignition key with him by accident, the slightest movement I made would set his alarm off. At least I know it works now though as I'd never heard it before. How is your leg today, any better? I also wonder how many Christmas cards you usually make.

Sent the photos

The wind really got up late morning and there was a few big spots of rain but not enough to wet the ground,since then we've had a bit of sun on and off and I did think about hanging the bedding out but decided not to in the end .

Oh Ann you'll be really tired and ready for bed tonight ,thank goodness you found out what if was or it would have just kept going off , that's good that you know what it was though to save taking it in for them to check it out.

Mel thanks for the photos I thought I could see three in the nest ,my goodness they have made a mess in there .

Vera ,I have a man that likes to get in the way to mostly hovering when I'm dishing up the food lol what with him one side and Max the other I can hardly turn round .

I have finally finished the blanket but had a job to get it all in the photo so I folded it in half so you can see the tassels ,I did one in each colour and the edging is also done with one colour each side , you wouldn't believe how heavy it is so it will be nice and warm .

O Annx what a night you had. You would'nt believe a moth could cause such prolems. I'm pleased you found out why it kept going off in the end but what a bl**dy nuisance and a big disruption in the night and don't these alarms sound louder in the dark. It was best to keep going out and checking it. You must be exhausted after that episode.

Vera I think most men are the same. I always got on better if oh was out or up the garden out of my way. I think Annx is like that too and can get on better when hubby has a meeting.

I can't make out if there are three or four swallows in the nest either there were four eggs. They are such good parents giving them lots of attention and in the evening they all chatter away in the shed. If there is four that wil be 14 she has raised this year. The mess in there is unbelievable and stinks but I don't like to go there too much as if I turn the light on and look up at the nest I have beady eye watching me and they keep so still they look like fake birds.

I have cleaned the mealworms today and sorted them out a bit and sived the mess out and given them fresh litter (oats or bran) they are well fed with fresh carrot so that is done for another few days. The only thing is I have'nt seen Robby for tweo days and I am hoping it just the wind and rain. I have even put cut up ham fat out there and thats still there so he has'nt been while I was in.

Better go and corn the girls now and feed the Robby round there.

My goodness Annx, that was some night. You wouldn’t think something as light as a moth would set the alarm off but at least you know you have a good working alarm system. I was a bit fed up as our security lights work on motion sensors and a strong wind is enough to set them off so a light was going on and off all night long and shining in my room. At least it was quiet. I’m not sure why the only light always affected by the wind is the one on the side wall of the garage opposite my room but it is a bit of a wind tunnel there.

AnnG, I have counted to 10 more than once today. OH is just being a typical man, thoroughly getting in the way. We moved in here 12 years ago this week. There’s a large cupboard in the utility in which there are all sorts of cleaning materials, ironing board, broom, kitchen steps etc. it is next to the washing machine. After 12 years of functioning perfectly well why did it need rehashing? And why this morning as I’m trying to do the washing? Every time I needed to get to the machine I had to clamber over all the stuff he had taken out of the cupboard, only to find he had moved the laundry basket or the detergent etc. Don’t get me started on the scratch on the lounge floor unless you want to be here all night. I just can’t understand how a man who had a very responsible job that involved looking as far as 20 years ahead and making long term decisions can’t see beyond the end of his nose at home. Enough said, I’m fortunate that he is still around to drive me mad.

I can’t really make out the swallows that clearly Mel but I think there might be 4. It doesn’t seem possible that they will shortly be ready to fly to winter quarters but apparently few of those left behind survive the winter here so I hope they can.

I’m looking forward to seeing the blanket Mandy. The girls are lucky to have you to make these things for them.

We have a meeting of one of our clubs tonight. The committee were having trouble getting a speaker at a price our small group could afford and so had got a quiz ready but I had a phone call this morning to say they have got someone to give us a talk entitled The Fen Men. That should be interesting. We’ll have the quiz after next month’s AGM.

Oh what a night that was! Hopefully it won't happen again but the alarm is obviously very sensitive. Strange it has never happaend before, wonder if they did anything to the alarm to increase sensitivity when it was at the garage.

Afternoon All,

All this blustery wind is such a change from the stillness of 3.00am (more on that later!). We had a coffee and egg cob deal at Costa after showering first thing and I wanted to see what the leopard bath towels were like in Next but couldn't see any. The carpark is very big but very poor directionwise as you have to wind all round it with much one way and not clear and as we were leaving a young woman actually parked on the road in front of OH so he couldn't drive through the proper way. He was getting irritated when she didn't move which didn't help, so I got out and went and explained nicely what she'd done and showed her she needed to move forward, not backwards and turn left to where there were spaces. Her accent was foreign (Italian?) and she hadn't been there before and thanked me for explaining. I reminded OH of the difficulties he had when he first used the new carpark when I got back in the car. It even has faded out things like zebra crossings, only they aren't and neither cars nor pedestrians are sure what to do at them.

