General Chat

Am using this post to sit down for a while, muscles and joints are soooo stiff from working for 3 solid days in back garde, Anno Domini has a lot to answer for. Did hardly anything last year, it was a complete mess, the ivy which was (nearly) all taken away the year before, had come back with a vengeance.Hard work to encourage it to let go it’s tenacious grip on fence and walls….shrubs and trees were pruned back, weeds that were having a field day have all been ruthlessly pulled up.Now I have an overflowing green bin, which I hope the bin men will empty this thursday, it is very heavy, mostly due to kitchen waste which has been in there for months,& sunk down, and now the garden refuse…have also two enormous green bags (they are specially for garden and kitchen waste, they rot away within a couple of weeks) filled up, and a very large pile of branches and other big bits of ivy standing out back…hope ‘someone’ will go with me to the dump a.s.a.p…

Gail, are you feeling less rough now? Deanna too. It is horrible to feel so down, isn’t it?

Carole and Clair and Mary, thank you for your kind wishes.I do feel quite positive lately, long may it last !.
Carole, how terribly sad it is to see a loved one with dementia, losing all their dignity etc. My mother didn’t know who I was in the last year or so of her life.I have often wondered if it was a wise thing to do, bringing her and my aunt over here in ’96, as she (mother) died about 9-10 months later, even more confused than she already was. The wierdest thing happened just a couple of seconds before she breathed her last breath, i.e she opened her eyes (she had been in a coma for a week), looked at me and said ‘Eileen’, in a clear voice.Her eyes were as they used to be, clear, not empty, as if no-one was ‘home’, so to speak..May your friend and her siblings find the strength to deal with this awful situation…

Clair, I type my message on the Word program lately, as a couple of kind GR members advised me to do.The box keeps jumping around like a flea in a fit, impossible to post that way.

My daughter F. , the one I went to Brittany with, asked me to go up there for a few days. Was planning to go on thursday, come back saturday, as it is a nightmare to travel on trains etc.on the 30th (old queen Juliana’s birthday), but she phoned yesterday to ask me to go this wednesday instead. My car is playing up, needs a new part for the steering, it is really dangerous as it is now, should be seen to soon.Even if it is ready before wednesday, I can’t leave it for so long near the station here, it would probably get stolen or vandalised…it’s a very long walk to the station !!! Another prob.is, travellers are advised to get of the train 2 stops before the big Central station in Amsterdam, because of work being carried out there…have to find my way from Amstel to where daughter lives, meaning a long tram ride, IF I am lucky enough to be able to get on one…can’t say I am relishing the thought….
Amsterdam will be a real old sight from 30th of april onwards, if the garbage collectors stike goes ahead…you should see the sheer amount to rubbish left after a normal day/weekend, not to even mention the festivities in and around the city on the 30th….

Well, must get moving again, can’t sit for too long, maybe I should buy an oil can to lubricate the old joints.Lol…

Have a good day everyone, be safe.

Eileen

GRRRR just continued my last post, submitted it because the screen was jumpy and I've lost it now.
Anyway to cross to type it all again so i'll send love and strenght to you all
Claire xxxxx

Just thought i'd pop in and say hi ~~~~ to you all.
Eileen so lovely to read your posts lately, I can almost feel the positivity coming from you :)
Good news on the dogs Mary, eould love to be able to come and celebrate their arrival but it is a bit far away!!
Carole, you sound really busy and enjoying life at the moment.
Gail, sorry you are not having the best of times at the moment, always here to talk if you need an ear, hugs for you xxx
Lily, have been looking for you on fb for a chat most nights but have'nt seen you, hope all is well with you.
Liz you ok, have'nt seen much of you on the boards lately.
How are are 2 Hazel's as well, seem to remember seeing treehunter a while ago but not seen Lanc witch for ages

Hi everyone,
Well I am officially FED UP.... again!
Every time I try another way of finding my G.G.Grandfather.... I hit another brick wall.
I am so sick of it. I get so frustrated when other people tell us that they have managed to find their relatives ...w..a..y... back to *Jesus* (exaggeration on my part) and I have lost my relative after the 1871 census!!!
So I have made a decision!!
He can start looking for ME!

