General Chat

Wonder where everyone is today then Huia. Do the spots itch when you get hot in bed? Maybe your bedroom is too hot. are they allergy spots of some sort? Have you tried antihistimine?

We went out to lunch today too. Thought we were meeting a friend so drove an hour to the garden centre where we meet. She and her sister didn't turn up and her phone went to voice mail. So we had lunch and came home, only to find it is next Tuesday. Strangely, when she was at her daughter's she sent an e mail and I asked her if it was 27th and she didn't reply. She is not on e mail at home. So we have another trek over there next week.

Hi all

Just a quick visit .... have a doctor's appointment to re-check my knee, OH is going to take me, and we have to leave in a few minutes..


Ann .... I'm not sure that J is so placid, just that she has found the best way for her to handle M is to let him have his way in little things.

He does get overpowered by things, especially things that don't go according to the plan ........ MJ crying a lot is not what he expected of a baby! Not sure what he did expect though!

If he thinks he is participating, and he does expect to do that, by holding MJ, trying to soothe him, and then saying "it's time to give him some food because he isn't settling", then I think it is so-be-it in her eyes.

The fact that MJ might not want food at that particular time ......... but might just want to lie quietly ("me" time!) is something that father has yet to really learn.

Plus, M has turned out to be very good at soothing MJ by holding him for long periods of time ......... but those are the times when I think most of us would have put the baby in the crib and closed the door :)))))

Mind you ............... I do almost froth at the mouth when she has to drop everything to make HIS lunch. I can't see why he can't make his own, or even make hers, at least occasionally!


Ah well


mouth will be zipped




Hope you have a good day Huia, and that Phil is responsive to you





sylvia
xxx

Hello girls.
I can't believe I did not post yesterday, I don't know what the heck I was doing to forget.

Huia thank goodness the squishing went well. It's always a worry till someone in the know tells us otherwise.
It sounds like you need further investigations into that itch of yours love. You have had it some time now haven't you. And the stuff they gave you for it has not worked.
I hope you did not drop of to sleep while you were at the wheel. It would be so lovely for you, if you could get a natural nights sleep wouldn't it mate.
I hope you found Phil in good spirits.

So Ann it looks like you will get a nice meal out two weeks on the trot. LoL
And with it being a garden centre, is another added bonus. I bet you could find something nice to buy there.

Sylvia, how did you get on about your knee. That is another problem thats been hanging around for a while isn't it.
It's so debilatating, when we have a limb that does not want to work as it should.
I bet this week without MJ, has been a bit of a blessing, but that you have been missing him.
It's so hard to adjust to having a baby around though isn't it. We get to used to the peace and quiet, when our kids leave home.
I just hope that when our new grandchild arrives in January, they dont expect me to have it over night. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind babysitting, but I don't think I could put up with having my sleep disturbed.
I am getting a bit to long in the tooth for that. LOL
I like to love them,and give them back.

I hope everyone else is well. A big ((((((((((HUG ))))))))) for our Jean,Sallie, Liz.
Love and best wishes to you all. Mo xxx

Aw go on Mo, I bet if they ask you'll have it like a shot!!

Would you believe all we bought in the garden centre was a bag of bird seed??

Oh my lord Ann, bird seed, don't tell me you are going to make seed cake.
Or are the birds in for a feast. I read somewhere that you can roll the seeds in fat,and that the birds enjoy it. I don't know if I read it correctly though.

Phil was asleep when I arrived yesterday. I think the trouble is that he has 2 bowls of porridge for breakfast and then he has to sleep it off. Since I was tired I stayed only 30 mins. He did wake up, sort of, but was not as alert as on other occasions.

I slept much better last night. I dont know if I had been subconsciously worrying about the lump, I had not been aware of any worrying. Or it could be that I think I have a bit of a cold. I decided to avoid milk and cheese yesterday, so I missed the hot chocolate drink that I have been having before bed. I will have another milkless day today and see how I sleep tonight without a half sleeping pill.

I must sort out the freezer half of my fridge. It is rather iced up and the drawers are hard to pull out and push back in. I will transfer the contents to the chest freezer downstairs while I do it.

Huia.

Your freezer sounds like mine Huia only I don't have a chest freezer to utilise while I de-ice it. Just as well I would have even more stuff lurking in there if I had one. Pleased you slept better anyway, it might be the dairy, you have to try these things don't you?

Mo, in the winter I often make a cake with the fat that drains when I cook a chicken, left to harden with nuts, birdseed, currants etc all mixed in, the birds love it.

