General Chat

It sounds like it was interesting to hear your visitor from Ontario yesterday AnnG. Those low temperatures reminded me of a book OH bought me soon after we were together called 'On Sledge and Horseback to Outcast Siberian Lepers'. It was published before 1900 and a true story about a nurse. I still have it. How do people manage to keep warm in such low temperatures! Brrrrr! It's a pity you didn't see anything you wanted to buy today, but the shops will soon be stocking up new clothes for spring and summer. That was a nice surprise to get a silver locket with your Valentine card years ago!

Mandy I want to look in Aldi soon as I read that their baked beans are tastier than the Heinz ones! I'll make sure I wear my fleece jacket and a scarf! Our Co-op is always freezing too. I don't mind as long as I know, as I used to always be too hot in shops in the winter when I dressed for outside temperatures. :-) Gosh costs have gone up a lot for a hip replacement haven't they. OH said that the same that now more people are going private, their waiting lists have got longer as well, but not as long as the NHS ones. Fitz is waiting for his second hip replacement too and was waiting when I saw him last September.

I slept well last night Vera, but I sympathise with you having such bad nights and those bad headaches too. It isn't just the nights, it affects the day after too.

I had an appointment with a very nice 'wellness' lady at the surgery this morning and she has come up with some good ideas for me including some local support and activities sites for me to look into, so that was helpful. I managed to get a parking space at the surgery, but needed to be a contortionist getting back into my car as someone next to me had parked so close. I swapped to OH's car at home and he came with me to collect his remaining meds and to post a parcel where they also sell some delicious filled cobs, so he sorted himself two of the ones with healthier fillings for teatime. I'm getting more used to his car's gadgets now, but can't get used to using a switch to put the handbrake on, but no need to switch it off, just starting to accelerate does it! Eyedrop time next!

<3 Happy birthday Mel <3 Sorry late putting it on had to dash for the bus and only just got back home. Very quiet in town and just bought a few odd bits and pieces. Still got the remainder of a voucher for M&S but couldn't see anything I really liked. Well I did see one top but they only had four left and not my size.
Also looked in Bon Marche but couldn't see anything in there either. I musty have been fussy today. It was cold if you stood around but not too bad if you kept going.

Just recieved Vera's card and a moonpig one from my new neighbours who are in Morroco at the mo.

Thank you all so much for my lovely cards I am so very pleased with them all.

The postie was very late today but my little parcel is now on its way too.

No sun here today just bitterly cold wind and rain.

Thaks for all your cards girls much appreciated. Em's been round with a card and a nice long chat and a big bunch of pink roses and stocks.

I have had four eggs again today three white and one brown so I think I may make myself a cake today.

Waiting for the postman to come and pick up a small parcel and bringing the label but he's not been yet. I expect he has a lot of deliveries today with it being Valentines Day.

A beautiful handmade card from our Anng.

Morning All,

Just a quick pop in between appointments to say

:-) <3HAPPY BIRTHDAY Mel <3 :-) and I hope you have a nice day with more sunshine your way.

I will catch up later.

Morning girls and thank you for my birthday wishes.

Its dull and raining here as predicted but I don't think its as cold as yesterday. Pc is telling me that the rain should stop in about an hour.

I woke before 7am and went to the loo and turned the heating on and went back to bed for a lie in. Woke at 10.06am to a nice warm house. Iv'e turned it off now.

Not opened my cards yet so I am looking forward to that and I have one present from my SIL to open which came in the post a while ago. Still miss my 25 red roses I had each year from oh.

I wonder if BIL will come today?

Morning all, Happy Valentines day,

<3 <3 <3 Happy Birthday Mel <3 <3 <3
Hope you gave a lovely day .

Cloudy again ,just a glimpse of the sun would be nice ,got a few jobs to get done so be back later

Happy Birthday Mel. Enjoy your special day <3 :-D <3

Good morning all 2 degrees here and still dull not raining though. Did get a short glimpse of the full moon last night but it was immediately covered by cloud.

Happy Valentines day to those of us who still have valentines. I can remember, in my teens, being really excited by this day. I wonder if youngsters still are. I probably have a bundle of cards up in the loft somewhere. From the days when he still bought cards. I remember one of the first cards he bought, I was about 18, a large card with a bright red (fresh) carnation attached and on the carnation a silver locket hanging. Oh the romance of youth.

Happy Birthday Mel :-D <3 :-D

I hope you have a lovely day.

