General Chat

Hi, I am sorry, I have not yet got round to writing up about the holiday, I just haven't felt well enough with this cough/cold. It has really taken it out of me and I have no energy or enthusuasm for anything. I have been reading the thread though. All I did yesterday was make 11 Christmas cards and d**t the lounge, oh and cook dinner then I was exhausted. Slept better last night though, didn't cough so much so maybe I am on the way back up. I am not complaining, there are many worse things. As soon as I have written about it you shall have it.

Hi all

Huia .. glad that you had a good visit today.


Today was definitely late Fall ......... raining really hard, and chilly. The temperature was 5 or 6C, but felt much colder. I wore my winter jacket for the first time ............ OH sprayed it yesterday to make sure it was waterproof, so that was good timing!

I had my annual checkup today, and my flu shot. All seems well, she didn't change any of my medication ..... even though my bp was way up. The first time she took it it was 200, that's way way too high!!

I always have higher bp in the doctor's office (white coat syndrome!) ........ but I have my own little machine, and take it regularly, and it bounces around in the 120-140 range then. I have to continue doing that, as she says it gives a better record.


Tomorrow (ie, Wednesday), I go to have my eyes tested, and then on Thursday I have to try to get down to the place where I have the glasses made.


Take care everyone



sylvia
xxx

I went to see my eye specialist this morning. The pressure in my eyes is fine and he tested me with the chart, so eyesight is still ok. I do have a cataract in one eye, have had it for quite a while, but it doesnt need anything done as yet.

After lunch in nearby tearooms I went to visit Phil. He had finished his lunch and was awake and alert. I showed him the book of photos that I had made for him quite some time ago, spoke to him about the photos. I took him for a walk around the room (twice) and pointed out pictures on the walls. I was quite pleased with the visit.

On the way home I did some shopping, bought myself a small plastic guitar, obviously meant for a child, but I can never get my hand around the neck of an adults guitar. I might see if I can learn to play it. If not, it can go to the op shop. I will be working there tomorrow morning. I am just a reliever, so dont go in very often. I hope I can get a good nights sleep tonight, the last 2 nights I have woken after 1 hour and have had to come out here to have another cup of horlicks in the hopes of getting back to sleep.

Huia.

Mo, you always have an excuse , what am I going to do with you, you are costing me a fortune....I will give you one last chance, then you are barred.....lol....tsk....
Sallie what sort of camera did Alun get? I have an Olympus digital fits in my bag, so handy, D has the new fuji, its very good, btw have you used your sizzex? J has just bought me a cuttlebug it came with loads of folders, I love it...I watch tutorials on what you can do with it on youtube......is it Ann who has one..just got a bit of a block on at the moment, really need to start an album for a friend, so better get on with that....
Sylvia, I was sorry to hear about your friend, I am sure you will find the right things to say to her....
take care everyone winter is here, wrap up warm , although our friends over the water sound as though summer is a- coming, I have just put most of my summer clothes away ....ugh.... D said the gritters were out over the pennines, very worrying...well off to bed so nite nite all

love Jean xxx ((((((((((( x)))))))) for Ann who is under the weather....

Hello folks, how are we all today.
Sylvia, I am so sorry to hear of your friends terrible prognosis. It will be hard for you to bear. E.mailing her will be a little easier than speaking to her, as she will know by your tone of voice that something is wrong.
I hope your OH took his make up of before going out for the meal. I would have loved to have seen him done up in all his finery. But Huia's idea of the balaclava sounds good LOL.

Ahem, Sallie, don't tell Jean but we lost royally last night. We were up against a really strong team, who we have yet to beat. They are a very rowdy lot, don't get me wrong, we have a good laugh with them but, we end up with a headache when the game is over. And also they give the one arm gesture when they win a leg,and scream out loud, soooo annoying. But never mind theres always next time.
Yes love, Primani and Matala*d are two of my favourite shops. More my pocket I'm afraid these days. Roly's cousins wife, likes to shop at Mons**n
huh thats a joke as far as I am concerned, when I would only dare to wear
a dress bought there for special occasions.

