General Chat

Hi again.
Daughter came up & checked the holding tank, it's not empty but very low, it's at a level where the upstair taps & toilet cistern can''t get water so avery nice friend who has helped us in the past with our water supply is coming to have a look at the pump etc to see what the problem is.
Our daughter tried to check it out herself but she could get the lid of the pump house.

Our friende lives across several fields from me & has been a real help for me & hubby since hubby hasn't been able to sort these things himself anymore
In the meantime I shall have to just wait for the friend to check things & then let me know whats what.
I am hoping we don't need a new pump as they don't come cheap & the current one is not very old, but we do have a spare new one should it be needed !

Joan.

I’d forgotten about your water source, another issue to raise when they try to send hubby home.

You need to let the ward know about the lack of water so you can’t wash his clothes, even if you could get there to pick up and drop off. Make sure they know that it is well water and not frozen pipes.

Oh dear, Joan - it's one thing after another, isn't it?
I hope your water situation is sorted out quickly. From that point of view, thank goodness your husband is still in the hospital.

Perhaps the pump is frozen?

The thaw has finally started over here in the west, too.
Most things are still snow-covered, but tree branches and twigs no longer have a layer of snow sitting on them, and there's water dripping off the roof.
A very welcome sound!

A thaw has also set in in my freezer, unfortunately.
It's not getting cold enough, and some food has partly thawed.
I've tried defrosting and restarting it, but that has made no difference.
I've had it for 23 years and 3 months (yes, I keep old paperwork too, Florence) , so it won't be worth repairing, even if parts are available, but it's done very well, so I can't really complain.
I won't order a new one immediately, as I'm going to try doing without it.
I have a fridge-freezer as well as the freezer, and a ridiculous amount of food in the house for just one person - but as I live several miles from a shop, its a security/comfort thing.

I hope everyone else is a bit less snowy now, too.

Good morning to you all, though it's really not that good.

I woke this morning quite early & discovered we had no cold water upstairs, I was desperate for the loo but didn't want to have to flush in case the cistern didn't fill up again.
We have cold water downstairs so I am thinking that it's not frozen pipes but that the holding tank for our water supply is empty ! which would indicate the pump down by the well has stopped working for some reason !

Our daughter is going to come over & check both to assess the problem.

The cold snap seems to have released it's grip here at the moment as I can see dark spots where the snow is melting & we have light rain just now, howeve there is a LOT of snow so even rain won't shift all the snow that quickly.

Yesterday there were icicles hanging from the 2 front bedroom bay windows that are situated into the roof space, there were 16 hanging from one & 26 from the other, only about 3 on each this morning.

As if I haven't enough happening for me at the moment this happens, the hospital are going to have to not change hubbys clothing on a daily basis as I don't have water to wash them & neither does daughter, her pipes ARE frozen ! Nightmare.

I hope the weather is not too serious for any of you.

Joan.

Oh dear Linda, what a morning you have had!! I think personally, charity shops are a lot more picky thesedays and some are almost run as a business. I know they want to make money for their charity but should be grateful for all the free donations they get surely?

I noticed some time ago, the last time i was in a charity shop, that the prices for things have really increased. I wonder is that a national thing like where you are etc? I remember years ago, my son needed a thick overshirt for his xmas play as he was a woodcutter. So I went in a shop and they had just what i needed but it was £5! So I went down to good old Woollies and there in the sale was one for £2 so I bought it, job done.

With dark furniture, a lot of people sand it down to the wood and varnish. It can look really great.

Anyway hope someone takes it for you and at least your Amazon delivery came.

No such deliveries here. I have seen a handful of cars, no doubt brave carers but no buses or anything else on the rds.

Its getting really windy here and when a snow shower comes, its blows everywhere.

I have finished my ironing and now going to make a sandwich and a cuppa for lunch. Daughter wants to do some baking so will no doubt be plenty of mess lol.

Joan, you were quite right to stay indoors else you may have slipped over and hurt yourself. So if hubby took a tumble whilst being helped, how on earth can you manage him alone at night if he needed the toilet?? He may not want a fuss, but if it had been my dad, I would have complained.

Spoke with dad last night but his xray shows left lung full of fluid which explains him being short of breath but he hasnt been prescribed anything yet to get rid of that?? His speech is really good now almost normal but he sounds very frail. He says he has put on 1/2 stone but now he says he has fluid, that would explain it as his appetite isn't too good. But for now he's holding his own.

