General Chat

Morning all,looks as though ALL councils are tarred with the same brush ,no matter where you live.
These so called public meetings are decided by the councils before hand ,the meeting is a sop to the townspeople,nothing ever comes of them unless it's in the councils interest.
Sorry to have been missing for a couple of days,but ,i have been busy ,getting the van jet washed,worth it though ,it's sparkling like a new pin now lol.
Today it's the turn of the inside ,spring cleaning early.
We had one son with a red face yesterday though,he was on the garden wall ,lance in hand giving the van roof six now't when he did what i told him NOT to do he he,he hit the skylight full blast instead of turning the pressure down,result,he burst the seal between the light and the van foof ,resulting in his intended getting soaked hair lol, she was NOT a happy bunny.
I had to get the silicone mastic ,and gun out to repair it,but i made HIM do it ,maybe next time he will be more careful.
The insurance for the trip ,and flight have been seen to ,i went to the coop because we already had travel insurence with them,and got it done easily.
We travel to Manchester the afternoon before the flight,stay in he airport hotel overnight ,park the car at the airport carpark the following morning in time to report in departures at six am.
The wife has ordered new furniture for the second double bedroom so that we can get it sorted in time for Sean and his new bride arriving back with us when we return home.
They are staying for a week before flying back.
It now turns out that her parents are nOT pleased that she is taking a gap year halfway through her doctorat's degree,so ,instead of being a witness and best an ,i am now a witness and will be giving the bride away.
I don't mind at all ,in fact i will be honoured,but it seems a shame on the part of her parents,how narrow minded some parents can be,spoiling their daughters day because they are not suited.
I'm glad they live in Poland ,because i would not get on with them,it isn't as though they are paying for uni',she is paying for it all.
Hope everyone is okay,Edith ,in the frozen rgions ,ditto Les ,and those in hotter climbs,[lucky beggars] ,back later.Fred.

I'd watch out if I ws that council :))
Look forwrd to teh pickles - your lady certainly leads you a bit of a dance
While they all race to grow up sadly they miss the more simple joys
~~~~~~~~~~~~ãll
JA

Just a quickie. The show starts today JA and already I have a bit of a problem. Our Emily got a bit wonky when I put her arms on yesterday so this morning Norm is coming with me to bolt her down temporarily. I think I am going to get a local metal place to make me a leg brace or something. Anyway she looks pretty jolly all decked out in her finery...must remember the pics!!!

We had a total of 2 children banging on our door last night...very poor. Everone on our block had their lites on and pumpkins etc...but no kids.

Went to a "meet the contestants" for the civic election the other nite. Was interesting. The old guard very much explaining their recent decisions especially the ones that were unpopular...BUT the best part was a councillor who told us that they were going to put a drug rehabilitation centre in about 6 blocks away from us. Then had the audacity to say that they knew they would have to deal with the local nimbys......hmmmm!!....I 'll nimby them. A neighbour and I already have plans to go door to door and get signatures etc. B.......!

Off to the show.
Lesxx

goodmorning lesley no I did not go to the french resturant we went to a buffet lunch in one of the buildings at the banff theatre complex and it was very good, the best meal out was at the lake louise hotel with the view of the glacier etc I had the vidalia onion soup and it was a meal in its self wonderful, then we ate in a italian deli cafe in canmore which was also good and I was able to buy a tube of tomato paste which I can never find in ontario, I always bring back several tubes from asda and tesco when in england I love just being able to squeeze out the amount I want I find the small tins a waiste and if I freeze the remains I always forget I have done. it is amazing to be that I have lived in this wonderful country for 51 yrs and had never been west before, always going to england or the islands for holidays but mostly england but I now have wonderful memories of those mountains, hope you all had a good evening trick or treating the numbers at my son's home ( I was doing the door) were down again this year and the 13 yrs old and his 3 pals were back early as to quote them grandma it is not as much fun as it used to be the joys of growing up anyway they put on a scary movie and I enjoyed hearing the comments as they tried to understand why it was not as much fun and frankly quite boring. 4 13yr old trying to solve a big mystery!!!!! well it is cold but sunny in barrie to day just the day to catch up on the housework that has accumalated while I have been away bye for now dorothy

Consider yourself shoed Fred :))))
Hello to everyone else. VP, how did the show go, pickles please soon
catch everyone later
JA

Past three o clock ,on a cold and frosty mooooorning,past three o clock ,good morrow people's aaaaall ,he he.