Hi all

The nights have been little problem with MJ, even when we ere over there when he was 4 weeks old .......... we have an ability to "turn off" or "tune out"


Anyway, it would be impossible for us to feed him at the moment ............... he's feeding so much that J has none left to express into bottles!

She'll have to do that before Thursday next week ...... we have a big dinner date to celebrate her husband's degree! Thus, baby sitter will be arriving ...... if we can find one that J trusts.


Mo ........... the knee shows some improvement in that the swelling has gone down somewhat, and the diclofenac in the cream has helped the pain. But it is degenerative osteoarthritis (just as I have in so many other places). So I guess I have to learn to live with it ..... and hope not to fall again!

She would like me to try Aqua-exercize as the joints are supported in water ................ but I hate water, don't swim, and there isn't a swimming pool that I could get to easily (ie, on the bus).

She does want me to get back to walking even that 1 km a day that I was doing, and lose some weight

She gave me another prescription for the cream, to be used "as needed", in other words, when it hurts!

Huia ... I have found that drinking a herbal tea before bed helps me to sleep .... there are several different makes out there, but all say something like Sleepytime, or to help sleeping. Teas for tranquility or calming are not the same as the sleepy ones.

Even so, I rarely sleep more than about 5 hours in one go.

Some years ago I asked the doctor about the fact that I was getting so little sleep ...... it was taking me 2 to 3 hours to go to sleep, or I would be awake in the middle of the night for 2 -3 hours, or I would waken about 4 am and that would be it for the night. She made an appointment for me to see a sleep specialist who came into the practice one day a week.

I gave up on that when the person taking my records asked me to work out how long I was in bed .......... when it totalled about 9 hours ('cos I like to lie in bed reading or listening to the radio between about 7 and 8:30 or 9:00 am) ....... I was told that the reason I couldn't sleep was because I was in bed far too long. One had be in bed for ONLY 7 hours.

Now I know that I used to need 8 hours of sleep ....... so getting up after 7 hours did nothing for my sleep deprivatation.


I notice that experts last week were quoted as saying that people need 7 to 8, or even 9 hours of sleep a night! So where does that leave the sleep "expert" i saw?!



Take care everyone



sylvia
xxxx

Hi Gals,

Just a quick "Hello - Goodbye" as we are off on our holidays at 7am tomorrow, and I am busy at the moment trying to pack the car up.

Can't answer all the recent comments, but Mo, I am very sorry to learn about your cat - such a shock to learn how ill she was and then have to make the decision that was kindest for her.

I think it was Marie who asked which Island I live on. I live on Jersey in the Channel Islands, which is closer to France than it is to England, but we are still part of the United Kingdom, though have a very strong French influence. It is the largest of the Channel Islands, and a little gem at times, though very busy at the moment.

Ann, when do you arrive? I think I will be home before you get here, so I shall order good weather for you. We get back on the night of 15th August.

Thank you all, Daniel & Matthew both loved their Activity Weeks, and haven't stopped referring to them since in one way or another. It does them good to go away and learn new things about different places.

Anyway, I'm off to load the car up. I hope you all have a lovely couple of weeks. We don't know where we will end up. Peter fancies Holland, but the long term weather forecast is for rain and showers for the next week, so we may go central France instead. I don't know, we just decide to turn right or left when we gte to the harbour in St Malo (France)!!!! All good fun and exciting times.

Take care everyone.

Love Debbie xx

I hope you are still around to read this Debbie. I hope that you and the family have a wonderful holiday.
Cant wait for you to tell us all the family adventures when you get back.
I hope you do manage to get to Holland, it's a lovely country,and we always found the people so welcoming.

Huia, what a good idea to start eliminating foods, just in case it is the food
that is causing your sleepless nights. Foods like cheese and milk, are a type of product that could be upsetting your inner balance.
Have you tried lavender linen spray, on your bedding. It is a good relaxant,
also lavender bath products can help you relax late at night.
How are you getting on at the thrift shop. Do you enjoy the company of the others that work there.

Ann, I have got a freezer that has got drawers in it. BUT, it does not hold very much, Roly insisted we got one like it, because with our old chest freezer, the food at the bottom was going out of date before we even realised it. I would really like a second one, especially at christmas time,when the family all come,and we buy extra's. We have to be so careful what we buy,as we just have not got the room in the one we have got now. And I have to miss out on a lot of the bargains, in the freezer shop.

