Re: Hello Everyone

Mon Oct 19, 2020 10:26 am

Good Morning Ladies. Another dry day so more work outside, but hopefully a bit lighter than yesterday, because that was a load of digging that I had to do - pity I don't find anything more interesting than lumps of concrete and stone and with regard to the sieving, no gold or precious things, just a few small bulbs plus wireworms and their larvae and got rid of them quickly . Sorry about that gif today - looking at it small size in my collection it just looked more Autumn than Winter, but just noticed the snowflakes and hoping we don't get any of that yet.

Jean that is better news about Barry and hope Daniel can get that sorted with his sister so he is listed to contact the hospital and get up-to-date information on his Dad. That Best disease is a form of macular degeneration and supposed to be a rare inherited disease and not good news for him. Hope you get that sorted at Sainsburys today about the missing items in the delivery and the lack of help when you tried to phone them. Well I suppose at least when your neighbour does get drunk at weekends he does it quietly, but gave you and David a problem sorting out that delivery for him. Hope you get the new radio sorted, because you don't want that waking you up during the night and I see the Christmas wrapping paper was still waiting for action .

Dian I really should be pleased at the amount of garden work I have got through, but wish there hadn't been so much of it, but circumstances last Autumn/Winter and then in the Spring allowed it all to mount up. Hope you feel more cheerful today and see yesterday you had some rain, but managed to get some housework done even though when you first woke up you couldn't move very well, so hope things are better today for you.

Rita see you haven't been able to post since Thursday, so do hope you had a good weekend and you aren't coming up against too many problems trying to post on here.

Must away now ladies - been eating a couple of slices of toast while I have been doing this and first I do have some vacuuming to do quickly downstairs (now including toast crumbs) and then make a cup of coffee and then into the garden. It is dull, but dry out there today and tomorrow rain is forecast, so better make the most of things outside and tomorow might get some housework done. Have a good day all of you

Mon Oct 19, 2020 2:21 pm

Pauline lucky you with no rain so good now you can still get into garden again and you must be just about finished but then again garden does not stand still
Jean good news about Barry then. So annoying for Daniel Weird about your neighbours but good got it sorted
Rita do hope all is fine with you
Well it is wet wet here this morning. Got a phone call from lady in bowling club who kept me up to date what was happening in club so far they have been doing quite well so was pleased to hear that.She was on phone for an hour. then my phone rang again and another friend on phone .just finished that call when another friend phoned but was not on for too long so way behind but have managed to vacuum hall stairs and landing. Now off to make a snack .Have a good day ladies

Mon Oct 19, 2020 4:24 pm

Dian has your bowls club been meeting all this time. Mine is not meeting at all at the moment.
Sainsburys were very kind to me and replaced the missing margarine, plus £10 credit card for my trouble.
tomorrow I have to deal with Tescos. as they delivered the groceries in tray bags which are too large for me to lift.
the man on the phone last week said he would make sure we got those bags with handles instead
whilst there bought trousers and a blouse....tescos would not sort out the bags. ring this no. they said.
I have lost some weight Pauline, have those things in a smaller size and I am sure you must have too.
still looking for DVDs....
probably going out tomorrow and the dreaded football is on in the evening

Tue Oct 20, 2020 2:12 pm

Hello All. Started off with rain today, but drying up now and it has taken me all morning to catch up on computer, emails, surveys, paying Eon, etc., and now into the afternoon, but onto the pleasant part of posting on our group. Not sure what this afternoon will bring weatherwise, so will have to play it by ear as to what jobs get done.

Tomorrow we are threatened with more wet weather, so will get on then with indoor jobs, but will try and get a few more jobs done outside this afternoon. Yesterday I quickly vacuumed around all downstairs, watered the plants indoors and read the meters then went outside and got a a bit more cutting back done, two large and one medium planter sieved through and cleared and now got five bags of cleared, sieved earth waiting to be used along with compost and plant food (having used a lot of them already as I have been potting things up). Placed the planters with all of the foxgloves in along the end bed, collected up all of the wallflowers I could find and repotted them and dealt with the drop part between the new fence and where I extended the patio and those three planters have been fed, replanted, etc., so got on quite well yesterday in dry weather. Having looked at that end have decided that another branch of my buddleia needs cutting off as it is getting in the way of the outdoor fuchsia bush and that is one quick job that can get done. I never did get down to laying that last paver in that section, but did get the breeze block in place to hold it, so another job that I could complete while it is dry. I also dug up a lot of montbretia corms (they can be used somewhere else) between the fushsia and the old existing wall that was taken down to a low level when I bought that other 8ft of the land at the side and thinking that will be a good space for the water feature when I get around to cleaning and repairing that (water pump needs cleaning, but lighting has failed on that) - something to think about and see how that will look in that place.

Dian I smiled at what you said about garden doesn't stand still and there was a remark that Alan Titchmarsh made the other day "Autumn is the time of year when gardeners move faster than plants grow" and with the amount I have got through I should be very happy about that, but the grass is still growing and despite cutting back the roses numerous times, they still are producing buds on them. See you were unlucky with a very wet day yesterday and managed to vacuum the stairs, hall and landing, even though you got three phone calls from friends and caught up with news about club members. Nice to receive them and have some good chats with friends. Do hope weather is better for you today, although forecast didn't look that good.

