General Chat

Well folks another beautiful afternoon with lots of sunshine.

I can't go anywhere but it does make one feel better and happier when there is good weather.

I got out my sewing machine earlier to have a go at changing the needle.
The last time I used it, the needle broke and somehow I had moved the dials and messed up the tension!. Watching a U-Tube clip, I sorted out a new needle and also the tension. Found some spare material and did a few practices. It seems ok for now.

Its a Brother machine and I bought it over 20 years ago but have rarely used it.

I used to love my mother's old fashioned Singer, it never went wrong and was so easy to use. She actually still has it in perfect working order too. I wonder if its worth anything?

Hope everyone else enjoying some sunny weather :-D

Florence in the hebrides

Afternoon all. well we had a beautiful day here yesterday but such a change today back to full cloud cover and rain. At least the garden doesn't need watering.

Linda if your OH is in bed because of Covid it seems dughter, son in law and myself got off very lightly as, other than a cold and slight cough none of us were really ill I just kept doing normal things in the house and garden but obviously isolating away from people. Hope you all feel better soon. I think that advice is very bad, there will be people walking around in the shops who are still positive but have been told they can go out.

Morning all to those looking in today.
Well its still sunny but oh my there is a strong northerly wind blowing outside so not even bothering to stick my head out lol

Spent the last hour trying to reset password to access my online Pension slips. I was getting so cross and going around in circles when suddenly found the right place to reset and then noticed...I hadn't changed my address!! I ve been here a year end of the month. Time flies doesnt it.

Anyway all sorted now and up to date. Printed off 2 payslips for the filing as easier to find. I'm so old school and keep paper copies of everything for the "Just in case."

Going to make fish cakes today and then my Tzatziki dip. Got chilli, spring onions, black pepper etc so hopefully will be tasty for tea tonight.

Hope everyone has a good day today.

Florence in the hebrides

The fish cakes sound nice Florence.

It is raining here, there was a lot over night and it is still going. It is also very chilly.

I did a Covid test this morning and still have two lines, although the second one is not as strong as before. OH has decided to get up and dressed today to try and get back to normal, but he still has the cough and cold.

It is odd how some people have no symptoms, yet others have lots, maybe it is down to the strain.

My brother got the delta variant and he ended up in critical care. He was asked to take part in a clinical trial for an antiviral called Molnupiravir which he did. It helped a great deal and it is now on offer to all vulnerable people. His wife didn’t get it at the time, but she caught it about six months later, she was given an antiviral straight away because of her health conditions. After she got better, they asked her to do a blood sample to test the strength of her antibodies. The test came back with a good response, but it also said that she had a second lot of different antibodies which showed that she had had Covid previously. That was a surprise as she had never had any symptoms

A couple we know had it about a month ago at the same time as each other. She was really ill but he only had a slight sniffle. So who knows why?

Well it is 20 degrees here, no wind at all and was quite bright with some sun so I went down to the greenhouse and sorted out the snails that wanted to eat my cucumber plants, three huge ones but they were dead. I admit to using slug bate in the greenhouse, then put the snails in the brown garden bin so they won't get eaten by the birds. We have lost too many cucumber plants in the past. I then filled a fairly deep trough with my own compost plus some new compost, put it in position when it was half full and then filled it in situ as it would be heavy and I have planted three climbing green beans (Cobra) the first time I have grown them. Then after I had been out there 40 minutes I got rained off, the sky was black but it looks like it has gone over so hopefully just a shower.

how many days for you now Linda? Your OH does seem to have had it worse than you although you didn't say if you needed to stay in bed. Does he usually suffer badly with colds or flu? So pleased I was not bad enough to need to stay in bed being on my own it would be difficult. Having said that I don't remember ever staying in bed ever when not well. I can only assume I have not been ill enough. I have been fortunate in that I have never had flu, plenty of nasty colds but no flu.

florence, the fish cakes sound nice, hope you enjoy them.

Good morning from the wild west!

Blue and green bin day and guess what, its sooooo windy, a gale blowing but thankfully no rain...yet. Everytime its bin day, it never fails really!

Well fish cakes went really well and I have frozen 2 bags of 4 for another time. It is a bit messy but you just use your hands as its easier to shape them. I suppose if you want them perfectly round, you could put a cutter on a tray, fill and then remove but i dont mind them all different sizes. I had 3 with the Tzatziki dip and that was all. I am trying to diet and not had anything so far and yes my tummy is rumbling.

