General Chat

Hi there. Just to let you know I am still in the land of the living. I dont post much as I seem to be doing much the same thing day after day. My son did come up from Rotorua last Fri night and took me to visit Phil on Saturday, then treated me to lunch on the way home. All I had was a muffin - I dont usually have a big lunch. But he had a full breakfast, plus some other thing. I dont know where he packs it all as he is not overweight, but then he does exercise a lot, 3 evenings at the gym and tramping most Saturdays. At Labour weekend (late October) I have been asked if I could go down to Rotorua to house/dog sit for them as they will be staying in a time-share at Turangi and climbing Tongariro and doing other tramps. They wont be able to take the dogs, anyway one of the dogs is on medication and the other has arthritis.

I was late getting up this morning. It is now 9 a.m. so I suppose I should get the dishes done and hang out the damp washing to finish off if the weather stays fine for long enough.

Huia.

Sylvia, I hope you enjoy your time at the cabin and that it doesn't turn too cold for you.
Sallie, we are going for 4 weeks, back on 2 October. yes we are blessed with a lovely family.

Hi One and All,

Sylvia, I hope you and OH will enjoy your time away at the cabin, and also hope that the weather be alright for your stay there. We shall miss you on here for next couple of weeks.

Hope all is well with your daughter and her family. Sending hugs and kisses to MJ.


Ann, so pleased that you and OH enjoyed your week in Jersey. You certainly had a lovely anniversary celebration with all your family--- and some great presents. It's so nice that you have such a lovely family.

How long are going to Tenerife for? I'm sure you've already told us, but I can't remember what you said, sorry.




Liz, I've read your thread and as I said on there. I'm sorry that OH's NY son wasn't very nice to him. I felt a bit sorry for him when I read your post.

Did you feel comfortable in your outfit? I bet you looked and felt like a million dollars.
Looking forward to hearing from you soon. You can call me nosey, if you like.lolol!!!


Jean, lovely to see you on here, I hope that you are feeling better. Also hope that J and D are both okay. Thank you for your good wishes for our anniversary.



Debbie, I see that you're as busy as usual. Your lunch out was certainly good value for money--- I wish there was somewhere near here like that.

I hope that Matthew and his friend manages to catch a few fish tonight and that Daniel had a good day at the Athletics meet in Crawley.
Did Luke and Sophie's cakes turn out alright? You can't beat home made cakes, so much better than the shop bought ones.


Mo, you sound as though you are worn out. Did you say that your granddaughter goes home on Friday? At least you'll be able to have a rest then. Thank you for your good wishes for our anniversary.

Have you heard anymore about your nephew? I really hope that things will get better for him.


Dutch, how are things with you today? I hope you're feeling a bit better than you've been lately.Has Jan started back to work?



We haven't heard from Marie and Huia for a while, I hope that they are both okay.


Now Mo, I'm going to have a nice cup of tea, you know how much you and I love our cuppa.

I'll speak to you all soon.


Love and best wishes. Sallie.xxx

Hi everyone


what a lovely anniversary celebration you had Ann ..... and such wonderful rpesents from your family.


Mo ..........errrrrrrrrrrr ....... have to ask this. Couldn't your granddaughter do her own washing??????????

And some of yours at the same time, of course!

My daughter helped out with doing the laundry from about that same age. If she needed stuff washing at other than "family" laundry time ..... she did it, and threw in anything else that she could find.


This could be the last time I post for a time .... we're planning on going to our cabin on Thursday, and won't be back until about the13th September. No electricity at the cabin, so we won't even bother taking the laptop with us. It's a 60 km trip into town and the nearest cafe with free internet access.

The weather is forecast to be cooler and damper than it has been for months ..... that should help the wildfire situation.

If it is too cold and damp .... we'll come home early!


Take care everyone


sylvia
xxx

Hi Debbie, I guessed that was what happened. Yes it was Thursday we got drenched, the day of the flooding in town and the subsidence on the main road, horrific rain wasn't it? Coffee we had in Rozel was at the shack on the quay. Glad you enjoyed lunch, when we were there on Friday the place was heaving, I think there was a coach in for lunch. We walked on St Ouen beach but didn't run on the dunes!!!! Yes a big increase in traffic from 10 years ago and certainly from 50 years ago. Still some pretty scenery though. The other time we got wet we were walking the 2.5 miles from The devil's Hole to Greve de lecq, it was beautifully sunny when we left and half way a black cloud came over and we were very wet!!!