Jean, glad to read you got that sorted satisfactorily with Sainsburys and a replacement for the missing item, plus a £10 credit. so well done for sorting that out and do hope that Tescos goes well today when you try and sort out about the way the delivery arrived in bags that you couldn't handle. Bet you are pleased that you have gone down one size in clothes and despite putting some back on, I was still fitting into the size down I had got too, but they were a bit tight, but now back to being okay. Not sure if I have lost any further weight recently, but do know I have to keep on pulling up my gardening trousers (the three pair I wear for gardening all seem to be too large now so had better run some tighter elastic through the waistbands of them). The other evening when I did some sewing I ran some tighter elastic through a couple of pair of pyjama trousers, because they were getting too loose, so happy about that. See the DVDs are still missing and you have the dreaded football on this evening - hope you find something else to watch, while David is seeing the football.

Hope you are okay Rita.

Must away now ladies and get a late lunch and hopefully a couple of garden jobs done after that.

Tue Oct 20, 2020 3:43 pm

Pauiline you are definitely winning with the garden and know the great feeling when it gets the way you are happy with.That is what really annoys me at the moment seeing shrubs ect which need attention.Great too your weight coming down another bonus
Jean well done sorting out your shopping and getting a reward Hope you also get on so well with Tescos.Good you also treated yourself. Well I have not been at bowling at all this year but the lady who phoned who is a past Captain said they have managed to keep going and all pulling their weight which is good news
Rita do hope all is fine with you
Another wet miserable day but did dry up for a couple of hours so I walked round to local shop with my stick and got a few items then popped into cafe and enjoyed a nice roll and sausage also cuppa also had a blether with staff.Now going to do a quick tidy round Forgot had trouble in getting gas and light readings on line so phoned them and gave them the readings They did say they had some trouble on line so pleased got that done

Wed Oct 21, 2020 10:42 am

wow Dian our bowls club closed in March. so many queries about hiring the hall, I have a wad of paper I have printed. we are only allowed 4 on a mat and one hour to play
so that is out. glad you got out and enjoyed your coffee.
Pauline so far David has wrapped up four presents, this took him ages. more to go. It is pouring here so am staying put for the time being.
Rita hope you are fine

Wed Oct 21, 2020 12:17 pm

That picture looks so peaceful, ambling along as if they had all the time in the world. Bit different here this morning as the forecast of rain has arrived and I knew it was going to be "a sort out things indoors day". While I have been doing gardening and clearing out the lockup, you come across nuts, bolts, hooks, screws, etc., that get tossed into pots and now it is time to sort that lot out and also get into the understairs cupboard and get out the light bulbs I need for the kitchen spotlight and craft room main light, plus batteries for two of my downstairs clocks, so while I was doing that I thought it best to get that sort out done.

Yesterday luckily I did have out one of the sectioned boxes with bits and pieces in, because I needed a length of chain to get one of the flower baskets hung down lower and a couple of new hooks for one of the half moon baskets, so fiddly little maintanance jobs like that got done in the garden and can now say that all baskets completed and in place, last of the delphinium seedlings out of the seed tray and potted up so that has emptied all seed trays, cleared three more planters and used one of them to pot up another fancy grass that had rooted along with a hellebore new shoot that had rooted under some other plants. Also cleared one large round planter that I want to repot my maple tree into. There are 4 more large ones to empty which at the moment just have bits and bobs of existing garden plants growing in them (columbine, japanese anemone, etc., and got to decide where they will go in the garden). I want at least two of the larger ones to transfer iris corms into that aren't doing well in the old recycling crates (some already in a planter are doing much better). That will leave two empty recycling crates and then there are 2 more with existing vines already in them which also need sorting and 2 black planters with the same that need emptying and that will give me 2 more larger planters I need and then in that corner under the tree I want all of the crates going along with the vines in them.

At the moment I have not cut back the smaller fuchsias yet, as advice is that it is better to do that when I have let them dry out slightly and they are under shelter at the moment away from the rain. Still got the last of the geraniums and begonias to bring in, but weather is so mild at the momen and it has been safe to leave them, but got to be done soon and there are more existing planters that need compost and fresh potting fibre and plant food put into them. So still plenty to do out there, but happy with the spaces now appearing on the patio as a lot of the planters where lined up along there waiting for attention.

Going to make a nice change for me have a day indoors, although there is a lot of sorting and tidying to be done and also going to phone Gennie in a little while as have checked the new properties on the NPH site for this week and there are no bungalows at all.

Dian I know just how you must feel at the moment as you want to do so much out in the garden with regard to the shrubs and cutting back, but no good doing too much and getting a lot of aches and pains because of it. Hopefully they will still be there in the Spring to see too and you might have improved more, particularly with the new exercises you got from the physio. That is good news about the bowling club managing to keep going indoors through the lockdown and fingers crossed that you will be able to get back to it next year. Although it was a wet miserable day for you yesterday see you got a dry couple of hours and you managed to walk round to the local shop with your stick and get a few items, followed by a snack in the local cafe and enjoyed a natter with the staff. Good job you phoned through the meter readings after trying to get them through on line and you were then told they did have trouble on the site. My bill came through quickly, so have settled that and got it out of the way.

