General Chat

Well you can probably see the time I posted this. I slept from 1045 to 1215am then couldn't get back to sleep so came in to my office to look on here now 1253 so I had better go back to bed and see if I can drop off.

It was foggy this morning but cleared by about 10 am and turned into a beautiful day. I was picked up just after 11.30 by my “chauffeur” who then picked up another 2 ladies en route to the pub near Bury St Edmunds where we were meeting up for a friend’s birthday lunch, 7 of us in total. 3 of us decided on the 2 courses for £12.99 special and we all chose the salmon fillet as a main. The other 2 were happy with theirs but I thought mine was well overcooked and very dry. I had apple crumble and ice cream for a pud. That was nice and not too sweet.

Then it was back to the birthday girl’s house for tea and cakes and giving her our presents and lots more chat. I got home about 5.30 pm.

Considering that all I’ve done today is sit around and eat and drink I feel very tired. I hope I sleep OK tonight as I really need to get going and do some h/w tomorrow. I hope you all get a good night too.

Evening All.

Dry here today and not too cold. We were at the surgery earlier and OH is being referred on the 2 week pathway for further tests. The doctor wanted to get things moving to establish what is wrong which is why she brought the appointment forward. While we were out, he got another call from the surgery and had to go back as another blood test was wanted. His blood tests showed anaemia as he has Thalassaemia trait inherited from his mother which means his red blood cells are smaller than normal ones. I suspect the nurses don't always pass this on when they send the samples for testing and I don't think OH always reminds them. He mentioned it to the doctor this morning, so that may be why they need another blood test, but men don't ask enough questions do they.

We called at a garden centre cafe after and had a coffee and egg and mushroom roll, then looked at The Works and OH got a small diary he keeps in his car to record mieage for his work. I got a small board for doing my paintings on, which is bigger and firmer than the cardboard backs of my paintpaper pads I've used before.

I slept badly last night and was doing Sudoku puzzles from 1.30am. I heard a car outside later and went to check the letterbox and it was the local paper being delivered at 3.45 am!! :-0

One good thing today was that I found OH's spare car key in my handbag. It had somehow gone round the corner at the bottom of one of the zipped pockets so I hadn't felt it before, so that will be less expense! Now I just have to hopefully find mine. There will be more expense though, as I've noticed drips of water are trickling from a joint on the kitchen mixer tap and forming a wet patch around the base of the tap. When I ring to get the boiler serviced next week I'll ask the man if he does plumbing as well or if he knows someone local.

Mandy the gnome with a moustache will be interesting to see! Max is so clever isn't he. I bet he knows when it is biscuit time without needing the clock as well. I can just picture him dropping the biggest hints by sitting by the biscuit cupboard and then trotting to remind Colin and going back to the cupboard again to wait for him. I expect napping with his head on your foot, he gets to know when you move.

Oh heck no Emmerdale or Corrie, just as things were getting exciting in both. I was hoping to watch them in bed soon. At least there will be Corrie tomorrow as AnnG has updated those of us that watch.

I hope the birthday lunch went well Vera and that the birthday girl liked your lovely gift. It is a nice idea to have a little group like that.

Mel BIL obviously didn't come as you went to Holsworthy and had a good spend getting some gifts for Christmas. The Hamper is a good idea for Em with some goodies you know they like. I didn't think I'd like like Hardacres after watching the first episode, but it is slowly growing on me. I haven't caught up with All Creatures yet.

I'm off to bed now and hope to have a better sleep tonight.

Just got back from Holsworthy where I spent a lot of money on things I did'nt need and things I did need. I bought a few Chirstmas presents and sme sweets I like (peppermint creams and cherry liquoirs) some sweets for the boys to go with their money and a few bits for Em and Ed. I like to give them nice things to eat for the Christmas holiday, sweets cheese truckles, some of the mixed Border biscuits I bought them lst year and ~Em said last year where did I get them as they were so nice I have bught them again this year. I shall make up a hamper with some wine and cheese biscuits pickles and beer for Ed.

Just having a cuppa and I will corn the girls then dive down the freezer for something for dinner.

Anyone watching the Hardaches ? Did'nt think much of All Creatures last night too much walking about and not enough vetting etc.

Yes I noticed it was football tonight but didn't notice that coranation St was on on Sunday so thanks for the reminder Anng .

No Corrie or Emmerdale tonight but be aware that Corrie is on on Sunday.

Afternoon all,

Very foggy here first thing but now the suns shining and I can see lovely blue sky.