Well we have had yet another cold ,wet day here. I hope it's been better where you all are.

Ann where are you, we are waiting to hear how your Cyprus holiday went.
I hope you are feeling a little better now. You can blame it on T, it's his fault you caught it.

I will say cheerio for now girls. Love to all Mo xxx

Sylvia, I'm really sorry to hear about your friend, her husband must be devastated! As you said, what do you say when you get in touch with her?

Hope OH wasn't stopped by the police on his way to the production.lol!


Liz, I also have a top sheet, as you say the duvet cover doesn't have to be changed every time the bed changed.
I can't understand why OH had never heard of putting a silver coin in a new babies had for luck, as far as I'm aware that's always been the thing to do.

It will be nice to have a chat with the babies mum when you ring her this week, you can then tell her the real reason why you didn't go to see them on Sunday.


Huia, I must say that you are really doing well going on these walks, especially where there are a lot of steps. I wish I had half of your energy and get up and go. I must say you put me to shame.lol!


Mo, how did your team get on at darts last night? I hope you won.

It looks as though you and I shop at the same exclusive shop, Primani's,lolol!!


Jean, Alun has had a new camera, so hopefully the photos he'll take with it, will come out a lot better than the last lot did, with his old camera.lol!


Well, we're about to have our dinner, so I'd better go now.

Love, Sallie.xxx

lol!! Huia


I think it might ............... and it would be the RCMP as well

............... the Mounties police the university lands!

Sylvia, these timelines are not always correct, some people are too stubborn to do what the docs say. And look at the way Daff is fighting so hard at present.

Your OH will have to wear a balaclava when he is on his way to the theatre with his make-up, but then I suppose that would make the police even more suspicious.

Huia.

Hi all

had a bit of a strange weekend.

Still don't have a kitchen sink, or all cabinets in place!

OH was in the student opera production again, Thursday through Saturday evenings and Sunday matinee .... so I was making him up before he dorve out to the uni.

He puts on the foundation, then I use eyebrow pencil for his eyebrows, to draw lines on his upper and lower lids, and a few on his face ........ then hope he doesn't get stopped by the police!!


Yesterday (Sunday) our friends came over from the Island (the 80 year old), went to the performance, then we all met up for dinner in our nearby bistro. That was fun


But in the afternoon I had received an email telling me that one of my friends is dying .... she has glioma, a type of brain tumour. She is now legally blind, but can hear, and her speech and command of language are also unaffected.

Her husband said her prognosis was 3-6 months ....... but she herself doesn't want to know the timeline ..... she's fighting

I've known her since 1959 when we were assigned to the same room in Residence at university. She now lives in Australia, having married her university boyfreind only last year .... they'd broken up before we all graduated, and both married other people.

Her husband died about 5 years ago.

He'd married and moved to Australia, but the marriage broke up ............... and they reconnected on Friends Reunited after both events had occurred.


Now I have to write an email to her that doesn't give any hint of the timeline of the sentence she's under.


Take care everyone


sylvia
xxx

Liz, the email I sent you bounced back. Is your email box full or is your sender playing silly bees, stopping any emails from my sender?

Huia.

Thank you for the photo's Huia. Thats quite a big bird isn't it. Phil must have really strong legs to have climbed all those steps
I hope you do, do a calendar next year, you have such a good eye with your camera.
And you raised some lovely money for the firemen didn't you.

I'm sorry I can't stay long as I have to get ready for darts.
I went for my eye exam today, and it's good news. She said that my sight has improved, not got any worse thank the lord. So I don't need new glasses. Thats a blessing in disguise, all that extra expense at this time of year, has been saved.
I went to Primani and bought the grandchildrens slippers today as well.
The assistant was a bit gob smacked when I put 7 pairs of slippers on the counter. But they were a bargain at only£3.00 a pair. Only another 4 pairs to buy.

