General Chat

Still here Mary ,he he,i could do with a crystal ball like yours,it would come in pretty handy about now ,lol,i would know EXACTLY when ,and how to put these seeds in .
I found my new plum tree [yippee] at Morrisons £7 and it's a Victoria [self pollonating] too so no working with a ruddy art paint brush[a pain in the butt],though i suppose i could put the tub within a few yards of the apple tree i have,and let the beees do the work for me.
Anyway ,i am going to bush train it as i have done with the apple,and should have the first fruit off it within three years with luck.
I have finished the update on my talex navigation tool [five minutes ago] so i will be trying it out this morning whilst shopping.
Fuinny someone should menti0n holidays ,lol,we are off to Blackpool this next weekend with my daughters two bairns ,seeing as we are looking after them while she is in New York for her wedding anniversary ,he he ,wish i knew which hotel she was staying at,and knew someone who lived there ,i would have liked to have arranged to have her room filled with balloons lol.
She should have a nice time anyway ,what with her breakfast at Tiffanys she has been on about for years which she is going to have .
The hotel is right next door to the Empire State Building,so i have asked the hubby to take a piccie of the skyline for me ,when he gets up there.
The gardening is coming on veery well ,the missus dug out the other old black box for me ,so we will have two boxes for the parsnips this season,and an extra two troughs for the stump rooted carrots ,we should do well this year.
I have now got the security camera up ,covering the path and drive ,from the gates to the back gate ,covering the car ,and caravan,and have it coupled up to a video recorder,with a special tape that loop runs every 24 hours,so anyone coming onto the property is recorded.
Noticed this afternoon that small though it is ,thwe postman spotted it ,grinned and then stuck his thumb on his nose and waggled his fingers he he ,oz humour i suppose,seems the fella was bought up in Adelaide ,which is funny again because i have been watching my old tapes of Michael Palin on the Ghan express stopping of at Alice,and adelaide,boy ,that's one biiiiig country lol.
I realy enjoyed the part where he hitched a ride on a road train ,and stopped all the traffic in in the high streeet of Alice ,while he got out ,he wouldn't dare do that here ,he would be traffic warden meat he he.Well ,i am back off to bed for an hour ,asat last ,the old eye lids need matches jammed in them to keep them open.
Enjoy your weekend all,and J A at it again i see ,overworking ,naughty lass.
Fred.

Hi everyone..Gosh where has the time gone..The days seem to fly by ..still not much rain, but at least the fires are dwindling down south..

Les Pity about the doggy,,some people don't deserve a nice animal..bet he didn't want to go home...

JA has been busy at work lately..she has been given a new job and I think it entails a bit of travelling..This weekend she is in South Aussie visiting her daughter I think..hope she manages to have a rest while there..

Sylvia Glad you are at last visiting your lovely grandies..hope they are all over their ills and you have a nice day..

All this talk of old photos has made me think I will have to email my Uncle in the UK and tell him to search his attic and see if he has any old pics left to him when the old Aunts died..Do hope they were not thrown away..

Life has been very tiring lately and I am looking forward to a little holiday in a few weeks time..

Hope all are well and where is Fred...gardening or on holidays again...hee hee hee..

Love Mary xxxx

hi so sorry to hear that the doggie was collected the owner did not sound very nice I have to agree that sometimes dogs turn up to people that will be good to them all my sisters dogs past and present have been strays or abused dogs from the pounds and they have led very good lives my brother in law will spare no expense to keep a dog healthy the one they have in calgary at the moment barkley was kept in a cage for months by a family who treated him very badly, but he is one happy doggie now . some of you are doing so well with family mementoes . I am lucky to have some old photo's of my mother and fathers family, and I have one tiny photo of my biological mother (found out at age 62 about being adopted) she was in her 60's when it was taken and we do look alike I was given it 2yrs ago I was going to have it enlarged but still pondering on that as when's life is sort of thrown such a news flash I have times when I don't deal with it very well, the only parents I ever knew and loved are both dead but I feel disloyal having the other photo blown up. not sure why I just got into allthis my mom has been dead for 10yrs now she would have been 101 on the 10th of this month . has anyone else been thrown a curve like this all I did was apply for a full birth cert so my grandchildren might go to school in england and boy did that open a kettle of fish well enough from me bye for now dorothy

Hi All

It is lovely to have old photographs, I have been lucky enough to have a few given me by members of the family. I have one of Keiths family which has his Grandmother as a young woman, GGGrandmother, & her second husband, GGrandmother & GGrandfather together with 10 of their 13 children. I know where the photograph was taken now from the 1911 census and next time Keith and I are in Lincolnshire we are going to go looking for the house.

