General Chat

I live in the West of Scotland and we are well known for having a lot of rain. we have recently had a lot of rain but luckily we are not having the terrible winds that England is getting but it is very cold outside. and we have had a few frosty mornings.



Tonight the our local Mayor and Santa Clause will be switching the lights on the big Christmas Tree which is standing in out town centre.

Do you have a tree & decorations put up in your town?

Yes we do, but not yet. There'll be a switch on event on 28th November when there's usually a lantern parade too which all sorts of local community organisations make and join in with. I'm glad that locally we seem to wait till nearer Christmas for these things.

We have a river running through the town and in summer there's a duck race run by the local "Lions" - a bit like Round Table. About 3000 numbered plastic ducks are "sold" for £5 or £10 which goes towards a prize for the winner and the remainder to local charities, local businesses are asked to sponsor and decorate a decoy duck for a bigger donation. All good silly fun on a sunny afternoon. Do you have anything similar in your area?

I live in a village equidistant between 2 towns 2 miles each in either direction.They both have their lights up but don't go in there in the evening so don't know if they have been switched on yet..They don't have the carols switched on in the day yet.
I'm not aware of any sponsored events at this time of yr but there is always a duck race in the summer :)

Have you ever had black eye, ? I always wanted one as a teenager ..to look hard! But had one last week,we have new chrome headboard and at 5am after going to the the loo got into the bed too high up(never put the lights on! ) and bumped my forehead, 2 days later I had a black eye !Doesn't look elegant at my age .lol

I only had one once when I was a child when I honestly did walk into a door. I was just about to open it when someone else did from the other side and the handle was right at my eye height.

My son knocked my daughter out once when they were little and she was annoying him. He ran to his room and slammed the door. Again the handle was the culprit - it had a decorative scroll on it that came to a little point. It caught her right between the eyes and she went flat out (only for a moment thank goodness). He was mortified and she stopped deliberately annoying him.

Have you or your kids ever learnt a lesson from the error of your/their ways?

Nothing special comes to mind but I think we all learn through making mistakes, that's all part of growing up.

Do you believe in telling white lies to save someone's feelings ?

Depends on who it is, if it was a a close relative ..,,yes
Otherwise no.


Do you have a favourite item that was left to you by a relative on their passing ?

I'm looking at my grandparents china dog,he,s only 8 inches high, he was a wedding present for them 100 yrs ago . He /she is a left hand dog, no one knows in the family if there were a pair. My grandfather said I should have him as I always played carefully with him as as a child. Grandpa died when I was 5.

I wear my Mum's watch and wedding ring. Her ring has "fidelity" engraved inside it in an inset piece of platinum. Had to have the watch repaired recently and only just got it back. It really felt weird without it.

Do you have anything you keep with you that you can't be without?

Yes my dads signet ring which mum bought him as a wedding ring for him , god bless him he put on many years ago, 1940 as a RAF engineer it t wore down at the the back and when my mam died I had it repaired for him and he wore it it again until he he died 12 yrs later. And also have have my mothers engagement ring which she should said I would always have.I wear the both I can only wear dad's in the the night on my middle finger, god bless him he put wool on the back of it because he lost weight.
Dad was going to to keep my mam's wedding ring on a chain on his neck, but when my sister who is 4 yrs older than me he gave it to her when she came over from the USA for the funeral.

I only have a sister, but a large family of cousins all older than me ( I'm the baby .lol)

Do you have have a large family?

On Mum's side the family is large and hard to keep track of. She was one of 7. There was one Aunt who couldn't have children, then we go all the way up to an Uncle who had at least 14, the family lost count around then. They had 2 houses knocked together. This summer was our silver anniversary and I contacted as many cousins as possible to come. It turned out to be quite a reunion for everyone. Funny thing is I'm finding it harder to work on Mum's side of my tree than Dad's who was adopted before records were kept. But once I got breakthrough on his Mum and Dad, that sides really blossomed on my tree.

