General Chat

It is a lovely sunny afternoon here.

Having been to the dentist yesterday, it was the optician this morning. My glasses have been driving me mad all summer, it is like looking through a cloud. I have varifocals and also have an identical pair of varifocal sunglasses. Last year, I was finding it more difficult to read small print, so went for a check up. My prescription was practically the same, but they recommended that I get a pair of reading glasses. I did and they are really useful.

I did wonder if the cloudiness could be cataracts, but then I ruled it out because my vision was fine with both my sunglasses and reading glasses. I suspected that the lenses in my main glasses were bad because they are so scratched. This morning, the optician confirmed my suspicion. My prescription hasn’t changed, but she suggested getting new lenses to replace the scratched ones. She also suggested upgrading the type of varifocal lens to a newer type which should help my general reading without needing to put on the separate reading glasses.

I possibly could have had the new lenses put in the old frames, but I have had them for a long time, so I decided to go for new ones. I knew that was when the problems would start as I have such a complicated prescription which rules out the majority of frames in the shop. The senior dispenser always used to look after me. He knew the problem and would narrow things down to a couple of frames of the type I like. He also made sure that the edges of the lenses were shaved, so that the glass didn’t end up looking like bottle bottoms sticking out beyond the frame. Unfortunately he left a few months ago, so I ended up with a young woman who didn’t want to listen while I explained the problem to her. I could tell from her attitude that she thought I was a stupid old woman.

Of course having chosen some frames, she discovered that my prescription wouldn’t go in them, or in the other two pairs she had suggested. Instead of finding some frames herself, she ended up telling me to go and look at the frames myself and see if I could find some. How was that supposed to work??? OH was getting very annoyed with her by this point. It also doesn’t help that without my glasses, I can’t see what the new frames look like. They used to have a camera system, so you could actually see yourself, but she didn’t offer that.

In the end she discovered that she could get the prescription to fit in one of the pairs, so I went for those. Once she had measured them up, I pointed out to her and the young trainee who was shadowing her that I had warned them in the beginning, but they hadn’t listened. She had the good grace to blush.

So I have a pair of £99 frames which give me the second sunglasses frame for free. Of course my prescription is so bad that the lenses take two weeks to be made instead of the usual one week and oh yes, that will be a grand total of £456 !

It always costs a fortune, but I suppose averaged out over a few years, it isn’t too bad

Well, it's a wet & windy Wednesday and not a pleasant day at all.

So, no going outside for fresh air today or feeing the birds im afraid. My Tesco delivery is coming between 5-6pm which is a good time. I shall wait for the goodies instead of snacking before 5pm lol

Has anyone else noticed how when you type, a blue line is now underlining grammatical errors and not just the red line for spelling errors?

I have not noticed this before and have not changed any settings on my PC so Genes must have changed something? I'm just finding it very annoying!

Feeling quite tired today even though I managed 5 hours solid sleep probably the heavy overcast sky I expect.

Daughter back on dry land but not back here until Friday so my tidy house will probably be a bombsite within 1/2 hour of her returning and the washing machine full up. We are hoping to go to town on Saturday by taxi there and back but the money from the sale of my dryer will go towards that so not so bad. I need a passport photo for the Blue Badge Application form asap and my bus pass too.

Joan did you get any flooding in your area? As I heard on the news there was quite a bit along the coast near Forfar etc although not sure if thats anywhere near you?
Anyway, hope all is well with everyone and take care

Florence in the hebrides

Good afternoon peeps.
Although overcast, it is breezy but very warm at 19 degrees. I have been so busy that now I need to rest as I'm a bit out of breath and perspiring, something I rarely do.

So I ordered 3 bags of compost last week and yesterday my new pots arrived. So I covered the kitchen table with a large bin bag cut open and set to work. I had nearly 20 pots to empty and split the strawberry plants and also the pepper plants.

Oh my I worked like a trojan emptying, refilling, splitting the whole lot etc. I also took part of the mini greenhouse stand apart and transferred the racking to the top. That way the plants get more light and I have a storage area for spare pots and the compost underneath at the bottom.

All of that and the clearing up took me all morning but a job well done and all tidy once more. This afternoon, something a bit more gentle fort me, balancing the books and statements. A calm relaxing job with a coffee and some cake.