Ann my arm was just tender and felt bruised after the flu jab ,I can still feel it slightly if I touch it .
Yes Max lays at my feet a lot ,if I sit with my legs crossed he'll rest his head on my foot and nod off ,he's quite comical if he's waiting for a biscuit and Colin usually gives him one after we've finished eating he sits in the kitchen waiting and if Colin doesn't come through I only have to say we'll you'd better go and ask dad and Max goes shooting off to ask him then comes shooting back and sits by the cupboard where the biscuits are .

Mel the next gnome is called Garden gnome and he has a moustache and wonky hat .

Been baking this morning for the family ,cold tea loaf, jam sponge and Mars bar cake .
I keep thinking this is Saturday and nearly said don't forget yto alter the clocks tonight but that's tomorrow.

Really windy here and 15 degrees pc is telling me Rain next Monday.

Morning girls,

Nice bright sunny morning here so far and pc says as ususal mostly cloudy and 13 degrees.

Don't know if BIL is coming today or tomorrow and if it is sunny he will probably go over the moor for more photos.I have to stay in as this parcel is coming and I wanted to go and get chicken food today as up tll the 31st you get £2 off a bag of layers pellets and corn which is a good saving. The layers pellets is over £10.

Good morning all, still quite dark here and 14 degrees so not cold.
Seems strange looking down on the garden and not seeing any lawn but I am very pleased with it. they worked hard and got it done although Jake had forgotten the extra bits he was supposed to do. (weed killer on the patio and drive) so will come back in a couple of weeks as he is away next week. Only hope we have a few drt days that week for him to do it.

Mandy good idea to rest if you feel like it, no point in overdoing it.
Mel that sounded like a nice meal.
Ann yes, there are still a few weed cropping up in the left hand side gravel, although the very first lot of gravel, the large bed that Andy did, has had very few weeds right from the start. This time I asked Jake to use stronger membrane which hopefully he did. the main problem that side is the celandines that were consistently growing in the lawn.

Evening All,

Dry here and sunny now so the washing is dried on the rotary as there was a slight breeze. I slept quite well and so did OH although I woke up dreaming that I and someone else were loading things into our car boots and they kept putting my cases and bags in their boot by mistake and I had to keep getting them back out again. All the cases and bags were black so I had to keep opening them to check whose they were. We were up too late to go to Aldi as it gets very busy with long queues so will go another time.

OH had a phone call first thing to bring his appointment to discuss his test results forward from next week to tomorrow and to see one of the senior partners. That got him a bit worried, but an hour later they rang back to rearrange that appointment, still tonorrow, but to see the original doctor he saw who organised the tests.

AnnG, we found changing to gravel meant using weedkiller on it the first year or two, but once most of the weed seeds had grown and been killed there was less to do after that. It sounds like it will soon be finished for you now now and then you won't have any mowing to do which makes life a lot easier. Mrs O has even covered her narrow border now (as well as where the lawn was) with a different coloured gravel and just had a few shrubs amongst it. I'll be glad when we finish our front garden now, but it is deciding exactly how to have it that's holding it up.

I see you are hopefully getting a replacement garden vac tomorrow Mel. I hope BIL brings it soon so you can use it before all the leaves are down. Yes they are stupid expecting us to carry hot plates, but I'll ask for serviettes next time if there aren't any put out to use.

Vera I had to smile when I started getting a lecture from OH about being more careful with car keys as he is the only one who has lost car keys since I've known him. It might be me that has mislaid them though so I'm going to have another good look tomorrow in all of my coat pockets and handbags and look under the car seats and in the boot too. They aren't cheap to replace these days, but I think there is a key policy with my car insurance so I can check that as well.

I hope your jabs haven't given you any trouble Mandy. I wonder where all of our get up and go goes to! :-) It sounded nice and relaxing you crocheting and Colin doing some of the jigsaw. I expect Max was flopped at your feet having a nap! I bet the children will love some of your home made cakes!

Iv'e had three callers today. First it was Vron who runs the 100 club at the village hall so we had a god chat and not soon after she had gone Em turned up for eggs. I just had a dozen and one but had'nt fed the chickens. We had a good natter aand she told me that at her father in laws house they have a blck pheasent that comes in his garden. They are going to send me a picture of it nd if its there on a day BIL comes I am going to ask if he can go round for a picture.

After those two came the posty came with a little parcel for me.

I have been fishing leaves out of the big pond many times today and when I do it the fish think they are going to be fed. I did it first thing after the first lot of leaves were gathered and then missed quite a few times and then they had some more food in the afternoon. Its been dry all day up until it got dark when I could feel rain n the air. Its still 14 degrees but I have had the heating on for a while as I felt cold.

