General Chat

That's good they are home now with no problems AnnG. Yes stairs are good exercise as you say, as long as you don't fall. FIL's stairs were lethal as he'd removed the side of them and the handrail so it was all open one side and there was nothing to hold onto on the other.

You still got some jobs done and the phone calls Vera despite the late start. My OH is the same and he can hear the letterbox from the other end of the bungalow but not me shouting him from the next room. OH wasn't up till lunchtime as he had a bad night too after waking with a headache and taking tablets. One bit of good health news for him is that his cholesterol is in the normal range now despite stopping the statins and after all the high cholesterol Christmas food he ate!

That's good you managed to see Colin Mandy and that you could tell he was more with it and improving. I suppose it would be hard to find someone to speak to with them being so busy. The poor nurses having to deal with that chap, it can't be easy.
It seems much windier where you and Vera are as we've had it calm here today. I had a sparkly white hat once that would have gone nicely with your scarf.

Yes, I think we will have to allow a lot more time to drive the couple of miles to the surgery tomorrow just in case. More of the villages have floods now including ours where it flooded last year for the first time and care staff had to wade through floods to visit their elderly clients in a couple of villages out this way tthis morning. I think it said 56 have had to be rescued now and even the Space Centre in the city is at risk.

Oh that sounds better news of Colin. I'm glad for you all that you were able to visit and see for yourself that he was more 'with it'
Those poor nurses :-0

AnnG Good news that your family had no trouble on the roads and got home safely with no hold ups.
We might get snow on Wednesday apparently, but we don't usually have it too bad here, as we are fairly near the coast and that seems to help stop the worst of it. Up over the hill just a short distance, it can be quite different though.
We've had wild windy weather all day, but the rain eased, so that was something.
You've done a lot of steps up and downstairs tidying away your cottages.
I don't know how big their boxes are, but faced with a similar situation, I have used a clean dry plastic bucket to carry more than 1 item safely and reduce journeys.

Right I'll type a bit more, I posted as the other day when I scrolled up to read the posts I lost the lot .
Ann I hope its not to flooded tomorrow so you can get to your doctors appointment.
Your scarf sounds as if its going to a nice warm one ,I bought a white scarf I saw in Tesco's just before Christmas it is white crinkley fabric with just a little sparkle on it , I didn't bother to take it today as I was in the car but my goodness I could have done with it walking across the car park we nearly got blown over with all the wind .

Had a good hour with Colin and he does seem more with it now ,they are trying to get his sugar levels down a bit and he said it might be the end of the week when he can come home , there was no one to have a chat with they were so busy .
The poor nurses were trying to cope with a chap in the end bed ,we heard him say and that's my dirty protest for you all so you can imagine what he had done and we heard the poor nurses say stop rolling in it and stand up so we can clean you but he wouldn't, there was three or four of them just round his bed and they were there all the time we were there visiting.
Not sure when we will go again might be tomorrow but not Wednesday as son will be at the other school .
Yes Vera it's the NNUH the main road to the hospital is closed for four weeks I think son said but we came in on another turning and parked in the multi story ,luckily we found a space on the ground floor ,Bit of a walk across the wooded bit and across the main car park ,then we had to find the ward which was right down near the A&E.

Anng you've done really well getting all the Christmas things away that's a lot of steps you've done today .

They had a very good run home, no holdups at all. No snow.

I have now put the cottages into two top cupboards so they are out of the way. The floral arrangement will get done tomorrow.
I think going up and down stairs is supposed to be beneficial so we shall see.

Good afternoon from a wet and very windy Suffolk. We’ve had some heavy rain overnight and this morning, though it’s dry at the moment, but the wind has been strong and gusty since yesterday and isn’t showing much sign of abating yet. The iPad is telling me it’s 4 degrees but the wind is making it feel like -6. I’ll be staying indoors in the warm.

Mandy, it’s good that Colin is in the ward at last but what a long wait in A&E for him. I hope you find him much improved and comfortable this afternoon and you get some information about what’s happening. Is he in the Norfolk and Norwich or do you have a nearer hospital? I wish him a speedy recovery.

Your fleece scarf sounds cosy Annx. It should keep you lovely and warm.

