General Chat

Hi to all.
Bitter today, quite calm but hardly had any daylight all day, woke to find it hailstoning & heavy enough to lie.
Too cold & dull for me to go outside so I have been quite lazy & spent most of the day doing my crosstitching.

You are right Linda (in Herriot country) not quite a forest but certainly a large wood, the house sits in the middle of the surrounding trees.
Most of the trees we planted ourselves, & I really never thought WE would be taken some of them down, I was told that trees don't /won't grow in this part of Aberdeenshire but we have had no problems in growing them, & manys the time I find seedlings growing in the gravelled areas or in planters, lol.

Shopping day tomorrow & I am hoping the weather will be ok, also need to have some reasonable weather on Friday as our eldest is coming over to finish off a couple of outside jobs, he has to come down from Forres so a long drve.
I will only fret if the weather turns nasty whilst he's here.

Joan.

I just looked out of the window and it has started to snow. OH has just left for his walk with the Ramblers, rather him than me. I will be staying in the warm today.

Yesterday afternoon we packed everything which was in the cupboards in the dining room. That was a fiddly job because it was crockery and glasses etc. Everything had to be wrapped in bubble wrap, but it is done now. I had ordered a very large roll of bubble wrap and probably used over half of it, so I have ordered another couple. I don’t think it will all get used, but I would rather have too much than run out

I have been trying to get the conveyancer to give us a time scale , but she just says that she is waiting for the last of the replies from the solicitor for the new house. We still have no idea if we will be moving before Xmas, or after.

Bother, bother, bother. I just had a call from our estate agents and our chain has fallen through. Our buyers have lost their buyer at the very last minute, they were supposed to be moving out this week. Our estate agent said they have two people who have contacted them in the last couple of weeks asking to see the house if the sale should fall through, so they are going to put the house straight back on the market and contact them. If we can get another suitable offer quickly, hopefully we can still get the house we want as they were going to move in with a son, while they found somewhere, If we do lose the house, there just hasn’t been anywhere else on the market within our price range, so we will have to wait until the spring and see what happens then

such a stressful business selling property Linda. Hope it still all works out for you.

Thank you Ann, it was all going so smoothly, it was bound to go wrong. We should have a binding system like Scotland. If we lose the house we are buying we will lose about a thousand pounds in fees and surveys :-(

Oh LInda, you must be gutted, what a terrible thing to happen, as Ann says buying & selling a house can soo stressful, the thought of losing all that money as well, very worrying & annoying for you & your hubby.

Joan.

Unfortunately, the Scottish system is no longer as binding as it used to be.

People do pull out at the last minute here too, now, although it used to be virtually impossible and certainly severely frowned upon by solicitors and estate agents.

I do hope one of the other buyers comes up trumps for you, Linda.

Just after I posted the estate agent rang and said that there was a couple who had rung up every week for the past month to ask if our house sale had fallen through because they were really keen to buy this house. Apparently they have been to look at from the outside a few times.
The husband had got a notification that the house had gone back on the market. They tried to ring the estate agent but couldn’t get through, so they jumped in their car and drove the thirty minutes here. All the way they were ringing the office but no one was answering. It turned out no one was in this afternoon, quite odd. So they rang the branch in the neighbouring town and by a fluke the manager of our branch was there. He rang and asked if by any chance they would be able to view tonight as they were desperate not to lose the chance of buying it. So I said that they could come straight away . They turned up ten minutes later while we were running round trying to tidy up.
They seemed to really like it and are going to ring the estate agent to arrange to come back in the light tomorrow. They are exchanging contracts on their house this week and are moving into a rented house for a couple of months. Of course they may not offer what we want, but fingers crossed it will turn out OK. I talked to our conveyancer and she said to hold off telling the sellers of our new house until next week. If we do get a new buyer who can move quickly , the sellers of our new house would be better off sticking with us rather than putting it back onto the market . Oddly another house on the same estate came on the market today. It doesn’t need anything doing to it, but it is more expensive and a bit bigger, too big really, but it would be a possibility if we lose the other one.