Jean, no good the rules and regulations with regard to your bowling club and with only 4 allowed on a mat and just an hour to play, it just isn't worth doing that. Still no news from our council about the use of the halls, so none of our clubs are meeting. Not worth you going anywhere today as it is so wet out there and see it is taking David much longer to wrap the presents than it would you, but at least a job you don't have to tackle, but bet you are supervising .

Rita I do hope we hear again from you soon and at least can read what is on the site, even if you can't post at the moment. Looking forward to hearing from you soon.

I did start this in the morning, but got a couple of phone calls, so now it is afternoon and lunch time, so a sandwich first with a cuppa and then on with the sort out. Hope all of you have a good afternoon and evening.

Wed Oct 21, 2020 1:41 pm

Pauline busy as ever and so good you have caught up with so much in the garden and now in the house.....never ending. Shame no bungalow for Gennie yet. How is Maria doing......hope she is fine
Rita do hope all is good with you
Jean hope you find your DVDs......Well David has started wrapping Hope the rain stops so you can get out for a walk with Coco
Well quite a chilly morning but dry .I was feeling quite lazy this morning so did not get dressed till10am then the bell rang .The physio at the door.. She just ran through the exercises again and said I was doing fine and she would not be back but left a number if I needed help to phone.That made me gee myself up so went out and lifted lots of leaves so pleased got that done. Now off to do some more housework

Wed Oct 21, 2020 9:38 pm

Hello ladies. Sorry that I have not posted in here, but really nothing to say as seeing no one. Except I had hair cut this morning, John hairdresser came at 8.15 so I had to be up and hair washed, showered and ready for hair cut, he fits me in with others he does in this area, was gone and hair cut by 8.45. Still not bad for £15. I. did not meet Muriel in town this Tuesday, nothing we needed in town, but I did walk for exercise, round to village shop and bought a newspaper. Then my son came to see me as it was his 69th birthday. I was just turned 69 when his Dad died, 22 yrs ago.

I see you are having a few days indoors Pauline, but still busy as usual. And with all this rain your garden maybe waterlogged. When I walked out on Tuesday some of the footpaths were covered in water.

Dian, I see you got out just using your stick, well done! Nice That there is a cafe where you could get a snack, I have often thought it would be good to have somewhere for a cuppa by our village shops.

Jean, yes, you will be missing your keep fit and bowls too, it's going to be a really quiet winter for folk who usually go to various gyms etc.

I will go to Sainsburys on the door to door tomorrow, all masked up of course, but at least it is a ride out.[/i]

Thu Oct 22, 2020 10:02 am

so finally got on here on the laptop took about 6 attempts..
Barry his daughter phoned yesterday and confirmed he had sepsis when admitted now he has pneumonia blood clots on his lungs and the urine infection
sent me his best wishes bless him everytime I hear the phone go think it is about him.
the dreaded leaves are falling so thats another job to be done too wet to pick them up today.
David said he is resuming XXmas parcels.
Dian strange that your club remains open now bowls for us since March.
Rita you sound fine glad you are ok

Thu Oct 22, 2020 12:55 pm

The morning has gone again finishing off some of the jobs from yesterday and when I answered an email from Jean, we both thought that it was too damp and wet for them to go anywhere today (and also because David was lacking sleep) or for me to do anything in the garden, but forecast was for sunshine and sun it is and it is drying up fast, so will probably get out there for a couple of hours. Going to cheat now and copy and paste what I had put in the email to Jean, but looks like I won't be carrying on with that lot until later today or possibly tomorrow and here is some of what I wrote to her:-

" I have just been out in the garden and collected a few more ornaments for cleaning and brightening up and think I might just start on them this morning after I have finished sorting out the cupboard under the stairs.

I had these 2 stands from the lockup (think Rachel gave us those) that you slot in three metal mesh baskets in each of them, so tackled my large kitchen cupboard again and there was an old trolley bag where I shoved the spare gardening shoes, gloves, etc., and that got emptied and cut up and put in the recycling and the shelves now have contents of that on them - much neater and worth the effort. Also now I am making use of some of the spare plastic containers brought home from the lock up, so a lot of cardboard boxes got torn up too and all the nuts and bolts, etc., put in their correct places. There was one old folding storage box covered with pink material and got the material off of that and into the recycling and the cardboard inner part torn up - my hands were really going through it yesterday working on all of that

Started on the understairs cupboard after that and got out the three light bulbs and 2 batteries I needed and they are fitted and everything is working and the second set of shelves is now in that cupboard and contains the spare garden plant food, ant killer, etc., and room to put in more things from the garden. Quite a few of the tools I have been using are back in the correct places and all nuts, bolts, screws etc., back where they should be and while I have that cupboard open this morning I want to get out some varnish as a finish for some of the garden ornaments.

Along the upper stairs there have been plastic pots containing seeds that are dried and need putting in their paper bags for storage, so another job for today and in the upper hall there was a carrier bag full of gift bags and boxes that needed sorting and that got done yesterday. So gradually getting indoors back to normality. It was quite hard with a lot of items coming back from the lock up to find the correct places for them all, but started getting that all done now"

So having finished off a bit more of those above jobs I am now off to the garden instead of what I had planned.