Hope everyone is keeping safe

Florence in the hebrides

Grr, I don’t believe it. The charity turned up, but then said that they wouldn’t take it. Firstly because the two cabinets have glass in the doors, so the volunteers can’t carry them and secondly because they are dark wood and they have now decided they aren’t taking dark wood as they can’t sell it. I did show them photos before Xmas and it was fine then, but not now!!!
There was someone on the Facebook site who was going to collect it before Xmas, but I had to cancel her when the house sale fell through, so I have sent a message to see if she still wants it. If not, I will have to put it on the free sites again

On a more positive note, my Amazon parcel has turned up, so I can get that posted.

No thank you Florence, I don’t want the snow. It sounds to be very pretty, so you keep it where it is :-)

I am still waiting for the charity shop to come for the furniture, there I still half an hour if morning , so hopefully they will still turn up. I have an Amazon delivery due in the next hour. It is a birthday present for my great niece. I need to wrap it and take it to the post office this afternoon, so it will arrive in time for her birthday. If the furniture people haven’t arrived by then, I will ring and see what is happening. They do have my phone number and if they weren’t coming because it is too icy for their volunteers, you would think that they would ring and let me know. We shall see

Morning girls.
Still VERY cold here & some more snow through the night, must be up to 6 inches deep now, deeper n parts where the it has piled up against things.

The fist clump of Snowdrops I spotted a few days ago are well hidden at the moment, the snow scen might look pretty but it's a real pain to cope with, looks like there has been several Deer around the house during the night, there are signs all through the garden that they have beeen here.

Re esterdays carry on, as we were all ready & set to go out we decided we would go & visit hubby any way, he seemed ok, he's so very tired & sleeps alot, he has had his latest transfusion but I'm not sure if it will help him or not ?

Would you believe he took a tumble whilst being helped with the toilet !
I wasn't best pleased but he didn'e seem too bothered about it &he had done any damage & didn'r want us to speak to the staff about it !

Apparently one of those who should have been at the meeting couldn't do so because of the SNOW !!!
That was the reason WE were asking for it to be re scheduled !!

I decided not to go with daughter for my weekly shop today, too much snow lying in the house road & just as we were about to set off it started to snow & blow so I stayed home.
Hope daughter manages to get everything for me.

Take care if going out & about.

Joan.

Morning all!
You want snow?....we got plenty more last night eeek

All schools are closed, no bus services and am so glad daughter managed to town on Monday.

The garden is a sheet of pure white snow at the back and in the front, its up to nearly the top of my garden fence. The roads have a covering but look awful and explains why I havent seen any traffic on this normally busy rd this morning!

We still have power though so thankful for that.

Joan I hope you are ok in your area although I suspect you will be worse than us?

Linda, what is your OH thinking of lol. I guess hes bored and wants out but at what costs with the bad weather?

On top of the snow we are on storm alert for the weekend but we are use to it here really so winter storms are the norm.

I must tackle the mountain of ironing in the basket before it becomes too big and the vacuum cleaner needs an outing lol

My next scheduled delivery is the 25 th jan, son fingers crossed by then we will all be back to normal!

Stay safe and keep warm everyone

Florence in the hebrides

Good morning on a very frosty morning. OH has gone out walking with his Ramblers group, he must be mad. The worst thing is that he is doing the driving today and the walk starts an hour away in the Dales, not the best drive in these conditions .

I had to be up and ready early as the local charity furniture store are supposed to be coming this morning to collect our dining room furniture which we are donating to them. I thought that they were coming first thing, but there is no sign of them yet. Of course if I hadn’t got ready early, they would have been there at the crack of dawn.

Your area keeps featuring on the news Florence, so I guess that you won’t be getting a shopping delivery any time soon.

I suppose it could be that an important person due at the meeting has been taken ill. Frustrating for you though Joan as you will have worked yourself up for it. Hopefully it won't be too long before they can reschedule.

Thank goodness you hadn't already set off through the snow, Joan.


The snow may be a good thing, if it has made your daughter realise some of the difficulties.

Oh my unbelievable!!! :-P :-P :-P :-P re cancelling the appointment Joan

That is just typical Joan and your poor daughter wasting all that time making the drive safe to use.

