General Chat

Wow, you have been busy Joan. The rockery sounds good. I made a one about four years ago in the front. OH cut a large tree down, but the stump was left, so I piled rocks around it to create a rockery, it worked well.

Esme played with me very nicely this morning and we went to the puppet show this afternoon. It wasn’t really puppets, but three actresses doing a silly version of Midsummer Nights Dream. It sounds odd, but it was funny and aimed at very young children. The children were on cushions at the front, with the adults in a semicircle of chairs behind them. Esme always joins in, but she doesn’t usually put her hand up to volunteer to go “ on stage”. This time she did and one of the actresses chose her, she had been interacting with her before, so she said to me, I will look after her. Esme did her bit very well and was so pleased with herself afterwards

We,then went to Tesco cafe for a snack, then did the shopping. I always use the hand scanner, not the tills. Esme did all the scanning, she did very well and enjoyed it. Of course, she wanted to buy a toy, they were selling off the summer stuff, so we bought a unicorn bubble machine. She is out in the garden now with her daddy having a great time

Well done Joan on making a rockery. I did that years ago and I painted all the rocks with white paint. Mine was 3 tiers high and yes had to fill the cracks with soil but was a nice addition to my garden and I'm sure yours will look lovely when you get all your plants.

Settled on a pizza but no chips for tea as i suddenly felt crumpets wouldn't be enough lol.

Yes you do need patience with card making but its very rewarding. I do have the patience of a saint which is just as well with everything I have to deal with!

Off to switch on the tv as River City is coming on now.

Florence in the hebrides

Afternoon all
Well the bad weather hit us this morning and has been chucking it down all day long and windy too so not a day for venturing out anywhere.

So daughter and I decided to do crack on with our card making for the fayre in November. We had a count up just now and have 66 cards so far, A mixture of birthday, blank and a few xmas cards. Next session will be xmas cards only as need to boost the stock up.,

JustGinnie, its also just a year since mum passed but its just selling her flat thats hard although we dropped the price again this week and now have 2 viewings on sat so fingers crossed.

I thought you had sold her property so what is holding up you receiving the proceeds? When the flat is sold here, the funds go to sol and then tf to me/sibling and that's it all sorted. i did have an enquiry with DWP but we sorted that awhile back.

Joan, glad you got out for awhile to town, change of scenery works wonders but as you say, its tiring on the legs walking round a supermarket. Enjoy the good weather whilst it lasts lol

Hope the puppet show went ok Linda and Esme enjoyed it. But when your daughter moves to their new house, I presume they wont expect you to carryon looking after her surely? Sounds very tiring for you.

AnnG, I made 3 scrapbooks with all of mums photos so my children will at least have some memories of her when i'm gone as they didn't get to see her often being far away.

Not sure about tea tonight, something light I think, maybe crumpets with cheese and marmite although home made soup would have been good today as its like winter now but too late to make today.

Got some sewing to do later as a pair of trousers needs a new elastic waistband and the elastic arrived today so can do that later whilst watching me soaps.

Take care all

Florence in the hebrides

Linda hope today is a calmer day. what will your daughter do about the children when they move? I think, as you get older it is going to be much harder for you looking after Esme. It is very difficult for the family I am sure

My cold and cough are a lot better today and I slept well again last night. Still not doing a lot today although I did potter in the garden for 45 minutes earlier, Mainly cutting down everything that has grown since the last time I cur it down.

JG I often think that about my scrap books. I think the family ones might be kept by the relevant family members but I have 14 12X12 albums, mostly full. And a couple of smaller ones. I still make cards so my craft room if extremely full of craft stuff. Luckily daughter, daughter in law and both granddaughters in law do crafty things so I think it will get used after I am gone.

Hi everyone,

Linda having grandchildren to look after is tiring but much more so for you with Esme having such special needs. Hope your day out at the arts centre puppet show goes well. It will be a long day for you both till your daughter gets home. I hope your daughters house situation gets resolved soon.

