General Chat

We had both jabs this morning. OH found the same, that we didn’t feel the flu jab, but the Covid one was sore. I can feel the Covid one now, so only time will tell if it continue s to hurt.
I asked about the RSV jab as I keep getting messages about it. The doctor said that they had started to do them, but have had to stop because they don’t have the fridge space to store them as the flu and Covid campaign has started. She said that we will be called for that some before Xmas.

The only thing that I have done towards Xmas is to order some cards. The Yorkshire Cancer charity have cards featuring the Knaresborough viaduct, so I thought they would be different. You had to order them and collect them from the local depot. I thought that I was ordering four packs and payed by PayPal without paying much attention. When I went to pick them up, I looked at the confirmation email and thought that they seemed to be a bit expensive. It turned out that I had ordered ten packs :-( There was nothing that I could do, so it looks like I will be using the same cards for the next few years :-S

Your poly tunnel is coming on well Florence, I am jealous :-)

It was Phyzer for us today. But am a bit worried about the flu one as a friend had just the flu jab yesterday and is feeling rough.

Florence, I see it is all kicking off up your way. Just one of those places you don’t expect to see all and sundry open on a Sunday.

I suppose the problem with Esme’s jab is that so few are used that places don’t have many on hand.

good morning all. Lovely morning here sunny and 13 degrees, still chilly but a good day for a walk. Not that I am going far but I did walk down to the lady who has a charity books stall for borrowing and returning books so that stretched my legs.
My covid and flu jabs are not due until 26 October but good luck to all having them today. Wonder which one it will be for covid this time.

Got lots of small indoor jobs to do today so I had better get started on the list before I get side tracked into card making.

Hope it stops raining for you soon Florence so you can get going with moving stuff.

Joan hope all is OK with you.

Linda, it does seem a bit stupid if the NHS is saying to get Esme vaccinated and then there is no available vaccine. :-(

Good morning!

Its wet. wild and chucking it down! And we haven't got to Hurricane Kirk yet that's arriving next week.

Well the 2 work benches are complete and in the tunnel. I've asked my joiner to make small shelves all around above the raised beds as that will give me some more space for smaller pots or seed trays. He also measured up to make a triangular raised bed in the garden but no hurry for that.

I so want to take all the garden stuff over to the tunnel today but until the rain stops, i'm not stepping outside at all.

So indoor jobs today and plenty of things to do. ironing basket is full to overflowing as that has been rather neglected this week...ooops!

I also need to go through some of the xmas gifts and sort them into groups, this will make it a lot easier when wrapping etc.

Good luck with those of you who are having Covid boosters and hope you don't feel too unwell afterwards.

Bit worried we haven't seen Joan for some time so do hope she is ok?
If you are looking in Joan but don't feel like chatting, just give us a wave~~~~~~~

Right better get busy with somethings else it will be lunchtime soon.

Florence in the hebrides

We are ofvto the other end of the village this morning. OH and I never get the same time slots.

At least it is not raining.

It must be much easier for you Sylvia, so that is great.

We are going for our flu and COVID jabs this morning. I keep getting NHS emails telling me that I am eligible for the new RSV jab, but no word on that one from the doctors yet.

My daughter got an email telling her that Esme is eligible for her COVID booster and giving a link to book it. When she followed the link, it said that there were no appointments available, so she rang the vaccination hotline. A young girl who answered checked for her and was surprised when there were no appointments available. So she asked if they would travel to a surrounding area, but had no idea what those areas would be. So my daughter suggested various places such as York or Leeds. The girl wanted her to supply a postcode in those areas, so she could check. I don’t know how my daughter was supposed to think up a postcode. Eventually the girl checked and there were no appointments available, presumably because of Esme’s age. At the end of it , all the girl could suggest was that my daughter should contact her own doctor and see if they can magic up a child’s vaccine. What is the point of the NHS sending out reminders when they have no vaccine for children.

It's also flu and covid vaccination time here.

Today we got notices and were asked by one of the nurses which covid vaccine we wanted ........... covid and flu vaccinations next Wednesday in Room xxxx. No need to bring any ID, we have your records on file (ie accessible on iPads).

There is also a provincial election happening in this province, voting day is October 19, but we're getting a mobile advance voting station, next Thursday. We only need to produce 1 piece of ID to prove our identity, no need to prove our address!

We have no need to book appointments or work out where we're going to go or how to get there!! Just take the elevator (lift)!

This life is getting too easy!

Gosh how the weeks are flying by. Just been reading through the posts and already talking about Christmas with Florence being so organised as usual . I have nothing done yet and no idea what to get anyone, nothing new there. lol.
I shall have to make a start soon. I don't have many to buy for or even many cards to send now . Family overseas will all get money so they can buy what they need/want.
3 of them have just brought new homes so I am sure they will find a use for some money or just buy something that they wouldn't get otherwise.

My lovely SiL who has Dementia is getting worse quickly now, it is such an awful illness that takes over our loved ones.

We have our flu jab tomorrow at the Gps but he is not doing the covid ones this year so we will book at our nearest pharmacy .

Hope everyone is ok and have a good weekend all.

I was at the optician's this morning for an eye test. I tried varifocals many years ago and didn't get on with them - I hated having no peripheral vision - so I now wear bifocals. I also wanted a pair of reading glasses as I now use a laptop and have been getting a crick in my neck!!