You’ve worked hard putting your Xmas decs. away AnnG. I know what it’s like going up and down stairs constantly. I always say it’s my exercise routine so I don’t need to join a gym. I hope your daughter and sil had a good journey home.

I had another bad night and fell asleep some time around 5 am.. I didn’t wake again till 9 which is really late for me so I’ve been chasing my tail all day. I decided not to get dressed till I could shower but to do a couple of jobs in my jimjams and dressing gown. I eventually showered at 2.30 pm! I was tempted to put my nightwear back on as it was so late but did get dressed. We changed the bedding and I did 3 loads of washing, though I still have the sheets to do tomorrow. Two long phone calls took another hour out of the morning and before I knew it OH was calling that lunch was ready.

I need to go and prepare some veg for tonight’s dinner and see what OH is up to. I suspect he has dozed off as it is very quiet. I have been making comments on the need to sort the garage-cum-shed out and said we could tackle it a bit at a time but it’s all falling on deaf ears. Funny isn’t it how men seldom hear a suggestion from a wife but will hear a beer bottle being opened 3 rooms away ;-)

It’s my day for long phone calls. I was just about to post when the phone went and it was my oldest friend. She got back yesterday from a month’s cruise around the Caribbean. We’ve been on the phone for just under an hour again.

OH has just shown me all the floods around here, cars stuck, bus services cancelled and places we would go that are completely cut off, even the road outside a Morrison's supermarket car park. It's been declared a major incident and 17 have been rescued and others have had to leave their homes. Even the railways here have been affected and services cancelled. I hope I can get to the doctor's surgery in the morning as the fields in the couple of miles between have had water lapping at the roadside in the past, despite them building a big overflow pond area. The river which just can't cope. It's started flooding since last year in the lane the other side of the village where they have partly built 4,250 houses. All the storm water from these new developments is fed into the brooks that empty into the river and are causing a lot of the problem I think. They clear the trees in order to build as well and they act like sponges and soak up water.

The new kitchen bin is in operation now but it was a game fitting the bin bag as they have made recesses in the sides where the handle is on the 'bucket' inside them now. They obviously assume no-one uses a liner with there being a bucket. I do because it save any smell and washing out the bucket.

Afternoon All,

No more snow but it poured with rain in the night, had stopped by morning but there are still puddles on the gravel that haven't drained away. It's 4 degrees now according to the PC.

I bet Colin will be so pleased to see you Mandy, as time does drag in hospital. It will be good to be able to find out more and when he should be able to come home as well. Best wishes for his quick recovery!<3

Youve done well getting everything put away now AnnG. I couldn't have managed all those trips upstairs! Your daughter would have been tired after the journey as you rightly say. Even OH says it's a long trip back to Gloucestershire. I went with him to match at Workington once and we went and came back the same day and even as a passenger I was shattered by the time we got home. That was years ago before there was a s much traffic as well. I hope they've had a good journey home without holdups.

How come your chainsaw is at Stu's Mel? Did he borrow it for something. It's bin day for the rubbish and recycling here tomorrow so we've managed to get the huge, heavy tray we had to do the Turkey in this year into the bin diagonally. The old kitchen bin will have to go next bin day. I need to see if there's room for some newspapers and magazines in the bin as the recycling bin is always full and that's without the shredded paper which we bag up and take to the smallholding to use.

A parcel has just arrived and is a lovely, soft, fleece leopard effect scarf I sent for. It's whiter and brighter than the snow leopard fleece one I've had for years. Chuffed!

Afternoon all.

Raining here and I'm sure I saw a few flakes of snow earlier.

Just waiting for son to pick me up to go to the hospital he's should have been here about half twelve but rang and said he got held up at school so it will be nearer one o'clock now.
Colin is now on a ward and it looks like visiting is from 8 till 8 which is good so I hope I can find out a bit of information ,son rang the A&E department and they said he's on the ward but if you ring the ward the phone just keeps ringing so they are busy.

just undressed the tree, it may be only 3 foot tall but it had a lot on it. and why has it been a struggle to get it back in exactly the same space in the same cupboard as it was in before?

O I see. suns still out here but its still very cold and pc is telling me rain in the afternoon.

Been doing a bit of painting this mroning but I need to hoover and get round to Stuart's to get the chain saw back.