No news from Florence for a couple of days. I do hope she is OK and managing to shake off that cough <3

Linda
I hope all goes well, progress is made so that you can still buy your home, as planned.

Hope Florence has shaken off her cough and is feeling ok.

Linda It would be great if you can get new buyers so you don't lose the house you want. The chains are always a worry as it only takes 1 to have to pull out and it affects everyone.

Joan I hope your son can get to you (and home again) so he can do the jobs you need doing in your garden.

Just waiting for my shopping to arrive , I have been ordering little extras for Christmas and have most of what I want now. So just the fresh stuff to get now.

Finally got all the presents sorted just need to wrap them up now. Might do that tonight as on my own . Not sure when OH will be out of hospital but he is doing ok with his walking after his knee op.

Take care all and stay warm.

Ginnie.

Afternoon all

Well I really havent been very well and have a chest infection. Coughing hurts my ribs and putting up horrible stuff. I think it may be breaking up a bit so hopefully on the mend.
Haven't been sleeping at all even sitting up with extra pillows yet i feel so tired.

Linda, I have been reading of your troubles with selling/buying etc and feel so very sorry for you. So stressy isn't it.I really hope it all works out for you soon.

I have just received a contract from our new estate agents, however they spelt my name incorrectly, had wrong selling price too so they will need to redo it with the correct details. So annoying as it's just laziness on their part not checking the details before they sent it!

Joan, hope you don't have lots of snow? Yes hope your son manages to get to you ok and help you with the jobs you need doing. It is a crisp, sunny winter's day here and flat calm but no snow.

JustGinnie, I hope your OH makes a good recovery. Knee ops are so sore. My aunty and her son had them done 2 years ago and it took awhile to heal.Im all sorted with presents wrapped and cards have now gone too.

Have just been finalising a Tesco order for tomorrow.

Gwyn, ty for asking after me. i was just feeling to awful to come on the PC and type but think today, Im a bit better.

Had a moment though this morning. I was in the shower and just finished when i heard some noises coming from my hallway. I leave the door unlocked when I'm on my own incase I fell and needed help hence I take my mobile in the bathroom with me.

Anyway, I wrapped my hair and threw a towel around me and opened the bathroom door a bit and oh my got a shock to see the postie in my porch delivering some huge boxes!!! He looked up, smiled and shut the door. You see it was only 9.30am and he never comes that early. I think he got as much as a shock as I did :-D :-D :-D

Well think i'm up to date with everyone now, sorry if i left anyone out.

I'm off to make a coffee and put the heating on as it's getting chilly now and the sun is fading.

Take care all

Florence in the hebrides

Oh dear Florence, I hope you feel better soon. If the gunge is infected, maybe you need some antibiotics

Well we haven’t heard from the couple who came last night and we’re desperate not to miss out on the house again. The estate agent rang them this morning, but didn’t get a reply. Maybe they were working and will come tomorrow, or maybe they have changed their minds.
We did have a really nice couple view today. I felt really sorry for them because they were supposed to be moving today. They had a cash buyer who pulled out four days ago. They have lost a lot of money because they had booked the removal van and have to pay for it. They have three viewings on their house tomorrow, so aren’t proceedable to use estate agent jargon.

I hope your husband gets home soon Ginny. As long as he does his exercises religiously he should soon be dancing about.

It is so cold here, there is lots of snow around and freezing fog has set in now.

Fingers crossed Linda that this works for you with the new people looking.

florence sorry you have been so poorly, hope you are now on the mend.

Morning all.
Slept a bit better last night but coughing is still awful!

Its a frosty, crisp but beautiful winter's day here. I took some cracking photos earlier.

My Tesco order is coming this afternoon and hope it will come before it gets dark!

Nothing much to do today anyway and home alone until Monday, so its very quiet in the house but I may have a sort of my wardrobe and see what's lurking in there lol.

Hope no-one is snowed in. I heard Glasgow airport was closed earlier due to snow but we have just had post so it must be open now.

Shall return later on

Florence in the hebrides

Morning all.
Oh Florence, so sorry to hear your are still suffering with the cough, coughs really take it out of you, let's hope you get some respite from it soon.