Mo, no problem with giving my name to Debbie and thanks for the good wishes.

Hi Ladies, gosh my ears have been burning whilst I've not been on here.

Ann, I am so happy you liked the little gift - I got your surname from here then realised when I went to the Hotel that you didn't exist with that name. So I asked Mo, as she knows everything there is to know of any importance (thanks Mo, you are a star), and then was able to deliver the gift with the correct surname, so it was me who changed it on the envelopes. I had to go back to the Hotel twice, but not a problem as nowhere is very far.

Coincidentally, we have just been for Lunch at Jersey Pearl today and it was delicious. It is one of our favourite eateries that side of the Island.

I am pleased you had a good time over here - I wonder if it was Thursday afternoon that you were caught in that downpour? I was in the shop and the carpark was calf high in water when I came out. There was some severe flooding that afternoon when we received a whole months worth of rain in one hour. Were you having coffee from the Hungry Man cafe? It is lovely there and has a wide ranging reputation for excellence.

Anyway, I have to agree with you about the traffic. It really is so heavy at this time of the year and I expect you noticed quite an increase since you were last here 10 years ago. But at least you were able to use the buses and make the most of your tickets.

It is a lovely sunny day here today but very windy. Daniel is in Crawley all day at an Athletics meet, Matthew has been to the beach with a friend, they have now gone to dig bait and are going fishing on the high tide tonight. After that they will sleep at the friends grans house which is near the pier where they fish from.

So as Peter had the day off and we only had Luke & Sophie, we took them to the beach with the intention of going boogie boarding, but it was too windy and cold, so we went to the golf range and knocked some balls off the practice areas, then went out for a lovely lunch. We selected the set menu and had the "Mini Portions", and when our receipt was printed it stated that we had ordered "OAP Weekday Set Menu". Now Peter & I may be getting on in years, but I don't think Luke at the age of 9 really justifies that title. It was plenty for us all though and just the right sized portions for lunch. We had the set menu as it was a lot cheaper than any other combination of courses - 3 courses & coffee/tea for £8.25.

After lunch we went and ran off the excesses on the sand dunes and my legs will never feel the same after having hiked up and down that sand. It is so difficult to climb up, and easy to slide down. We took a ball and had a good hour and a half running around with the children.

I am at home now. Luke & Sophie are baking cakes, Peter has gone to play snooker and Matthew is still out with his friend. Daniel is due back to Jersey at 7.10 so I'll go and fetch him later.

So, there you are. Up to date with the family.

Speak to you all later in the week. Have a nice evening.

Debbie xx

Hello everyone
Thank god you are back safe and sound Liz. I was reading some of your news on your thread.
I have to say, that I do feel for Im Indoors, for the treatment he has received from his son.
Fortunately you were sitting on the outside and did not get the flack from the son as well.
Perhaps now he may have learn't his lesson, that he was being used by his son. You had already worked that out for yourself hadn't you love.

I feel awful because I missed Ann and Sallie's anniversaries, so I would like to take this opportunity to CONGRATULATE you both.

It sounds like you had a fabulous time Ann.
And I hope you didn't mind my giving Debbie your correct surname. The poor girl was really fretting that she had the wrong name.
It was such a shame that you were unable to meet each other.
I know that Debbie tried to contact you twice, bless her.

Hi Jean, good to hear from you.
How the devil are you J and D doing. When are you of to Wales again, see
I have forgotten again.
Are there any updates on your noisy neighbour. Has she quietened down
lately.

I am waiting for my grandaughter to get back. She is out with her boyfriend, so the peace and quit will soon be shattered.
I think I am getting to old and set in my ways to have an 18year old around all the time. As much as I love her, she is hard work.
I don't think I have had this much washing since my five were little.
We have had a glorious day today, sunshine all the way. So I have managed to get the bathroom mats all washed and dry.

Bye for now girls. Love to you all. Mo xxx

Yes Jean we go to tenerife on Saturday and yes that is where I will be reunited with my netbook. Glad you enjoyed it.

Oh Ann, what a wonderful way to celebrate your anniversery. and what a lovely thoughtful family you have, so many great memories and lots of pics I am sure, hope I get to see some. please...I see you are off on your hols soon how long for ? and is this when you pick up your netbook.... all in all a very succsessful time was had by all. thanks for sharing it with us....thank T as well as he was a big part of it too....
love Jean xx

And just making sure that everyone sees this:

Again thank you to all who sent cards:
Ginnie, Jean YCaz, Joyce (Dutch), Sallie, Debbie, thank you all for the lovely cards.