Hey For a time at around eight this morning it got darker instead of lighter,with all the clouds,but at the moment[ brightens up ] it' now sunny with a clear sky.The weather i heard about yesterday Mary ,was a news channel connected to the oz& new zealand newspaper channels.[news Herald]
Think you aught to kick them up the bum Mary,them spreading false stories like that,talking of said channel.who won the rugby match? i couldn't stay on to watch it lol.
The recipe sounds great ,i will certainly give it a go when the family come ,but it's too much for the two of us.
I made a bit too much of our casserole yesterday ,so the other half is being heated up today ,with a couplwe of dumplings on.
We will be having a few fresh carrots with it [julliene],some steamed new potato,roast potato and parsnip,and for the greens ,an old lincolnshire favourite,brussel tps ,steamed with the rest of the veggies.
I have been waiting to start that harvest for weeks now,waiting till the plants are needing the tops removed to encourage the sprouts to grow with the frosts,lol,no greens get wasted in this house if i can help it,even the kids loved the taste of them when young ,but they wern't too keen on the brussels themselves,funny ,that.
The last of the cos lettuce have been grown in a long tub and put in the greenhouse,so,when i use the lasrt ,i may very well start some more to see if they grow,but if they don't ,fine.
I think we may have to do a little shopping this afternoon,not much needed ,but i can' be doing without my gravy powder and dumpling mix lol.
See ya later peeps ,everyone looking forward to the weekend ,yey,time to start planning Christmas he he
Here Fred ducks in case the shoes appear from every where ,lol.

Afnoon all.. We have a hot day..37c A nice breeze is keeping it from getting any hotter..

Fred Where did you see all this bad weather we have had,,It couldn't have been to bad as I don't remember it,,I think last month we had 1 day that turned cold and even got a little snow down to about 900mtrs but it didn't last,,It is really lovely days not as it is only around the 22c for the rest of the week,,,lovely..Good ole Sydney weather where we don't ever get a frost,,lol..
That dinner sounds nice.. We went to the club for lunch today and I had a lovely Red salmon melt with salad,,($9A, about 4 of you uk pounds)it was really yummy, and we got a takeaway to bring home of Mongolian lamb with fried rice..It goes into the freezer and will do for a dinner one night for the bothof us,,it is a very big serve..and cost $A9 also..so a 4 pounds dinner is not bad,,2pounds each..lol...are we cheapskates..no just getting lazy in our old age..hee hee hee...

Dorothy You went to see the very part of Canada that I want to see..They are flogging holidays to Canada here in OZ at the moment,,and I read all the adds for it and sit and dream that one day I might get there,,need a miracle cure for John before we can do it. though...

Well off to do some F,H,so have a lovely day all..

Love Mary xxxx

Hi Y'all,

Dorothy I am so glad you enjoyed your trip. We also really like Canmore and Banff altho Banff is a little over run with tourists all year round it seems. And did you, BTW, go to that really fabulous French restaurant in Canmore. Norm and I found it on our last trip and were very impressed.

Fred we have had a couple of mornings of frost but so far we have been lucky. It was a bit rainy yesterday but most days we have that lovely Fall sunshine. Still haven't put my yard to bed for the winter, too busy with these blurry aprons. I would really like to find some one to make them and then all I would have to do was flog them.

There is another great layer dish that I learned on the Prairies and used to cook all the time. 7 layers: rice, onions, celery, carrots, tomatoes, meat of your choice meat balls are good altho we always used to make it with those yummy little frankfurters which you never see anymore. Then a layer of thinly sliced potatoes makes your seven layers. Then put a can of veggie soup and a can of tomato soup in the blender, one can of water, worcestershire sauce, s and p, a little oxo, give it a whizz and pour over and bake until done. Great winter's grub. Guess Fred and I did the cooking today. let's be having some recipes from the rest of you lot.

Tomorrow is set-up day at the Artisan show so I want to get it all ready today. It is supposed to rain tomorrow but I hope not as Emily doesn't like to get wet, being a lady and all that!!

Hi Edith, Mary, JA, Teresa and the rest of you. Have a great day.
Lesxx

goodmorning well I am back in barrie after a wonderful two weeks in calgary and canmore with my sister I was overwhelmed by all that I saw, the mountains are wonderful lake louise was awesome. I saw lots of wildlife elk deer etc but no bears. the area around canmore is breth taking from every window in my sisters condo you see mountain, ie three sisters miners peak lawrence gossie ridge (not sure of the spelling and ships something or other. the weather was great for the two weeks, as I have never been west before you will have to forgive me for rattling on, the plane back arrived on time but we hit a bad and I mean bad snow storm on the 400 just out of the airport you could hardly see this continued till highway 89 and then it was clear arrived home at about 2-35 am go to bed at three and then the cats divebombed me till about 4am so did not get much sleep yesterday, off to the doc's this morning for the annual flue shot so that is all my news bye for now dorothy

Morning all ,from a freezin' white [with hoar frost] Newcastle ,where3 the puddy tat refuses to go outdoors because she dosn't like the cold paws he he.