Because I'm a veggie, I make a good ratatouille using lots of courgettes, really is a glorified tomato stew but a good way of using up the courgettes. I also have heard of courgette cake too but never tried it.

Linda enjoy the peace and quiet! You can pop into town or out for a coffee anytime you choose without them there. Take up a new hobby maybe?


Will be finishing off my carrot and orange soup for tea with the last 2 crusty rolls, cant wait.

Hope everyone else looking in is well and ok.
Enjoy your Monday afternoon

Florence in the Hebrides

It is oh so quiet here without the girls.

This morning, I had dentist and hygienist appointments, al” was well

It is quite warm, but very humid, there has just been a heavy downpour

I have finished the large pile of washing and it is all put away apart from one lot in the tumble dryer. Once that is done, I will have a lazy afternoon before Esme comes back to pester me

All your soups sound lovely, although I've not tried carrot with orange either.

My sister sometimes gets a plentiful courgette crop too. I remember that my mother made a tasty courgette cake, but I've no idea of the recipe, but I seem to recall that it froze well.

It has been very warm and sunny here this aft, it is still very humid now.

My next doo4 neighbour keeps giving me courgettes, so I have been making different types of veg soup to use them all up. The freezer is full now.

Yeah, school starts tomorrow, so we will have our days back, until 4 pm when Esme gets back. They had a good time in London and then in Filey for a long weekend in a caravan. They were lucky and got upgraded to a brand new top of the range static, it was incredibly posh. It must be filled with sand now. They brought a ton of washing and lots of towels and beach towels back with them, so I have made a start on that .

Well thats me soup all ready and had to have a few spoonfuls to check it and....mmmmn was delicious. Cant wait til at least 5 to put on the crusty rolls and enjoy.

Florence in the hebrides

Good afternoon folks.
Well after a very wet and windy early morning, the skies cleared and we are back to a lovely sunny, warm afternoon. My grass cutters came a bit later after the rain stopped but all looking neat & tidy now.

My friend came about 10.15 and we sat with coffee and my fruit cake. Had so much to catch up on and before we knew it, it was 12 and she had to go!

Had some lovely flowers both from my neighbour on Saturday and also from my friend today. The flowers have now brightened up the kitchen. I do like having flowers around all the time.

Just making a pan of carrot & orange soup for my tea with crusty rolls later. Just took a notion to make it. It is a nice day but kinda Autumnal feel...hence the soup lol

Popped out to put out my blue recycling bin ready for tomorrows collection seeing as its dry and not windy so all my chores done and time to relax...just keep an eye on me soup.

Hope everyone else's Monday is going well

Florence in the hebrides

Afternoon peeps from a very wet & windy village! After all the beautiful sunshine we had all week, Mr sun seems to have taken the day off lol. So back to our usual.

However, it is supposed to be sunny again all next week and 18-19 degrees so 1 day of rain as you say Joan will give the garden a well needed soaking. Hope you enjoy your Sunday dinner later sounds tasty.

I ordered a new super king size duvet cover as I was browsing and couldn't resist this at the great price. I bought a single one for one of my nieces for xmas too so thats 1 off the list already lol.

So washed that yesterday to get the creases out and soften it and then stripped my bed off and put the new one on. Gosh, I was very hot & bothered after doing that, took the life out of me!

Tomorrow I have a friend whom I haven't seen for over a month or more so have made a light fruit cake. I just had a small piece although it was still warm, but was jolly tasty.

I now have my duvet and pillowcases in the washing machine hoping I can get them out to dry tomorrow and save on the dryer.

So I am bushed now so sitting down awhile to recharge me batteries. A lot of work done for a Sunday hehe.

Linda, that was good you sold the tower but unfortunate the heavens opened!

Joan, enjoy looking around the shops tomorrow. What sort do you have nearby you, anything good?

I'm gonna put my legs up now as left ankle looks like an elephants foot as been on me feet a bit too long.

Enjoy the rest of your Sunday peeps

Florence in the hebrides

It is quite warm here, but overcast.

Yesterday I decided to give away a little tykes climbing tower cum slide. Esme is too big for it now and it has just been cluttering up the patio. I put it on the local free Facebook group, knowing that it would be snapped up instantly as I could easily have sold it if I had wanted to . Within five minutes, I had two people wanting it, the first wanted me to deliver it, - not a chance. The second one was so keen, that they wanted to come straight away. OH had to take it apart and it was starting to rain, but he managed it. By the time the poor chap arrived it was like a tropical rainstorm. He was absolutely drenched by the time he got it all in his car.

