General Chat

good morning all 14 degrees but supposed to be getting colder. Slept ok with an hour awake in the middle. got to wash my hair this morning. Still having to do it with the spray over the bath, not easy. But until I can get this appointment have to stick with it.
:-D :-D :-D Annx I can't unsee that on Mel's thread now (smoked kippers!!).

Yes Vera second blood test booked for after I return from son's.
Pleased that you found somewhere to visit in the rain but it sounds as if strange bed and dashing around have not been good for your back. That museum sounds interesting. I remember visiting Motzart's house/museum in Saltzburg. (and I realise now that is a long memory from the late 90s.)

Evening All,

I thought you put smoked kippers there for a moment Mel, Yes it does seem that people light bonfires when they've been rained on. Smoke from our our neighbour's bonfire or barbeque always blows over our garden and inside if windows are open.

Another frustrating day here! First I was pleased to get an email from the window people, but it was only to confirm an engineer would be sent, not so pleased that they would email an appointment within the next fortnight! Makes it hard to make other arrangements till I know when.

Then I had to ring my mobile provider, as they said last month's payment hadn't gone through and so I was on their full charges! OH had the same last month as we have both had new cards, so I knew and expected the same. OH just rang and notified them and everything was ok again after the phone call. Not so when I did it! They notified me after my call that the payments had been restored again, but didn't tell me they hadn't restored my service!! I only found out later when I tried to text a friend and it said my service was deactivated. A lengthy phone call then and they tried to get me to take my sim card out, which needs a pin to remove, so instead they said switch the phone off and on again and they would ring me in 2-3 minutes. An hour and a half later they rang and asked if it was working, but I had to try it then as they hadn't said to try it! Anyway it is working now, but no apologies and most of my day disrupted!! It's a good job I hadn't gone out and broken down with my car earlier and couldn't ring the breakdown people.

Enough of my tales of woe! I wished I'd had my camera handy when we had lunch as a young Squirrel went past the middle flower bed carrying what looked like a big walnut with the green casing still on it and must have left or buried it under the arbour. Then he went among the flowers in the middle bed and decided to have a wash and brush up and was facing us through the patio door. It would have made a nice shot with the Violas around him. That's reminded me that this morning I sent my photo of the Red Kite to Love your Weekend that's on on Sunday mornings to see if they wanted to add it to the pictures they show on the 'Walk on the Wild Side" part of the programme.

Mandy I meant to say thank you for mentioning those programmes that will be coming soon. It will be good to have them to look forward to. They say one job leads to another anyway don't they, but as you say, you have to sort what to do in the right order. We need a new bedroom carpet and some decorating doing, but no point till the ensuite has had tiles etc ripped out and all the mess cleared up!

That's good you found your test results AnnG. Our surgery site shows the NHS App too. I have been prediabetic before on tests, but losing weight brought mine down into normal, now I think it will be going up again!

I now have two pairs of smoked knickers and 4 pairs of smoked socks as I did'nt bring those in! O and a fleece hat.

One wet day today then Vera such a shame but it seems you enjoyed the Mozart's house museum. What are the cakes like in the afternoon with coffee? Is there a good choice? Its lovely your getting about but a shame the back is playig up a bit. Have a nicce rest after your meal tonight and I hope the rain eases by the time you go back to the hotel.

Its 15 degrees here now and the suns been out since just after I posted this morning. Done washing and theres been a good blow so it dried well enough to iron but when I went out for the fouth thing someone had lit a really smelly bonfire and all the smoke was coming my way so I had to rush and get the rest of the washing in. Why is it that people light fires on a nice day after days of rain. Don't they have any washing of their own? or dos'nt theirs see the light of day?I was so cross as I had the windows open too for a good blow through.

Moan over.

Its just started to cloud over a bit as I type. Better do the chickens corn as I'm a bit late.

Afternoon all

Well, it has been a very wet old day. In the last hour it has eased up quite a lot so that it’s just light rain now but it wouldn’t surprise me if it doesn’t pour down again later.