Serves her right after dive bombing me at 5-30 this morning wanting fed and let out, she is now sat at the patio window ,looking out on her domain in disgust.
I cleaned down the house windows early on,got the housework done ,and then decided to do a sort of casserole out of left overs from last nights tea.
I cooked the four remaining pork sausages in the oven to remove all the excess fat ,let them cool and cut them indo smallish pieces.
While they werre cooling i sliced some lamb liver ,rubbedthem over with a mix of flour ,salt ,and pepper before frying them in oil.
I had a pepper left too [a red one] which joined the pot,and lastly cut a red onion into small pieces.
all his went into the pot in layers,before being covered with half a tin on baked beans.
Last of all ,i thinly sliced one large potato ,and parboiled it beforre covering the dish with it.
A little olive oil brushed onto the potato and it's in the small oven ready to be turned on
I just made a normal chicken veggie gravy to which i added some chinese spice ,and a little pepper ,so ,it should taste nice,and everything cooked together means no pans to dirty .then wash lol,only one glass casserole dish to cook the whole meal.I hve one of the latest mic's too,with a conventional oven ,grill ,and mic ,combined ,saves using the big oven when not needed.
I saw on the net this morning of people all over the world suffering with unusual weather ,so i reckon us in the u/k are lucky.
Oz has the area around Sydney covwered in snow,While Brisbane was hit last night by a violent electrical storm that left a lot of the city without power,one part oz Oz has lost thousands of sheep due to heavy rainfall,
Canada has been hit with heavy snowfall in places,pakistan has been flooed out in parts,and a couple of places have had earthquakes,yes ,us brits are lucky alright.
Well ,time to let the missus on the puter to do her mails and lottoo,before she has a hissy fit he he,
See ya later peeps .Fred.

Hi! Everyone. It's nice to be back and be able to speak to you all again. I have taken my car to be serviced today so I have to stay in till they return it to me this afternoon. I hate not to be able to go out if I want to and I can't walk far nowadays so I can't get on a bus, but I have a few jobs to do around the house which I could catch up on.
I was brought home from the garage and I felt such a fool as I couldn't get up into the 4 wheel drive vehicle they were supplying and they had to use the owner's beautiful new car. I am really feeling my age.
We have rain, wind and thunderstorms here this week. What is it like where you are?
I must get on with some of those jobs I mentioned, so will say 'Bye for now,
Love from Sylvia XX

Hi everyone We are having a lovely day,,showers and cool,,,

Sylvia Great to see you back..Glad you got your membership sorted out and that you will be here to keep in touch..Sorry to hear that Norman is not any better,, big hugs..

Went to the Mormons yesterday to finish off my films that I ordered but still having trouble with some of my ancestors..they dont make it easy...

Fred.. If Martin gets a bigger van,,he will have to get you a bigger house...lol..I am sure that Liz would love more housework..not..lol..

I just love these damp days ,,nice for doing Family History..

How is our sewing Queen and her aprons going..

Am doing the washing at the moment so better go and attend to it,,it is calling me..butter..

Love Mary xxxxx

Hi Diane,

I am in Alberta. The time difference right now is that you are six hours ahead of us. Then on the 2nd of Nov we will change our clocks so that will mean you are once again 7 hours ahead of us.

Teresa

Hi Les',Edith,Mary ,Sylvia ,and everyone else.i have just finished decorating for the day and am pooped,so i will only be herre for a few minutes before getting a little tea before collapsing in the chair.
I don't fancy going outside much anyway,it's dark out there ,and getting really cold.
Tommorow looks like being the day for bringing the van back,and then i am going to do some family research with the info that our Mary found for me.
Hissy has taken to going out for a quick sniff around the gardden,before scooting back indoors to huddle next to the fire ,wise puss.
Be back tomorrow people,take care and keep warm.Fred.

Hello everyone, just a quick message, can someone let me know what the time difference is between UK and Canada? Following on with my family search I have been asked to call a lady in Alberta who has a connection to my relatives so quite excited about that. Just don't want to get them out of bed!!! Hope everyone is well.