Jean, as you know I answered your email and see you have now been able to post on here with the laptop and more wrapping expected from David today. That up-to-date news from Barry's daughter sounds so bad and no wonder he is on your mind most of the time at the moment - not fair that he is suffering like that after all of the worry he has been through with Jill. Yes leaves everywhere and garden covered in them again - think I will leave them there for a while and then clear them when a lot more are down.

Rita good to hear from you and know you are well. That certainly was early the hair cut yesterday, but nice it was done at home for you and reasonable price too. Neither Muriel or you needed anything in town, so no meeting up this week, but see you walked to the local shop and then Peter called round to see you and it was his 69th birthday. See that brought back memories for you as it was when you where 69 you lost your husband. Well it was one full day indoors Rita, but going to make the most of the sun out there and get a few more jobs done today - leaving the indoor jobs for when the next lot of rain arrives. No, my garden doesn't get waterlogged because front and back both slope down and not a good idea for anyone in this area to flatten their garden, because then they are in trouble when we get a lot of rain, because of the heavy clay soil. Enjoy the shop at Sainsburys tomorrow and I might do another order on line from them, because they sent me another voucher - not such big value this time, but worth using.

Dian you are right, the jobs seem never ending indoors and out and said to Jean this morning in the email if we ever did get to an end of the fiddly jobs - probably old age for me and items that need repair - slowly falling apart . Maria and Gennie still getting along okay and told Gennie it was only flats listed this week - such a long wait for bungalows to appear. See it was a dry chilly morning for you yesterday and you felt a bit lazy (makes a change for you), but good job you got dressed by 10 as the physio visited and said that would be the last time she called as you were doing well and ran through the exercises again with you and also left her phone number with you in case you needed any further help from her. See you felt a bit geeed up after that and went out and lifted some more leaves (have you now run out of the apples?) and then planned to do some housework.

Okay ladies, sun is still out and I am in my work clothes, so off out there again and hope you all have a good day.

Thu Oct 22, 2020 1:26 pm

Pauline well you certainly have got a lot sorted in your house as well as the garden. Do hope Gennie will get a bungalow soon
Jean such sad news about Barry.....hope he improves soon Good David has more parcels done .Think our club is closed at the moment
Rita good to hear from you and we always feel better when our hair is done. The news is so depressing at the moment. Hope you enjoy your shop tomorrow
Well it is a dull overcast day but I have put out a small washing .The window cleaners have been. Just waiting on daughter calling as she is taking me for my eye test this afternoon. Getting hair cut tomorrow and certainly needs it .Dentist on Monday so not looking forward to that

Fri Oct 23, 2020 11:49 am

Barry phoned me last night at around 9.30pm, they have sent him home from hospital.....unbelieverable. he has meds. for the blood clots, and hopefully is ringing the community nurse when I spoke to him this morning. this is something else. iI cannot go up there because of the rules, and have asked him to ring me. will
do what we can to help.
Rita I felt more human when I have had my hair done. would love to go out to dinner. one grand son has reported he has been laid low by a vomiting bud
rang the docs this morning for B12 jab next Friday and asked about medication and was told to tell the chemist to do another lot until the doctor phones
as it is due in mid Dec. this is a little less worry

Fri Oct 23, 2020 1:57 pm

Pauline wonder if you got out in garden again.I am sure you will be busy
Jean such sad news about Barry and not fair he has been sent home with no one to look after him......so sad Yes getting to that time of year when plenty of viruses doing their rounds...
Rita hope your day is going well
Just waiting on daughter calling to take me to hairdresser.......hair badly needing cut. It has turned out a nice day sun shining and no wind.Well got eyes tested and all was good with eyes I had picked 2 pairs out and got what i wanted with them then she said that would be £520 pounds so no thanks took my prescription and will go to Asda and hopefully better deal there

Fri Oct 23, 2020 2:48 pm

Well I have just finished putting through an order to Sainsburys for a delivery next Tuesday and happy enough with the vouchers off and the delivery charge and managed to find quite a few of the things I needed at reduced prices. I also intended to go shopping to Weston Favell Centre to get things at lower prices I can get there and had planned to do that Monday, but see that Sunday Tescos is open from 9 - 10 for older people, so will go on Sunday instead. Also want to clear more things from the lock up and hopefully that trip and one more should finish it.

Yesterday the indoor jobs did wait because I got in the garden and managed to do quite a bit in the sunshine and it dried up quickly - all of the end bed and the planters at the end of that corner are now finished - repotted my Japanese maple in a larger planter which I had cleared, plus cleared another two and some medium pots. Used another large planter to put in some of the large iris, so that cleared half of one of the crates used for those. I also found some dutch iris coming up in other tubs that has been used for other things, so dug them out and got them in the container where the others have come along nicely. I would have liked to do more today out there, but rain again during the night and a bit more this morning and it isn't drying up as quickly, but will decide after this whether it will be outdoors or continue on with the indoor jobs.