I think I explained I couldn't do that as all the boxes for the cottages were buried somewhere in the room they sleep in and I couldn't get to the cupboards. Also they were tired fro bringing me back Saturday.

You should have taken the cottages down while you daughter was there and then she could have helped you take them upstairs.

We have sun to the south and blue sky with white clouds to the north so quite pleasent at the mo but still very chilly in the wind. 6 degrees now and pc says mostly cloudy!

Morning all. wet and 3 degrees here and loads of roads in Glos flooded. Daughter and SiL set off for home at 0830, an hour later than usual so it was light. Hope they will be ok no lnowing what the M5/M6 are like. already M5 south 11-12 is shut due to accident and I think flooding.

I have just taken down the cottages so all the buildings and the figures are now boxed up and on the spare bedroom. I have found that this year I can obly safely carry one cottage in its box with plug etc at a time upstairs so that has been at least 8 journeys. Had to sit down for a rest, once I have that part clear I will stop for coffee and then start on the tree.

Morning all,

5 degrees and mostly cloudy but it ooks very wet out there.

I do hope they have found Colin a bed today and he is now on the mend. What a horrid start to the new year.

Forgot to get my recykling out yesterday but its going to be so wet I don't really want to put it in the car.

Our posts crossed again Mandy! That's some good news that will reassure you to hear Colin is improving now he's on antibiotics. It's a shame he still doesn't have a bed yet, but I expect they are doing their best for him. Hopefully they'll find him one soon so you can visit him.

Vera, I read there are easter eggs in the shops already! :-D

Phew that's another lot of food delivered and put away. However did we manage the wiping of it as well a few years ago. Robert the driver's face was hardly visible under his hat, scarf and turned up collar.

There's still a wide strip of snow at the bottom of my windscreen, so I wish I hadn't listened to OH and had gone out and swept it off. He said there was no need as he would take me if I go out. He'll be expecting to just go to the shop and back, but I wanted to get fuel as well and maybe go to TKMax down the road now people and children will be back at work and school. I'll have to be up early to shower anyway as the windowcleaner is due and he might come as our windows are all at ground level.

The PC is saying heavy rain expected soon, so it looks like more flooded fields tomorrow.

Son has finally spoken to someone and Colin is still waiting for a bed on the ward .
His breathing ,temperature and blood pressure is better and she said he was more alert today so the antibiotics are helping ,we could have visited but it will be better to visit once he's on a ward .

The fish was lovely AnnG, but I think I'd take off the foil I'd covered the tin with sooner another time, so the cheese browned a little more. I didn't want to cook it any longer to brown it more in case it made the fish dry. Your cottage pie sounds nice for a day like today.

It's good your son kept trying the hospital to get an update Mandy, but lI suppose they are really busy. I hope they get Colin on a ward soon and contact you.

Gwyn the schools here go back tomorrow as well, so I expect OH will be layering up like you for any meetings too! I noticed when I went out yesterday that no gritting had been done like there usually is with snow forecast. I suppose it is something else the councils are cutting back on.

I'm waiting for the food delivery now. 5 subs this time and most are going back. I ordered a pack of tiny cucumbers and they are sending a big one instead that I'm keeping but just hope I can get it in the fridge as it's a bigger order than usual. I'd have thought they would have sent a half one, but they just compare the price to get something else near it. Looks like cucumber sandwiches this week!

Oh poor Colin. Confusion is a well-known symptom of water infections so hopefully the antibiotics will soon get to grips with it and he’ll be back to normal in no time. I hope he’s got a bed now. I’m sure you must be worried but he’ll be well looked after in hospital. It’s good you have your son nearby. Thinking of you both <3

Your cod sounds good to me Annx. OH loves his Sunday roast but I couldn’t face beef or pork today so we had roast chicken which seems lighter.

Layering up sounds a good idea when you are back at school Gwyn. I know you have had to sit near an open door before and at the moment the temperature is going up and down like a yo-yo.

We had quite a lot of snow during the night and some strong winds which kept me awake but early this morning it turned to rain and melted the snow. Everything is just grey and wet now, though there are still some gusts of wind. I hope your lake is going down a bit Mel.

We took down and packed away all the rest of the Christmas decorations this morning so that’s Christmas finished for another year. Before we know it, it will be Easter.