I looked at some maps and found Mozart’s House Museum tucked away down a side alley near the cathedral so we trudged there in the bucketing rain. That was a really good find, much more interesting than we expected and good value. It was the equivalent of £8.50 for seniors and everyone had their own piece of audio equipment to use or not in the different areas. We were there for 2 hours, just dried out nicely when we had to face the pouring rain again. It was getting on for 3 pm and we hadn’t had lunch but decided to get back to the hotel and have some coffee and cake there. I’ve since showered and warmed up but in another hour we will have to go out again for our evening meal.

My back is also giving me a lot of problems. I think it’s due to all the standing about and slow strolling I’ve been doing over the last few days.

Annx, I will remember that tip about the thick rubber bands. What a rigmarole it was to try to get your front door sorted and to set up your new account. I am sure all these new “improvements” create a lot more work and consequently more costs.

I hope you managed to get your second blood test booked AnnG and maybe had a nice chat to the friend who came to take you to the surgery.

Afternoon all,

It's brightened up now and dry after a drizzly start to the day ,its one of those days where I don't know whether to hang the bedding out or not ,it's 15 degrees but it seems warmer to me and still muggy indoors .

Vera I'm sure you'll find something to do in the dry but I hope you don't get to wet getting there , looking forward to seeing one of those ice creams .

Glad your OK Ann ,fancy having to wait for an email you'd have thought they would have been able to just sort if there and then ,why is everything made so complicated these days .

We sat this morning making a list of all the jobs that need doing inside and out ,not big jobs just little things like pulling the cooker and fridge out to clean behind ,what started the list was when I got my tablets out the other day pushing one out of the foil pack it shot out rolled across the cooker and went down through a slot at the back of the cooker so I must make sure when we pull it out that I make sure max is shut out so he doesn't get it .
Some of the jobs are well we can't do that until we've done this so there's lots to keep us busy.

Vera temp here has dropped from 17 degrees to 13 so looks similar. There was something about an Artic front expected with very low temps from tomorrow until Thursday here in UK.

Morning all

My goodness, this is a shock to the system. It’s suddenly gone from temperatures in the 30s and non stop sunshine to 17 degrees and heavy rain. The forecast is that the rain is here for the day so I have no idea what we’ll do. The hotel only does breakfasts so we’ll have to venture out at some point for food but I think we’ll come back like drowned rats. The breakfasts are excellent and coffee and cakes are set out in the breakfast room from 3-6 pm for guests to just help themselves. Being the town centre there are loads of places to go for a lunchtime or evening meal but on such a wet day it would be nice if the hotel had a restaurant.

Well, we’ve had really good weather for 5 days and I think it had been dry for a while before that so I expect the Viennese are glad to see some rain, even if we’re not.

Good morning all, woke at 6 for the loo then ent back to sleep until gone 8. don't do that very often.

Nothing on this morning but friend coming after lunch. she will take me down to the surgery to make the next blood test appointment. Certainly getting my share of the NHS this year.

Morning all,

Another grey morning but there is a ;little glimmer of brightness now and then. its 13 degrees and pc says cloudy so I am not expecting a good day.

Need to get up the post van this morning and then the rest of the day is mine. May do HW !!! may not..............

Hope you all slept well.

Glad that you are ok Ann. So Mandy was right.

I suppose we should be grateful that banks are putting plenty of security in place to pgofdct our money but it is a pain to have to comp,h with it all.

I do know what the tests were for and have checked it out on my NHS app which has all results. No good phoning if I could ever get through I would not be able to hear.

I am obviously borderline prediobetic so am try to follow a suitable diet as advised by daughter. Tomorrow friend is taking me to the surgery to make an appointment for the requested second test.

Hi Folks,

Yes I'm here and we are both ok. I didn't feel well after the second MMR jab, but they did tell me what to expect possibly up to a fortnight after and I soon felt ok again. Then I managed to lose 2 posts by not sending them straightaway, so Mandy was right! I gave up trying again last night as it was late when I realised.