We bought a 5 day bus pass which meant we could hop on and off buses as we wanted. We didn’t really visit the attractions as we had been before except for Jersey Pearl and Jersey Gold and the Museum at St Helier. Jersey gold we didn’t think much of this time, we felt it had changed from when we were there 10 years before. Jersey Pearl we went to twice. Once when we bought watches to commemorate our Golden wedding and the second time to buy me a pair of earrings. We were pleasantly surprised at how cheap the restaurant was and how good the food looked. We had sandwiches as we’d had a big breakfast and they were lovely and fresh. The museum we thought was excellent, very well done and informative especially the film. Strange to find that we were almost part of history as the film had pictures of 1957 and our first visit to Jesey before we were married was in 1958. We recognised all the old coaches and the little streets of St Helier. One thing we could learn to live without was the horrendous traffic, narrow roads and lots of cars, a nightmare for drivers especially with the buses hurtling around. The buses are very well used, always full with people standing.
On our anniversary we had a full day out then a lovely meal in the evening when I had Crab, avocado and tempura prawn to start followed by then raspberry sorbet, then half a lobster and salad with Jersey Royals followed by hot bakewell tart, raspberry coulis and icecream. (Yes I did put on weight). T had asparagus soup, sorbet, Sirloin steak and cheese and biscuits. All accompanied by a bottle of Pinot Grigio. Then we had a surprise parcel arrive from Debbie who lives in st Helier, naughty girl but a lovely gift of two pretty mugs from jersey pottery and a lovely card too thank you so much Debbie., we were thrilled.
We went mostly all over the Island by bus so the tickets worked well. Then on Saturday when we had no bus pass we walked from the hotel out to st Aubin, it was a lovely sunny day and we really enjoyed the walk out and back, then we ended the holiday with an afternoon sunbathing on the balcony.
The flights out and back were trouble free and quick (just over thirty minutes), a bit bumpy on the way home as it was very windy as it had been all week. Eldest grandson met us at the airport in Southampton and we collected out car from daughters and were home just after 7pm.

On the Friday before we went away, we were at our daughter’s and we all went out to celebrate our third grandson getting four A levels. Daughter and SiL paid and we had a lovely meal at a Tapas restaurant in Winchester.
On the Saturday we had a family party to celebrate our Golden wedding, there were thirteen of us (born on the thirteenth I am not superstitious.) That included my sister and our eldest grandson’s partner. SiL did us a lovely barbecue and his mother who is in her eighties had made us a lovely rich fruit cake. Daughter had then bought a Sainsbury’s sponge and iced and decorated the fruit cake. The sponge was placed as the top tier of the cake so it looked like a wedding cake, that was a lovely surprise. As T and I were sitting next to each other on the settee talking we realised that the room had emptied and then the family all filed back in and stood in a row facing us. Granddaughter (8) came over and gave me a gift bag. Inside was a CD of Love Never Dies which we thought was rather nice for the occasion. Then suddenly an envelope was given to T by Youngest grandson numbered 2 which was theatre tickets for Love Never Dies in London on 23rd October. That was a wonderful present as well. Then Next grandson gave me an envelope numbered 3 which was a beautifully designed card that had a message “Exchange me for 2 train tickets to London”. Then next grandson gave T an envelope numbered 4 which contained hotel reservations for 3 nights at the Swissotel the Howard in Temple Place, Then Eldest grandson gave me an envelope numbered 5 which had another card in which said “Exchange me for £400 spending money. Phew what a wonderful present we were ‘gobsmacked’ and haven’t come down from floating on air yet. It was a real surprise that Son and Daughter had hatched between them.
Our week in Jersey was lovely. The weather was not brilliant but we still had three afternoons when we were able to sunbathe on our hotel balcony from where we had a wonderful view of St Aubins bay right round from Elizabeth castle at St Helier to the harbour at St Aubins. We did get drenched on one occasion when we had gone by bus to Rozel when the weather was fine, just as we sat by the quay with a coffee there were a few spots of rain, within minutes it was a downpour and when we went for the bus we had 10 minutes to wait in the rain with no shelter at all. Luckily we both had raincoats. The rain stopped while we were on the bus then started again as we got odd and walked to our hotel. We looked like drowned rats when we got back. Thank goodness for heaters in rooms and heated towel rails!