Dian agree with you, news is so depressing at the moment and getting even worse with regard to the virus. I am just keeping busy and trying to ignore it all. See it was a dull overcast day for you yesterday and that doesn't help to cheer us up, but hope you managed to get your washing dry and see your window cleaners called - that is one thing we cannot get here - any regular window cleaners, so that is why I decided on those sash style windows so I could clean the outside much easier from the inside and they will have to be done soon. See your daughter got you to the eye test and you had decided on the frames you wanted until you found out the price, so good on you, you are going to take your prescription to Asda and hope the price there is more reasonable. See you are off for the hair cut today. You are lucky to get the dental appointment for Monday (even though you aren't looking forward to it), because I still cannot get one from my practice and will have to chase them again about it.

Jean, just answered your email. I see that Barry is now home, but doesn't really sound as though he should be yet, but probably safer at home at the moment than in the hospitals and I know they are clearing as many patients as they can because they are getting more corona virus cases in (that is so worrying). As you say, you cannot visit him and just have regular phone calls with him and hope the community nurse will make regular visits. We all feel better after a hair do and I am hanging on before I perm it and had cut most of the perm out, so at the moment am just pulling it back and up in the flexicomb, but not looking good and need to shampoo and set it again tomorrow, so I can go to the centre on Sunday and look more like a human being and not like Worzel Gummidge . Would be so nice to get dressed up and go out to dinnner somewhere, but we are so limited at the moment as to where we can go. Do hope your grandson gets over that vomitting bug that he has caught - not very good for him at the moment. At least you have been told to get another lot of medication from the chemist to last until mid December - and is that to do with the B12 or are you still getting the B12 injection next Friday?

Rita hope you managed to get all you needed when you went to Sainsburys yesterday - that hour really isn't enough time to get a good look round.

Well ladies - cuppa next and then decide whether to do outdoor work or stay indoors. Enjoy your afternoon and evening.

Sat Oct 24, 2020 11:11 am

Hi Everyone. I didn't sleep too well last night, so was up about 2.45 with a cuppa and sorting out the action men for Hunter - at the moment they are all perching along the back of the settee and most of them have their boots back on, so got that lot sorted ready to go in a larger toy box that is now needed. Went back to bed about 5, but was up again about 7.30 and just been doing all of the internet things first.

Yesterday I did get out in the garden again as it had dried up and got quite a bit accomplished between 3 and 6.30 and by then the light had gone. All of the larger iris have now been transplanted and ready for next year and got two of the large recycling crates emptied ready to put in the passion flower vines and honeysuckle that have taken root in other planters in the corner under the looming tree. I want to free up those planters and get the roots in the crates instead and hope to get at least one crate sorted this morning. Very dull and grey out there and a bit more chilly wind, but I find it quite easy to work in that sort of weather, because I can wrap up warm and work quickly in colder weather.

I did shampoo my hair last evening, but didn't bother to set it, so first thing after this I am off to put the rollers in and get them covered with a scarf to keep the garden dirt away and ready to go out tomorrow shopping.

Hope the day went well for all of you yesterday and you can enjoy the start of the weekend.

Sat Oct 24, 2020 12:17 pm

Pauline you certainly have got your garden up to date with all that hard work
Jean do hope your having a good day and David is fine also coco
Rita also hope your day is going along nicely
Well a winter like morning here Very damp and overcast .Afraid nothing much new from yesterday Now going to make something to eat Have a good weekend all Dark nights rolling in fast now....grrrr

Sat Oct 24, 2020 1:37 pm

Yesterday I spent ages on this iPad, one finger, did a long post and then whoosh it disappeared., I gave up.

I phoned my Doctor's surgery to make appointment used my typetalk for that and it took me 25 minutes waiting in the queue for my turn, they said a Dr would phone me and as it was a personal matter I gave them my ordinary hearing tel no. They said she would ring me between 2 and 5 p.m. She rang at 5 15 and I could not make out what she was saying, eventually I got an email with an appointment to go see her on Wednesday. People tend to think that an aid to hearing makes it back to normal, it can be very frustrating.

Anyway. there was a bright spot in the day, a lady from the church called to see if I am OK and brought two large homemade scones for me.. She was going further down the street with scones for Maureen and Mary too. Mary's sister in Devon died and Mary is terribly upset, asked me to go to church with her. We have not been this year so I hope it's not raining as its a fair distance to walk and these days cannot ask anyone for a lift.

Irish friend 60 in London emailed me, no job now, was a Secretary in Harley Street but now that Practice has closed down. so with mortgage to pay etc, and no prospect of future earnings she may try to sell her flat and move to Ireland. Her brother lives in Surrey. So many people now out of work and businesses finished.

It's a dark wet day here, I dried my washing indoors and will iron a couple of blouses, maybe tidy up a cupboard. etc. Am rather tired of being on my own, so many others in same position, this area is on the Medium infection rate.The shops will be hoping for Xmas customers, we only have Debenhams large store now and so many other shops have had to close, its a ghost town, except that now the Council in all its wisdom, is pulling up all the block paving to replace it with? And so barriers are everywhere, no seats around a fountain area, they will probably take away the bushes, greenery there too. What a mess.

Jean, you will be upset that you cannot help Barry. My neighbour Mary cannot help her son either, he, after two days in hospital for serious operation, is home alone. Re. b12 my daughter in Canada did have injections but takes regular B12 tablets, as I do here. Is your car working well now, will you be going out for your usual jaunt on Monday?

Dian, yes the nights are drawing in now, your adopted cat will no doubt seek your company!