Sylvia, I suffer from osteo arthritus, so I know how much pain you are in love. But with you it is degenerative,so you suffer even more than I do.
I poo poo all these experts, that say we need a certain amount of sleep.
Not everybody is the same,at bedtime our bodies take over,and dictate just how much we need. I am lucky that with the help of a sleeping tablet, I get about seven hours rest. If I dont take the tablet, I am awake most of the night.
It seems like that when I get into bed, my mind wakes up,and goes into overdrive,and stays like that for hours.
It's all very well for our G.P's, to tell us to walk more, but when you suffer with so much pain on walking, it's a hard thing to do. It makes you feel like shouting at the doctor, " if you think I can do it, then walk in my shoes for a few hours ", I think they would soon change their tunes.

Special thoughts for our Jean ((((((((HUGS))))))))) I hope you feel better very very soon.
Sallie where are you, come back chuck we miss you.
Liz what are you up to at the moment love. Hows the prepararions going.
Are you nearly ready to wow them at the wedding.
A big wave over the sea to our Marie in Oz. Hows you doing mate.

Got to go now girls. Speak to you all again soon. Love Mo xxx

Debbie, we arrive on 22 August - 29th. Maybe we could meet for a drink some time when we are there?

Have a great holiday.

Mo
Ours is an upright freezer with 5 drawers and a space at the bottom for ice cream. But it is very iced up at the moment and a struggle to get the drawers open. And, even with this one where I can see most things I 'find' items I have forgotten buried. OH usually insists on eating them as he says they will just have lost quality not have gone off!!!!! I let him get on with it!

We have just been out to buy a new washing machine (see my seperate thread.)

Hi Ladies,

Debbie, I hope you see this before you go away. Have a lovely holiday all of you, and take care travelling about in either Holland or France. Wherever you decide to go, I hope you'll get good weather. Enjoy yourselves.

Mo, I've been to see the Cousellor today, she was very pleased that I had been to Derby on my own. My last session with her is in two weeks time, so she wants me to go for a few outings on my own, before then.
Apparently, I was only to have six sessions with her, but she decided when I went for the two assessment sessions,that I would need twelve.
I must say, that I feel a whole lot better, than when I first went to see her. It's amazing that just by talking to her, I came to realise that issues that I had over the years, were all linked and causing me problems. I thought that they were all separate issues, until she made me see things in a different way.
Is your brother still with you and Roly? If so, I hope he's let his two oldest children know about what's happening.

Sylvia, I hope your knee is feeling a lot better now. It's nice to know that there is someone like me, that doesn't like water and doesn't swim either. As a child I hated going swimming, all my friends loved going, so I always felt the odd one out.
When do your family get back? Sending lots of hugs and kisses to MJ.xxxx
I hope that you'll find a suitable baby sitter for next Thursday. It's a pity that you don't know of anyone that you can trust and that is a responsible and
reliable person.


Huia, glad that everything was okay for you at the clinic. It's a shame that Phil was asleep most of the time you were there, and when he was awake, he wasn't as responsive as he's been. Let's hope that on your next visit to him, he'll be like he's been lately. It certainly makes you feel better.
I hope that you are managing to sleep a lot better now. It's so annoying just lying there, feeling really tired, and not being able to get to sleep.

Ann, you made me smile when you told us about the lunch date. Never mind, at least you'll have another lunch out, so that's got to be good.
It would be nice if you can meet up with Debbie for a drink, when you go to Jersey. A mini meet, oh lovely, .I wish I could be there too!
Apart from the internet, do you know where I can buy the 5x7 embossing folders for the Cuttlebug, please? I've tried all the usual places, like Hobbycraft, etc., with no luck.

Thinking about Jean, and hoping that she'll start to feel better very soon.

Liz, I hope you are feeling much better, too. How long is it to the wedding?
Sorry, I can't remember the date you told us. Put it down to my age, lolol!!

Marie, hope you and your family are all alright. Are you still going to the gym with your friends? Take care and look after yourself.

Speak to you all soon.

Love and best wishes. Sallie.xxx

Sallie, don't they stock them in Hobbycraft then? Have you tried putting the name of the embossing folders and local sockists to ????? into google search?

Ann our freezer is also an upright,but it only has four drawers, hence my thinking it's not big enough.
I read your thread about the washing machine. You certainly came out the better for shopping around didn't you. Well done to you both.