I had issues with paying the Asda order on Saturday. I got and entered the code from my bank to make the payment which was ok and went through as usual, then another code came up from my bank on my phone to pay £15 something. I thought it was a scam at first and couldn't enter it anywhere anyway as the iother payment had been already been made so there was no box to enter the code in. Eventually I worked out that the bill on the confirmation email I then got was the sum of what they had charged me on the first payment plus the £15 odd I couldn't pay anyway. As the site says they will contact you if there are any discrepancies I just kept my fingers crossed. It didn't help that the delivery was the latest it's ever been, but I had to send subs back and it seems to have sorted itself out.

Just as I was about to go to bed last night a car alarm went off and flippin' heck it was mine!! It was pitch black outside so I went and flicked the security light off and on so it would light up again and couldn't see anyone and clicked the car lock off and on and it stopped. We made sure all our outside doors were locked and OH went to bed. I was sitting wondering whether someone had seen the crooklock and thought the car had no alarm as it is 10 years old and had tried to get into it the passenger side. Then it went off again after about 10 minutes, so we went outside with me shining the torch everywhere, including the back of the car, as well as the security light on to make sure no-one was there. The alarm had stopped again but red lights were flashing on the dashboard, so I got in the car and started it up and the lights went off. We thought that was it and went inside again and then 5 minutes later it went off again! We followed the same procedure of going out, starting the car and coming in again getting more conscious of the annoyance to neighbours and me deciding to take it to the garage as soon as they opened in the morning. I was getting concerned about keeping starting it up and the battery going flat though and OH said I would have to take it for a spin during the night if it carried on which I didn't fancy in pitch darkness. It lasted half an hour then before going off so I decided to check the windows and boot were fully closed and they were. I even wondered if a mouse had got in while it was at the garage on Friday! Embarrassingly It still kept happening but at random times, lasting almost an hour before going off sometimes. I began to think I might just as well stay up all night! OH wondered whether a fly trapped inside had set it off, so the next time it happened I opened the car door for five minutes. Just as we turned to go back inside again OH pointed to the windscreen and the security light showed a huge moth flapping about inside! It then landed on the driver's door window so I unlocked the car and opened the door wide and quickly flicked it upwards so it didn't fly back in the car. That's what it was as peace and quiet reigned again in what was left of the night! Of course I didn't go back to sleep for ages being fully awake by then.

I will catch up with posts later as I need a COT now,

Thanks for the photos Mel, I think it could be 4, but what a heap they are in. I am wondering if they will be ready to fly and what happens if they get stranded here?

Deep breaths Vera!! What has he done/not done today to incur your wrath?

Sunny spells and dry here but oh, that wind!! iPad is telling me it is 16 degrees but the wind is making it feel like 9. It feels even colder outside to me; I had to put a jacket on when I stepped outside. I’ve hung 2 loads of washing out and there’s 1 more in the machine but everything is very firmly pegged. I haven’t put anything on hangers as I usually do.

Going to have a look at your swallow pics now Mel and then I think I’ll go and strangle OH who is driving me mad this morning. Might bbl

Sent my third lot of swallow pics.

That sounds nice Mandy looking forward to seeing it.

Sun and showers here.

Your getting on with the cards then Anng I shall have to sort out what I have and see if I need anymore.

Morning all,

14 degrees here ,nice and sunny but very windy ,don't think I will be hanging the bedding out today.

I'm doing the roast today now as when i checked the chicken yesterday I didn't think it had thawed enough ,I was a bit late taking it from the freezer and into the fridge to thaw .

I'll send a photo as soon as I've done the blanket Mel I have edged it now but I think I might make some tassels to go on each corner.

Good morning all 13 degrees here too, sunny and very bright but also very windy. Slept ok seemed to get up three or four times but that was more to do with easing my stiff leg rather than really needing the loo. Nothing planned for today, seem to be making two or three Christmas cards every day so they will soon add up to what I need.

Morning all,

Wet and windy still a wind warning on the pc and its 13 degrees.

Just having my COC and trying to wake up a bit.

Hope you slept well as I did and I'm not quite so achey today. It was the gardening that did it.

Our local market village of Holsworthy used to have two shoe shop, a ladies wear shop which also sole lots of haberdashery and hats three green grocers a somerfields fish and chip cafe and another fish and chip shop the other side of the square, a post office and book shop a ladies outfitters and two more dress shops, a gift shop, three banks,a health food shop, a mens outfitters (still there) and bargain shop two chemists Boots and the other one which escapes me at the mo, a hardware and tools shop a funeral parlour, a dry cleaners, a couple of estate agents, a couple of building societies, a sweet hsop (still there) a wool shop still a few antiques shops. and various hospice and dog shops and a lovely card shop which is still there but has moved closer to the square run by a lovely lady called Sharon. and a coop.a couple of estate agents a coffee shop and two pet shops one a hardwre and pets run by a brother and sister and her hubby. The Boots chemist moved to down by the hospital right out of town so theres no chemists in the square now. I am shore have missed soemthing out O yes a chinese take away and an indian resturant. There was even Evelyns underwear shop with lovely stuff and she would measure you properly. It was a thriving market town it still has a market on a Wednesday but it not bustleing anymore. In fact the whole town isn't even busy in the holiday season. I fogot the electrical shop there were two of those and only one now Woolacotts.