I finally got to speak to someone at the place that fitted our new front door and tried to book an engineer, but no it has to be referred to head office first to decide to send an engineer and they should email me within a week! Whatever happened to ringing somewhere, them answering the phone within a few rings and being able to book a visit there and then.

Yesterday I decided to set up a small, monthly saving account that runs for just a year but pays 7% which is good. After all the rigmarole of getting into the account I managed to set it up, but why do they ask what you want to use the money for? Unfortunately the list of options didn't have one for 'mind your own business!' Then I had to set up the monthly transfers from my bank. What a palaver! After entering reference number, passcode, memorable info etc and info from a txt code I started setting it up. As soon as I indicated I was transfering money up popped an alarming red message saying it was likely a scam! I don't think so when I was transferring money in my own name to another account in my own name! I thought I was finished, but no, then I had to use my cardreader, enter a pin, get a reference number on the cardreader to enter on my PC and confirm the amounts etc again on the cardreader. Now I've bored you to tears, what my thoughts were afterwards were how on earth will I cope with these obstacles in another 10 years??

Otherwise all I seem to have done is answer Fitz to agree a date to meet up for a meal. He has managed to write off his 19 year old diesel, but has replaced it with another, bigger 19 year old car that he says will carry more for trips to the tip! Luckily he wasn't hurt.

Vera I had to chuckle at your OH with his shoes and only having the one pair with him! A small tip for going away that I do now is to take a couple of the thicker elastic bands with me that you can use over the top and sole of a shoe to hold them together temporarily, as I had the same thing happen to me at work once. They can be useful if a zip goes on a bag too. You sound as if you are having a nice time otherwise and I looked up that american artist and I like his work as you said I would, as 'realism' is his thing isn't it. You are certainly getting some walks in and seeing plenty. Despite being hot I bet it seemed lovely outside after the tropical heat of the butterfly house. I love to see tropical butterfles though as so many are beautiful.

Mandy I see your needles have been busy again and you already have a Christmas Gnome finished! I expect he will soon have some company with the speed you make things. It's handy being able to pass your surplus crops to son and family who will be glad of them. I used to do the same with mum when she ran the small home. I had a thornless Loganberry then and it would be loaded and runners and toms were always welcome.

AnnG I have phoned our surgery before to ask what a blood test was for and they told me, so you could try that rather than wait. Our surgery has 'test results' as an option when you dial and, although they can't discuss the results, they tell you what tests are for. I hope Cynth managed to spend her win before prices go up! My sedums all do well too. Some have rooted themselves in the gravel and spread too.

That was a bit of a worry till you found the missing nail guns Mel. I think we should have some kind of an alarm on the shed. I'd certainly get one if I was on my own. Some on Amazon are quite cheap and there are wireless battery ones now that you can set for certain times and some even have an option of barking dog noise which I think is a good idea. A friend had someone try to break inter her garden room a few years ago and she got an alarm for it. I like Mandy's idea of a bell that would jangle too. Even if your sheds aren't visible from the road, thieves use google earth to see what is in gardens. You sound as if you are doing well clearing some stuff out.

I'm late for bed for me so better sign off now. At least I seem to be sleeping well now it's darker in the mornings. Hope I haven't jinxed things saying that!

Meal sound nice Vera if you like salmon I only like tinned salmon I bet Annx would have liked that. The icecreams sound interesting.

I messaged Ann and she told me she was going to post. She said she had done two posts but both of them. That was at 7.39pm and she said she was going to post but it looks like she's lost that one too.