It was pleasant but cold walking into the square. We went slowly because some of the pavements were icy, but even going slow, it is only a five minute walk. OH bought a date slice to have later and I was very naughty and bought a Fat Rascal, not exactly Slimming World friendly. ;-)

Someone is coming later this afternoon to pick up the desk. It is amazing how big the study looks with the new much smaller desk. In the old days we had a printer and a separate scanner, a computer tower etc. Now we just have a laptop and a combined printer/copier/scanner , so we don’t need a big desk.

A few ******** :-P :-P needed here.

Why are the hospital dealing with your daughter and not you?

GRRRRRRRRRRRR

Just had a phone call from daughter to tell me the meeting has been cancelled !!!

I am fizzing, seems it's ok for them to cancel / re schedule but not ok for the family to do so.
I am sooooo angry, I am just waiting for daughter to come over to find out more.

Joan.

Hello everyone.
We are all geared up for the meeting this afternoon.
daughter cam over & took the car up & down the house road many times to make some tracks, tricky at first getting to the top of the road & round the bend but she has managed to make it passable.

We have quite a lot of snow after the last lot during the night, around 3 or maybe even 4 inches, but on the house road it had blown into thicker reeves.

The new guttering which is really deep is full to the top with snow & a few icicles hanging for it.

Daughter is being really nice to me & actually now agreeing with much of what I have said with refards to hubby coming home etc, she is beginning to understand what I was saying.

We are going to the hospital a bit earlier than appointment time so as to be there before the others arrive.
Bye just now, be back later hopefully.

Joan.

Afternoon all.

Yes we had more snow and the roads now have tracks on them. No planes to the mainland this morning as the runway needs clearing so no post at all.

Joan, that is totally unacceptable!!! Both you and your daughter need to be able to hear what is being discussed. Putting his phone on loud speaker is a good idea as you can then take part in the discussion. Of course you cant be expected to attempt to travel anywhere, that is just ridiculous given the amount of snow you have.

Could you ring your GP for advice if you explain you cant get there and do you have the right to get the appointment rescheduled after all, as you will be hubby's carer, you need to know what is being discussed.

Oh dear, one thing after another and I really feel for you and your family.

What does daughter think?

I had paperwork to find from daughter's schooldays to assist GP with a few matters but as I do keep things.... I found reports from 2006/9 which was perfect and sorted a query .I know I probably keep things for far too long but.... in the grand scheme of things, medical letter/reports should never be destroyed as you never know when you may need them!

Leftover veggie soup and home made bread today plus crumpets daughter managed to get yesterday for lunch. Not terribly slimming but in this cold climate, I need something filling.

Its started snowing again here just hope its not too bad as son travels a distance to work by bus and I always worry for him getting home at 6pm in bad weather.

Hope hubby enjoyed his birthday lunch Linda. Good that you could walk there. How far is it to walk?

Right off to make me crumpets and marmite now.

Joan, hope you get a solution sorted.

Florence in the hebrides

It would probably just add another layer of stress, Joan - but it seems to me that the high-handed way you are being treated (ignored ) warrants a complaint to whoever the top person is at the hospital.

I hope you've added the postie's inability to reach you to your list of reasons (with dates of occasions when difficulties occur) why you can't be the carer.

Does your husband have Welfare Power of Attorney naming you as attorney? Not that it would apply at present, unless he were to say that he wants you to deal with things now, or unless a doctor feels he's unable to make his own decisions.


Not a lot of snow here, thank goodness - about 2-3cms - but it's like an ice rink because it thawed slightly yesterday and then froze again overnight.
Thankfully, I don't have to go anywhere today.
But it's a beautiful sunny day with clear blue sky, and the garden is sparkling like a glittery Christmas card.

Joan I agree with Linda that it is ridiculous that they won't delay the meeting in view of the awful weather you have there. We have to use the speaker phone option when OH has Dr. phone calls so I can hear what is being said and can ask questions if needed. Not ideal but better than nothing. I hope you can get there though and have your say as well.
Good luck.

Hope everyone is ok , we don't have snow but it is very cold and I am not going out anywhere. The back garden is frozen so it's drying the washing inside again.

Have to do my shop online today so need to check my cupboards .

Stay warm everyone.

Ginnie