I thought it was a long time Anng but as I said it depends what she was having done , hope all goes well for her .

Mandy sorry that was an error I will amend it to six weeks

Evening all,

Yes another dreary day here too and it's been really cold this afternoon when I nipped out to the bin you could see your breath .
We went shopping to Aldi this morning and I'm sure there was no heating on and as you go in they have all the salad and veg behind the glass doors and raw and cooked meats ,well going down there my hands were frozen if I had had my gloves in my pocket I would have put them on , I said to the young lad on the till goodness it's drafty in here and he said yes its not very warm is it.
Talking to a neighbour she was saying she went in our Factory shop and they didn't have any heating at all as someone had stolen their oil .

Ann I hope OH can be seen quicker than that 18 week wait ,that's badness that he wasn't referred by the doctors before now .
It seems that even going private though that there's now quite a wait as Colins nephew is going private to have his hip replaced ,he knew before Christmas that it would be in April so he's having a long wait but better than the wait to have it done on the NHS that was a lot lot longer ,it's about seventeen and a half thousand for a hip now, when Colin had his done years ago it was four and a half thousand .

Anng six months seems a long time to have to wait to drive again after a knee op it's usually six weeks but I suppose it depends what your friend is having done .
Sounds as if you had a full house today with the meeting ,I bet there was lots of chatter about all that snow and the low temperatures that they have and we moan about our minus temperatures but that's cold -25 .

Mel I hope your hip pain eases ,it was probably pushing the barrow on the grass ,hard going this time of year , hope you enjoy your meal tonight with Stuart and it's something soft so as not to aggravate your gum .

Vera sorry your having these bad night's, I don't know how you manage to get through the day after a bad night and with a bad head too ,it must be heaven when you do get a good night's sleep .

Well, the gardening meeting went well, twelve of us crammed in my lounge. Quite back aching moving all the chairs from dining room and conservatory plus one garden chair. They are heavier than they look. Still clearing away was good as one member, a few years younger than me, put all the chairs back for me. And Anne carried the tray of cups in from and back out to the kitchen.

Feeling quite sad as she goes into hospital Monday to have her knee done and won’t be able to drive for six weeks Not sure when I shall be able to see her.

Anyway there was a guest with us, the daughter of one member who lives in Ontario Canada where apparently they have just had 40cms of snow. She has not seen her garden for months as it has been under snow and with horrific low temperatures something like -10 in the day and -25 at night but sometimes even lower. She has not liked our wet/damp weather. She usually does a lot of gardening in her Mum’s and sister’s gardens but has not done any.

Oh dear, it’s another cold, dark, dreary day but it hasn’t rained so that’s a bonus. Next time you get sun, Mel, could you send some this way please. I’m beginning to forget what it looks like.

I hope the gardening meeting went well AnnG. I bet there was plenty of chat and noise. I have plenty of chairs though it can be a squash to get them all in our living room. In there we have a 3 seater sofa, 2 recliner chairs and 2 footstools that can be sat on but I have 10 chairs in the kitchen/diner and another 4 in the bedrooms so we manage a crowd pretty well. As to the TV soaps, I don’t watch them myself but I would never say they are rubbish. They give a lot of pleasure to a lot of people. My daughter and Ross Kemp (from EastEnders and other things) were at the same school and I remember going to see a production the school put on based on Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, Ross Kemp played Chaucer and my daughter played The Wife of Bath. I remember saying then that he would go far as even as a young teenager he had a real stage presence.

Your cousin in Ohio chose a very appropriate card for you with the gongalongs and flowers, Mel. I’m not surprised that you are achy and sore today after all that sweeping and barrowing. I wish I had half your energy. OH quite likes Drew Pritchard as well but I find him a bit irritating though I admire his knowledge.

Sadly I didn’t have a good night again so I am a bit headachy and heavy eyed but not too bad. Perhaps I’d have more energy if I got more sleep. After being awake for a lot of the night I fell asleep sometime around 6.30 am, then woke with a start at 8.30 am and found myself having to dash around before going out at 10.30.

I’m sorry you had a bad night too Annx. I am sure half the problem with not getting the referrals you need is not seeing the same doctor each time. With only 10 minutes or so per appointment the doctors don’t have time to read through all the notes another doctor might have put on the system. I don’t know the answer to the current NHS problems but something needs to be done. Perhaps we’ll end up moving to a more continental system with private insurance. It’s good your OH might get seen a bit quicker by using your own health insurance. We have an insurance like that and the one time I could have used it I forgot we had it. Doh!

