General Chat

I meant to sympathise about your fascia boards AG. We had them replaced with pvc in our last house, but they are the original wood ones here and they need painting. We considered having them changed to plastic, but it is a detached house with a separate double garage which would need doing as well. The wood looks to be in good condition, so we will probably just have them painted and see how it goes. That will cost quite a bit, especially as the ground slopes away at the back, so it will need scaffolding.

My daughter has arrived in Kingston, she went in the train. I don’t know how they coped as she has a very large suitcase , her back pack and Esme’s wheelchair. Her partner couldn’t go as he has gone over to the Wirral for another weekends work on his father’s house. It has to go on the market as his father has been in a care home for a long time now. The house has been emptied of all but the basic furniture, he borrowed my carpet cleaner and is going to tidy the garden as well in readiness for the estate agents photos.

His parents both had dementia when they signed up to a scheme with the RBS to take some equity out of the house. His mum told them that all they had to do was to pay the lump sum back and the rest of the money from any sale would be divided between him and his sister. Sadly she hadn’t realised that the bank was going to take a huge percentage of any future increase in the price of the house . As houses have shot up in value, it means that the bank is going to walk away with most of the money from the sale, leaving practically nothing for the family. SIL and his sister are taking part in a class action lawsuit against the bank to try and claim mis selling as both of his parents were in no state of mind to sign up to something like that. His parents would have been devastated if they had realised what they had done, but they weren’t capable of understanding

Well done on getting extra points out of them Joan. Morrisons is my nearest large supermarket and I have to go there for lots of things which Aldi don’t sell. Recently, there has been lots of gaps on the shelves, so I don’t know what is happening to their stock control.

Afternoon all

had a visit from my neighbour for a coffee as she has been away on a cruise for 3 weeks, so we needed to have a catch up.

Have now put on a roast chicken dinner for later, something I only normally eat at xmas lol but wanted to show off my cooking skills and impress new man :-D :-D :-D

Overcast day but dry here with a small breeze.

Might venture out with poochie to the beach after tea as my eye seems ok. Drops though 4x a day for 5 weeks!

Hope everyone looking in enjoying their sunday

Florence in the hebrides

Hello everyone, thought I'd show my face and let you know that I'm still alive and kicking! Hope everyone is well and enjoying the tail end of the Summer.

Roast chicken eh Florence, very nice, your new man is a very lucky man. There seems to be a theme in your house, first your dog had a bad eye then you.

Linda hope your daughter is enjoying herself in Jamaica ????

Err, Aging Rocker, my daughter is in Kingston London :-D
On the way down,they changed trains in Leeds She had booked assistance because of the wheelchair and for once, they actually turned up. When they got on the second train in Leeds, they found another family sitting in their booked wheelchair seats, so my daughter asked the train guard to help. The other family eventually started to move, but the guard told them to stay put and put my daughter into first class, so they had a very nice journey down.

It often seems it is pointless booking seats on the train as people just sit in them. And, as far as I have read, are not repquested to move by someone in authority.

I always used to book seats when I travelled every week and rarely had a problem. If someone was in my seat, I just asked them to move and they always did, but the trains I used weren’t full of football fans or party goers, so it was usually quiet. My daughter has just set off home, so I hope she has a good journey.

This morning we went to a nearby garden centre which has an annual half price tree and shrub sale. It is a proper garden centre, not the sort with container loads of tat from China. We bought a bamboo which OH has chopped in half and put in two pots on the decking. I wouldn’t put it in the garden, but in the pots, it can’t spread. I got a replacement red robin for one which died, a hydrangea and some perennial lavateras They are always good quality plants and at half price, that is even better.

I see tha they are bringing water restrictions in for some parts of Scotland. Interestingly on the lunchtime news, it said that Scotland is the same size as Yorkshire, but that you use 40% more water per person than we do in Yorkshire. What are you doing with it :-S

Very very clean people Linda :-D

Interesting, Linda. I'm not sure how they work that out, as we don't have water meters. We pay for our water as part of the Council Tax and the amount is based on the property banding. They might know how much goes out but how do they account for burst water mains etc.? There's a section of road near us that has been very wet for years. I think it must be very difficult to fix, because they aren't bad at sorting most wastage problems - at least, not in the Central Belt. :-S

Regarding sizes, are you sure you didn't mishear? I have just googled and Yorkshire (the original, bigger county) is 6,000 sq miles and Scotland is about 30.000.

Perhaps we use more water (if we really do?) simply because it's not metered, and therefore we're not always worrying about paying more than necessary.

It's a beautiful day here - sunny and warm, but not too hot, and with a good breeze to keep the midges away. Perfect grass-cutting weather - and it's supposed to rain tomorrow, so I've cut all the grass this afternoon.
There's a lot of it, so I'm exhausted, and am going to have something quick and easy for tea, and then put my feet up for the rest of the evening.

From the BBC website
We've got about the same population as the county of Yorkshire in England, but they use 40% less water than we do as a population in Scotland," says Dr Wade.

In 2023/24, average consumption per person was 140 litres of water in England and Wales compared to 178 litres in Scotland.

