General Chat

hello Ginnie, like yu I have not been doing very much.
the weather is changable at the moment, not very bright & wet first theng, I swept up some leaves off the rive the other day whilst they were dry & fairly easy to lift.
I had hoped to clear some from the front arden but since the rain started they are so wet they are not so easy to get off the gravelled areas, so they will just have to lie until they dry up a bit.

I have 3 Roses flowering at the moment & 3 of another plant that is quite tall with yellow trumpet like flowers on it, no idea what it is called, it is very attractive & this year they have had numerous & continuous flowers on it.
It is a later flowering plant & so it brightens up the borders at this time of year.

I had to summon our daughter last night after the lightbulb blew in the Living room, at first I thought the power had gone off, it's the only light in that room & as I am not able to put in a new bulb my daughter had to come over & do it for me.

Thank goodness she lives quite close, I don't know what I would do at such times otherwise.

Joan.

Hello everyone, hope you are all keeping well. I have been popping on here to catch up with you all. I haven't been doing much except the normal H/W . I have sorted out my linen cupboard and found I have more duvet cover sets than I need so shall be sending the ones I don't want to the kennels for the dog beds.

I also have some plants flowering that usually don't flower now so the seasons seem to be mixed up.

Take care all.

Your Iceland trip sounded to be very good Florence, it is somewhere I have never been.
I have some new flowers in the garden as well Joan, all very odd as things would normally be dying down by now.
Yesterday’s plans didn’t quite go to plan . My husband picked my daughter up at 6.30 am, but then Esme didn’t go to school because she started with one of her stomach migraines. She had a fast track straight to the children’s ward in the hospital, so her father took her and she was admitted, hooked up to a drip to replace her fluids and was given the medication to stop her from being sick.
I went first my eye test in the afternoon and was told that my prescription had changed quite a bit, so I would need new glasses. That surprised me as I have only had these ones a year and they seem fine to me. I didn’t choose any new ones because my husband wasn’t with me I need his input because without my glasses, I can’t see a thing, so when I try the new frames on, I can’t see them. They said that my cataracts had grown quite quickly, but weren’t quite bad enough for NHS surgery, but they would be by next year, so that is some to look forward too :-(

On the way back, the bus passed the hospital, so,I got off and went to sit with Esme while her father got a break. She was picking up very quickly, so they actually got out early evening, which is much faster than normal.

After everyone looking in.
Dry and bright here with a few clouds but overall a lovely autumn day and....no wind!

Always seems strange when its flat calm but its good for working outside. Yesterday i pulled up all the dead things in the tunnel and we had a good clear out. 3 empty raised beds now ready for next years planting. Still have 2 cucumbers with 2 flowers so possibly 2 more. Its balmy as now in October didn't think we would get any more.

Just the swede/turnips growing very well now as the beetroot didn't take as well as I expected.

Joan, how wonderful to have a poppy in bloom in October! That's amazing and very lovely.

We are off out for a spin and a walk whilst we have decent weather. So good to get out in the fresh air. Hope you can get out too Joan and your weather is a lot better than of late.

Right off to get sorted for going out.

Take care all

Florence in the hebrides

It sounds like you had a truely magical time in iceland florence, our eldest son has been to Iceland more than once & he loves it.

Back to an overcast day today, had to heve the living room light on this morning, & so the garden takes a back seat once again.
Got my weekly grocery shop done this morning,nice to have something in the cupboards & fridge once again, Morrisons was very quiet.

I had a rather nice surprise on opening the bedroom curtains this morning, a beautiful Red Poppy had popped up !
I have one Poppy plant in my garden & it flowers well around August, doubling up each year, this year there were 14 flowers on it, about a week ago I cut back the dead flowers & generally tidied it up, so I was really surprised to see the new flower this morning.

Joan.

Afternoon all.
I'm back :-D

Had a wonderful time in Iceland. We went on a whale spotting trip on a lovely big boat and saw 5 humpback whales and a Minky whale. Amazing site to see them jumping out of the water.

Sunday evening we went on the same boat but at 9pm to see the Northen lights and what a spectacular show we saw.

We also went in a helicopter and flew over volcanoes and could see the lava and craters from a recent eruption.

Also went to various shows and museums which were all fabulous.

Our only complaint was the price of food!! Also the menus were not very vegetarian friendly and lacked choice. i rather think I have lost weight on holiday.

So back to reality with many loads of washing and drying but nearly all done. Tesco came today so all stocked up again.

Joan so glad your meds ae getting delivered ok, that must be a relief for you.

Linda, you are one busy busy lady since you came back as well.

Its dry here and no wind for a change but plenty of clouds.

I have just caught up on going through over 400 hundred emails but up to date now.

Well better get on and finish off the chores.

Florence in the hebrides

Hello Linda.
After a few dull days we have got sunshine today, a bit on the chilly side though.

Goodness me, just back from your holiday & you are immediately back into your usual routine of re the school & taking care of your grandchildren, you will be needing another holiday !

Nothing going on for me, I haven't been into the garden for several days due to it being so dull, I'm not happy being outside when the daylight is not good ! maybe get something done outside today if it warms up a bit or I wrap up.

Things seem to be working with the new delivery of my medication, I have had 2 deliveries so far & the driver is very nice, fingers crossed he is ok re the road to the house, he hasn't said anything untoward, so far!

Off now to hoover round the bedroom, I stripped the bed yesterday & it took me ages to re make it, leaving me too tired to hoover at the time. Gone are the days when I could strip several beds & remake them without the need for more then one break, lol.

Joan.

