General Chat

The vouchers sound to be a good idea Joan as at our age, we really have all the possessions we need. You must be fit with all that work.

Son in law actually made the meal, just a little bit late, but that was because the carers had locked him in the house and he couldn’t get out.He had to call them and get them to come back when he realised what had happened They use a key in a key box outside. He doesn’t have a key anymore as he just uses the one in the key box when he arrives They don’t have a key in the house as his father used to unlock the doors and wander out, or even worse he would lock the door from the inside, then leave the key in the lock, so no one could get in.
Personally I think he would be safer in a home, but in his more lucid moments, he is adamant that he won’t go in one and to be fair, the carers situation works well.

I thought everyone had robotic hoovers Joan :-D. We actually have one as it was a present. I used to turn it loose downstairs and it would beaver away, you just have to be careful not to fall over it. I haven’t used it since the girls took up residence as there is usually stuff all over the floor. Mine is just a cheap one , so I have to plug it in to recharge it.

I think the robot lawn mowers are good, my daughter had a fairly small rectangular lawn in London and they had one. You just bury a wire around the outside of the lawn and it randomly cuts the lawn inside the wire. When it has finished, it goes back to its docking station to recharge itself. Without it, the lawn would have been a foot high because they are not keen gardeners. OH has a petrol mower because our lawn is large.

We still haven’t had any rain, it is very humid and the storms are supposed to be coming later on. I have just planted out all the geraniums I bought, the soil is like dust, so they got a good water. If the forecast is correct, there should be plenty of rain in the next few days, so they should be OK

Linda, you have mixed me up re robot hoovers, it was Florence that said she had not heard of them, lol.
I have heard of & seen them but never fancied one.

On the whole I feel quite fit & can usually tackle lot's of jobs particularly in the garden, but I do have to pace myself.
It was a differnt story 3 years ago though, I was really ill & I thought it was all over for me, I can hardly believe how ill I was & how I am today !!

Joan.

Oops sorry about that Joan. I am really glad that you recovered after you illness

The rain has started to come down here. It was unfortunate that Esme was having a lovely time playing on the trampoline when it started. She us now having one of her autistic meltdowns It is really difficult to cope with her when she has one of those.

My daughter is half way through a book entitled “ No fighting, No biting, No screaming. How to make behaving positively possible for people with Autism and other developmental difficulties “ hope she finishes it soon :-D :-D :-D

Linda, I used to be a Support fpr leaning Assistant and worked with a variety of children from 5-14 yrs on the spectrum. Some were a 10 and had difficult behaviours and some were maybe a 2 0r 3 and had perhaps social issues.

But but the one thing we did that was consistent was always Praise the Positive & ignore the negative. Finding good distracting strategies for those times when a child is having a meltdown is one solution.

The problem is, children thrive on routine & structure and sudden change can affect them badly. So trampoline is out but maybe big cushions could be another way of jumping safely and having fun? Its no easy task as I have been bitten, punched and kicked many times.

One therapy though that does work is calming music on in the background or songs the child really likes.

Sorry I sound like i'm preaching to you when i'm sure you are all very aware of what can happen when changes occur. But I leant a lot over the years and picked up new ideas from other staff in other schools. I guess the key with changes in behaviour is to try and spot the change at the earliest you can so to minimise a meltdown.

To get a child off a swing or trampoline go and make ice cream cones and im sure they will come to you or whatever their fav lolly is etc.

Anyway, glad SIL made it back in time for your family meal.

My bedroom is completely emptied, dusted the skirting and hoovered.

Spring cleaning of a major kind springs to mind lol

Joan, I think you are amazing with all you do and yes I remember when you were so ill a few years ago but like me you made a good recovery and I'm not fit for the recycling bin yet either :-D :-D

I decided for tea, I'm having millionaire salted caramel cheesecake and fresh strawberries. Its a Tesco cheesecake and is delicious.

Still hot and sunny here and thankfully no sign of any thunder!

Florence in the hebrides

Morning all.
Its raining here but more drizzly than actually raining.