Well girls I hope you are all well, and not suffering to much from all this wind and rain.
Bye for now, love to all. Mo xxx

Huia,the photos are lovely it was strange when I first saw them , my grandson, when he was about fourteen, came with me on a walk I let him use my camera, and was showing him various ways to "see" before he took the shot, well one of the photos he took was in black and white and is identical to the one of the steps, brought back so many happy memories... thank you...

Love Jean xx

You are right Liz about the lovely smell of fresh sheets, pity I dont feel like changing them every day! In the middle of winter I have blankets plus a duvet (or even 2 on a really cold night!). I always have a sheet on top of me and havent had to wash the duvet cover yet.

I went for a 'short' walk this morning on a track which has been 'closed' for a couple of years or so. I had to go down a lot of steps (I have done the track before), knowing that I would have to come back up them - good for the legs, lungs and heart I hope. I didnt get around to doing the washing until after lunch and didnt hang it all out on the line as there were some dark clouds but it didnt rain. I hung most inside but will hang it out tomorrow and I might even do another wash tomorrow to make sure all the winter clothes are clean before packing them away, hoping it doesnt turn cold again of course.

I sent a couple of photos of a Tui to Mo and will send her some of the steps. I will also send you some Liz so you can see what I have been up to. If anybody else wants to see them they will need to PM me their email addy. Maybe next year I will produce a calendar for 2012. I didnt fancy doing one for 2011, too much else on my mind.

Huia.

Huia, your walks sound lovely and nice that you could meet and chat to some new people and show them the way lol Good to hear Phil is eating and let you help too. Changing bed linen is a boring chore but I do love a freshly made bed with the linen smelling good. Do you use duvets or blankets?

I use a top sheet next to the duvet so the cover doesn't need changing every time, it makes them last longer and they don't fade so if they match the curtains they still look similar for longer, and it's much easier to change just the top and bottom (fitted) sheet and pillowcases. As you say tho, if you are wearing pjs you aren't going to be making the sheets as dirty as if you were skinny sleeping (well 'they' say skinny dipping so why not skinny sleeping lol

O.h. went off on his travels yesterday, I washed a shiny 50 p piece and wrapped it with a message to put it in baby's hand for good luck etc and none of the family had heard of that before! I thought it being an old tradition the g.grandfather, o.h.'s dad, would have known it. They managed to get lost on the way despite the old man having sat nav and o..h. having written instructions for finding the house from the son so he had to drive out and fetch them, they followed him back to the house. I can't tell you the times o.h. has got lost when driving alone - what a dozy lot they are! He said the Mum was pleased with all the little clothes and the fact that they aren't first size as she has a lot of those and told the g.grandfather when he asked that clothes would be good as Christmas gifts. I plan to ring her this week when o.h. is at work and ask if she would prefer a gift voucher from any particular shop so she can enjoy choosing what she wants/needs for baby and if she goes after Christmas she can get more for her money in the sales. I will also explain why I didn't visit with the o.h., he said he made up some excuse but didn't say what! Several photos came back, mostly of the baby with o.h. and with his dad, she is still very jaundiced but hope it will clear soon, seems quite a while, a week old and still yellow.

It reminded me of my Mum, apparently I was jaundiced when born so looked tanned, my dozy Mother thought I had a tan cos my Dad had come back from being in the army in Egypt or somewhere hot when she first met him more than a year before lol I really think she was serious when she told me that story.

Anyway, o.h. said they arrived at 1pm and his dad wanted to leave just after three so he could get home before dark, he's another one who doesn't like driving after dark! Consequently o.h. walked in the door around ten past 5, to my disappointment lol. All that way for such a short time and nothing but a cuppa given them. He then proceeded to sit down and eat the things he had taken with him, he said there hadn't been time before. Now he is diabetic and had driven from his father's to here, I asked what would have happened if he had felt ill as he did when we have been out and he hasn't eaten properly. Of course he poohpoohed my comments, what an idiot tho.