Pauline, I see you too were up in the night, but still found something to do. It's nice that you have young ones to think about for Xmas even though it's uncertain about seeing them at the festive season. So Gennie has heard no more about possible bungalow, unsettling for her. How is Maria coping, has her chemo finished?.

Well I should go and make myself busy doing something, got to keep moving. Bye all, have a pleasant Sunday

Sat Oct 24, 2020 4:37 pm

Dian good for you not having those specs. I find in specsavers the prices are up there. but then they try to add this and that, which soon add to the price. I only have a sun tint in mine for driving I had got some specs from 40 years ago and still use them to watch tv.
it is going to be dark and horrible shortly and more so tomorrow. it is dull with rain. managed to get the dog out but did not meet anyone.
Davids arthritis is playing him up today. it is so damp
this morning I cleaned out the porch, managed to throw some of Davids rubbish away. he is so untidy. rebellion against his parents. who dusted and polished
every day.
Rita I do not know about Monday, depends on David and the weather. I have a feeling that I shall never see Norwich again and go and see my granddad in
Trowse churchyard, which I promised him when he died in 1962
Pauline still up for the jab B12 next Friday. it it for life. I cannot take B12 pills as well, as it would upset my liver probably I already have 2 enzeymes which I cannot spell dodgy in there

Sun Oct 25, 2020 7:43 am

Here we go again - body clock hiccup because of the clocks going back, so up far too early again. Well when I get back from shopping and the lock up I reckon I will need a sleep for a while, before tackling any further outdoor jobs, seeing as the forecast is for sun, but they didn't forecast that heavy torrential downpour I got caught in yesterday.

I worked on clearing another recycling box then put a heap of compost in that and plenty of sieved fibre and plant food and took that down to the untidy corner under the (b)loomin' tree and got out all of the passion flower vine roots from existing old recycling box and put them into the new box. There were also some new honeysuckle shoots so shoved them in another box and then it took me ages to untangle the thin stems of the vine, but sorted that and got it hooked up on battered trellis on side fence, which hopefully I managed to secure the other month as it had been bashed about by the tree branches, which I lopped off and a few years back there was trellis fixed to the end fence in that corner, but that got brought down by a falling branch (Oh I do hate that tree ). Got the second box out and cleared any roots out of that of young honeysuckle and shoved them in with the previous lot I found and decided before I did any further sieving or clearance of the boxes and planters, that I didn't want to work in that mess of fallen leaves so was having fun chucking them back over the fence onto the council bank - their trees, their leaves, so back they went. There were also some more cuttings of my stuff dumped there, so got them into a large black bag ready for cutting smaller and composting later. Then had to move so quickly and cover up the planters and boxes I still needed to sieve before they got more waterlogged and get the tools in, because it started pouring heavily. Good job I had put my hair in rollers before I went out there and put a scarf on over that, because it didn't really matter if that got damp again, but the rest of me was a soggy mess - potting fibre and earth that had got onto the gardening clothes, while doing that sieving and transplanting, turned to dripping mud, so in I came - gardening clothes into the washing machine and me off for a hot bath and a dry scarf over the hair set again . After that I caught up with some recorded t v and still got Strictly to watch later today.

Jean like I said in that email answer to you, I do understand why David has had to stop the wrapping for a while because of the arthritis. I shouldn't be doing all of the gripping and heavy work, because my hands are really going through it and fingers tingling again this morning and painful and not touching the keyboard firmly enough and hitting wrong keys and having to go back and correct - very painful, but the work needs doing and if I gave up on it, I am sure my hands would sieze up totally. My Mum ended up with osteoporosis, so I have always tried to keep to a low fat diet and use the skimmed milk to keep the calcium intake up. See you managed to clear out the porch yesterday and although David might be untidy, at least he doesn't make a fuss about you throwing out some of his things. I was thinking about Pat and what she had to put up with over Jim's things and the fact he wouldn't let her get rid of anything. Poor lady, she never did get the chance to do much after losing him, because she was then taken so ill - another lady we miss from our group along with Joan and thinking about her family coming to the time when they lost her suddenly during the Christmas preparations last year. Such a shame that you cannot get to Norwich to visit your Grandad's grave, as David cannot drive that distance, or you with your foot trouble. Have you got Google Earth on your computer, because you can get a good view of the church with that - is it St Andrews? You could at least visit it that way. Noted what you said about only having the B12 injections and not the tablets.

