General Chat

That was not a good date on the beef Vera, getting careless running up to Christmas. I will be interested if you manage to email Tesco as I have not been able to when I wanted to. Their customer services is not on line ant more. I had to contact them via what’s app

Afternoon all,

Oh dear Mandy, another one with car trouble. I hope it’s nothing serious. As Mel says what with her car and washing machine, Mandy’s car and AnnG’s fridge, everything is falling to bits.

You are lucky to get the long-tailed tits Mel. We only get them fly in occasionally. In fact there haven’t been many birds around at all. We’re mostly seeing blue and great tits on the feeders, though there were a couple of goldfinches yesterday.

It’s been a day of gusty winds with a few odd showers. At one point I thought I would have to take down the wreath that’s hung on the door as it was swinging around so violently I thought it would end up in next door’s garden.

We went out this morning and had trouble squeezing past an ambulance outside the house on the corner of the Close. The people there moved in just before Christmas last year and we’ve only seen the wife once. I know her health isn’t good so I hope there’s nothing seriously wrong. On Thursdays we meet friends at Starbucks for coffee and that is on the upper floor at Sainsbury’s. I was glad I didn’t want any shopping as it was absolutely heaving.

This afternoon I have washed towels and done some odd jobs around the house and had a lovely long phone call from one of my granddaughters. Now I am going to email Tesco with a polite complaint. I had a delivery around 7.30 last night which included 2 very large packs of diced beef. I wanted to cook a stew on Saturday, enough for 2 days, and freeze the rest of the meat. When I took it out of the fridge I noticed both packs were marked Use By 21 Dec. That’s today! When was I supposed to cook it - at midnight last night? I had to rapidly get it all in the freezer and rethink Saturday’s meal.

Just seen the time - where has the day gone? Tomorrow the man is coming to give my cooker a good clean and I must get some more presents wrapped but I expect I’ll be back online at some time during the day. Bye for now.

I don’t know if it is all stores but Morrisons had meat joints for half price. Really nice joints of gammon, pork, beef and lamb.

I forgot to post that last post this morning.

Mandy you and me with car trouble then and washing machine trouble and Anng fridge trouble. What an unlucky lot we are.... :-(

I really wanted to go to either Morrisons in Bideford or Torrington Lidl as I won't have a delivery the Tuesday after Christmas with it being Boxing Day.

I wanted a small piece of pork loin or beef and a chicken crown so I have some meat for the week thats a bit festive. I like to pick my meat.

I have a disaster this morning I just heard a bang and my poor old bird feeder had collapsed and broken. I have a new one oh bought me so today I shall be taking the old one down and trying to put the new one up.

Afternoon all,

Very blustery here but apart from a little rain this morning it's been dry .
I went out early and blow me there was road works and three way traffic lights so that held me up both ways Aldi was a little busy but as I came out it was getting busier with more cars coming into the car park ,got everything I needed which was just as well as the car played up coming home ,I had lights up and it said battery charge then the wipers wouldn't work and the winners so it sounds like fuses ,anyway we don't need the car now and I got it home so our chap will look at it after Christmas, son said he'll run us anywhere if we need to go out.
I have just made some yorkshire puds for Christmas day and they will go in the freezer ,it's so much easier to have them done so I can just heat them through on the day .

Forgot to say its the shortest day today hooray!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :-D :-D :-D

Yes thats right Anng.

I have managed to get the new bird feeder together but oh made the last one shorter for me by cutting one of the polls down a bit. I can't reach the feeders if it has the three poles on it so I have put it up with just two and its a bit low really but its up and they are all on it already. I'll send pics soon. I had a whole load of Long Tailed Tits come and could'nt understand where it had gone, they were in such a tizzy.

Good morning all. Very windy out there this morning but I don’t think we are going out. So a lazy day.

So far, getting a report from Cynth, there are 16 cards waiting for me at home. I thought when I came away, that there were at least 20 missing. It is frustrating not knowing who those 16 are from.

Hopefully Maya will be ok for Christmas, not that she knows anything about Christmas. They were having trouble keeping her hydrated but they managed to get her to take some water yesterday (she doesn’t like water).

So Mel, after Christmas there will be me hunting a new fridge and you a new washing machine.