I was darned if I was going to cook dinner so told him he would have to get himself something, I got up and heated a can of soup around 8pm and suggested he do the same, he then said it was too late to eat so he just had toast. Lazy man! After he went to bed around ten pm I made myself scrambled eggs with cheese, on toast and lots of lovely tomatoes with it, and marmite on the toast. Why should I be stuck at home and he expect a meal when he gets back? Wouldn't have hurt him to have called and asked if I wanted something brought back, like pizza or fish and chips, we have a f and c shop not so far from here that fries on Sundays.

I am so looking forward to my four afternoons and evenings with him at work, hope I can catch up on here a bit and also with lots of phone calls that I owe folk.

love and hugs to all

Lizxx

Just a quick one to say we are home. I will write more about the week later but am too tired to do it today. Slightly jet lagged as Cyprus is two hours ahead of us but mainly I am tired because I ended up with T's cold and it is a nasty one, mainly a really bad cough and painful sinuses.

will just say we had a lovely time, the weather was fantastic with blue skies and sun all week.

Hello all.

It is another beautiful sunny day here. I am trying to decide whether I should go for a long walk first, or do the washing, which I havent been too bothered about in the wet weather, just washing smalls etc as needed. It is probably high (in more ways than one!) time I changed the sheets on my bed. I have been very lax this year. But then how dirty can they get in winter when I am dressed top to toe, apart from my head? I find it such a chore re-making the bed with fresh sheets. Lazy, that is me.

Off to wash the dishes now.

Huia.

My goodness Sallie, I got worn out reading your last nights post. It is really good to hear from you though love.
I didn't manage to get into Chatham the other day, but we are going tommorrow,as I have to have my eyes checked.
I have decided that the children are not going to getting as much for christmas this year as they have done in the past. I will get some slippers for them all when I am out tommorrow, and that wil be it.
It was different when I was still working, but having to manage on a pension is not very easy, with the prices rising every day.
How is your brother now. I know you went to visit him the other day.
Your cards should all sell like hotcakes, folks would be mad not to buy them.

For goodness sake Liz, what is wrong with Im Indoors family. Fancy not giving both of them some lunch. Are they going to feed the young niece and nephew, or have they got to go hungry as well. What a shambles.
Yes I can understand,that as a new mum and dad, they have to get themselves in to a routine. but it was arranged for the sons family to visit, before the other relatives.
The things you bought for the baby sound lovely. But I bet you don't get the thanks for going and purchasing them. And babies mum, will realise that it has taken a womans touch, to choose the bits and bobs you got.

Huia, I think you would make a great tour guide. I would be happy to have you show me all the sights you have told us about. And if your calendar from this year was anything to go by,well it was brilliant tour.
I bet Phil was enjoying his jelly and ice cream,thats why he allowed you to feed him it.
I bet the photo's of belligerent Bella,and Phil, in the album, made them look like book ends. LOL
I hate having my photo taken, I always end up looking like I have got two black eyes.

Jean have you done that washing yet. I just hope that it's nice and dry where you are, so that you can give it a nice blow on the line. It's flippin awful here at the moment. Very wet and overcast,and has been getting dark since about three thirty p.m. Oh how I hate the winter months.

I wonder how Sylvia's kitchen is shaping up. We have not had an update for a couple of days. Lets hope she hasn't committed murders over there.
Sylvia you have got more patience than I have sweetie, I would have no hair left, if my place was upside down for as long as you have had to endure it.

Love to all, Mo xxx

Hi All,

Liz, by how you described the clothes you bought for the baby, they sound really pretty, and I'm sure they'll be nice and warm for her during the winter.
Mind you, I don't know what it's like there, but it's cold here today, I'm just glad that I don't have to go out today.

It's great to have you back on this thread, I miss your stories when you don't come on here.

Hope all goes well with your Counsellor tomorrow, I'll be thinking about you. Also hope that OH will have listened to what you told him about eating
either sandwiches or bread and spread with what he bought. You'd think he'd have enough sense to know what he need's to eat. Anyway, I hope he get's home safely from his dad's, so at least you will have the for tomorrow.