Rita that was such a long interesting post from you and know the effort that took you. So frustrating for you all that time hanging on the phone, but eventually you got the email with an appointment to see your doctor on Wednesday and hope that goes well. How lovely of that lady from the church to bring those homemade scones to you and also Mary and Mauren. I can understand Mary being so upset about the death of her sister in Devon and not being able to attend the funeral, but see she wanted you to go to the local church with her - hope that wasn't yesterday and you got caught in the rain like I did, but if it is another day, then hope you get there and back in better weather as it is a fair distance to walk. It is so depressing at the moment with more shops closing and people losing their jobs - as you say more like ghost towns that we live near or in at the moment and that will be Peacocks and Bon Marche disappearing from our local shopping centre. Like your Irish friend losing her job in London and now just hoping to sell her flat and move back to Ireland - don't suppose that will be easy trying to sell the flat either, or she will have to take a much lower price for it than it would have been a year ago before all of this trouble hit us. There are so many of us on our own at the moment and all we can do is try and keep ourselves busy and time occupied and just try not to get depressed about it all, but not easy. I suppose your council in Bedford are doing away with seating to stop people congregating, but making a mess as they do it with barriers everywhere. Yes I did find something to do in the middle of the night, but the action men are still sitting along the back of the settee . They are just a few toys that we didn't manage to sell, so have brought them back here for Hunter and Kylian to play with if and when they can visit again and won't be seeing them at Christmas as we had hoped, but will give Aimie the money to spend on them. Maria now has a gap of 6 weeks without any treatment and then go for a scan. The doctor wants that gap so all of the chemo is out of the body and then he will see how she responded to all of the previous treatment and then decide on what is next for her, but she is keeping cheerful and as busy as she can be. The doctor did think the tumour had increased slightly, but latest findings show it is still the same and the blood platelet readings are much lower and very good. Gennie cheerful as ever, but fingers crossed that a bungalow in the area she wants, will appear perhaps next week on the list.

Dian, see it was a dark damp day for you yesterday - more like winter and yes the dark nights rolling in fast and now we have altered the clocks will be losing the light that much quicker. I will have to get out in the garden earlier than normal and leave the indoor work until I lose the light (that is if the rain will let me get on with things).

Well ladies, enjoy your Sunday and hope the weather stays cheerful for you all. Dry here at the moment and the sun is out, so I had better get myself ready for the visit to Tescos and the lock up (but the umbrella is going with me).

Sun Oct 25, 2020 11:44 am

Pauline well done with all that work in the garden but be careful as not good working in such damp conditions. Yes the children will enjoy the action men to play with Hope you finally get the lock up emptied
Rita that would cheer you up with that visit from the lady who brought you nice scones. So sad for your friend in London and I am sure not a good time to sell.Be careful that the walk is not too difficult for you as it is quite a distance. Know how it feels
Jean yes spec savers have definitely put their prices and deals up.Hope David s pain improves .Well done in getting the porch cleared
Well another damp morning and quite chilly too.Not looking forward to the Dentist tomorrow I will take a taxi there and back Now feeling peckish so must go and see what I feel like to eat .Find I am getting so fussy as have gone off a lot of items I normally would enjoy....grrrrr Enjoy your day ladies

Sun Oct 25, 2020 1:52 pm

Dian see you managed to get into the dentist. is it NHS? Mine will not do anything until virus is over, by which time I will have no teeth anyway..
phoned Barry this morning to find he had been sent to A & E as he went to the docs after I had spoken to him. he said the doctor panicked
and sent for the ambulance. his daughter was there so they sent the ambulance away and went in her car they looked at him and sent
him back home.
it is a lovely sunny day today, but the wind is a bit sharp. the leaves are falling but not dry enough to sweep up yet.
hope you are ok with your walk today Rita.

Sun Oct 25, 2020 6:23 pm

I had a good walk to the paper shop this morning and on the way back saw friend in her garden and she said for me to call in to see her anytime if I needed a rest, lol! I think she saw I was going slowly! Nevertheless, although it took me much longer than previously I felt much better for being out of doors.

Yesterday I cooked a lot of the veg which were deteriorating in my fridge, so had some veg broth today and there is more to get eaten tomorrow. , Lesson learned! Do not buy lots fresh veg, keep to frozen. I still have salad stuff to get through. The usual Sainsburys bus is now getting so full that I think it is not good, no spacing now, so I will go on it this Thursday coming and tell him I do not think it is wise to sit close together and will not go with them for a while, The driver is kind but more people have joined on and mini bus is full. I told my son when he came here this afternoon and he did not think it wise to go and said that if I give him a list he will get things for me.

Dian, Mm I know what you mean when you say you have gone off certain foods and never know what you fancy, I am the same, haha I won't be having veggie broth for a while now!

Jean, you had another clear out, I hope David doesn't start looking for something you have thrown out. That's a worry about Barry and hospital sending him home again, but hospitals must be under great pressure as to who they can admit.

Pauline, I see you too are having interrupted sleeping hours, you certainly must be tired out after all your gardening work but I daresay your brain never relaxes properly to let you sleep longer. I use little energy but fall asleep at all wrong times. My body clock not working. For your Sainsburys deliveries, is it say £40 minimum to get a free delivery. When I was having delivery from local village Budgens they charge £2.50 for delivery any amount.

It's been a sunny day but teeming with rain now.

Mon Oct 26, 2020 12:14 pm

Good Morning Ladies.

Not a very good day yesterday as nothing went to plan. First of all got out early only to find that the bus that was supposed to be at a certain time wouldn't be there for another 20 minutes, so walked to the centre. Went straight away to the lockup (ready for the final clearance) only to find that the padlock had been changed. When we first used the lock up we were told that we could put our own padlock on there instead of having to keep requesting the security staff to open it for us, so we did this and left one of the keys with the centre to open it in any emergency (because previously there had been water in there coming through from a burst pipe). Well obviously they had used this key and possibly emptied the last few things, so have emailed the centre this morning and told them I will phone them in an hour to sort this out and arrange to collect the items and padlock and key today and also give them the £50 to go to their charity of the year (money that was left from the insurance premium we didn't have to renew for public liability), because we were really thankful for the help they gave us and the security staff with getting out the tables, etc., so hopefully that problem will be sorted today.