Not everyone in England is on a meter, but lots of us are and it definitely makes you more aware of not wasting water.

As we can’t use a hosepipe, I have put a bucket in the sink in the utility room and every time I use the condenser tumble dryer , I empty the water into the bucket. It is amazing how quickly it fills up. I use it to water my new trees

Morning all
A lovely sunny but autumnal day here.

Am thinking we may take a drive out out later as it looks like the weather is on the change from tomorrow and rain coming so shall make the most of it.

cant complain this year as its been a good summer for us not too hot but plenty of good sunny days and we got out to the beach many times and also went paddling in the sea.

I have a water butt and a large box outside and both have some water in so can use that to water plants although we dont have a hosepipe ban ..yet.

Hope everyone else looking in has a good day.

Florence in the hebrides :-D

Weather forecast showed heavy showers here but so far we have had two very light showers that have dired up as soon as they stopped.

A day of reflection for me as it would have been our 65th wedding anniversary. Sad to be remembering on my own but I can't really complain we had 60 good years. Many people have a lot fewer than that. I can still remember every detail about that day. He was very nervous but I was just looking forward to it all. Looking at photos I looked so young, well we both did. I was 20, he was 22.

We had a light shower this morning which immediately dried up but now we hare having rain, some quite heavy. Probably started after 1.

We nippped out first thing and put some more grass seed where we had a tree removed - lots of free watering on the way ;-)

Ann thinking of you <3

I hope that you have had some lovely memories Ann despite it being a sad day <3

I took Eve into Harrogate this afternoon for her volunteering. We go on the bus and it was stuck for twenty minutes in some road works :-|. It was tanking down while we were on the bus, we were watching all the silly people walking by with no coats on. Luckily it was only light rain by the time we got off. It is very humid and has been raining again in the last half hour.. I hope it won’t be bad tomorrow because I am taking Esme to Lightwater Valley

Yes Linda plenty of happy memories in all the 60 years we had. Strange to think how eddings and traditions have changed since then. I was thinking by now we were in Jersey having left after the reception (No evening do or music etc, just the meal and speeches and then a taxi to the airport and our first night together. No living/sleeping together then, no pill!! Was it better? I don't know, who can tell. But it has not been a sad day really because of the happy memories. Of course I wish he was here to share them, but many people don't get half the number of years that we had. We were so lucky.

Morning all

I havent been well for a few days as I had a flu type virus which was awful. Friday i spent the whole day in bed with a throbbing head, no appetite etc. It had been brewing the 2 days before so i guess on Friday, it came to a head.

Am pleased to say it passed and I am back to my usual now. Def wasnt covid as I did a test . Temp was up and down under 100 and then 100 so who knows what i had.

Yesterday evening here was awful with a gale blowing and torrential rain and its still windy but the sun is shining.

So going to try and get my xmas cards finished off today as they are still siting in the lounge with all the bits and pieces

Making a salmon en croute today with a cauliflower bake which should be very tasty.

Hope everyone ok today and wish you all a good day.

Florence in the hebrides

I am glad that you are on the mend Florence.
I have had a busy week. The girls were away in London last weekend and came back on Monday. The train broke down on the way back and eventually managed to limp back to Grantham, where eventually they were put on a different train. Luckily as they had booked wheelchair help, the guard put them on the replacement train first, so they got seats. Most people weren’t so lucky and were sitting on the floor. Getting off at York was difficult, but thankfully some of the other passengers helped them. They were three hours late in the end.
On Tuesday, I took Eve to the hairdressers., then out for lunch. On Wednesday, I took her into Harrogate for her volunteering. On Thursday, I took Esme to Lightwater valley, then on Friday OH came with me and we took both of them out to an animal park for the day.
My daughter had been feeling ill all week with a cold,or so she thought, but on Friday night , she had a very high temperature and was feeling dreadful, so she did a Covid test and it was positive. She was on her own because her partner had gone over to his father’s house again to finish getting it ready for sale. He was supposed to be away all weekend, but he came back last night.
I had bought Eve some tickets for an outdoor screening of Pride and Prejudice . Her mum was supposed to be taking her today, but obviously couldn’t go, so her dad took her while I took Esme to Lightwater Valley for the second time this week. That meant that her mum could sleep all day.

Thank goodness they both go back to school on Wednesday, but we shall have to see if any of them get Covid, the probability will be high. OH and I have had all of our vaccinations, but that doesn’t stop you getting it of course. As I have had so much contact with them this week, I stand a good chance of catching it

Glad you are feeling better now Florence.

Linda you have had another busy week with the children , hope you and the children don't come down with covid.

I still have the infection in my leg, the ABs didn't do the job so am now waiting for the results of the swab the Dr took last week. I was given more cream and dressing to go on with.

Weather here is now chilly and we have had some good down pours of rain which was really needed in the gardens.

Hope everyone is doing well.

Good to hear that you are feeling better Florence.. it sounded a nasty virus.

Ginny did you actually do something to your leg? Or did it just appear? I hope they can find a solution for you.
Linda, oh dear covid was the last thing your daughter needed during the school holidays. I hope that she is feeling better and that nobody else in the family has caught it. I imagine Esme would be quite poorly if she caught it.