My cousin and I are certainly enjoying the search for our 1st editions!!! if only I had more spare cash I could buy a couple more. Anyway I am going to be working for a few weeks before now and the end of June so I will be able to purchase some more.

Teresa: pity about the little Yorkie, the only problem with found animals is that they may belong to a really nice family and then you would feel bad keeping it!!!!! Obviously not the case with Basil though.

Weather is turning nice as the day wears on, about time as its been really cold.


Off to scoff some good english chocolate - did a little side trip on the way home from doing groceries and just happened to be passing the British Shop.

All for now

V

Ha.. so my theory of "simply meant to be" didn't work out, sorry Les...she sounded awful, no wonder the poor little dog was enjoying your hospitality!!!

OK...this incredibly rude woman turned up to collect "Basil". She called him Memphis. On the phone she said when he sees me he'll go crazy and you will know he's mine. Well he was obviously hers from the info she gave me BUT he did not go crazy when he saw her...in fact the opposite...guess he liked our toasty stove and the warm Bella too much. Anyway she took her dog, snarled at me and drove off. Have decided if I ever find another dog....from the get go...it's mine!!
Going to create my wedding dress apron today....so a bit excited about that especially as I will sell it...hopefully!!!... for mega dollars.
Be good you lot. Keep happy.
Lesxx

Morning everyone, well its not a bad morning here. Been reading everyone's news.. I would love to have old photographs of my ancestors, I have only 1 of my father and thats all I have on his side, desperately seeking anything with a connection to him or them, I'll keep searching. Les I'm with your husband on little dog subject!!! I'm a big believer that things happen for a reason or are simply meant to be, so maybe this "new found friend" simply meant to be!!.
Hope everyone is keeping well, pleased Sylvia managed to visit grandchildren, I'm sure they kept you entertained!!! Well I'll sign off now - take care all....

Well, life is never dull!!! Bella and I went for our walk yesterday on the hydro clear cut. Raining heavily, both soaked to the skin, we trotted off onto the road and suddenly there was a small brown dog jogging along with us. He followed me for blocks, then I back tracked to see if he would find his home, but no! well and truly lost. So he followed me home. He is a yorkshire terrier, probably not that old. Bella likes him most of the time and the rest of the time she harrasses him. Nobody has called the SPCA, nobody has answered my ad on the radio...so for the moment we have a "boarder". I guess if no-one claims him we will keep him. Norm says that Ziggy sent him to us...he really believes in that stuff. BTW in lieu of his real name we are calling him Basil!! He likes to cock his leg on the corners...so that will have to be corrected pretty quick. I am thinking maybe someone just dumped him?? He was not in the best of shape and I had to wash his bum and his face.
So, didn't get much sewing done yesterday....bit of a dog day!!!
Good to hear from everyone....you all seem to be OK. Haven't heard from JA in awhile hope she is OK....will maybe give her a call.
Be good you lot.
Lesxx

Hi Everyone,

Thanks so much for the rice pudding recipe Fred and the hints from everyone else. I made it yesterday and it was delicious. Mum loved it, she says she misses the simple food we used to have. I am having to use my slow cooker a lot for meals right now as our kitchen is torn apart to replace the backsplash tiles and countertops. What a mess!

Veronica, what a wonderful find for you, I took a look at the link for the book and the illustrations are fabulous.

I was talking to my mums sister in the UK yesterday to get some family tree info from her and she told me that she is giving me my grandfather's photo albums. He was a photographer for the ship Aquitania before the second world war and travelled back and forth across the Atlantic to the US and South America. I remember as a child that I loved to look through all his pictures, there were many that had the old movie stars and lots of the sights of South America and the West Indies. One of my favourite was a photo of Christ on top of Sugar Loaf mountain in Brazil. I am so excited that this album will come to me one day. She said that I can have it as soon as we can manage a trip to the UK.

The snow is melting rapidly now and lots of slushy streets in the neighbourhood. Hopefully spring will be here soon.

Teresa

Hi All

Goodness its cold here today. I just got back from a couple of hours at a locel elementary school. I am covering for the girl for a week when I get back from UK, so went to get they lay of the land so to speak. I am looking forward to it, it will make a change from the rush and tumble of Transportation. only 189 students in the school ages 5 to 10.

I am so excited as I discovered some time ago that my Grandad Macdougall on my mothers side had a brother who was a well respected wood carver, etcher, illustrater and artist who showed his works in Paris & London. He has works in some museums.