This morning we went for our usual Thursday coffee meet and this afternoon I had a delivery from Sainsbury. I had ordered enough stuff for 2-3 weeks and there were no subs so that was good, It’s getting a bit late for an afternoon cuppa but I think I’ll make one anyway. I hope you all sleep well tonight.

It's good to see an old place brought back to how it was originally or even better Mel. The reclamation yards have some real bargains too. I enjoyed the Chateau with Dick and Angel and I'm looking forward to seeing how pottery Keith and his wife are doing with the old chapel. :-)

Well OH rang the health insurance and the GP and the doctor will send the referral form to them. The NHS waiting list here is apparently 18 weeks just for the diagnosis so hopefully he will be seen much quicker this way and no cost.

I never got any shredding done, but I did manage to register for HMRC after a few attempts!

That should have bee £15,00. Fancy spending that on two fireplaces?Its going to be worth a mint when its done.

Ha ha ha yes my gongalongs. I only wore them once last year as it was'nt hot enough but they are so ovely and cool on a really hot day.

Its now down to 3 degrees here and the winds really bitter but the suns shining so I suppose we can't have everything. It does make you feel better when the usn shine.

Last night I watched Drew Pritchard on Quest. He has bought a house in Bath and is restoring it. It mus tbe nice to have money to do a project like that. He went to Ireland to see a fireplace of the period but it was too small. He fell in love with one which was £18,000 they also had a metal filler for it and a small fireplace for one of the bedrooms. In the end he bought the three things for !5.000. He has replaced all the sash windows with the right ones which match the rest of the houses. Its going to be an awful lot of work. He also had a chap make a dummy of the railing outside as some were broken and he made such a good job of it they cst it and the man who made it said they would be able to sell some to other householders who had broken one. The more you have cast the price comes down.

Morning All,

It looks a bit brighter here today and is 4 degrees now but the forecast suggests it will be a frost in the morning. Little chance of rain though so that's something.

I hope Vera had a better night last night. I was hoping to catch up on some sleep, but OH woke me at 2.30 am. I just couldn't get back to sleep at all afterwards so am a bit of a zombie today. I've put washing on the airer, done some admin and have hoovered and flashmopped the kitchen. Later the shredder can get busy again. :-).

Yes, some areas of the NHS aren't so good are they. I think a lot of people need a double appointment but don't like asking for one or are worried they might be told one wasn't necessary. Doctors are then diagnosing without a full picture of all the symptoms. OH managed toast this morning by eating on the other side of his mouth.

That's a lot of chairs AnnG and I would have to use most of the garden ones. It sounds like it will be interesting. I watch a couple of soaps, Emmerdale and Corrie and have done for decades. They've changed a lot over the years and have got better I think. There's no swearing in the two I watch and some of the storylines are good and can be informative. It was nice and familiar knowing I'd have them to watch when I lived on my own.

Mel after my mopping and hoovering my back and knee were achey and ready to stop, so I was wondering how you did all that sweeping and pushing the wheelbarrow........then you said about your hip playing up, so I decided you were just the same! I'm glad you mentioned the gongalongs, as I was trying to remember what you called them the other day. :-D

I'd better sort lunch next.

Morning Anng and all,

Sorry Anng andanyone else who has a dreary day but at the mo I have beautiful sunshine which woke me up so I had a lie in and watched the rainbows round trhe room from the crystal hanging in the window.

Pc is telling me its 4 degrees but feels like -5. Funny how I get nice weather and Anng dos'nt as we are not really that far away from each other.

Yesterday evening early after I fed the girls thier corn I swept up all the moss off the road in front of the bungalow as I don't want it getting run over by the cars that come in as it gets into the tarmac and then grows weeds. Well I swept up a whole barrow load used my scraper to pick it all up and swept a bit of the middle of the road and took the barrow over the orchard and dumped it on the wild side bit. This morning when I got up I could hardly walk and my right hip is so painful it must have been the bend to pick the stuff up and the pushing of the barrow across softish grass plus the actual sweeping that always plays the hips up. Anyway I am hoping it eases off as I have to drive to Stu's tonight.

Hope Vera had a better night last night and that others slept well.

Had a Jackie Lawson card from my cousin in Ohio this morning and could'nt resist opening it. It played the tune of an engish country garden and painted all the flowers and there was a little lady in gongalongs with a hat on just like the one on the card Annx sent me last year. I'm saving my other for tomorrow.