Ann, the meal didn’t turn out as expected. When we got there all their tables indoors and out were fully booked. It never occurred to us to book as when we went on Wednesday there were only a few people there and we just walked in. We tried another one nearby and they were full but said we could wait inside for the next available table. We might have had a very long wait so we went back for the third time to one very near our hotel. It’s a big, noisy, bustling place with waiters dashing around all over the place. They do a few decent meals but their speciality is ice cream and they do the most amazing concoctions. People come and just spend the evening with a huge ice cream dish and a fancy drink. I am hoping to try one before I go home but they are a meal in themselves. They also do great cakes and pastries. Anyway tonight I had salmon and avocado with salad. It’s a big bowl of mixed leaves in a lovely dressing with tomato and cucumber arranged around the edge. Then a grilled salmon fillet is cut into bite sized pieces and put on the top with sliced avocado and all sprinkled with sesame seeds. It is yummy and I had a nice glass of Pinot Grigio and a coffee. OH treated himself to a fillet steak and a couple of glasses of Chianti and coffee. Now it’s 9.15 and we are back in our room and not sure what to do. It seems a bit early for bed.

Btw, before we went out this morning I gave OH a couple of large plasters and told him to use them straightaway if he felt any rubbing and not to wait until he’d got blisters but he hasn’t needed them. I noticed him going gingerly up and downstairs but didn’t say anything.

Well now the sun this morning was very brief and it been cloudy for the rest of the day and rained too so no gardening done.

Taken the recykling up the top and nobody about so did'nt talk to anyone. I had a lot as I forgot it last week and it was dark when I remembered and it did'nt have that much in it so needed to go today as it was full. plus papers and cardboard.

Not done much really just muddled about doing this and that and haad my big breakfast and watched a bit of telly.

Another full day Vera, hope the meal this evening is nice.
Mandy, I have not seen Ann on FB so must have missed that.
I envy you being able to sit out it has been drizzly most of the day here, about ten minutes of sun.
I think the scar is ok, difficult to know until I have the check up, it looks better to me anyway and doesn’t really bother me. Itches sometimes.

I made some more Christmas cards so that has kept me occupied

Evening all,

We woke this morning to a wet road so we must have had a little rain in the night ,the morning soon brightened up and we've been sitting out under the gazebo as it was to hot , this afternoon we had a few drops of rain but not enough to really wet the ground ,we've just had roast chicken so both stuffed now .

I wonder if Ann has done a post and forgot to post it ,I've done that thought I'd posted and when I go to read the posts later it's not there , I think she's been on FB so she is about .

Anng I keep meaning to ask how your scar is and if its healing ok, I haven't heard you say about it lately has it healed where they took the graft.

Vera sounds as if you clicked it just right to see the parade ,how are your
oh's feet with having the new shoes on ,no blisters I hope with all the walking .

Mel did you manage to get out in the garden to cut down your brambles.

I too hope Annx and her OH are both OK. Perhaps she’s busy doing other things right now.

Today has been another very hot day and again we’ve walked miles. We went to the Hofburg Palace today. This was the winter residence of the Habsburg dynasty. Now it’s the President’s official residence and offices and houses the treasury and a number of museums. You can also do a tour of some of the State Apartments but you have to pay for each tour or museum entrance separately and you can soon find your pockets empty. We wandered around the outside of the buildings and the gardens and decided we’d pay to go in the butterfly house. It was lovely with all the butterflies flying free but hard to get photos as they move so fast. It was also very, very hot and humid in there as it’s kept like a tropical rainforest and it was a relief to come out into the “cool” 31 degree sun. As we were deciding whether to make our way back to the hotel we came to another bit of the Palace and there were all sorts of stalls and tents set up on the grass. As far as I could make out it was some kind of regional food fair. While we were standing there a big parade of floats drawn by tractors started up accompanied by 2 brass bands and it was fun watching that for a while. Then it was a long walk back and a bit of a rest before going out for our evening meal. We’re going to a restaurant that we went to on our first night here. It’s not far to walk and the food was good.

Not sure what we are doing tomorrow. That might depend on the weather. It’s supposed to be much cooler but also very wet.

the last time annx posted was the evening of the 5th Sept. I hope all is ok there.

This is a sleepy thread today. :-D Have you all hibernated already?