My cousin Gwyneth and I have started trying to acquire some of his work and this week I took delivery of two 1st edition books illustrated by him.

I have included a link for one of them if any of you want to take a look at his work. She has a couple of 1st editions and also an oil painting and I have two charcoal sketches.

http://www.archive.org/details/fieldsoffrancewi00ducl

This book has 20 beautifull full colour plates the originals of which where painted by him. Its neat because this website allows you to actually read the book and turn the pages. I have several links to books with his illustrations which is neat because I can look at them even if I cannot purchase a copy.

Keiths making us a cup of tea so time to sign off.

V

Morning all, Can't sleep for some unknown reason so I will chat to you folks for a bit.
Good to hear from you at last Ian, wondered if you were lost !!!!!!

Mary, thank you for the pictures of the garden. That is so sad to think all the

work that man did is gone forever.On the original site there was an

address for a book. I wish now I had ordered it.

The fox still visits nightly,and is getting less leery of me. Last nite I

fed him bits of salmon and as I tossed it off the balcony he would come

and get it. He is a beautiful creature,his coat a deep red with a very large

bushy tail.

Sylvia ,hurray ,for you a visit with the grandkids will do you good. Enjoy them

now as they do grow up far too fast.!!!

Big hug for you Les, I still miss my Frisky. They are like our kids aren't

they? Your apron business is going well hhmmm. Would love to

see what you do for a wedding!!!!!

Veronica Good to hear Keith is doing well. Enjoy your visit, the daffs,etc

should be out now. Just a little jealous as I love all the spring flowers .

Have a safe trip and let us know how it went.

Fred,I tried your rice recipe and it was great. Still haven't had my leek and

potato soup but have had others instead. Too early to think about

starting plants here. we have at least another month of winter uggh.

Teresa How was your rice pudding??

Time for me to get some breakfast so bye for now. Stay well.

Edith XXXX

Hello Everyone, This will only be a short one as I am going to see the Grandchildren this afternoon. Debbie says they are better, so I am taking her word for it. It has been a few weeks now since I saw them.
Ian, I don't have any details about my relations who emigrated to Canada, except that their surnames would be either Lambert ,Hooper or Tydeman and I know they went to Calgary. I still have a new 10 shilling Canadian note they sent me when I was a child. I wonder if it is worth anything now?
I must start getting ready to go now so see you all later,
Love from Sylvia XX

Morning all We are having lovely weather at the moment but spare a thought for the poor peeps down south who are again going to have high temps and strong winds..good bushfire weather..they still have about 5 big fires burning and this might just start them up again,,,

Sorry haven't been here for a while but things have been very busy..

Sylvia You did well with that big post..good for you..and glad to see you out and about again visiting..wont be long before you can get to see your grandies...

Les How many aprons do you have to make for that crowd...are they only going to wear aprons..whooo hoo..what a site..inform the media and you should make a heap more from the news item...sorry about kitty..its hard when we have had a pet for a long time..big hugs..

Fred It looks like you are getting us all keen on having fish and chips again...not good for the waistline,,,hee hee...that rice pudding sounds great,,just might try it as we have a rice cooker..and I love rice pudding...

