General Chat

So been busy making food ahaead of the storm. Its alreadfy blowing a hooley and has been lashing down in frequwnt showers.
So pan of lentil & veg soup all done. A pan of sweet & sour chicken now ready, naan bread on a tray and basmati rice in a pan. I filled the new flask for the first time and so glad daughter bought it as think we made be needing it later.

Got all the washing & drying done so all up to date.

Now my legs are aching for standing so long, so gonna sit on comp for awhile until daughter returns about 5pm. Wish she would get back sooner but she cant..buses on saturdays are much reduced here!

Only heard a couple of bangs last night as hardly any displays and dont think you can buy fireworks here in the shops now.

Heres hoping electric doesnt go off but if im not on for a day or two, you know why.
Stay safe everyone

Florence in the hebrides

It was very dull here this morning. the sun has been in and out this afternoon and it is 12 degrees so not to bad. I have been doing all admin jobs indoors, I wanted to give the lawn a final cut but it is too wet. There was a slight frost last night. Now I am about to go and wrap some presents.

Well all is still calm....for now. Advisory of winds up to 80 mph coming this way later and tomorrow. Daughter decided to stay elsewhere until tomorrow as the high cases of covid are scaring her and thinks the town will be emptier tomorrow in a gale!

Anyway, im use to it. have plenty of xmas battery lit ornaments, torches and hundreds of candles. Talking of candles, we have smoke & heat detectors in every room so if i light a candle, or 2 will that set off the alarm? Dont want to try as i know all the alarms are inter connected and if the candle did set say the lounge one off, all the others would go off and i cant reach or climb a chair to reset them. It would make a terrible unnecessary noise.

So Ive done most of the drying of the clothes washed yesterday, made 2 fruit loaves which turned out great. I have eaten 1/2 of one already lol.
Gonna make a sweet & sour chicken dish in a bit for later and then all sorted if the electric does go off. Got flasks too for hot water to make coffee.

Ann when daughter was little, she wouldnt care if she had 20 little parcels with a matchbox containing 10p, it was the excitement of seeing lots of gifts to open.
As she has become so anxious and very down, i have bought her, paints, brushes & sketch pad as think this will be calming & therapeutic for her.
Also Mrs Hinch's journal is also very helpful too.

Mini fun jigsaws of Pringles & a fish & chip supper. These will keep her busy and look fun too.

Hope everyone else keeping well and staying safe.

Florence in the hebrides

Florence yes, we used to make the most of Christmas on here back then didn't we, I loved the pantomimes and remember one with BC as the old woman who lived in a shoe, and Allan was on that thread and Barbra, it was so funny I was in hysterics. We seem to lack a sense of humour on here now but maybe that is because we are all older.

As it is the 5th tomorrow (Friday), maybe some people will change their parties from Saturday to then or is it going to be wild then too.

I always buy several small presents for my daughter, have done for years and she does for me as well, When I add them up after buying them it would quite honestly be cheaper to buy one present but not as much fun. :-D

Good afternoon peeps.
Well I slept til 9am so eventually got off to sleep. Yes the computer does keep the mind active Ann but was just a distraction from laying wide awake!

The wind has finally gone down...again but the forecast for Fri/sat looks awful.Gale force winds for Sat eve so dont think too many fireworks will be going off. Not many shops here still selling them actually so less of a worry for pet owners etc...

Was trying to finish off wrapping last few gifts but now i have every spare drawer full with little piles of parcels mainly for daughter as havent bought one big gift this year but many smaller gifts as i know she appreciates this more.

Just washed kitchen floor so on here waiting for it to dry.

Ann yes i do remember how fast the threads use to go, was hard to keep up sometimes. Do you remember the conga thread at christmas? So many people long gone now that were characters.

Well got a couple of letters to reply to so better get my typing fingers on.

Florence in the hebrides

Trouble with the computer is that it gets your brain working even while making your eyes tired so I hope you got to sleep.

Good morning all, I slept reasonably well so got up at 0700. Now having a ginger tee while looking in on here. Do you remember the days when you would log in in the morning and the boards had been moving furiously all night and you struggled to keep up? Those were the days when we were all excited by the possibilities of the internet.

A light frost this morning but a lovely pale blue and pink sky and so far quite bright.

ZZzzzz that is quite funny. My grandad who was deaf in left ear would always put the phone to his left ear and place his finger over his good right ear and then say, you will have to speak up as i cant hear you! Grandma would remind him, other ear dear before he would swap them over!!