I hope everyone who has been unwell is feeling better now.
Has anyone had the predicted thunderstorms and high winds , we have had dull and cloudy with a very short shower yesterday but today so far it's just cloudy.

Still waiting for my late sisters estate to be paid out , the council and HMRC are the hold ups atm. It's hard to believe it will be 12mths soon since she passed. After all the sorting we had to do when she died I have made sure that both OH and I have our wills and our funeral plans up to date . Hopefully they won't be needed for a long time yet.

I have been sorting out more craft stuff to go . I no longer make cards but still do a bit of scrapbooking but don't have so many photo's now . I look at the ones I have and think will anyone keep them or will they end up in a skip . My daughters will decide that lol.

Take care all.

Ginnie

She likes watching her iPad and normally she will go on her bed until she feels better. She is watching Butlins Skyline Gang videos on YouTube on the tv at the moment and is singing band dancing along. It is just like flicking a switch, she can be really happy and a second later she is tired and shouting. We try to get her to understand that she can go for a rest without shouting, but she can’t understand that. Only an hour and a half to go until they will be back :-(

Edit,
She suddenly came round and then played really nicely with me for the rest of the afternoon.

Her mum has to go to the London office for the day tomorrow, so I get to look after her all day :-(

I have booked a puppet show at the local arts centre tomorrow afternoon, so that will fill some time in, she likes going to those. Unfortunately because of the train work to rule which is on at the moment, it means her mum won’t be able to get back until very late as she has to travel with a company who aren’t striking. So I won’t have an easy day tomorrow either :-(

Linda, does she like music? Maybe some soft relaxing music and would she lay on a cushion maybe?

When my charges were upset etc, we had a room with soft fairy lights and music to help them settle. It worked most of the time.

It poured down all through the night, it hasn’t stopped since. I had to go and get my hair cut this morning, it is a thirty minute drive along fast dual carriageway. The side if the roads were flooded and the water was standing in the fast lane, so cars were aquaplaning. The spray was terrible and the wipers could hardly cope. I was really glad to get home.
I thought I would have an easy afternoon as they were going out to see a couple of houses in case they can’t sort the boundary problem out. Unfortunately Esme didn’t want to go, so has stayed here. After twenty minutes, she started screaming for mummy, having an absolute tantrum, throwing everything around. She isn’t like an ordinary child, so you can’t reason with her at all. She has settled down a bit, but we still have a couple of hours to go :-(

Afternoon folks

Well like AnnG and Linda, I too have been out of sorts last few days. Temp on Sunday was 38/100 and I was shivering. Migraine developed and was dreadful as always.

Monday was coughing and still had a sore head. Today I feel back to my normal self, temp down and migraine away but I feel tired.

So must be a summer cold that's doing the rounds except, I haven't been near anyone and only walked around my garden?

Oldest fam member has been told he is a type 1 diabetic. No surprise there as I have been telling him for ages to stop eating "tv dinners" and eating out instead of cooking. So he had his HB1AC done and its up at 16!!! So now will be going onto injections and he's not a happy bunny. "I told you so" is probably ringing his ears.

Anyway, hes seeing the nurse again soon and she will explain it all but will he listen?.....wait and see.

Making a blueberry and white chocolate cheesecake later. i prepared it all, did the base and then realised, I don't have the white chocolate so shall have to wait until daughter comes home with some. Just fancied a change and its dead simple.

So hope everyone else is feeling better now.

Linda, cant believe the house fell through!! Your peace and quiet will have to go on the back burner yet again. Hope this next house goes through smoothly.

AnnG, nice trip away for you, makes such a difference getting away for a few days.

I haven't been out of the house since my friend left on 15 May!! Promises from friends to take me out in the holidays haven't materialised so its beginning to get me down staring at the walls especially as daughter has been away quite a lot recently.

I really need a change of scenery and to see others.

New coloured card arrived today so I can make some cards tomorrow to boost up the numbers.

Weather here last 2 days has been warm and sunny but today its rather grey and overcast but not raining or cold so cant complain.

