General Chat

:-) It is always pretty when it first falls and we don't have to go out isn't it? Stay tucked up indoors in the warm and hope it soon goes.

An inch of snow fell during the night.
It looks lovely, as there's no wind, and the snow is lying along every twig and branch, like a Christmas card.

But I'm glad I don't have to go out anywhere today.

Good morning all from chilly but thankfully not snowy Gloucestershire. Of course I haven't checked there may be snow in higher parts of Glos but not here in the Severn Valley. It is 0 degrees here at the moment.
Nice to switch on the PC and be able to get straight on GR. Maybe a day or two out of touch helps us to understand the value of being able to chat to people on here. As a day of snowy weather makes us appreciate how people further north have more to put up with from the weather than us down here.
Nothing planned for today but I shan't be going out. No snow today but frost on roof tops and feels cold. I will probably be wrapping more presents and writing more cards. Getting there slowly though. :-)

Bitterly cold here too - but mostly sunny with blue sky.

Snow on the hilltops, which looks beautiful in the sunshine, but only a couple of short-lived flurries down at this level, thank goodness.

Your chicken & rice dish sounds like real comfort food, Florence!
Hmmm - I'm not sure what I'll have!

Afternoon all and thank goodness we re back on!

We've had some snow with hail showers on & off but not much really. i think other parts had more. It is bitterly cold as when daughter went out to the bins, i got an artic blast through he front door brrrr/!

Just made chicken & rice dish for tonight where the rice is all mixed together with the chicken etc. Its cosy food for a cold evening.

Nothing much today except for some ironing to keep it up atraight and went through some drawers having a small declutter so we have a bagful for the charity shop.

Hope everyone is staying safe and keeping warm

Florence in the hebrides

I emailed as well and got the email to say that it was fixed

I get the impression that they only knew there was a problem after some of us emailed support. I actually had an acknowledgement from support when I emailed. And a further email from Nicolle at support when it was fixed. So well done to them and thank you.

Finally, the board is fixed.

My sister and her husband left this morning after staying with us for four nights. It was nice to see her . We have had lots of lunches out, plus an evening meal, so my diet went out if the window.

It is incredibly cold here, but we only had a dusting of snow. We had to go out this morning to get our RSV jab, but I intend to stay in for the rest of the day.

I hope that everyone is coping with the cold

Afternoon all.
What a busy weekend I had! The fayre was ok but fewer people coming through the doors than anticipated. We covered our stall costs and made a small profit but was disappointing to say the least. The weather didn't help as was bitterly cold, gale force winds and heavy showers so i guess that kept people at home in the warm.

Next Saturday is a bigger affair so fingers crossed we do better!

Yesterday we put up the xmas trees. 1 main one and a smaller one that sits on top of my filing cabinet, We call that the office one lol

Took ages, all afternoon really plus putting out all the decs on the various shelves, sideboard etc. It was really making my back ache and was never so glad to hoover up all the silver strands and get the tree up on its table and the room back to normal!

But earlier before lunch, we took all the plants down to the flower bed and planted them and then i put in a lot of my bulbs along the front. heres hoping I get a good display next spring .

So yes we were very busy and i paid for that as could hardly bend to get the cheesy pie out of the oven last night and then burnt my hand. Its not too bad and i covered with a dressing and some savlon. There is a small blister but not too bad.

The worse thing of all is with all the work i did, you think i would have been tired? But yet i didn't go to bed until 1am last night, was up at 3, then 6 and then got up at 9am???/ I so wish I could sleep through the night but nothing works for me.

So today, I taking things very slowly. i have had to put the wraps back on my legs, both of them as they are full of fluid and not sure why
:-S
Usually when Im moving about it helps. Anyway we shall see later tonight when i remove them.

Yes Tesco opened and from what my daughter read on social media, it was very busy contrary to what some were saying that it wouldnt be!!
If people want to keep sunday special and just go to church and stay indoors, let them and let the rest of us spend Sunday as we please. As long as we dont offend others, then it doesnt matter.

I chose to plant my bulbs yesterday as it was dry and sunny, cold yes but I had to take my chance as here, the weather changes so quickly. Did i bother anyone? Er no. I was at the back of my house and actually noone really could have seen me.

Give it a few weeks and todays news will be tomorrows history. There are far more things going on in the world to worry about than the opening of a supermarket on a Sunday.

Linda, you sound very busy with your visitors etc. It must be very difficult finding soft food to enjoy when you are out. Pasta would be ideal for you with just grated cheese or something and dont worry so much about your diet just now, you need to eat!

The sun is out but its freezing and was a bit icy first thing and think there was snow in town but not up this way.

Well I have been wrapping some smaller gifts this morning but they are not being sent anywhere but good to get them done.

Florence in the hebrides

AG I am a Baptist )although have to add non practising these days). I know the bible instructions about Sunday being a day of rest I was not allowed to do anything but read and go to Sunday School when I was young. I would still feel odd if I went to any entertainment on a sunday (cinema etc). I do these days go shopping and visit garden centres without feeling guilty To the day she died my mother would never do washing or ironing on a Sunday. I think it is personally for everyone to do what they feel is right for them as long as they don't cause anyone else any problems. And they have said that those that don't feel able to work Sundays won't be made to. Many years ago I worked with somebody who was Brethren or similar religion. She refused to read the newspaper on Sundays. She couldn't see that the Monday paper was the one she shouldn't read because it was produced on sunday. (I did say it was a long time ago, that doesn't apply now I'm sure).

How did the Xmas Fayre go Florence? I think that it was yesterday.