Cant seem to sleep so popped on here for 5 minutes to see if it makes my eyes tired lol. The wind is still blooming howling like a hoover that has been on for days! Home alone until Friday as daughter elsewhere. She left me a huge pile of washing to keep me busy...well wouldnt want me to get bored she said..cheeky mare.

Well better shut this computer down now and go to bed as its soo late.

Goodnight peeps

florence in the hebrides

Hello everyone, I just thought this might make some of you chuckle.
One of my Aunts has a saying that she is blind in one eye, which she is and can't see out of the other one but she can. I say I'm deaf in one ear and can't hear with the other one but really I'm just hard of hearing in both ears.

Good morning all, 3 degrees out there and frost on the roof tops this morning. Slept for 6 hours last night before laying from 0515 drowsing until 0630 when I put the light om and read for a bit. Washing in the washing machine so an early start today. Not that I am going anywhere. garden bin day so that will be empty. One or two things to be finished out there if it warms up a bit and maybe look at the car scratches, although it is frosted at the moment. Present wrapping maybe, still plenty of that to be done. and being past the end of the month, the monthly bank check to do too.

with regard to insurance, I wouldn't know the situation in that car park, it is not an enclosed car park it is a long type of layby across the front of the shopes so that cars are side by side all along the length and back out onto the busy road that runs along behind. It is though a private car park and when it was badly in need of repair nobody could do anything about it until the private landlords (who also own the shops) had the surface done. I expect insurance would work. But so far I have not heard anything.

It is our garden bin, and general waste bin and food bin collection day today so the road is full of bins but luckily they are collected from outside our houses.

Our bins have to stay at the bottom of our house road / track, which is some distance from the house, it's a nightmare having to have them moved out of their spot (so the bin men see them as when the wind gets up nothing stops the bins from blowing over!

Our daughter puts them out & puts away again when she passes, but if the bins have blown over the bin men don't pick up the spillage, our daughter has to!
Being elderly now we can't walk the bins up & down the steep road anymore, much too long.

I hope you manage to get some sleep tonight Florence, not easy when the wind is blowing a gale.

Joan.

Well its my blue bin day tomorrow so i have put one of my rose plant pots on top to keep it from"running up the road" like last time!

Thought the wind died down but its picked up again grrr another sleepless night!

Florence in the hebrides

Ah ty Andys mum for clarifying that. I knew there was something just couldnt remember how it affected your insurance. But yes it means the shop wont take responsibility.

Had to cringe just now when President Joe Biden said Glasgow on the tv.He wrongly pronounced it Glasssgow as in an "ow" at the end, that hurt ow! If you get me. Couldn't someone have given him the thumbs up on how to pronounce Glasgow properly?

Another blustery, rainy day and the blooming vent in my kitchen makes a howling noise all day when the wind is from the north. Like a hoover that drones!

Awful flooding over the weekend.Hope everyone ok.

Florence in the hebrides

Florence, I think the "owner's risk" bit only applies to the shop in question. The same notice is in my Co-op car-park, and if I get hit by someone I can't sue the Co-op for damages.

Some years back I saw a car thar was backing out scrape the car next to it quite badly, and drive off without stopping. I took his number and I and another customer who had also seen what happened put a note on the windscreen with our details in case a witness was required.

Some time later I had a letter from the owner's insurance company with a form to fill in, as proof that they were telling the truth. I don't know the outcome, but in that case the insurance was definitely not invalidated.

Oh Ann poor you.No wonder you havent slept for worrying.

Just a thought, is there a notice in the car park that says, "all cars parked at owners risk"? because if there is, not sure insurance will be anygood as i thought, it only covers you when you are driving on the High Road?
I may be wrong here but i know in both the coop & Tescos, there are signs which means, if anyone damages your car, then yes you would have to sort it out privately between you and not through insurance.

Maybe someone else can comment of this that knows perhaps.

But you did the decent thing and went to local police and have posted on local site too.

When i was driving, I stopped using Tescos car park as that too was so narow and i know many people who had there cars damaged and so prefer to park on the main road and walk back with their trolley.

Hope you can polish the scrape out, sometimes it does work.

Dreary day here and rain on again and getting darker by the minute. I can hear the wind picking up too.

Doubt if there will be any trick ort reating either as weather is not favourable and also its on a Sunday!!

Florence in the hebrides

good morning all, hope you all remembered to put your clocks back. Strange weather here, one minute heavy rain lashing down, then blue sky and sun, then back to heavy rain and also windy.

