General Chat

What a lovely gesture from your friend Sylvia.

The weather outside is dreadful and the storm supposedly hasn’t arrived yet, it has been raining hard since mid afternoon. My daughter is on her way back from London, normally she changes trains at York and gets a second train to Knaresborough , She phoned to say that the second train has been cancelled due to flooding, so she needs picking up from York. OH normally collects her from the local station, but Son in law has gone to York as they have a large 4x4, so it is safer. We are looking after the girls until they get back.
The town was due to have a large two day market at the weekend with all, sorts of peripheral activities, ending with a large firework display, but it has been postponed until the following weekend. According to the news, lots of Xmas events due to take place this weekend have been cancelled

Good morning all. Oh Sylvia, how lovely to have the roses and how thoughtful to send two bouquets for you. Noe both apartments will look lovely.

You are educating us Sylvia, this is interesting. from google

Blue and white
These are the primary colors associated with Hanukkah. They are the colors of the Israeli flag and represent the Jewish homeland. Blue is associated with faith, wisdom, reliability, and truth, while white symbolizes purity, peace, and light.
Silver
Silver is sometimes incorporated into Hanukkah celebrations, possibly to add elegance.
Cultural significance
The choice of these colors has more to do with 20th century American culture than the holiday's religious meaning. In the post-World War II United States, the color scheme helped families feel like they were part of the holiday season. It was also used to differentiate Hanukkah from Christmas.
Flower arrangements
Blue and white flowers are traditionally used in Hanukkah floral arrangements. The white lily is a common focus flower.
Candle colors
There is no tradition regarding the color of the candles used in the menorah. Any color is acceptable, including plaid and infra-red.


S

Belated Happy Birthday, Florence!

I hope your day, though alone, was enjoyable.

I'm sorry but I am way out of synch with the difference in times between us!

Today the fog had gone at around 8:30 am, and there was bright sun although that had disappeared within about 30 minutes to a dense fog that has lasted all day.

Of course it isn't as dense as those smogs we used to get in the UK, but the house and trees across the street have been very hazy all day!

We had a lovely surprise today .......... a close friend of OH's from UBC sent us both a bouquet of roses! They were more or less identical, with 8 red roses and 4 of a different colour, but those 4 were slightly different in my bouquet.

She has been a really good friend, and OH used to work with/for her in both the Student Opera Programme and in the Ceremonies (mainly graduation ceremonies). This year was the first year he did not go to Graduation in May. :-(

The public areas of the Residence, including MLC where OH is, have been decorated today, mainly in blue and silver, and with signs of Happy Holiday. I guess this is the start of the Chanukah celebrations.

Afternoon all
Well sadly gales and pouring rain here all day!!
I had lots of cards and some really lovely gifts so have been well & truly spoilt this year.

Sadly Im home alone all day until daughter gets home tonight at 8.30. She had hospital appointments and another things that had been organised weeks ago so couldn't change either.

So quiet day on my own.

I'm hoping to get out for the day on Friday with my friend and daughter, weather permitting as the forecast isnt looking too good at all.

Thankyou for your lovely birthday wishes :-D

Florence in the hebrides

Have a lovely birthday Florence <3 <3

It us a shame that you have had to cancel your trip Sylvia, but you are wise as you know that you couldn’t cope.

It does seem odd that they don’t celebrate Xmas, but on the other hand, it just wouldn’t be the same for you this year, so celebrating Hanukkah could be fun, so go for it and join in.

We have a bit if a busy week. On Monday we had the day out, we went to Lewis and Cooper deli in Northallerton near where we used to live. We make an annual trip and spend an a fortune there :-D. We then had lunch out and drove on to the cemetery to put the Xmas reef on my parents grave. After that we went to visit my brother and sister in law who live near the cemetery, but never visit the grave.

Yesterday it was Eve’s school carol concert in Ripon Catherdral, so we went with our daughter. We had lunch in Ripon, so that was two lunches out in a row. The cathedral is odd because in the nave, there are no pews at all. Instead they fill it with chairs, including four ties down each side in order to get everyone in, it was absolutely packed out.
Eve had been asked to sing the solo this year, but she was too anxious to do it on her own, so another five girls joined her to make a small group. They were excellent, but it still must have been daunting to sing to such a huge crowd.