I have a disaster this morning I just heard a bang and my poor old bird feeder had collapsed and broken. I have a new one oh bought me so today I shall be taking the old one down and trying to put the new one up.

Morning all on this very windy wet morning. Its 11 degrees but O so gusty and its going to stay like it all day I think.

I have been having a parcel delivered for three days now so lets see if it turns up today The last two days its supposed to be coming between 8pm and 9.15pm but if the drivers don't know my house they won't find it in the dark and theres no house name outside.

Glad you're feeling better after the nasty bug Gill and just before Chirstmas too.

Just a quickie as it's very late and I'm just about to go to bed.

Thanks for your get well wishes, I'm feeling much better now so hopefully that'll be the end of it.

Your card arrived today Mel, thank you.

Dull and damp here all day today. The temperature has been 9 degrees all day and is supposed to stay at 9 degrees all night too. We’ve got a warning of strong winds tomorrow and it sounds as though the wind is getting up now.

Good luck with shopping tomorrow Mandy. Everywhere is getting so busy now. Yesterday it took a friend 25 minutes to get out of the car park, though we didn’t find it too bad today.

Sorry to hear you are still having trouble with your car Mel. You need to get it looked at. You don’t want to risk getting stranded somewhere.

Poor little Maya. It’s so difficult when babies are ill. The can't tell you how they feel and the parents will worry. I hope she recovers quickly.

I hope you found some nice greenery Gwyn and you showed off your skills as a thatcher. You put me to shame, you do so much in your community.

Are you feeling better Gill? Christmas isn't a good time to come down with a bug.

I took my prescription into the opticians today to get my new glasses ordered before my next hospital appointment. I started with the varifocals I wear nearly all the time. I picked a pair of blue frames for a change, not the cheapest but by no means the dearest. Then I moved on to the prescription sunglasses I have to have and went for cheaper frames as they are more to protect my eyes than look beautiful. Finally I said to the lady dispenser that I also had to have single vision reading glasses to use late at night when my eyes are often sore and tired but, because of the cost, I would leave those for another time. She then said if I picked from a small choice of frames with a free sticker on them I wouldn’t have to pay anything. I asked about the cost of the lenses and she said that as they were just single vision they would do those for free as well. I was happy with the free frames as I only wear them reading in bed late at night. Then she went away to tot everything up. With 10% off my main glasses because of my age, getting my sunglasses half price as a second pair of specs being bought at the same time, and getting my single vision glasses for nothing, my bill came to £800. Without the discounts it would have been over £1200!, How on earth does anyone on a low income manage, particularly if they are on the borderline just above the level where they can get help. I also wonder what sort of profits the companies are making if they can afford to give these discounts.

I had to pause this post in the middle as Tesco came. It was a big order and there were 3 subs. 2 were fine but I sent the third one back. Luckily it wasn’t needed as I had only ordered it to have handy in the freezer. Everything is put away now and I am feeling quite tired so I’ll say goodnight, sleep tight.

Evening all

It's been very dull here and the wind seems to be getting up.
I seem to have been on the go all day, with family coming we had to get the extra chairs up from the shed and give them a good polish and I mopped floors and sorted washing out .

Anng poor little Maya her first Christmas and she's poorly bless her ,I hope it soon eases for her and she feels better soon.

Oh Mel did you find a washing machine you liked ,you might get a bargain after Christmas in the sales .
That's a devil the car playing up again, you must have worried if it would start again while you were out .

Hope you managed to find some nice greenery Gwyn ,I use to love the christingle service seeing the littleones with their candles in the orange and them holding them up high when they turned the lights low in the church and all you could see were the flickering lights it was lovely.

I hope to go out early tomorrow to get a few last bits ,I'm hoping cream etc will have some good dates on them to save going later in the week .
We have the hairdresser coming tomorrow too so I hope I don't get stuck in the traffic on the car park .

Cakes out the oven and smelling wonderful.