Just waiting for the carpet men to arrive. Slept quite well on the sofa but boy it was far too warm as the room was chocca with stuff.

Have a good day all.
Florence in the hebrides

Morning everyone, not the nicest of days today thanks to the rain.
I woke around 6-00am &it was quite heavy, it is also very windy, so no garden work for me today, looks like I will be doing some housework for a change.
I had contemplated cleaning the windows outside yesterday, so glad I didn't bother as todays rain is doing a good job of that, lol.

I hope your carpet laying goes to plan Florence, such a lot to deal with when a new carpet is being fitted.
I would really love to get a new stair & hallway carpet but I just can't face the hassle & there isn't much in the way of furniture to move.

Joan.

Afternoon all.

Well, new carpet laid by 10.30 and bedroom furniture etc all back in its place by 12 so not a bad job...who needs a man :-D :-D

Lounge now back to normal too so at least we can watch tv tonight as last night, it was hidden from view with my bed bases and mattress!

Next room is lounge om 3rd Jul so plenty time to get organised for that.

Its damp and drizzly here Joan and the midges are out too so had to close all the windows and its 27 degrees in my lounge phew!

A afternoon of not doing much as I am exhausted after all the lifting and moving, im sure some muscles will be aching tomorrow.

At least the plants are well watered so one less job later on.

As for tea tonight, cant decide but only something light me thinks.

Hope everyone else looking in is well and ok.

Florence in the hebrides

Ps Joan forgot to say, the vouchers for the chippy for hubby were a fab idea...well done :-)

Hi again.
Don'y you just love a new carpet, I love the smell of their newness, lol.

Well our rain stopped around 10-00am but the wind was quite strong, our daughter phoned to suggest going out to Home Bargains as it wasn't a very nice day, (was arranged for tomorrow) I agreed it was a good day for it as her youngest was in nurdery all morning so we could shop in peace.

I had my list all ready & ended up spending £70, yikes, mostly on garden products.
We are hoping to visit our local garden centre later in the week as I would like to get some more Roses, HB didn't have any of those.
Will try my best not to spend another £70, lol.

Yes the chippie vouchers are a very good idea, a very useful gift for hubby, it's good of him to share them with me, lol.
Our daughter is really good at coming up with things that are sooo useful .

Joan.

Happy new carpet Florence, I hope this time they don’t have faults

It has been very hot and humid here today with no rain. I checked the rain barrels this morning, one was almost full, but it hadn’t quite reached the overflow pipe to start filling the second barrel. We are forecast for a lot of rain tomorrow, I hope it comes to fill the second barrel as well. Even though it rained steadily last night, it hadn’t penetrated far into the soil, it is still like dust

Snap Joan, I spent £70 as well today, not on anything exciting though. I use Method laundry liquid because it is suitable for Esme’s skin. Just about everything else we have tried makes her itchy. I usually get it from Amazon on a subscribe and save order. It turns up automatically every three weeks. Recently the price has shot up and the last two deliveries have been late because they were out of stock. I had a google and discovered that Dunelm had it on sale for £7 a bottle , that is £3 a bottle less than the newly expensive Amazon price. I also discovered that you don’t have to spend much to qualify for free delivery, so I decided to order ten bottles as it is so cheap and it is free delivery. The washing machine is always on the go, so we get through a lot of the stuff

Good morning chit chatters.

Well I slept very well last night as i was so tired but got up at 8am.

Having done my financial paperwork for today, thrown a wash on and tidied kitchen, I'm contemplating my jobs for the rest of the day, No dusting or vacuuming required as all done yesterday so......

The dreaded filing cabinet! Oh yes, i have to try and get rid of some paperwork to lighten the cabinet before we have to move it. Its 4 drawer heavy steel so weighs a ton and is full up. Moving it from the front porch to the lounge when empty was heavy enough but now all my family tree work, bills etc has filled it up.

Also the top drawer seems to have become a "dumping ground" for odds & sods that daughter throws in!

So that's my main job for the morning(whats left of it).