I was out again last night for the monthly history society talk. I go with my daughter, last night it was about the battle of Stamford Bridge, which was very interesting.

My daughter has gone for her monthly visit to London for work, so OH had to get up at six am to take her to the station. After dropping her off, he went back to her house for breakfast, then drove Eve to school. We will go over this afternoon for when Esme’s school bus comes home, play and then cook dinner. Once Esme has had her bath and is in bed, we will leave them to their father and come home. OH will have to take Eve to school tomorrow morning as well , so we will do dinner again, but this time stay until OH collects our daughter from the station at 9.45 pm.

That should be it, but son in law decided that he wants to go to a music concert in Leeds on Friday night, so could we babysit? It will probably be about midnight before they get back

:-(

Happy birthday, Florence!

I hope the rain, and the yellow warning for wind, don't spoil things for you.


Not much wind for us here, but definitely rain!

Happy Birthday Florence have a great day. <3

Happy Birthday Florence.

I hope the sun shines for you today :-D :-D

Good morning all very grey and dull here and 3 degrees but dry.

Sylvia, ah, I had not realised that you would be celebrating different things where you are but, yes it will be interesting. But strange I guess.

Another foggy morning, took longer to burn off this morning, it was around 11 am before it had all cleared to a very sunny, but chilly day! It got down to around -2C last night, and "they" are saying it will go that low again tonight! It was really strange around 8 or 9 am ............. we were already in the clear, although I couldn't see the trees or houses on the next street over. Bu the light around here was like that very clear cold bright that you often see after snow!

There wasn't any snow! But there is snow on the mountains on the north shore of the harbour. Skiing season has already begun at them all.

Ann ............ there will be no celebration of Christmas officially here, we would be able to eat Christmas cake, pudding etc, and possibly also order in a turkey dinner, to eat in our own rooms. However there will be a new experience ....... the Jewish festival of Hanukkah (or Chanukah as they spell it in this place) starts on the evening of Christmas Day and continues for 7 or 8 nights. There is special food connected with the celebrations, so it is going to be vey interesting!

Keep warm everyone!

Sylvia it is so sad when those things we always did and take for granted come to an end. You now have to find another way to have something special to look forward to at Christmas. Can you and OH still manage to go out to a restaurant for a meal. Or is there anything special planned where you are living. At least you have seen your daughter so that is something.

We're having some sunny but chilly days, and there was quite a lot of fog around this morning.

My heating and electricity is included in my rent now, so I have no idea how much it costs!

I finally made the decision today, and cancelled our trip on the train to Halifax for Christmas. I just cannot manage the careful watching that OH now needs. I'd be awake 24/7 watching to see if he left the room in the train or hotels.

So, I've been feeling pretty sad this afternoon.

Keep warm everyone

My gas plus electricity bill for November was £172. I don’t usually have the CH on between 10am and 4.30 pm and usually run it at about 16/degrees until I might turn it up to 18/19 around 7.30 pm. But we had some cold days in November when the heating was turned on earlier. Most cooking is done in the air frier but I did use the oven a couple of times.el prices have certainly increased.

Afternoon all
It has been a crisp winters day but with a nippy wind and plenty of sunshine. i planted about 60 bulbs that have been waiting for the weather to improve so i could get to the pots. I managed to fill two pots and I still have just a few left.

Daughter was supposed to come home at 2.30 to help shift what's left of the topsoil into the polytunnel We were going to drag the tarp around to the back then transfer it into the tunnel. But....of course, she didn't make it time for the 2 bus and now wont be home until its dark so a wasted afternoon.

The forecast for the rest of the week is more gales hence I so wanted to get the soil shifted before then!

So i'm not a happy bunny at all!

So indoors now with a coffee, heating on and resting.

All my rooms have their own temp control for the heating so can set the temp to what we need. If i set al the rooms to say 21 degrees. it would come on when it falls below that temp but in my bedroom its hovers around 16 degrees and i hardly put the heating on as I hate a hot r bedroom, makes me wheezy.