Back from Holsworthy and the car played up again. Started ok from home and I did the 9 miles to Holsworthy and it was market day so I parked in the car park but a car went behind me so I thought I would back into that space as it was a bit tight where I was. Went to start her up and she played me up again not starting and it sounded like the starter moter was still going so I switched her off and just hoped she would start when I had had a look at washing machines and a quick look around the market. I was so worried I was going to get stuck so I had a look at the machines and then a quick look at the stalls but no shops and I forgot to go into Dave's the greengrocer for my bit of mistletoe but I did buy the beef stew and dumplings off a lady with a stall. Came back to the car and tried her again and she started so I left her running and ate my beef stew and dumplings.

After that I went to Mole VAlley and had to turn her off there to buy the chicken food, woodshavings and wild bird seed. Could'nt have a brouse as I was worried she would'nt start again. Anyway she did so I got the food and shavings and came straight home. I did have a stiff word with her before I tried to start her again in the car park. By doing the carpark I walked down the steps to go to the shops and market and there in front of me was a Morrisons Daily shop or something like that. So I had a look and bought a small waxed cheese in there just to have a look and see what they sold. If I had gone the normal way out the carpark I would never have seen it as its in what we call the small square and used to be a newsagents with some groceries mags and a few toys and stationary. It now does fresh sandwiches and lots of foods chilled and frozen.

Just had a cuppa and a hot sausage roll and now I am going to cook my Christmas cake and pop some more samll buns in with it and maybe some roast pots and veg.

I also dropped off two table arrangements at the local shop. They had no wreaths there so they looked nice and cheery on the windowsill. If they don't sell I shall give one to Em and one to Hazel.

Morning all,

A bit brighter here this morning but still not what you would call a nice day but the sun is trying to shine now and theres no wind pc is saying 9 degrees today so cooler than it has been this week.

Got up when it was dark for the loo and then slept till late again.

Lots to do today so I better get on and I will get back on here later on.

A lovely bright morning here and relatively mild. :-D

I will make use of this fine day to collect some greenery to decorate the church window sills and to collect some fir tree that grows in a flat formation.... ideal for thatching the stable before the Christingle service.!

I hope little Maya soon recovers Ann. <3
My memories of scarlet fever don't feature a white sheet, but my sister caught scarlet fever, when she was about 3. We shared a bedroom, but I never caught it. I remember watching from my parents' bedroom window as an ambulance man carried her out in a red blanket to the waiting ambulance and I wondered if I would ever see her again :-( I was 5 years old.
She was taken to an Infectious Diseases hospital in Portsmouth and we couldn't visit her, but after a week or so, I think my mother was allowed to see her through a window. Everything mum took her had to be burnt after use to stop infection.
She recovered and came home after about 3 weeks, I think, and they always wondered where she had picked up the infection. Mum was asked if we belonged to a lending library... We didn't and it was many years before Mum would let me join one, as she didn't want to risk any more infections.

Good morning all, another wet one. We are going out to lunch later to what is becoming a favourite pub restaurant.
Vera I have the same memory if the white sheet over the door when my sister has scarlet fever. I didn’t catch it. Poor little Maya is only nine months old. Usually a very happy baby she is obviously feeling unwell as she had a bad night. Difficult to explain to one so young why her throat hurts. She caught it off older family children.

Gill sorry to hear that you were not well. Hope you continue to feel better.

Sorry I haven't been on here for a few days I had a bug and felt terrible, thankfully I'm starting to feel better with just a small headache to deal with, hopefully I'll be okay in time for Christmas. Needless to say we haven't done anymore on the kitchen since the other day, although OH did nip back to the shop and bought two more units and doors so we can hide the fridge and freezer then they'll only be the cooker on show.

If we hadn't decided to hide the appliances then our kitchen would of looked like a shop for white goods as we have five in total LOL :-D

I'm pleased to see your Christmas cards arrived okay Mel and Vera. It's strange only three have arrived and quite a few days between them considering they were all posted at the same time. I hope everyone receives their cards before the big day.

I received your card today Vera, thank you <3 60 is a lot of cards you must be very popular :-)

Have a lovely time away AnnG. Sorry to hear your step great granddaughter has Scarlet Fever, I hope she's over it by Christmas. Apparently there's a lot going around at the moment. The fella at the flooring shop we went to was wearing a mask as he said Whooping Cough was doing the rounds and that was almost two weeks ago.

I see your cake has it's marzipan and icing now Mandy . One less job to do before the big day.

Going to make myself a drink now
Night Night all :-)