Welcome home Ann , we have missed you, look forward to hearing more about the holiday and your celebrations....

love Jean xx

Just a quickie to say yes we are back, will write more about our week tomorrow but meanwhile I have to say many thanks for the cards Sallie and Jean. And to Debbie, thank you so much for the card and surprise parcel, they are lovely, we didn't actually go to the pottery this time but we are so pleased with them. I am sorry we were unable to meet up but I had guessed that you were, as usual, probably too busy. Did you change the name on the address, I noticed it originally had my maiden name which may have confused the hotel but it had been changed. Did you write and thereby hangs a tale after you had crossed out my maiden name and inserted our married name? It gave us a giggle as we had something very similar happen when on honeymoon. Anyway, you were very naughty and I didn't expect it but thank you so much.

Hello girls, how are you all.
It's been heaven today, my grandaughter has gone to her boyfriends mums for the day.
I took advantage of the fact of her not being here, to change her bed linen.
My word, I wish my daughter had taught her to take her make up of before going to bed.
The quilt cover, and pillow slips were covered in foundation.
I think I shall be giving her a lesson in make up removal, before she goes home on friday.
It's been another awful day here in Kent. We had very heavy rain this afternoon, I had to make a quick run into the garden to get the washing of the line.
My son is of to Scotland on Tuesday night/Wednesday morning, they are going up to visit granny up there.
They have borrowed our car, and we have got theirs. The problem is, I can't drive it, it's to big for me to see over the bonnet, and it frightens the life out of me.
We have a ford focus and theirs is a vauxhall calibre, very sporty, but also very juicy, hence the borrowing of our car, it's more economical on the petrol.
I wonder if Ann and T are back from their holiday in Jersey yet. I know that Debbie said that they have had quite a lot of rain over there.
I hope the wedding went well for Liz.
Take care girls, love Mo xxx

Jean, thank you for your anniversary wishes. Alun is feelimg a bit better today, but still doesn't feel a 100%, so we've decided that we'll go for a meal another time. We've been out just to get a few things that we needed, we weren't out long, but Alun was glad to get home.

I hope you are feeling better today. Are you and J going anywhere over the weekend?

I'm still ploughing on with the card making, the fair that I was originally making them for is today, I got mixed up with date I'm afraid. They have another fair in November so they can have the cards for that one, plus a few more.


I hope everyone is alright. I'll speak to you soon.


Hope you all enjoy the Bank Holiday!

Love and best wishes. Sallie. xxx

Just a quick Hi,

have had to reconnect my old computer, as seem to have a cable to connect me to the internet missing from the old one!
It is dry outside at the moment, so off to sit in the bac-garden for a little while.

Try to get back here later for a proper chat.

Tess

Whoops spoke to soon , its pouring down ah well such is life , still have a nice one.

love Jean xx

Happy 43rd anniversery to our Sallie and Alun, have a wonderful day, hope Alun is feeling better.xxxxxx

Have a good bank holiday everyone, sun shining now,hope its the same where you all live, ~~~~~~~~~~~~ to our friends across the water ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
take care out there....
love Jean xx

Hi Everyone,

Just a quick look in, to see how you all are.

Debbie, it's nice to see you home again. Pleased that you all had a good holiday.


Liz, hope the wedding goes well tomorrow, and that your OH will be on his best behaviour. Try and stay calm, and remember that by this time on Sunday it will all be over.


Jean, sorry that you haven't been very well, I hope that you are feeling a bit better now.
We were going to go out for a meal for our anniversary tomorrow, but I'm not sure if we'll be able to go now, as Alun isn't feeling very well, he's got a very heavy cold, shivery and aching all over. He's done nothing but doze since he came home from work this afternoon. So will have to wait and see how he is tomorrow.



Mo, you sound as though you're really enjoying having your granddaughter
stay with you. How much longer is she with you for?
It's amazing how much the young people seem to eat. I don't remember if we ate like that when we were young.

Are you going anywhere over the Bank Holiday? We never go anywhere on a Bank Holiday because it's always so crowded wherever we go, so we prefer to stay at home.



Ann, I hope that you and T had a lovely anniversay today, and that you've also had a good holiday in Jersey.



Marie, Huia, Dutch and Sylvia, I hope that you are all okay.



Speak to you all tomorrow.


Love and best wishes to you all. Sallie. xxx