Never put the heating on in the bathroom as you are only in the shower and then out so no point Its not cold in there anyway.
My hot water is not controlled by us and comes on when the temp drops below 50 degrees or at midnight until 4am We never have not got hot water. But this is all electric.

My old house was oil heating and that is very expensive now to heat a house.

Hope everyone looking today is well and keeping warm :-D

Florence in the hebrides

Hot tea brings back a bad memory. when my daughter was three and my friends little firl was two. Friend was oversue pregnant and I was staying with her and her family down near Plymouth (my OH was away at sea in the RN. A group of 4 or 5 mums were in the garden and some had pced cups of tea on the ground a while ago including pregnant friend when her little girl ran to see her and kicked the cup over and scalded her little foot. I can still hear her scream. And she still has the scar to this day, very feint but still there.

You are right about heating up water in the short term anyway Ann. Water has the highest specific heat capacity of any liquid. That is the amount of kilojoules of energy needed to raise the temperature of 1 kg of water by 1 degree C. It takes a lot of energy to raise the temperature in the first place, but equally, the water holds onto that energy, so it cools down slowly compared to other liquids. That is why toddlers can scald themselves with a cup of tea even though it was made ages ago and the mum didn’t think that it would still be hot.
I knew teaching Physics would come in useful one day :-D

Thank you Linda I had not seen that but, as I say we and now I always have left the water heater on when we go away,

You aren’t supposed to turn the water heating off completely when you go away because of the danger of Legionnaires disease. The plumber who installed the thermostat pointed out that it has a function to prevent Legionaries . I copied the paragraph below from the blurb.

“Legionnaires’ disease is a potentially fatal type of pneumonia that is contracted by inhaling water droplets containing Legionella bacteria. Legionella bacteria can develop in water that has been exposed to impurities like rust, algae and limescale, in temperatures between 20°C and 45°C. The bacteria are dormant below 20°C and do not survive above 60°C. Bacteria Prevention mode will activate if your domestic water hasn’t been heated for at least two consecutive hours in the last 48 hours. This can happen if there is a gap of more than 48 hours in your hot water heating schedule or if you are away from home for longer than 48 hours. “

It means that when I go on holiday the thermostat will periodically heat the water to kill any bacteria.
I always wondered why when you go into toilets in public buildings, they often have signs warning that the hot water is very hot. I wondered why they just didn’t turn the temperature down, but of course they can’t because it has to be hot enough to kill the bacteria. The default temperature for the hot water on my Nest thermostat is high enough to do this, you can turn it down, but it warns you not to.

good morning all from a wet Gloucestershire. Can't complain as we had a few sunnt days. Hope the rain doesn't last long though some people are only just drying out.

Linda that sounds a quite complicated heating system but it is good that you have got it worked out and as you like it to be.

Florence When I go away I turn the heating down but leave it on including the water heater because I was once told that if you let the water go cold it then costs much more to heat it up again than if it retains heat while you are away. The only time we switched it off completely when it came time to turn it back on the boiler wouldn't light.

The heating is a Nest Florence, you can either set it so that it learns your routine as you turn the dial up and down, so it switches itself on and off automatically. The problem with that is that it tends to come on in the middle of the night in order to have the house hot for the morning.Or you can switch that off and have it like the old style schedule which you set. I always have it like that. It also has a function so that if the heating is on and both phones are out of the house , it will turn the heat down to save money. As it is connected to the phones, it knows when you come within a certain distance of the house, so turns the heat up again. You can easily switch that off if you don’t want it, but we always use it. The problem was that when the first thermostat we had stopped working and we replaced it, I hadn’t set it up properly, but I have sorted it out now and all is well again. I also like it because you can see what is happening and control it from wherever you are in the world by looking at the app on the phone.

We had a walk into town and bought some stamps and posted the cards. There were only twenty four for the post, so we are Billy no mates compared to you Florence. We also have some for neighbours, family etc, which don’t get posted to save the money.