Is Florence back today?
It is a very dreary day, but we are soldiering on as normal.
I had my school reading on Monday afternoon with the 6-7 year olds.
Yesterday it was the memory cafe, they did a Beetle Drive. That was good fun, although I spend a lot of the time making the tea and coffee. Luckily there is an industrial dishwasher which does the cleaning in a couple of minutes.
This afternoon it is my second round of school reading, then tomorrow it will be a busy day My daughter is in London for work, but just for the day. So OH gets up and collects her at 6.30am and takes her to the station. Normally he would take Eve to school, but she is on a school trip to Madrid this week so he doesn’t have to do that. I will go to Slimming World on the morning to see if I have shed any of the weight I put on while we were on holiday. I am then going to get the bus into Harrogate as I have an eye test booked after lunch. The original plan was just to get the bus home because we have booked the car in for its MOT on the afternoon, but that was before my daughter told us she was going to London . So instead I will have to get off part way back and do a twenty minute walk to be at my daughter’s house for when Esme gets back from school. OH will come with the car after the MOT, assuming it passes of course. Esme can help me cook dinner and we will stay until it is time to pick her mum up from the station at 9.40 pm, then we can come home . Eve is due to be picked up at school at 9pm, so her dad will do that while we stay with Esme. I hope the plane and her mums train are on time, if they aren’t, we will be stuck there even longer.

I do get Friday off, so will be able to relax by doing the housework and shopping :-(

I have been making soup this afternoon, carrot and red pepper and leek and potato. I have twelve plastic soup mugs and once they are cold, they have to go in the freezer. That is going to be difficult, but I am sure I will be able to ram them in.
We have to go for our flu and Covid jabs this afternoon, one in each arm. I am taking Esme to Lightwater Valley tomorrow, so I hope my arms won’t be too sore as I have to push her wheelchair around.

Good for you, Linda!
I put on half a stone last winter, and haven't managed to lose it again.
Usually I just eat a bit less and move a bit more - but that doesn't seem to be working this time!
At least I haven't put on any more.

Must try harder.

Very funny AG :-D I have amended the capital letter.
I wish that it was just my face, actually that is quite slim, it is just the rest of me which is the problem.
The hotel we went to was totally isolated, it wasn’t possible to walk along the road at all and there was no prom either. Usually we would have a walk out to explore the area and try other places for lunch, but this time we couldn’t There weren’t even any other beach bars outside the hotel boundary. The hotel itself was extremely good and the food was first class, hence all the pounds which I have gained. I am being good and am back on the diet, so I will just have to stick to the plan until I get rid of it all. I am not one of those people who can lose lots, I just plod along slowly , but get there in the end

Face Slimming World sounds interesting!
What about other parts of you?!

Linda, wasn’t the rain so bad you couldn’t go out and walk off the calories ;-)

Hello Evie, welcome to the thread.
I am in North Yorkshire, just returned after a two week holiday in Greece, so feeling the cold, :-(
I had to go and face Slimming World this morning, I have managed to put on eight pounds in two weeks, so I am going to have to work hard to get that off I was expecting it given all the naughty food which I ate.

Hi Everyone

I've just found this thread. I've been with GR for years but haven't used it for more than storing my family tree. I think I've been missing out.

I'm in Co Antrim NI. I was reading about your esperiences of Storm Amy. It wasn't too bad where I am. I didn't lose electricity or so on. I live in a rural area, surrounded by trees and there were some down blocking roads but no real damage or injury here. In no time the local farmers were out with tractors and chain saws and cleared everything away.

Yes, it's a problem, Joan.
My son's house is just beside a sea loch, so while the power is off, they're carrying buckets of seawater to flush the toilet.

Hi ArgyllGran, it's the same for us regarding water, we have a private supply with an electric pump.

In our case, the pump sends water to a holding tank which is situated at the highest point in the field at one side of our house, when we draw water in the house it comes from there.
Problem with that is if the pump is not able to work as in the power supply being interuppted it obviously cannot pump up the water to that tank, we have to hope there is enough water already in the tank to keep us going.

Not too much of a problem now it's just me in the house but when the there was 7 of us it was !
When the children were little we used to take water from the garden pod to flush the toilet ! so as to save the clean water for cooking & the like.

Joan.

I've discovered this morning that only part of my village has had power restored, so I'm feeling very lucky!

My son and daughter, both ten miles away, don't have it yet, either.
My son and his wife also don't have water when the power is off, as they have a private supply with a pump (electric) to take the water into the house.

Sorry forgot to say Hi Uzzi

Feel free to come and chat on here anytime about anything

Florence in the hebrides

Morning all

Argyll Gran and Joan, glad you are both ok. We are all electric too but keep the torches charged up and of course as an islander I have loads of candles.

AG, glad it wasnt too cold or snowing as that would have been so awful for you but glad you got the electric back.

Re the analogue phones. we still have that system here and they have put back the changeover now til next year I think as they havent come up with a back up plan for those who have an alarm linked to a help centre as its needs electric to work.

When i worked in the school, all phones worked on the new system except one in the canteen and was no fun phoning over 30 parents with 1 phone to tell them if the school was closing as took forever!!

I do agree, its a terrible plan especially in rural areas as when power goes we also lose the mobile signal after a very short time.

Maybe they will let us remain as an exception? Unless they come up with a plan B, they cannot switch us over and leave us without can they?

Just finished tidying up and now to pack the cases which shouldnt take long as all my clothes are hanging in the wardrobe ready to go in etc.

We have been worried about the wind speed for tomorrow but its under the 60 now so fingers crossed we get away.

Linda hope you enjoyed the rest of your holiday even though the weather didnt sound too great but at least you had a break away with no cooking, cleaning and no looking after children so thats the plus side isnt it. Right fols , thats me for a week.

I shall be back next Monday to catch up on here.

Hope everyone behaves lol, no fisty cuffs whilst Im away :-D :-D :-D

Take care

Florence in the hebrides