Huia, it sounds as though you had an enjoyable walk, I'm sure it was nice to have a chat with the people you met. You were not rude at all to those people, it was very nice of you to help them and I'm sure they appreciated your help--I know I would have, had I been in their position.
.

It's good to hear that Phil was fine when you got there. I know that he was still eating his dinner, but it was nice that he was awake and that you could help him to finish eating.


Right, I have a couple of things to do, so I'd better get on with them,so I'll probably look in later.

Love to everyone. Sallie. xxx

I had my walk this morning (evening for you), over in the valley. I saw some people from a retirement village looking at the notice board. They thought they had come to the wrong place but when one of them pulled out a map with the route they were told to take I was able to tell them where to go (sound rude dont I?) I went a little way with them across some paddocks (fields to you) until we came to the road they had to walk down. There was a mountain trail bike event on so I hope they didnt skittle any of the cyclists, or get skittled by them.

I came home, had my shower and lunch and then went to visit Phil. He was still eating when I got there at 1pm. Jelly and icecream. He is very slow at times. I think his brain forgets to tell him to get another spoonful. He didnt object when I took the spoon and fed him. Sometimes when I try to take the spoon he does object.

I looked through a photo album that the carers had put together of photos of the residents. On the left hand side there was one of Belligerent Bella, as I call her, and on the right hand side there was one of Phil with an identical look on his face. It did make me laugh.

Better get off the computer, I dont like to be on it until later in the evening in case somebody tries to ring me.

Huia.

Glad you are home safely Jean, will respond to your pm soon

O.h is going this morning with his Dad to see the baby, I won't be driving 90 miles round trip on my own to see them, will wait and go another time with o.h. I went out and spent £40 of his money on baby clothes at Matalan, little sleepsuits and two fleecey ones to go over babygros for now and then when they are washed thinner they can become babygros as they are 3-6month size. A cute little pair of padded sock/shoes for £2.50 with kitten face and little ears to add warmth for little toes if needed and a gorgeous little needlecord dress in cream with pink print pattern, co ordinating pink long sleeved tshirt and a pair of leggings, for £10, all in 3 -6 month size so after Christmas Eva will probably be wearing them - after all we might get a really cold winter again and she will be 5 months old by the time March is ended and the weather warms up again hopefully.

O.h. got a call from his Dad to say there had been a message emailed (o.h. doesn't check his emails often so good thing his father got a message too) son asked if they could have something to eat before they get there and to arrive at 1 pm instead of midday as other relatives visiting, her small niece and nephew. As always, this lot couldn't organise a p***up in a brewery lol

O.h. went to supermarket and got a reduced pack of Quorn scotch eggs, the little ones, and a reduced pack of cooked chicken thighs, I told him he has to take sandwiches or bread and spread as just eating protein he will end up ill and disorientated as he did when we went over there to the bbq in the summer. I bet he doesn't bother, but let his father and son deal with him being unwell. The car will be at his Dad's so he better be well enough to bring it back when they get home as I need it to go to my counselling on Monday pm and his dad lives across the city from here, about 5 miles and not on a direct bus route!

I am looking forward to a few hours to myself later today and hope to call Caz for a chat or maybe Deanna.

Must get to bed in a mo tho so take care all,

Love
Lizxx

Forgot to say, when I was showing o.h. the little clothes he said, That must have been difficult for you, getting those. (because of my late daughter) Actually it wasn't too bad, I liked spending his money and spent twice as much as he said, brought lots of things for him to chose from but as he is such a ditherer she got all the items lol
Oh and then he brought me flowers back from the supermarket for shopping for the clothes, two bunches of freesias which altho it says strongly scented, don't have any scent at the mo. Trouble is, freesias were my late Dad's favourite flowers so it stirred up more memories. Also they will not last five minutes as the gas fire makes the room so hot and then it cools down to chilly, no central heating here!