A bowl of Greek yoghurt and fruit is for lunch, not sure about tea.

Daughter has gone to town, so I have hoovered and tidied up.

Linda, hope your test will soon be negative for you and hubby so you can get out & about.

How many cucumbers Ann have you grown? Im thinking they wouldnt freeze well so what do you do with them?

My new touchlight in the hall cupboard is an absolute godsend so Im thinking of buying a few more to have during the winter months incase of powercuts, a lot safer than candles!

Joan, hope you are keeping busy and hubby is ok.

Have a good afternoon all

Florence in the hebrides

Florence I have two plants in the greenhouse but I did last year and had the sum total of two cucumbers. So we will see what happens.

Joan sounds like somebody is making a rickety. And in moving the stones dislodged the bulbs.

We have a large Beech hedge at the front of our garden with a triangle of council owned grass in front of it. We planted lots of daffodils under the hedge to make it look nice from the road. For two years in a row as soon as they flowered the “natives” kicked all the heads of, so we dug them all up and put them into our back garden.

We are both out if quarantine now, I did have three days in bed, the same as both OH and my daughter. I still have a sore throat, hopefully that will go away. I am now back to trying to cope with the vertigo symptoms which I had before the Covid. The urgent NHS appointment the GP made which turned out to be a nurse led clinic in mid July has been cancelled and no new appointment has been made, so I have given up on the NHS and am trying to go privately, but nothing much is happening with that either

Oh gosh Linda, Vertigo is horrible isn't it? My daughter in law suffered from it a while back but I have not heard any mention of it for a while. B9th tony and myself had one episode of something similar to Vertigo but thankfully no re-occurrence. I hope you can get help.

Did or do you qualify for the spring booster jab? I suppose the severity of the latest Covid must depend on the strain/variant. Maybe the one from the North Lakes was different to the one from your area. Sounds nasty though to have three days in bed. Pleased you are both out of quarantine now.

Who has pinched our sun? It is overcast and chilly here today. Yesterday was lovely which is just as well as Esme had a class trip to the seaside . There are only about half a dozen children in her class and they each have a support assistant. They had a great time with a picnic and ice cream. Lots of splashing in the sea was done and sitting down in shallow water., looking in rock pools etc.

I have only had three Covid jabs as I am under seventy five. They should be getting round to the over seventies soon, but I will have to wait for a month in any case

Good evening all.
Been a gale here and was last night and pouring with rain all day!

More like winter grrrr. Havent been outside again at all.

Just did a huge pile of ironing and tidied up and not much else today.
Glad your grandchild got to the seaside Linda, Im sure they all enjoyed the day out.

Ive to finish my shopping list for the delivery on Saturday yet so a job to do later.

Very quiet here and no post for 2 days....very boring im afraid lol

Florence in the hebrides

The sun finally made an appearance mid afternoon, then it was nice and warm. I walked into the market place to pick up a prescription for Esme. I was quite tired by the time I got back. OH went to the cinema to do a job, he was shattered by the time he got back. I guess it is the after effects of Covid. I was talking to OH’s older sister yesterday, she is in her eighties. She has refused to be vaccinated even though she has dozens of grandchildren who are always around. Of course she caught it a three months ago. The actual infection wasn’t bad, but it left her feeling so tired that she could hardly walk. She is on,y just staring to feel a bit better now.

Good morning to anyone looking in today.

Its been a long and dreary week and the weather just awful! I stuck my head out awhile ago and although dry for now, the wind is still very strong so another day indoors. Im so croaky as i need fresh air into my lungs. Being indoors all wekk is not good for ones health.

Tesco is coming after 6pm so tea will be all finished by then which is good. They come to my back door and put the boxes then on kitchen table. So much easier for them and also they are not walking through my house to get to the kitchen.

Hopefully casualty is back on tonight after Eurovision last week. That is my fav programme of the week.

Hope you and hubby Linda get stronger in time. The Covid really knocks people for 6 and it will take time to recover.
This week my sinuses are horrendous and got through 6 boxes of tissues!!