Hi Ian..Tony has a lot of rellies is Essex,,you might be related to him also..hee hee...how goes it over there in the west....

~~~~~~~~~~to Teresa,Veronica. and Dorothy,,and Edith, Hope you are all keeping warm,, wont be long now to summer..We are into our Autumn but you wouldn't know it,,it is going to be hot again this week,,roll on winter..

Veronica.. Glad Kieth is on the mend but not happy to hear that you are having tests,,,do keep us informed of your progress.. We want you well and happy...big hugs..

Love Mary xxxxx

G'Day Cousin Edith,
I hope that you are keeping well.
Sylvia & Teresa - my gran was an Essex girl and I'm still doing research into some of the parish records there - if you give me any details I'll see if I can be of any help.
Best wishes to all including those "cousins" on this site who don't contribute to the boards.

Ian

Sorry about Kitty Les. I had to take the decision 5 years ago when we moved to put our little cat to sleep - she was about 18 years old and had seizures regularly but they never could find out why.

Anyway we where moving out of our house and into temporary accommodation while we waited for our new build to be complete and had no idea how long it would be and pets where not allowed. She had been failing for a while and regularly had accidents so it was a hard decision but I think the correct one given the circumstances.

All that talk of fish and chips has given me hunger pangs.

I did the rice in the oven and it was lovely and creamy, rice, milk, butter & sugar mmmmm with a crunchy brown top.

all for now

V

hi fred I already sent you a message on the other site but I misunderstood I thought it was your van that had the window broken not the police fancy waking you up to see who did it a bit daft I would think, as I said on the other site I am off to the library but all this talk about fish I am going to make a detour and pick up some fish for my supper and try the suggestions also perhaps a nice rice pud to follow thanks to all of you for the ideas it is so cold I need something like that to warm me up bye for now dorothy

Sorry to hear about Kitty Les'i know how i would feel if that happened to Hissy ,i would be bereft to say the least,you need to find a rescue Kitty to take her place.
Sure your pet had a lovely life and she had a beutiful home with you.
The fish sounded lovely ,but ,i must admit ,we have a couple of very good chippies here ,and though i do sometimes cook my own,i do cheat and get it delivered most of the time.
Sometimes ,when i do do my own ,i put a little dried parsley in the flour,or a little mace ,and it has been known with a really nice looking piece of fish like haddock or coley to put some lemon and lime into the egg before coating it with the breadcrumbs,or putting it in the batter if i feel really decadent and using my fryer instead of the oven.
If using the fryer i par cook the chips first in veggie oil.let them cool right off and cook the fish in the meantime ,adding the chips again for the last five minutes along with the fish,this usually gives them a crispish finish [a trick learned from my sister bless her] ,who used to run a chain of chip shops as manager in high wycombe buckswonder if there are any of those fish and chippies left in the town[dukes ,they were called],yummy ,i can still taste them to this day,sis even taught me to add a little baking powder to the batter mix to give it a crunchy texture[ oh happy days.]
The mushy peas i make myself ,as i do the peas pudding.
Think i may have a go for Chris this evening ,i have some nice pollock in the freezer [ice;landic] ansd could do chips to go with it ,some mushies ,and the treat of the week,some home made wholemeal bread,to make a chip butty,cor ,that's tea sorted.
Back off to bed now to see if i can get back to sleep after being so rudely woken by the boys in blue ,or rather a boy ,and girl in blue,who by the way will be a little bluer having to explain how someone put a brick through their van window and getting away with out being seen ,lol.
I ask you peeps ,if THEY didn't see them ,how were WE supposed to ,us being snug in our pits at the time?
The Glass popping woke me up,but hell i am a sloth slow pensioner not used to flying to the window at 1 -30 am to see what's going on ,lol,by the time i got downstairs after he knocked ,he had time to cook a bacon buttie and make a cuppa to go with it.
So,all in all ,if you hear a load of banging at ten this morning ,take no heed, it will be me ,sleepless,and bad tempered taking it out on the bread dough ,lol.Fred.
Oh ,nearly forgot ,opening the door ,the cat got out ,grrrrr ,looking round the garden for the little baggage at that time of the morning in jammie bottoms and slippers ,did NOT do much to improve relations between me and our police force,and the cat is not flavour of the month either lol.

Sad day here today, had to take my kitty and have her put to sleep....lots of tears.

Veronica, you need pearl rice. I always baked mine in the oven so cannot say if it would be creamier or not....but Fred, your recipe made me fancy it too.

Yesterday I got a lovely piece of haddock and today I am going to make chish and fips....all baked in the oven. Ove baked fish is very yummy, virtually fat free and great with a splash of malt vineger. So for those who have never.....wash the fish, roll in flour, then dip in beaten egg, then coat with bread crumbs and bake at 425 until yummy....not very long 10/15??? depending on the thickness of the fish. I use panko crumbs with s and p and a touch of corn meal....very yummy. Now we also oven "fry" yams as well as regular spuds....oh add some mushy peas and wow!!!

Thanks Mary for those slides. I have cousins who live in Melbourne...they are part of my Sessions ancestors so I passed the slides along to all of the Sessions I have contacted so far.

Had a phone call from a lady in Qualicum inviting me to "do" the bridal show....220 women!!! Boy there will be steam coming out of that machine!!

Chat soon.
Lesxx

Fred

You only get that crunchy skin from doing it in the oven . . . perhaps I will make a rice pudding for Keith and I tonight, its a horrible wet and cold day in dundas.

V

Same as made in a saucepan on a cooker,2 ozs of rice,2 of sugar to a pint and a half of milk.
Simmer until it reduces to a thickish creamy consistancy,stirring frequently.
Ask me another,lol.
Last few minutes add a sprinkling of mace ,or nutmeg ..
Some people even transfer to a dish and finish in the oven,but i can't see the point,you get the creamy taste ONLY from a saucepan on the top of the cooker.Fred.
Try a few raisens or sultanas thrown in too,the kids here call it ,darkies in the snow ,oooooops. he he.