hi will leave calgary to-day after a great visit with my sister be in touch when i get back bye dorothy

Good morning Sylvia ,Les,and the rest of you lovely people.
I was up early this morning getting the washing done and out on the line before the weather takes a nosedive and we return to winter ,brrrrrr.
We had the grandson to tea yesterday,so i made some sarnie fillings to go in the fresh baked rolls i made ,to make a change from the shop bought bread.
I made some ,egg and cress filling [witjh fresh grown cress],some cheese savoury with onion [and a hint of garlic,and took some ham out of the freezer to go with the pease pudding.
That was one thing i missed while on holiday in Lancashire ,no pease pudding to be had ,disgusting i calls it,lol,i will have to remember to take some down with me next time.
Nice to hear that hubby is taking an interest in breadmaking Les'.i never thought of using the home baking centre we have though ,for the kneading,must remember that one thanks,it will save the poor old wristies he he.
I have to phone my insurance company in a few minutes to sort out one of my little private pensions because time is getting short.
November the 19th will see me joining the official pensioners he he,where did all those years go ?
Martin and i will be bringing the van home this week,to park it up and clean it all down.
He has decided to upgrade again ,for a newer model ,with a better internal lay out,but iv'e warned him,if it's any longer than the existing one ,it will NOT be going on my drive,i only have just enough room to get my car in as it is .
Did you get those piccies Les? cor ,i ttried three times the night before last ,and only managed to get them through to J A,even marys came back,never mind ,i will send you a few more today ,and another 5 tomorrow ,we will get there in the end lol.
Must go now peeps,work to do and all that [sigh] and then the doc's for my blood sugar test .
See ya later ,Fred.

Hi! Everyone. Sorry I have been away so long. I have had trouble renewing my membership but I have a new card which has worked and I am now a member again. I'm sorry too that you have been worried about me but Norman and I are OK, although still have a few problems with Norman which will never be altered.
Will try to be in touch more often in future.
For now, love to all from Sylvia XX

OK it is the sewing fool here again. Sorry I am away a lot....just too busy.
Edith glad your eye is getting better. In England my Dad had to wait until he was almost blind before they fixed his eyes...how silly is that.

Emily is back together. Went out yesterday and got her a nice pair of black pants, size 2, and a lovely black shirt, made in England!!, all for $5....amazing what you can find at the Sally Anne. Then it was off to Walmart to get her a wig so now she is ready for her "big" day. I must remember to take some pics so that I can send them along.

I don't think I would like kangaroo either. I don't like any of that wild animal stuff, not emu, or buffalo or even moose. However I guess if I was starving it might be a different story!!!

Norm made bread for the first time yesterday using the Kitchen Aid....wow!!! It did everything, that dough hook even takes care of the kneading. So we now have two (well maybe only one and a bit!!) beautiful loaves. Norm next project is to make bagels, the real kind that you boil before baking. I tell you it is all go in this house.

Good to read your news Christine. I hear what you say about the elctoral lists. We no longer use our Air Mile card as they sell that info and I never did use any frequent flyer programs when I was still working as I know that the deal with the "free" seats was the money made from selling my info. I also clean my computer of cookies and spyware about twice a month just to be on the safe side.

This is short and sweet....back to the dreaded machine. Love to all.
Lesxx

Morning all, Sorry Christine I will have to use somethinga bit stronger I guess.!!!!
Yes, Mary I did get some moose meat. Made up a large stew with lots of veg and a lovely deep brown gravy. I delivered several bowls of it around the building here and they all loved it.
Nothing like it for a cold blustery day. We are getting Nov. weather already,rain ,wind etc. Just getting us ready for snow !!!!
Don't think I could eat kangaroo Mary. I can't eat deer meat as all I can think of are their big
beautiful eyes.
Am pleased with the lazer treatment for the eye.Amazing it is so quick and the sight is clear
Now I can have the other one done at the end of Nov. Then I can get on with the painting of chairs etc. for next summer
No more guff from my g.daughter now either
she said I was a danger on the road driving all over . This from a sweety who has trashed 2 vehicles hee hee.
I see the Oz site got the same bug as we had.
All the posts were deleted,who would do something like that ????
J.A., Teresa, Veronica,Dorothy, hope you are well. Do let us hear from you.!!! Oh, Les, we were lucky with the strep, only 2 cases here and very mild ones..Here's hoping it stays that way.
Starting clinic for flu shots on Tues next so it will be covered as well. Time to get breakfast so bye for now. Love Edith XXXXX