Ann & Joan, hope you have some sunshine today and if so can you send some over here please lol :-D

Enjoy the weekend

Florence in the hebrides

Hello All, Yesterday was showery although not cold. I went to a small cinema to see Downton Abbey which I enjoyed.

Today it is 16 degrees and the sun is shining at the moment although it is cloudy. I have spent 2 hours (in two sessions) out in the garden weeding and cut the lawn and the edges.

Linda, it took me over three weeks to stop feeling that exhausted tired feeling.

Hope you and OH get rid of it soon. Daughter and I both had tacky dry throats afterwards as well and her cough lasted longer than mine.

Afternoon all.
Well another day of rain, misty murky kinda day....not good for the soul!

Wasnt well earlier as had a small asthma attack caused by...foxes fruit boiled sweets. My throat has been a bit dry and was sucking mints but for a change ordered these fruit punch boiled sweets to try. Within 5 minutes this morning, my airways closed up and i was struggling for breath and very wheezy.

I grabbed my reliever inhaler took 2 puffs waited 10 minutes then 2 puffs more. It took 30 minutes until I felt relief and an hour until i was fully recovered.
Oh my such a shock as i am very careful looking at the ingredients. There must be some preservative like potassium sorbate in them as that is a no no for me.

Its in things like mango chutney, tomato sauce, shop strawberry jam and strangely it was 2 strawberry sweets I ate so wont be having any more.

Havent done vey much this afternoon but rest. i did strip a cooked chicken as i am having salad later on. I have now lost 4 lbs this week and feel great...just another well a stone to go to first target lol.

Im sure your steak would have been good Joan and yes keeping the hubby happy makes for a peaceful life lol.

have a good evening peeps

Florence in the hebrides

We had a day out to Whitby today, all though I could have done without it.
It wasn’t very sunny, but we still went on the beach and built a large sand castle. I had a paddle, but it was icy.
We had fish and chips for lunch, then as we weren’t going to be back until late, we had som3 pizzas with salad. That has well and truly blown my diet this week

Good morning all, dry bright but cloudy here at the moment and 11 degrees. Nothing planned for today but no doubt there is housework and gardening to be done. I do know I have a full airing cupboard to empty and clothes to then put away, Hoping it will stay dry but showers have been forecast for all this week.
Linda that was a nice day out in Whitby, many years since I was there.

I know Ruswarp well Joan. OH had some relatives who lived there, so his family stayed with them for many years. As a boy OH also had an annual holiday in Whitby.
The Yorkshire coast is lovely, there are so many nice beaches, much better than those southern stony things.
It wasn’t too busy, but then it wasn’t a glorious day. The girls liked playing on the beach and OH is always up to making a huge sand castle for them.

We had a walk through the old part near the steps. Eve ran up the steps, or at least ran up the first part and walked the rest. When she got back down, we asked her how many there were, but she had forgotten to count them. We just stayed at the bottom and watched her, I don’t fancy going up there any more.

They went to the lucky duck shop, but they no longer make the ducks behind the counter, so it wasn’t the same as it used to be. Seeing them making them used to be part of the charm of the shop

Good morning all.
Well the sun has returned and its very pleasantly warm outside. The grass cutters have just gone so the front and back lawns look all neat and tidy.

The strangest of skies though as there are the huge white clouds overhead but in the distance a grey/purple sky which looks thundery. Please i hope it stays fine for a change.

I want to just go and walk around the back etc and get some fresh air for as long as i can stand outside.

A small wash on and hopefully going on the line in 10 mins.

Just waiting on the bin lorry coming but no show yet.

Not sure what the rest of the day holds but shall find something to do.

Have a lovely Monday all

Florence in the hebrides

Well folks, we have been blessed with another calm sunny day...yippeee I am going to go outside and weed some flower pots that are empty ready to put some bedding plants in.

Daughter and I have decided to head over to town tomorrow by taxi and go to coop and then next door to garden centre. Im so looking forward to a wee jaunt out as havent been out since April when my brother was here!

Last night I made a very tasty chicken/stew kinda meal but with just a tin of chopped tomatoes, lots of basil, black pepper and veg. Had it with a very small portion of spaghetti...and was so tasty. I froze half so will do another day.

Think I need a new keyboard as the letters have worn off some and I keep mistyping words!

Wishing everyone a happy sunny day.

Florence in the hebrides