We are on our own for the weekend. OH came home on Friday, but my daughter and the girls are not back until tomorrow. School starts for both of them on Tuesday, so at least I will have my days back

That’s ridiculous. Someone needs to explain that when a map makes place look close they are actually miles apart.

When our bank branch closed it was the same bus or train into train, then one had to join an enormous queue which meant you could easily miss the bus as the times were odd. Then you’d eventually get home to find the bank had already called to ask how they had done. One a good bus day times you could be out for an hour and a half on a bad bus day times you could be out for another hour or two.
After some very strong words from OH they stopped asking.

The reason my dad deals with everything in cash is so the bank can't see where he spends his money lol :-D :-D

At least you have a bank.

Many years ago our local building society was closed and they transferred us to the next one. Which, as the crow flies, was quite close. However, without a car you needed to get a bus or train to the big town and then bus out to that branch. If you took the train you then had to walk past the town branch to get to the bus stop :-S

Joan -
I hope your savings account is giving you a good rate of interest.

No savings (or other) account is keeping up with inflation, but the higher the interest the better, as every penny counts.

Good morning peeps
Well its clouding over and the storm clouds are gathering for the gale tomorrow. So the sky looks very heavy but the garden and plants need the rain as the grass is quite bare in places.
Not sure what I shall be up to today but have a little ironing so will get that out of the way and then see.
I may get my friends family tree out and do some work on that later as i havent done any work on it for a few weeks now and that will keep me busy til teatime!

Hope everyone else has a good day.

Linda, how is your sister getting on with her treatment, is she nearly finished of it?

Florence in the hebrides

Joan. I may be wrong but it sounds as though you have a debit card. If that is the case, and you shop in a supermarket, you can use your card to pay the bill and get "cashback" at the same time. There is virtually no chance of your card being hacked there.

I usually do that, because I am a bit wary of ATMs since one of them swallowed my card and didn't spit it out again!! Fortunately the premises were open at the time, so I was able to get it back - but it was quite a palaver!

Afternoon peeps
Well it started off again as another bright sunny & warm day. There is a cooler breeze building and clouds are forming. The forecast for the weekend is gales and rain!! The first storm for the season will be Antoni lol I was reading the names for the whole alphabet and B is for....Betty :-D :-D Made me smile that.

Been very busy sorting out the post for mum as brother was away and he had collected a heap of mail which was then whattsapped to me. Got a bit upset with one letter as it was demanding the full balance of her gas Bill etc but we had paid it beg of Aug.
I tel this company for an explanation and they apologized and said payment crossed with their letter but I will have to open Br Gas account until the property is sold. Anyway its only the gas boiler so no heating required yet so minimal usage.
What upset me more is that this company is a debt collector!!! My dear mum never owed a penny to anyone and everything was paid by d/d through the bank so always up to date.
The thought of a bailiffs coming to the flat really stressed me out. The letter was badly worded and I told the chap exactly that. All sorted eventually but oh my. :-S

Joan, my dad has the same card for his pension and draws it all out in cash but he has a bank account which he pays some cash in to cover his electricity bills etc but he has a card for that too. Do you not have a card or a bank account for your bills?

I do know a few places where they dont take cash anymore after lockdown. Handling money is dirty and so full of germs. I remember from my days as a banking officer how my hands were filthy and was always washing them several times a day after handling cash.

Can't make up my mind for tea later. I do have left over salad but feel I need something hot today and more substantial, just cant decode what.
Joan hope you enjoy your hotdogs.
What I do need now is a cuppa so off to make coffee and find a biscuit too. Then its back to sorting out the mail.

Florence in the hebrides

Linda, make sure none of those notes are the old paper ones, because after the end of September they will no longer be legal tender.

Same here, Linda - re hardly ever using cash now.
I have notes in my purse which have been there since before the pandemic! Yes, honestly!

My bank is only a five minute walk away, in the town square, but Incant remember the last time I went in as I do everything on line. I hardly use cash these days as everywhere takes cards. There are plenty of cash machines around if I need one. I had to use cash today when I got my hair cut as they don’t take cards. I have had those notes in my purse for ages.