I didn't sleep very well last night, not too bad but not as well as I have been. There was a reason though, my mind was working overtime, yesterday after Had my hair cut, (had to take the car because it rained. Not a good move). had a scrape on backing out, my front wing, car next to me (narrow slots) and slightly angled their rear nearside wing. trying to see if anything coming along the busy road behind (car park places are facing in, in a long lay by (private land) didn't notice how close until it scraped. waited for 20 minutes nobody came back Not sure what to do I had no paper on me at all. Anyway I have posted a message on the local site and hope somebody contacts me. I have also notified the police in case the person wants to make an insurance claim. I don't think it was an expensive job. all depends on finding the owner of the car. the car park is used not only by shoppers but local residents and is notorious for damage to cars the spaces are too narrow and manoevering in and out across a busy road is dangerous. Road is laughingly 20MPH but hardly anyone sticks to that.. Just have to wait and see now and see if I can polish out the scrape on my car when it stops raining.

Good afternoon peeps.
After a showery start its bright & sunny but quite chilly outside. I did open the windows for awhile though as i feel it quite stuffy as im in all the time.

Sorted the laundry so all up to date and swept floors etc so at a loose end now.Daughter had to go to Orthodontist at the hospital. Very unusual as they dont normally run dental clinics on a Saturday or do they?

I could start writing xmas cards but thought i would do that tomorrow.
Had no post for several days and seem to get more at the weekend. I have been waiting ages to hear the outcome of my annual PIP review. Sent it back in August and tel 2 weeks ago to be told, we are very behind you should hear by end of October!

I have ordered some extra large cutters for mince pies as the ones i have seem small and after they are cooked the pastry shrinks so they look tiny. I got them via amazon. Cant wait to try them out as we love mince pies mmn.

Hoping everyone else is well and wasnt flooded out in parts of Scotland. Was dreadful in Hawick.

Florence in the hebrides

Its been a bright day here but when I ventured outside to put out seed in the bird feeders, I did get a brrrr shock. Crikey, really was very chilly and the wind quite biting.

However the storms have passed for now and all is calm!

I have made a vegetable lasagne today. Haven' made one for ages. Used up courgettes, mushrooms, onions etc. For the cheese sauce, I melt a tub of philly with garlic & herbs to put on the top. Here's hoping it will be tasty as I feel I need a decent hot meal.

The booster jabs have been going awhile. In a smaller place, people here got jabbed a lot quicker including the teenagers. However last night there were 17 cases again!

It would appear, that during the half term, families travelled to Inverness for the Mod(Gaelic singing comp) and have come back with the virus which is now spreading like wildfire.

Although its cold outside the temp indoors without heating in each room is around 22 degrees which is fab news, and i dont need to put on the heating so saving money.

Stay safe everyone
Florence in the hebrides

Another dry but chilly day.

Booster jabs booked for next week, not at the same place but not to far to go.

Still have bit to tidy in the garden but hope to do that over the weekend.

Florence I shall look at the games site as I like word and card games. Also like Mahjong as well.

Take care all.

Evening ladies. I slept for Scotland last night and didnt wake until 10.30 today!
Yes in a way, knowing now what is likely to be the problem has alleviated the worry that has been hanging over me the last 3 moths.

I have already adapted to doing things a bit differently and am managing in my own way. With the driving, i stopped because i took a terrible dizzy spell at the wheel & nearly crashed the car back in the summer.I still regularly have dizzy spells so sadly an automatic would not help.

I am 21 miles away from the town which is where the taxis are. Its £30 each way which on a couple of occasions I have done using my PIP as that is what its there for.

I chose to live in this area because its where i worked and know quite a few people. Its in a lovely setting 5 mins from the beach. Its quiet and unlike the town areas.

I shall stay positive and def keep posting on the various threads on here as yes keeps the mind busy.

I have found another games site as my reg one is closing down after all these years..King.com. But Arkadium is another site with free games like crosswords & my fav the daily jigsaw against the clock.That really taxes the brain.

Anyone else who likes word games etc take a look its a good pastime and stimulation for the brain.

Been a lovely afternoon here but very brrrr, im sure the snow isnt faraway!!

Thanks for all your good wishes and suggestions xx
Florence in the hebrides :-)

Exactly what JustGinnie wrote.

Sometimes, just knowing what the problem actually is makes things just that little bit easier. I hope you are finding that.