Another very hard frosty day here, it looks lovely, the garden & the fields look like a sparkly Christmas card, very pretty but it is soooo cold.

I am doing some painting in the kitcken just now, our son was over yesterday to finish off a coupr of jobs in the house for us, he brought with him some more wooden planters that he has made for me, so as I can't get outside I am busy painting them indoors in blue to match the shed, LOL.

I am making Fish & Chips for our teas today, didn't do them yesterday with son coming over, we are looking forward to having them today.

Joan.

I am sorry that you are still ill Florence, you must be worn out with all the coughing and lack of sleep.
It has been hard white frost as well all day here Joan, the warmest it got was minus two degrees.

No sign of the couple who were so desperate to buy the house :-( The estate agent has rung and emailed them but they haven’t replied.
The nice couple who came yesterday told the estate agent that they will put an offer in as soon as they get an offer on their house. Fingers crossed one of the viewings they had today comes up trumps.

I went to the supermarket this afternoon and for once OH came , he must have been bored. I have just made lots of soup to fill the freezer up, lentil and bacon, leek and potato and a sweetcorn and leek . I have run the freezers down as we should have been moving soon, but now I will have to restock them

Well Tescos only came at 4.45pm, hate waiting all afternoon! Its -3 degrees here and freezing hard so have the heating on since 3pm.

Just thrown a pizza in the oven as couldn't face a bigger meal. Getting really hacked off with coughing now, its exhausting but it will just go away on its own.

I do now have some lemon juice so will make a honey & lemon drink after tea.

Oh dear Linda, what a carry on. Why didn't the people answer their phone? If they changed their minds, all they had to do was let you know.

Hope you and hubby are keeping warm Joan up there. Hard frost here in the morning but it melted once the sun came up. Its now freezing hard and glad im not a driver!!

Right keep warm all.

Off to check my oven as dont want a burnt pizza lol.

Florence in the hebrides

Florence, don't your Tesco's give you a 1 hour slot? I book a 4 hour flexi-slot and in the morning I get an email giving me a 1 hour slot during which they usually arrive unless they are delayed by unforeseen circumstances, which doesn't happen often, to be fair.

Morning all.
Andysmum, the slot was 1-5pm and then it updated to 4-5pm. We had been trying to get a slot for this week but there were none available until I happened to be looking and suddenly there was a slot for Saturday so I grabbed it.

Normally, if lots are free, I usually grab one for midday but at the moment, there are no slots until the new year unless someone cancels!
The slots are like gold dust at this time of year. But I got my frozen turkey so all is well lol

Still putting up horrid stuff and yesterday thought I was on the mend but head is sore today so nope no better. I cant get to the Drs so if I wanted a tel appointment, Id have to wait a week now and even then, GPs don't like prescribing over the phone. So I shall have more honey and lemon and be patient.

Its another crisp, frosty but sunny day and looks very pretty as I think the loch is frozen in the middle. But I'm sure its zero outside and very brrrr so not venturing outside at all.

Hope everyone else is safe and warm today

Florence in the hebrides

Good afternoon to all.

Another hard frost overnight, very cold, thankfully no snow as yet.
The sun is now shining & I can see that some of the frost that the sun can get to is going away, albeit slowly, hoping the temp rises enough to lift the frost altogether.
I don't like frosty days.

Sunday roast for us today, hubby fancied it today but he only wants a smallish portion.

Our son was here on Saturday & was busy finishing off a couple of jobs, he broguht me the other 4 planters & I got them painted yesterday, won't manage to plant them up until this frosty cold weather is away.

Son is coming back tomorrow, weather permitting to fit my bath panels that he has made, he has done a lovely job, it's wooden & a sort of panelled look to them, beautifully sanded & painted, however he forgot to make a small space so as to accommodate the pipes that have to go into the edge of the main panel to reach the bath taps, so he has to make an adjustment !

Best go now & make up the YKS pudding batter.
Hope everyone is well, do take care if out & about.

Joan.