Hi ya Sallie good to hear from you love.
It is good to read that the therapist is at last showing you how well you have advanced, from when you first started to see her.
You have done so well, and I am sure we are all proud of how well you have progressed.
My brother had a meeting with his OH last night. He was due to meet her at 9.15 last night. I txted him at 11.30 to tell him I was going to bed.
When I got up this morning, he had not been home. I tried to phone him,on his mobile, but got no answer. So I worried all day,as he had not taken his medication with him. At six o-clock tonight I rang him again, and guess what, he was at his house having dinner with his family.
I was actually ringing him at this time, to find out how long he would be,before getting back to us,so that I could put his dinner on.
To say I was annoyed,was putting it lightly. Why couldn't he have rung me
to let me know he was o.k,and to let me know what was going on.
Anyway, suffice to say, they are back together again. For the time being anyway. But believe me, if they have any another arguments, they can sort it out in their own home.
My ten year old nephew, has got more sense than both his parents put together.
I don't agree with them arguing in front of the children, but there has to be another way of sorting all this out.
Oh and by the way Sallie, he has no intention of telling his eldest children what has been going on.
I can understand that, as my niece would have gone round and sorted his wife out, making it worse for him in the end.
Well enough of my moans. Huh Families can be a real problem at times
cant they. LOL
Bye for now. Love Mo xxx

Ann, I can't get the bigger embossing folders at Hobbycraft, they only have the smaller ones. I didn't realise that there are two sizes until I wanted to emboss a 5x7 card. I know they sell them on some sites on the internet, they cost around £6.99 each and the smaller ones around £3.95.

I know you do a lot of embossing so thought you might know where I can get the larger folders from, without getting them off the internet.
Most of the shops in this area, stock the Sizzix folders. I know I can use those, but thought I'd try and get the Cuttlebug folders first.


Mo, your brother should have let you know that he was staying in his own home, last night. I think it wasn't just a matter of the fact that not only were you worried about him, but he should have had the good manners and decency to let you know, that he was okay. After all, it was to you he came to, when he needed a place to stay. I hope that both you and Roly will get an apology off him.
I can understand why he didn't want, at least his daughter to know, but it does put you and Roly in an awkward situation. As you say Mo, families!
I hope you're starting to feel better after the loss of your cat.

Well, I'll say goodnight to you all. Speak to you tomorrow.

Love, Sallie.xxx

Mo how thoughtless of your brother. Next time maybe you should tell him to find somewhere else to stay.

Sallie, I have never tried to do 5X7 embossing. In fact I am a bit lazy about using the Cuttlebug. Why don't you want to buy on line? Although I know the postage is a nuisance. Have you got any independent craft shops near you that may sell them?

Hi everyone


Debbie ..... just in case you pop in again ..... have a great holdiay. Travel safely



We have an upright freezer in the basement, it has shelves in it, and 2 drawers at the bottom (each half width), they're slanted and don't actually hold too much!

We used to have a large chest freezer, which was yonkers old, we bought it from a friend about 1989 so you can tell! We decided to let it go about 2 years ago .................... I used to have to hang over the edge with head down to see what was in there! Even at 5'8" my feet were almost off the floor when I did that!

Gawd, I'd find all kinds of things at the bottom though!

We also have a bottom freezer to our fridge in the kitchen with a shelf and a basket, and that holds quite a lot ..... I try to have ready meals in there (all home made), at least one meal amounts of raw ground meat (minced beef), stew meat, stir fry meat, as well as bacon, butter, ground coffee and coffee beans. We put larger items like roasts, frozen smoked mackerel, and all the frozen juice we keep buying on special in the one downstairs. Idea being I have access to everything to make whatever meal is needed, while OH can go downstairs to get other stuff.


J phoned this morning ....... mainly to touch base, and tell us which ferry they are catching home on Saturday. They are having a good time. They made lunch yesterday for her godfather, his wife, and J's godmother, who also lives on the Island. Everyone knows everyone of course as we were all friends way back from the 60s, so they had a good 3 hours or so.

In fact, I met J's godmother R when I started my first real job teaching at the Girls Grammar School in Northwich back in January 1965! She then came to Vancouver to visit a relation, met a Canadian, married him in 1966, and came to live in Vancouver. Never dreamt that I would end up in the same city only 2 years later! R is much the youngest of that crew though!

J's godfather is 78, his wife will be 80 later this year, and R is about 64 or 65! J etc are staying in the "cottage" (really a small 3 bedroom house) that her godfather and wife built on the property next to the one where they live ......... it means that visitors can have privacy, and they can have peace until they actually want to see the visitors. You're usually told that coffee will be served at 10 am, and then after lunch you're told if they want you to go "home" for a while!!

In return ................. you clean the cottage, vacuum, wash the sheets and towels, etc before leaving.