Joan, hope you managed out in your garden for a bit, weather permitting.

Well that's me folks , better clear the dishes I used and tidy up.

Salmon fillets, new pots and peas for tea, easy dinner...yummy.

Florence in the hebrides

I hope your cold gets better soon Ann.

I needed to go to the supermarket this morning to get the food for this week’s recipes, so for once OH came with me because I still feel ill To be honest, it would be quicker on my own, but he was keen to help.

He is itching to get outside to cut the grass, but it keeps raining so he can’t do it. He is hopeless at doing nothing, he likes to be doing jobs.

My daughters house move is going from bad to worse, they were supposed to be moving in in a couple of weeks, but now it looks like the whole thing might be off.
The house they are supposed to be buying is a barn conversion. The original farm was split into three properties. They share an access road which opens out into an area where the gates to the three new properties are. As well as the barn and garden, they also have a large outbuilding which was built in 2000. At the moment it is just storage, but they want to split it in half and make a home office. They also want to put solar panels on the roof. Their conveyancer noticed that according to the ordinance survey map that the boundary between their property and the one next door actually runs half way through this out building. How it wasn’t spotted when the current owners bought the property two years ago, I don’t know. I suspect it was, but the American couple just decided to ignore it. Normally you would take out an insurance policy against any claims, but they can’t because you can only do that if you don’t know who might make a claim. Obviously the neighbours could ask for money for that bit of land, so no insurance company will issue a policy. Also the conveyancer by law has to inform their mortgage company if any boundary dispute, so that might affect their mor offer.

It is a terrible mess, so now they are going to see another couple of properties in the area which are for sale chain free. Even so it will be quite a long time before a new sale will go through. Just when we were looking forward to getting our house back :-(

good morning. hope you soon feel back to normal Linda.
I returned from my week with son last Friday with a horrible heavy summer cold which has now morphed into a cough. Yesterday it was not too bad and last night I managed to sleep quite well. But since I got up I can't stop coughing which is pulling my stomach muscles. This is the first cold I have had since 2019 which is probably why it is worse. a shame as I had a lovely time at son's but I now feel ten times worse than before I went. And none of the family there had a cold/cough.

Happy Yorkshire Day, to me anyway :-D

I hope everyone is OK. I haven’t been feeling well this week, but have soldiered on regardless.

I wish summer would return, but listening to the weather forecast, that doesn’t seem likely. So playing mostly inside is the order of the day.

Oh dear Linda, I hope it is just a 24 hour one and that you will soon feel better.
Florence I did a test, of course, and was negative. There are a lot of colds around and with covid there are usually more symptoms but I tested to be on the safe side as DiL who I had been staying with needs to be avle to visit her Mum in a home.

Hope your cold is getting better Ann. I don’t feel well now, it seems to be the same thing the others have had, so presumably a virus. I feel sick and have a head ache and am generally aching. SIL had it first,he thought it might be food poisoning, but then my daughter got it, then me.
We had a good day out yesterday with the girls, we went to a large soft play centre which has a huge outside bit. They have lots of animals which we didn’t bother with. There is a fairground, large bouncing pillow, inflatable slide, sand pit etc. They also have a children’s entertainer who Esme loves. He does two funny magic shows during the day. This year they also have a foam party, we knew about it so had taken spare clothes. Esme absolutely loved that. It is outside on grass, so much safer than indoors where the floor gets really slippy. It is incredibly good value for money, even more so because I found a 20% discount code before I booked.
We usually take Eves friend with us, but she was on holiday, so Eve had no one to go on the more grown up rides with. She was very kind to Esme and took her on lots of the small rides. I rashly said that I would go on a sling shot ride with her. I was dreading it as I have always hated rides such as Waltzers, but I braved it and what a mistake that was. I was desperate to get off and thought that I was going to be sick. I probably was starting with this virus, so that didn’t help, but felt dreadful for the rest of the afternoon

Morning all
AnnG, hope you don't have Covid? Is it worth doing a test maybe?