Thought we may do some baking later, some scones GF and normal and maybe some biscuits, just feel in the mood for it.

Outside, it is showery & breezy so no good. And of course, its recycling day as always when the bin lorry comes, its raining...typical.

Hope everyone else is having a nice day

Florence in the hebrides

Linda, sorry forgot to comment on the "Method" you buy. Yes that is so expensive but if have the time to shop around, it's amazing where you can find a bargain.

When lockdown was on and we couldn't get out or get toilet rolls etc, I found an Office site and managed to get sachets of coffee and the little cartons of milk plus a massive roll of toilet paper they use in offices and hotels. Its amazing what you can find when "surfing the net."

Good to know that Method doesn't irritate - how strong is the smell?
Waitrose has just confirmed that they no longer do their sensitive liquid which both daughter and I buy. So now looking for a senisitve wash which doesn't have a perfume or soapy smell. Haven't found one yet.

Added: Strewth - just seen how expensive it is.

It does have a perfume, we use the Peony one, but it isn’t strong. The bottle is quite large and it says it does 39 washes. My daughter tried all sorts of supposedly gentle ones, but everything irritated Esme. She settled on some type of soap flakes which she used for Esme’s clothes. The trouble is that any type of powder dissolves in the washer, but then it comes out of solution in the back of the machine , that goes mouldy and the machine smells.
When they moved in with us, that happened to my machine . As I use Method kitchen spray, I decided to try the washing liquid and thankfully it worked for Esme, so I use it for all the washing now. I can’t get it in the local supermarkets, so have to get it on line. It used to be six pounds something two years ago, but the price has shot up recently on Amazon. That is why I was so pleased to find it for £7 in Dunelm.

Names, Boots do a sensitive, non perfume one. Have you seen that?

£4.80 for 16 washes though!

Thanks to both. I don’t use powder in this house as I don’t have access to the drain. Once nearly missed a ferry as I had to unclog the outside drain full of powder residue.

I’ve seen mention of the Boots one and mean to have a look when I am in the area. Mind you, I.can’t work out where it would be in the shop, so must make sure I’ve got plenty of time.

I was amazed looking at reviews for various products that some people complained that certain of the perfumed ones weren’t strong enough. I wouldn’t mind if my bedding smelt of, say, lavender, but this grey haired lady doesn’t want to go out smelling of lavender.

I stopped using powder years ago as not only did it clog the drain but the dispenser box and underneath it was awful and difficult to clean.

I only use liquid detergent plus Calgon every other wash, its expensive but helps to keep the drain pipes clear. When I remove the dispenser tray, there is very little underneath to clean. My machine is 6 years old now and so far not had any problems with it.

I imagine where all the cleaning products are names and the washing up liquid etc. Is a huge Boots? Ours is tiny. Our Superdrug is much bigger so I do check their cleaning products for offers too.

I use Aldi's Almat non-bio liquid, which doesn't irritate my sensitive skin.

It washes well, and has a light pleasant perfume, which doesn't linger. My clothes don't smell of it after they've been washed.

At the moment, online (for click & collect, which not all branches offer) it's £2.79 for a 1.5 litre bottle. (42 washes)
https://www.trolley.co.uk/product/almat-super-concentrated-non-bio-liquid-wash-42-washes/NPF577

But I think it's £2.99 in the shop.

Thanks for all the advice. I think the road I would use tomorrow if I went to Aldi is shut, so a walk across the supermarket carpark to the Boots shop will have to do instead.

It is not very big and I have n3ver looked in Boots for cleaning products so it will be an adventure (Bring back Timothy Whites). If I can’t see it then will have to wait for cooler weather so I can face the big town.

Timothy Whites, that's a blast from the past. We had one in my old town and was brilliant, my mum always bought stuff in there.

We really do miss those big old shops that had many departments where you get just about anything and everything :-(

I remember their stores, but didn't realise the strong link to Portsmouth.

Several stores pictured here.....

https://buildingourpast.com/2020/06/03/timothy-whites/