Its cold indoors today and when I stepped out to do the girls its warmer out than in! still a high wind though.

that would seem to not be a very good idea Vera. An off licence can cause quite a lot of problems. I suppose there is no likelihood of it being a small restaurant. Or it could be one of the shops that always seem to do well a general grocery stall run by an Asian family.

We have a small row of shops in walking distance. when we moved here the row od shops comprised. A paper/stationery/post office, a hair dresser, wool/needlecraft and gift shop, estate agents, bakers, butchers greengrocers, small supermarket, otician and pharmacy/chemist.

Now we have hairdresser, chiropracter, betting shop baker, funeral parlour/office, optician and pharmacy/chemist plus three large empty shops, one having been empty oveer 5 years, one about 4 years and one recently. Apparently the landlord lives overseas, it is all not very well cared for as they just don't care. It is very depressing and such a shame.

Our recycling bin is similar to yours AnnG except it won't currently take glass and I need to check on Tetra Paks. We never used to be able to put them in but I've a feeling they will take them now. One of the clubs we belong to had a talk from the recycling people and they said any plastic you can squash like a plastic milk bottle can go in, but not hard plastics that can't be squidged down.

I've just walked down to the corner to post a card. When we first moved here there was a lovely corner shop owned by a local dairy. They put it up for sale some years ago and it's been sold and resold without anyone ever doing anything to it or moving in. A short while ago it was sold and the inside was cleared out. Posting my card I saw a notice in the shop window and it's notification of an application for an alcohol licence. It's not clear if it will be a shop selling a few bottles of wine or whether it will be an off-licence. I need to look into in further. If it's an off-licence I may raise an objection as it's in a quiet residential area, no other shops in the area. But more importantly it is right next to the recreation ground with the children's play area. It may be absolutely fine, I don't want to prejudge, but I am concerned that the local winos may get their booze at the shop and then take it onto the rec and the same with groups of youngsters who can get very boisterous with a drink inside them. I'll try and find out a bit more about it before I do anything like putting forward an objection.

Out of interest the following all goes in our recycling wheelie bin once a fortnight.

Card and cardboard
• Card and cardboard (no dirty cardboard – takeaway pizza boxes and burger cartons).
• Greetings cards and postcards.
• Food packaging boxes and egg boxes.
• Small quantities of brown corrugated cardboard.
Cartons
• Tetra-Pak style food and drink cartons.
• Paper yoghurt pots.
• Paper ice-cream pots.
Metal packaging: Cans, tins, foil and aerosols
• Aerosols (empty).
• Biscuit and sweet tins.
• Food and drink cans (please rinse to remove food residue).
• Pet food cans (please rinse to remove food residue).
• Aluminium foil (clean sheets only, Please dispose of foil that can’t be washed).
• Aluminium foil pots and trays (clean containers only please).
• Tip: Aluminium stays scrunched when you squeeze it. If it opens, it’s non-recyclable plastic.
Mixed glass containers
• Clean glass bottles (any colour).
• Clean glass jars (any colour).
• Tip: metal lids can also be put into the blue bin.
Mixed paper
• Books (remove hardback covers).
• Envelopes (Not padded types such as Jiffy bags).
• Newspaper, magazines and junk mail (no wet or dirty paper, remove plastic wrapping and freebies).
• Office style paper and small amounts of loose shredded paper.
• Yellow Pages and telephone directories.
• Wrapping paper (paper-based only. No plastic lamination, no glitter or decorations. No wallpaper).

It has been pouring with rain here and its windy too all the patio is wet and that dos'nt usually happen.

I don't have food waste cos the chickens eat all that. I do have a bottle box but never have much to put in it and if I have one bottle it goes in the recycling bin and they take it.

Last week I did'nt have many meals for one so no plastic cartons of those maybe just one and one milk bottle and acouple of cans and a few pill packs. I don't often have wine and if its jam jars the chap up the road has those for his honey and I get a pot of honey for them. I did give my neighbour some jam jars as he was making blackberry jam and I gave him plums and yesterday when I gave them stuff I got a pot of plumapple and cinnamon jam. I have a bag for newspaper and paper and one for crdboard but the only thing that has in it is the meal for one cadboard wrappers and anything thats been in the freezer in boxes and kitchen roll and toilet roll inard. Sometimes I will eat a lot of tinned fruit and beens or soup and then it worth putting out.