Sunny here but black clouds are looming so am sure rain isn't far away.
Daughter back today so i no doubt will have plenty of washing to keep me busy!

Made a huge mistake with the card cellophane sleeves. I ordered 6x4 size but the cards are 7x5....very annoying but totally my fault so I shall now have to order some more.

Hope every one looking on today is well today

Florence in the hebrides

good morning all, bright and a bit sunny here and 17 degrees. I am under the weather as I brought a cold back from Milton Keynes. Strange that none of the family there seem to have it so I am assuming they are all immune to MK germs and I wasn't.

Better get on, despite not feeling great loads to do as I have next door to look after for three days again and two gardens to water.

Linda Hope all the family are better today.

Evening to anyone looking in.

Last night around 11.45 was just getting ready to lock up and go to bed when pooooft, the lights went off!!

For a minute, i couldnt get my bearings as wasnt sure where my phone was and then I realised it was infront of me and a glimmer of light was shining as the cover was closed. Thank goodness for the phone as the electric was off til after 4am.

All of the islands plus the isle of skye were effected. Anyway, got another LCD torch and then went round turning off tv plug, lamps etc.

This morning thinking i had done a good job from the night before of switching everything off,I realised the kitchen light was still on lol Oh well there is always one.

Just had a quiet day, listened to the funeral service on computer, first time for everything!

Made a few cards this afternoon but have run out of coloured card in pink & purple so ordered some more.

Mums flat isnt selling so we have had to drop the price again. Thats 30k now dropped since June. 2 viewings but no offer although said well decorated and spacious but not what they were looking for. We are now paying council tax again so its costing us money the longer its unsold!

Hope everyone else had a goo day

Florence in the hebrides

It isn’t very good here either Florence. Esme’s parents aren’t very well and this morning she didn’t wake up until after nine, which is highly unusual. She didn’t seem very well this morning which was worrying given the fact that I have bought the non refundable tickets for the play centre for tomorrow. She spent most of the morning in her bedroom playing on her own, then getting onto her bed to watch her iPad. That gave me an easy morning :-)
After lunch I went for a walk with Eve. The radar said no rain expected, so we set off without any coats. That meant the heavens opened of course and we got wet. It was warm though, so it wasn’t too bad.By the time we got back, Esme was downstairs, so I have spent a good hour playing schools. She has just gone for a lie down again, so I am having a quick coffee

Afternoon all

Well not a great day weatherwise as its windy, damp and coolish. A few showers here and there so no good for washing.

Tesco came and took awhile to put it all away and only thing wrong was a rotten mango which I handed back to the chappie. You think someone might have noticed when they picked the order!

Anyway replenished the baking cupboard, got new marvel so i can make things in the bread maker and a few other things I ran out of.

Some more craft supplies came today, different coloured card and Merry Xmas silver and gold stickers for the cards so I may make a few in a bit.

One of my tomatoes on the windowsill is nearly dark orange now so wont be long before we can sample our "reward."

Right better make a quick tuna roll as not had my lunch yet. As for tea, think a pizza with a few chips tonight will suffice.

Hope all ok with everyone looking in

Florence in the hebrides

It is sunny here as well, but breezy. I wanted to take the girls out today, but Esme was just screaming because she doesn’t want to go out. It will be different on Friday because we are going to her favourite soft play. It has a huge outdoor bit with fairground rides, sand, water, large bouncy cushions etc. The main draw is Dazzling Darren, the children’s entertainer who does two shows during the day. She was besotted with him last year and can’t wait yo go back again.
I have been playing on and off with Esme, but she keeps taking herself off to her bed to watch her iPad. I did get her out in the garden for a while this morning. I took Eve for a walk this afternoon as my tablets were ready to collect, we had a drink in a cafe while we were out.
I need to decide what to have for dinner, I usually plan the menus on Monday, but I wasn’t sure SIL would be here as they are getting a new car and he was due to collect it mid week. That seems to have been put off, so I have some mince which I will probably turn into a spicy bean and rice dish.