As I was buying two pairs I was expecting a bill of several hundred, even allowing for a discount on the second pair. I use Boots and their frames range from £40 upwards, with other makes costing even more. I bought two Boots frames, similar to the ones I already have and was very pleasantly surprised when the total bill was only £130. The optician mentioned varifocals and said they were roughly twice as much. She also said that they use two different manufacturers because they don't all make all types of lens, which might be a possible reason for some of the high bills quoted.

Argyllgran I had a test in Specsavers just last week and have varifocals being made.

The lenses cost £180, the frames started at £15 and went up to over £200, the pair I chose was £130. But there's a £70 discount for being over 60, and you get a second pair free. I had anti-reflection and UV protection as optional extras and it cost under £300 in total.

12.30, that probably is morning as lunch would be 1 o’clock ;-)

I didn’t fancy Joan from the clips being shown but eventually watched the first two episodes and thought it was very good. I think it is based on a true story.

Afternoon all
Well i had a fab day out yesterday with my friend. The sun was shining, no wind, no midges and i only wore my tailored jacket, no scarf!

I worked my way through my list of to do things and now have all my family xmas cards plus 2 birthdays in January.
I bought myself a lovely quilted jacket, very softly quilted, black trimmed with a gold braiding almost chinese looking but so comfy.

Had a lovely lunch as always then went to the garden centre where i bought a plant called Cotoneaster. Lovely shrub/plant with lots of red berries.

There was also a blue planted filled with beautiful plants in all sorts of colours so that found its way into my trolley as well lol

Im a bit cross as waiting on the joiner who i thought would be here first things and no sign of him grrrr. The weather is set to turn at the weekend and thats why Im wanting him here asap so I can get all the things tf into the polytunnel asap.

People are too laid back here. They say morning and turn up at 12.30!!

Anyone been watching the series called Joan that started last Sunday & Monday?
I think its really good and love the 80's music and i think im right in saying it was based on a true story.

Well better find something small to do whilst i wait!

Florence in the hebrides

Varifocals and metal frames are never in the frame ( if you’ll pardon the pun :-D)

Eighteen months ago, my present (one) pair of ultra-thin varifocals, with a complicated prescription, came to just under £200 from Specsavers.

That's with the over-60s discount, and £69 metal frames.

I'm sure they'll have shot up in price by now. I hate to think what my next pair, later this month, will cost.

You had me worried, so I checked and they are varifocals. They were supposed to be eight hundred and something, but they discounted it to £580. It is Specsavers and if you choose a frame over £70, you get the second frame free, but not the lenses of course. The frame I chose was actually £100, because of my prescription and the fact that I wear my glasses very high on my nose and they re varifocals , it always limits the choice of frames. Plus I prefer metal frames over plastic. I did look in my local family run opticians a while back, but they were so expensive in comparison to Specsavers

I haven’t bought new reading glasses for ages so don’t know how much they cost.

I can’t get my lenses through my village branch of a chain to have to go to a franchise branch where they can get them. It’s not my local town and whilst easy to drive there it is really difficult to get the right route out of the town. I won’t be allowed to drive for ever, so I tried a, let’s call it a very old company, in the nearest town. They didn’t listen to me, ended up with a massive quote for plastic instead of glass. They also insisted I had to have a much more expensive frame than I was used to.
I ended up almost in tears and walked out.

I want to go to your optician Linda. I have a difficult prescription as well, have varifocals with the ultra thin lenses and get sunglasses each time, so I'm much like you. Barely a year ago mine came to over £1,000. With a special deal on the sunglasses and various other discounts it was brought down to £800 but still a lot more than you paid.

I also had an appointment today and my heart sank when the optician said my distance vision had changed slightly in both eyes and I thought I'd be kissing goodbye to around £1,000. But the optician, bless him, said he thought we could get away with single vision distance glasses to wear for some things, which would be a lot cheaper. It was - just £130. I've just got to remember when I need to wear the existing varifocals and when to use the new single vision glasses. I already have single vision reading glasses as well, so I now have 4 pairs of glasses!

Two pairs of high prescription glasses! Where do you get those, one pair of plain thin glass is almost that.

My next ones really will be bottle bottom style. They look awful, with plain glass around the central lense.

The expense just goes on and on. Today I went for an eye test and need new glasses. I always have two pairs of varifocals ,one plain and one sunglasses. As I have a very awkward prescription, I have to pay for ultra thin lenses and have them shaved, or they end up looking like bottle bottoms. So that us £580 please :-S

It’s my middle two teeth on the top Florence, so I have to sort them out.

Your poly tunnel is coming in well, it will be great when you can start planting.
When we came home we saw that the large Laurel hedge outside our patio doors had been cut down. It was in the neighbours property, along the fence lines between the two gardens, so he had the right to take it down, but it now leaves us with no privacy. It also means that we are now looking across to more houses which we couldn’t see before. I have just ordered four planters with tall trellises to stand along the fence. They are identical to the ones which I have at the bottom of our decking. They will help to screen the view, but won’t be anywhere as tall as the hedge . We had hoped that he would just reduce the height of the hedge to make it easier to maintain, we asked him to do that, but he obviously decided to ignore us
:-|