As to the garden vac, BIL rang today and said a new one shoud be coming tomorrow and to wait till he gets here to open it and he will put it together for me. I have to put it all back in the box as it was and the postman will come and take it back.

They should give you something to hold those red hot plates with in the carvery as someone with very sensative skin could get badly burned. I think its a disgrace to ask you to hold hot plates while they serve you. You'll have to take some oven gloves if you go there again. What a silly idea to take away the rubber trays. Perhaps you should buy some of those silicone oven things and keep them in your bag. I wonder how many plates are going to be broken with people dropping them because they are too hot to handle!!!

Just doing my smoked haddock for dinner with some nice tenderstream broccoli and a jacket potato. I am also having fruit and custard for dessert.

Vera I hope you have a better night tonight sleep wise. Sounds like you lways find lots to talk about even though you see people a couple of times a week.

Mandy whats the new gnome? you have been doing today?

Evening all,

It's been a lovely. sunny day here ,we went shopping and had good intentions of doing a few jobs in the garden but by the time we had put shopping away had a coffee and Colin rang his sister all the good intentions had gone and it was nearly lunch time and this afternoon was no better we couldn't find the get up and go so sat crocheting and Colin did a bit on the jigsaw.

Anng it sounds as if the men got on well today in your garden ,they had a nice dry day to get it done , it was good they saved your Michaelmas daisy and the bulbs and they didn't get covered with the chippings.

Mel what a shame the bits were broken on your garden hoover and just when you needed to use it too .

Ann those plates at the carvery can be boiling hot and we use to use the serviettes to hold the plates ,if they don't have any you'll have to ask if you can have a tray , don't know how they think people can hold boiling hot plates without something to hold them with .
We always have those moisture pots on the bedroom window sills it's surprising how much water you get in them .

Hope you can get a better night's sleep tonight Vera , that's very strange about the glasses ,they must have got thrown out somehow as our teaspoons seem to ,I think its when Colin has a yogurt the spoons in the pot and in the bin it goes .

I've just put some fruit to soak in some tea so I can make a cold tea loaf for son and family ,I think I'll make a sponge and some scones too ,with the children on holiday this next week they won't last long they'll soon eat them up.

It's a bit breezy but it's been dry all day and at the moment it's sunny. I didn't sleep much again last night and when I got up at 2.30 am and made a cup of tea I noticed my neighbour's light was on so I guess she wasn't sleeping either. I nearly rang and invited her to join me for a cuppa, lol.

It sounds as though Jake and his mate are getting on well with your garden AnnG. I hope the weather has stayed dry for them so they can get it finished.

What a shame your garden hoover was broken when you came to assemble it Mel. I hope the company will change it for your bil.

Any sign of the missing keys yet Annx? Isn't it strange how things go walkabout. In our house it's glasses. I had 9 tumblers in a kitchen cupboard, then there were 8 and now there are 7 yet neither of us have broken any. I also had 10 everyday wine glasses (got with green shield stamps about 50 years ago). I threw one away because I noticed it was chipped so I should have 9 but now there are only 8 :-S

We went to the Thursday coffee meet this morning; 7 ladies at one table and the 3 men took themselves off to another table. As usual we put the world to rights. I often wonder how we find so much to talk about as we saw each other on Monday night and some of us will be meeting again tomorrow at a birthday lunch. I've just wrapped my presents for the birthday girl who isn't one of the coffee crowd. I've got her a pack for her to grow an amaryllis with a pot and a nice smelling candle in a tin.

Methinks it's time for an afternoon cuppa. The kettle earns its keep in this house. Not much to do for dinner tonight as I've got half of yesterday's stew left to heat up. I've just got to make some dumplings.

Jake and another fellow working hard today. His dad is not well, sounds like flu so he has a fellow I have not seen before to help him. Seems like a hard worker too. they are getting on with it.

Yesterday they recovered my Michaelmas daisy and a load of bulbs from the front garden so I have some bulbs to plant out now. tulips and daffs. And a fe grape hyacinths.

difficult for me to know what to do as I need to be available to answer questions, make coffee etc.

Morning girls,

Well the pc is saying mostly sunny and 13 degrees but Iv'e not seen any yet just miserable grey sky with darker clouds looking very much like rain.

Iv'e sent a message to Stuart wishing him a happy birthday and thats it so far today.

Hope you get your graveling finished today Anng.

Slept well but got up twice in the night for the bathroom but must have dropped off right away afterwards but had two strange dreams that I can't remember.