My sister and her husband arrived late yesterday afternoon, they are staying for four nights.. We went to see my daughter because they had not seen the new house. Eve had made some very nice mince pies and Esme with help made cup cakes.

On the evening, my brother came down, he lives about an hour away. We went for a meal in a nice Italian restaurant . Everyone decided to have starters and a smaller size main course. All of the starters bar one came with crusty bread, so they were no use to me. The only that didn’t was the crispy prawns. They were deep fried in a crispy batter, very nice, but I could just taste all the oil, not good for my diet. I then decided to have a risotto as that would be easy to eat. I hoped that there would be one in a tomato sauce , but they were all in a creamy sauce. A couple of the others also had a risotto and we all agreed that there was far too much dream, it was like eating a rice pudding.

We have been on our own since mid morning as my sister has gone off to spend the day with her daughter and granddaughters who live in Leeds, they are having dinner there, so will be back later. There is no room for them to stay there, so they usually have to stay in a hotel , but it is just a half hour drive to us, so they are trying out staying here.

They are going to spend the day with us tomorrow, so we are planning on going for a long walk incorporating lunch out. It is going to be very cold, but the sleet isn’t due to start until later in the day. It is their eldest granddaughter’s birthday on Tuesday, but the girls will be at school and their mum and dad at work. So my sister is going to buy all the ingredients for a birthday tea and get it ready for when they all arrive home. I hope the roads will be safe to drive on Tuesday.

Because it's the word of God, in their eyes, AnninG - which takes precedence over any mere human preference.

The Sabbath day is sacrosanct.
"Six days shalt thou labour and do all thy work. But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates."

In the 1970s, I lived in an area of the west Highlands mainland where sabbath observance was strong, and I followed the local custom as anything else was seriously frowned upon.
I came to like it - a day in which I could do nothing, with a clear conscience.

Even now, over 40 years since I left there, I still feel a bit guilty if I hang washing out on a Sunday!

Dragged you into the 21sr century then Florence. A lot of people still against it. Why do they think their preference should overthrow other’s. They can still go to church don’t have to shop. I remember it was the same here when our shops first opened. The first time your island has appeared on my TV Inthink.

I have a picture in my head of the weefrees ( is that they are called) marching on the store and encircling it in prayer and hymns :-D

Yep it sure will names!! Im sure there will be the usual protesters and in 2 weeks time, all the fuss will have died down as it did years ago when Sunday planes and ferries were introduced.

If you were a new mum and had run out of nappies on a Sunday, there would be nowhere to buy any, which in this day & age is ridiculous!

As for those who have said they will stop shopping there permanently, they are saying they would rather starve then go to a shop on a Sunday.

I'm a believer in choice .I don't judge people by their religion but if i want to shop on Sunday, i dont need someone telling me its wrong!

Lets wait & see how busy it will be!

Gales here all day so def an indoor day. But we are off out tonight to a local comm prize bingo, that's if we don't get blown away lol

Hope everyone was well & ok today

I see from the news that Tescos has won and the Stornaway branch will be open on Sunday.

Our nearest Post Office (7 miles away) , in a corner of a supermarket, is safe for the time being, thank goodness.
Although most of my banking is done online, I rely on the PO for depositing or withdrawing cash, as I bank with Santander, and the nearest Santander branch is about 90 miles away.

Our two nearest towns each used to have a Crown PO and two or three sub-POs, but now only have one PO each, in supermarkets.

Well done, moving all that soil, Florence! You deserve a rest.

Enjoy your visitors, Linda. I hope your mouth is more comfortable soon.

I saw yours was on the list Florence. Our Crown post office in the big town closed years ago and our little local post master was overheard saying he would have to give it up as it was costing him money. That would be a huge shame as we have no banks or building societies any more. He kindly took it on into his shop when the Village post office shut a few years ago.

Linda, i'm a veggie and sometimes the ones who invite for a meal, well in the past shall we say, have the "i'm only cooking 1 meal, if you don't like, tough " attiitude. So one time fed up with going hungry, i went to the supermarket and bough loads of veggie food which my children preferred to pork chops.

So when i dished up my food, the others looked on and said my food looked more inviting but they were offended that I brought my own!! I don't see why as we all sat down together. these days we don't all have the same tastes, so if we invite someone for a meal, i go out of my way to accommodate them whether they are GF, lactose free, veggie/vegan or whatever.

Maybe your sister thinks you wont have the food they like ? Or do they have special diets maybe?
Good you lost a pound but eating out doesn't always put weight on, just depends what you have.

I have just gone through the freezer drawers again!! I have no idea how things get mixed up unless someone else just shoves anywhere there is a space hmmm!

I have 4 blocks of pastry , 3 shortcrust and 1 puff but once I make mince pies, they will be all gone so a space there. I need an empty drawer for the turkey until xmas eve so food in that drawer needs to be eaten up very soon. Seems to be at least 6 breaded haddock, so can cross that off the next food order.

Anyway coffee time now and a look at the news etc.

Just read that our main PO is on the list for closure!! Oh and the ferry broke down again. We are really in a mess up here.

It is still a fairly nice day here, just a bit chilly.
You did well with the soil Florence, hopefully it won’t take too long to move the rest of the.
I went to Slimming World this morning after missing last week. I have lost a couple of pounds, I just need one more off to get back into my target range,so I don’t need to pay for the classes, but I need another four off to get back to my exact target. My sister and husband are coming on Saturday for four nights. She is insisting on bringing all sorts of food , she obviously thinks we don’t have real food around here :-( We are going out for a couple of meals as well, so that won’t help my weight loss .