OH however is one of 2 brothers, their Mum had one sister who also had no children, and their Dad was an only child as grandfather left grandmother soon after he was born. Luckily his work colleagues made a good turnout at our do so he didn't feel so overwhelmed by my lot and he was amused to meet some of my madcaps. He has discovered his Mum's cousin living in Spain through GR but he and his family weren't able to come unfortunately.

We've visited the family in Spain and my daughter visited a family on my side in New Zealand.

Have you managed to track anyone far afield and met them?

No not yet but I live in hope,,,







What do you think I should put ontop of my christmas cake?

I don't have any children anymore as both my daughters are grown up and one has a baby of 3 months. , I still make a christmas cake but tend to buy a christmas cake frill and silver floral decoration from Sai*****y's to place in the middle,

I have just finnished writing my christmas cards, and wil be posting my cards to relatives abroad tomorow, Have you wrote your cards yet?

No , but as I always have to check what I have from last yr. I intended to to check how many I had to buy this week and write them.
But I always buy speciality one's for close family so I have those to buy yet .
It is only my sister that lives abroad.

This may have been asked before...Do you have an Xmas pine tree with roots( we always did as children).. one is still growing in my dad's garden... one without roots or a false tree..?

A false tre but its so big my lounge looks like Sherwood Forest,,


Are you nervous of the dentist?

Absolutely petrified. I was sent to hospital for a general anaesthetic once for removal of a wisdom tooth which was supposed to be routine, but the dentist didn't want to do it herself for me as I was always so nervous and it would take longer than any other treatment I'd ever had. Actually it turned out to be the right thing because afterwards they said they'd had to remove a little of my jaw bone. Took 6 weeks to recover from that. Now I always wonder what's they're going to say I need, but nothing like that since thank goodness.

I have just put an Advent Calendar (with chocolate - but a proper nativity one) in my son's bedroom for him to come home to. He's 24 and back with us for a while, and I'm disappointed I can't get one to my daughter in Sheffield. I'll be lighting the advent candle tonight and I still do Christmas stockings for them - I've added daughter's boyriend to that and think that'll only stop when one of them provides a grandchild, though hopefully not too soon.

Do you have little family traditions you don't give up?

Yes I have two grown up daughters oldest is 29 , youngest is 22, every Christmas I fill a stocking for them, and daughter no 2 still wants a chocolate advent calendar,
This will be the first year that daughter no 1 will not get a stocking as she and her OH and my 3 month babygrand daughter will be away for Christmas visiting the other grandparents,
But I have decided to carry on the tradition and fill a little stocking for the baby to take with them.

Another tradition we have in our family and it started with my mum when I was little was that every year we would buy a new Christmas bauble for the tree, one year mum & Dad went to visit American relatives who were living in Germany and they bought back a lovely little Hansel and Gretel shaped house, another year daughter no 1 went to Paris with a friend and bought me a bauble with the Eiffel tower on one side and Christmas Greetings on the other.

I received 3 Christmas cards today. have you got any yet ?

No...( but I had one BT does that count .lol)

Dizzie Lizze, I would rather go to the dentist than the hairdressers!!..lol
I will doing my cards tomorrow:)

Do you have a better reaction with your male or female DR ( I've had 2 children and no problem with either.. the male is a bit more grumpy tho..lol) ?

Iv only ever had male dr's,,and they are always ok,,


What can i have for my tea tonight? Chicken Pie or Salmon?

I like both if fresh... so I'd say chicken pie ( need the calories this weather)

Have you wrapped all your Xmas pressies.?

No, still a few pressies to buy too!

Will you be out shopping on Boxing Day?

No, I plan to do as little as I can that day.

Have you ever been able to buy a genuine bargain in the after Christmas sales ?

We were lucky on Saturday and bought 2 boxes of crackers from Homebase reduced to £4.99 original price £19.99 which no way would we have paid.