Good morning all, grey here and 9 degrees but dry so hoping it will stay dry until the gravel is finished. Vera, I have been quite happy with the garden since the large bed was gravelled and then the left hand part of the lawn was taken up and gravelled as well. I have now decided that taking the right hand side up and gravelling is the right thing to do. Originally it was quite a large lawn and hard work keeping it nice. I have been really pleased with how the gravelling has looked so I am hoping this last bit will complete the effect. I expect it is not to everyone's taste and I do like to see a nice lawn. However mine was not nice and I really could not keep the weeds out of it. And it is great not having to factor in mowing the lawn, especially when so much of the time it was too wet to do it.

Good evening

Last night the weather app said it would be foggy this morning, at 8 am it said it was foggy, at 8.05 I looked out of the window and it was perfectly clear. There hasn’t been a sign of fog all day. At times it’s been bright and sunny, other times cloudy.

I did the ironing first thing before getting dressed. There wasn’t much as I iron the minimum. Then it was shower, hair wash, and some general tidying up before making a few phone calls. After lunch I had a big Tesco delivery so that took a while to sort out and put away. I had big packs of some products that needed to be split into smaller lots and frozen which all takes time. Nothing missing and no subs so that was good. I also got a stew for 2 days prepared and cooking. We had half tonight with a jacket potato and a bit of cauliflower that I wanted to use up. Tomorrow I’ll reheat the other half and throw in some dumplings.

It was good that you and Colin managed to get your jabs done Mandy. I hope your arms aren’t sore and you don’t have any ill effects. Ours aren’t till 9th November.

I hope you get a good turnout for your quiz next month Gwyn

It’s a shame Jake and his Dad couldn’t finish your garden work AnnG. We had our lawn taken up when we first moved here and haven’t really regretted it though we did make bigger beds for shrubs and flowers which seem to make a lot of work with weeding and looking after the plants. Yes, our committee at the Club are a bit protective of their jobs but you can really only have one person handling the money side and one to book speakers but we all take a turn organising the raffle and sorting the teas and we all suggest possible speakers or outings.

Thanks for suggestions for attracting new members but we’ve tried just about everything. When I was chairman cum secretary I wrote a piece after every monthly meeting saying what we had done that month, what was happening next month and saying new members were always welcome. That went into the Suffolk Free Press and the East Anglian Daily Times. We are listed in the local quarterly newsletter which goes to every house in the locality and there have been notices up in various places. Oh well, at least we are staggering on. Several other clubs have closed.

OH has annoyed me by doing his usual trick of putting a programme he wants on the TV and then going to sleep. I tried turning it off but then he woke and insisted that he was watching it on and off. Yeah, right. The only thing he was watching was the back of his eyelids ;-)

Evening All,

A mostly dull day here too with a little sunshine later in the day. The washer's on with towels and light colours that I hope to dry outside tomorrow, but, if not, it will be rads and airer inside a bit like Gwyn.

I hate the clocks changing this time of the year too. I enjoyed those few years when they didn't change them.

At least Jake and his dad did a lot of the work today AnnG. Will you be lawnfree like us then? We have never regretted it although a well kept lawn does look good. Lawnfree looks neater in winter though.

We went to the carvery today as we had 30% off voucher again. Not many were there and we noticed they have now not only stopped using the rubber plates to carry your carvery plate in, but additionally now there are no serviettes on hand to carry your hot plate with and the plates were quite hot today. At least the meal was nice today though. We then went to the nearby Factory Shop as I wanted some of their gentle grip socks. Having read Mandy's post I could kick myself as I never thought to buy some of their moisture absorbing crystal pots while I was there. Our window condensation is all at the bedroom windows on the front and nowhere else usually and I wanted to try them after meeting the lady with the Hedgehogs who recommended them last time I was there.

OH has managed to get up in the loft to look for my spare car key which we think he might have hid there when we went away last time, but no luck so it looks like I will have to get another. The daft thing is we seem to have also mislaid his his spare car key now as well. :-S

OH stayed in tonight instead of going to footie. His back and sides have been less painful today after a good sleep last night and he was probably thinking standing in the cold wouldn't help. There's plenty of sport for him to watch on the tv.

All I've done today is clean the bedroom bay window and done some dusting.

OH wants to pop to the Aldi that was closed to be extended a little while ago, so depending what time we get up tomorrow we might pop there.

O dear Anng all our plans seem to go wrong when we think we have ourselves sorted and then something happens to put a spanner in the works. :-( At least your gardener handy men come I am still waiting for mine to call back in about the [atio roof and the box hedge I think its going to be down to me, not the roof but part of the box hedge but only what I can reach with the hedge trimmer.