Next thing was that Tescos, despite having on their website that they were open from 9 - 10 yesterday for elderly and vulnerable people, they didn't open until 9.30 and then of course, all ages went in there, so not happy about that one.

Walked home and got the shopping away and changed into gardening clothes and straight to the garden - out there for a little while and down came the rain again - came indoors and did a few things and then out again and eventually got another box used to put the honeysuckle in, but have ended up with several bags of earth and fibre out of the old boxes and one large planter, that I had no time to sieve yesterday because rain arrived back and had to keep all that lot covered so it doesn't get any wetter and making it hard to sieve. Used a lot of the fibre already seen too with added plant food for the two boxes dealt with and now getting short of that and also the compost is going down, so next job when I get the chance is more sieving and cutting up for composting. Some of the honeysuckle was growing near the back gate from the large planter, but that is all shifted to the side fence now and threaded through the old trellis. Near the back gate now is a container (what was a plastic header tank) and used for excess small leaf ivy (which I will keep under control) and got that all fed with plant food and tidied. Managed to get more old leaves scraped up from the large stones and pebbles in that corner and one small section is looking much better - lot more to do in that corner, but had to give up again because was losing the light by 5 in the afternoon. Had to laugh, because everywhere I am working and altering things, the robin comes down to check everything out.

So a hit and miss day and nothing working out how I wanted and hope I can get that all sorted with the centre this afternoon. Also got a confession to make, when I finally got into Tescos I made the mistake of walking through their clothing section and spotted a lovely leopard print top in soft feel material and went back on my promise about not buying any further clothing, but couldn't resist and needed cheering up after the dismal start to the morning when nothing went right. Think I will look on that as my present to me for Christmas .

Rita as far as Sainsbury are concerned for deliveries, over £100 is free, over £50 varies from 50p to £7 depending on days and times and under £40 is £7 each time, so not cheap, but is better for anyone who can arrange to be home at any particular time and day and choose the best charge listed. If I didn't get the vouchers, I wouldn't have their deliveries, but look at it that part of the voucher pays for the delivery and I make sure I make use of their reductions on items I use. I think you are right about their bus getting too crowded and you won't be using it after the next trip and Peter has said that he will get things for you if you give him a list, but not the same as being able to look and choose yourself or see any new things that you might want to try. Okay for me to have perhaps 4 hours sleep and then up again, because the arthritis would play up more if I was laying about for longer than that, so it helps to get up for a while and move around or sit instead of laying down. I think it always takes a time to adjust again after altering the clocks. See you got to the shop for a paper before the rain and stopped and spoke to a neighbour on the way back and as you say, took you longer than it would have done a while back, but at least it is good if we can get out. I am sure you are right about sticking to frozen veg, because you had to use a lot of the fresh veg yesterday to make that broth, It is also reckoned that frozen veg have far more vitamins in them as they are picked at their best and dealt with quickly - not so much banging around or travelling time when they are first picked. Hope you enjoyed the broth yesterday and today, but you won't be eating any of that for a while .

Jean as you know, answered your email yesterday evening and should have done that email to the centre, but was then too tired to tackle it, but as you can see from above, I have sent that this morning and will be phoning them after this post. Same here with my dentist and might call in there today when I am at the centre and see if I can get an appointment made. I see that despite the doctor ordering an ambulance for Barry after speaking to him on the phone, his daughter was there and they sent the ambulance away and she took him by car and they sent him home again - perhaps it would have been better if the ambulance had been used and they might have kept him in hospital again, because it sounds as though he just shouldn't be home at the moment. It was lovely and sunny early yesterday, but got the rain again in the afternoon and this morning it is sunny and not quite so cold, but definitely a mucky job gathering up the leaves at the moment and they are now falling fast.

Dian, our temperatures and weather conditions we get here are really no good at anytime for our aches and pains, because in extremely hot weather we get the dampness coming out of the ground, but at least I can wrap up warm when working out there at the moment and get indoors when it starts raining. I am quite sure Hunter and Kylian will enjoy those action men when they can eventually play with them, but they are still sitting along the back of the settee waiting to be packed in a larger new toy box . See you had a damp chilly morning your way yesterday and was trying to decide what you fancied to eat. Hope the visit to the dentist goes well and nothing will need attention.

Well ladies I must phone the centre now and see what can be arranged and hopefully get it all sorted this afternoon and hope the day goes well for all of you.

Mon Oct 26, 2020 2:30 pm

Pauline hope you get it all sorted with the lock up. Annoying when nothing goes to plan but see more good work finished in the garden Yes this damp weather not good for our bones
Rita really good you got out to the shops even though it was tiring as keeps us moving
Jean wonder if you would get out and about today
Well another damp miserable morning. Took a taxi to dentist and had to phone them at door to get in. I was early as taxi arrived early so just had to sit for awhile but was the only one in. Got hygienist first then the Dentist so pleased all was fine.They phoned for a taxi for me which arrived nearly right away I took taxi to local shops which is just 5 minutes from me. Popped into local cafe and enjoyed a nice snack then nipped next door and got some shopping then home.. Think now will go and have a nice cuppa.........have a good day ladies