Which is why J and co are coming home on the 3:15 pm ferry! It will arrive about 5:15 pm at the terminal that is about a 20 minute drive south of where we live ............ so a late dinner on Saturday!!



Meant to say ................. my brother and his wife separated about 1985. We were over here, and his eldest daughter also lived in Vancouver. He told his 2 remaining daughters that neither of us was to be told .......... of course, one of them disobeyed!

He was so mad when I phoned and asked what was going on "I didn't want you two to know" "I didn't want you to be worried" etc etc etc


For the next 5 years, until he quite literally dropped dead, he and his wife lived apart, but would go away together at least 2 weekends a month. He would take her shopping one night a week (she was by that time living as Carer with her mother), and they would go out for dinner at least one night a week.



Couldn't live together, couldn't live apart!



They'd got married at the age of 21 and 22 in 1952




take care everyone



sylvia
xxx

Hi all (just put this on Friendly thread as well so easier to copy and paste than try and write separate response I will just say have a good holiday Debbie, it sounds really fun to take a last minute decision, I could see me doing that if I went off on my own lol but o.h. likes everything organised and sorted beforehand, no spontaneity with him.)

thanks for email, I have seen it before but it always makes me laugh.

Am a bit low after this week of o.h. being on nights, it's thrown me with the different times and not having the car or being able to get out easily with him about.
Yesterday Thursday, was awful, he got home around 6.30am and came up to bed and then there was all this noise, it turned out neighbour over the road, was having his drive brick weaved so a digger on a lorry and another lorry and a van turned up, all parked almost under our bedroom window which was open for air. There are no front gardens in this close, just about a couple of metres at most of grass verge in front of each house expect that neighbour doing the drive and the one on the other corner, so the vehicles just parked where they could, never mind anyone else, people couldn't get in and out of cul de sac, milkman had to walk down from the end and the noise, it was awful. The workmen were shouting conversations, and in the end I got up and slammed the window shut but the d/glazing is old so not very effective. I went and found some earplugs for o.h. as he had to be back at work at 6pm and I stayed down and had a cuppa and a headache pill then went back to bed, but I kept being woken up by the various sounds of the digger etc
O.h. went out when he got up and asked how long the men would be and said he was on nights, and they said they will be there as long as it takes on Friday but would try not to make too much noise. The first machine is a whacker which compresses the soil before they start laying the bricks, lovely!
I just can't seem to concentrate on much at the mo with the tiredness. Next week he is on a fortnight of 6am to 6pm so still not good and he gets so tired and tetchy too I will try to go out most afternoons so he can get ready on his own, then I don't get the blame for making him forget something.

The wedding is on 28th August and I have yet to go out and get shoes and a bag and his shirt, he hasn't tried on his suit so might have to have a new one, and needs a white shirt by order of his son. Personally I think a pale lilac one would look better on him especially if he wears his dark suit, but the son thinks he should get a pale grey one to match his and the bestman and the father of the bride, I don't think it matters about father of the groom matching, it's such a casual wedding so not as if it's posh stuff.
Oh well, will see what happens when he tries the other suit.

Whatever he wears, he will spill something down the front soon as look at him lol He's messy like that!


Will catch up with folk soon, just need to get a bit more sleep first, so apologies if I have not yet thanked you for cards etc I will get round to it.

take care all, I hope everyone copes with all being thrown at them and apologies for not responding to everyone's posts at the mo.

love
Lizxxx

Sylvia, we bought our chest freezer about 1970, I think. It has been very useful, living a long way from shops. But as you say, difficult to reach the bottom, and I am only 5ft 4 tall, and dont bend too easily (almost 5ft round my tum! - no just kidding, but you get the picture). I dont have much in that freezer now. I used to have lost of containers of chunks of grapefruit etc for making marmalade for Phil, but now he isnt here and I dont eat marmalade I took the frozen fruit to the Salvation Army shop as I was told they have a freezer and somebody who makes marmalade. I still have some unknowns in the bottom of that freezer. Maybe I will get around to hauling them out sometime. Perhaps I will wait till my son visits as he is taller than me and has longer arms!

At least the freezer part of the fridge is now clean and tidy. It was hard work doing it though. I had to sit on the floor to chip the ice out and put it into containers for disposal. Every time I wanted to stand up I had to roll over onto my knees and crawl to the sink so I could haul myself up. I must have been a sight. It was hard work. I never had that problem when I was younger.

I went for a walk of almost 2 hours this morning after hanging the washing on the line. I still have to make my bed with clean sheets.

I start at the Hospice shop on Monday morning, that is in 3 days time.

Better finish my rather late lunch now.

Huia.