How are you all?
Has anyone heard from Joyce? Not Dutch, I am always in contact with her, the other Joyce.

Mary, I don't think I knew that you had lost a son. I can, as a mother, think of NOTHING worse which can happen to us. Bless you love. As my husband would say... "She (Mary) doesn't have her troubles to seek" And yet you are so good Mary, you carry on, carrying on.

I have not read much on here lately so I don't know what has happened lately. That dose not mean that I don't care, I care very much.
I seem to be a little lack lustre these days. I have been reading, trying hard to do some housework... over doing it mostly and STILL getting nowhere.

I will get back to some form of normality eventually, but in the meantime I am just playing it by ear.
Talking of ears, mine has been painful rather a lot lately. That is where my Temporal Arteritis started, so I am a little worried.

Anyway folks I am off before I drag you all down with me... I'm fine really, just a difficult time at the moment...... we all have them which is why we are all on here and supporting eachother.

God bless,
Good night and I will be back.... I will...... ;-0)
Love and hugs to all,
Deanna XXXX

A beautiful sunny day here, I should be outside, but here I am, checking up on my friends.
Making progress an inch at a time here, still painting, now we have to add work in the garden.
We finally have a date for the service dogs to arrive - June 1st - not a happy day for me usually, my son Michael would have been 37 this year - so this will put a different focus on the day. Have to clean up the garden first as we are going to have an 'Open house' (probably on June 8th) for everyone who has helped us, to meet the dogs - any of you available???? We'll have a big bouncer thingy for the kids and BBQ hot dogs and hamburgers, mercifully we have a big back yard (not yet ready to be called a garden!). Somehow we have to round up some garden chairs for the 'event'. Must hit Freecycle for that one!!
I am so sick of the message space flying up and down, almost ready to give up!
Eileen so thrilled to see you sounding more like 'you', . Gail feel free to email me if you are having a bad day, I lost my computer for 2 days last week due to a virus but am usually here.
Hugs to those who need one today, back to work for me.
Mary

Gail you can always pm me if you need to share your bad days. xx

Lorraine pleased you are feeling much better xx

Alison, it must make life so much better for you all with B staying awake, and joining in with the yard work. Hope he continues to be able to stay off those tablets I'm sure you know to keep an eye on his mood though xx

Eileen you made me laugh. I can't believe the difference in you lately xx Hope you can stay well for a long time xx


I went to the theatre last night to see Jim Davidson with two friends from work. We had a really good night. My friend needed it! Her mum has dementia, and last week was found wandering with her slippers and a bag of clothes looking for her house. She has been staying with my friend all week and friend, A has had to stay off work. Her brother took their mum last night for the week end and A is seeing SS Monday to have mum reassesed. Mum is wetting the bed every night, and wetting during the day. She got her shoes on Thursday and said she was going to A's house! I went to see them Tuesday and A and her husband had taken mum out for tea. She couldn't remember what she had eaten even though she had just got home.
My friend is very upset and so will need her friends to support her.

HAPPY ST. GEORGES DAY, to all our English Friends on here.
Hope that everyone is keeping well.

Lily

Good luck to him Alison.

((((((((hugs)))))))) Gail xx

Once again I haven't been on for ages. Haven't read many posts yet but I hope everyone is doing OK. B has decided to stop taking one of his medications - it was to stop the really bad dreams that are a side effect of one of his blood pressure medications. So far so good. He was able to stop taking them if he wished. They would keep him sleepy. He would wake up at 9ish, have brekky, and go back to sleep for another couple of hours then he could have another couple in the afternoon, then go to bed at about 8.00pm because he was so tired. Wasn't doing anything he liked in the yard and very unmotivated. The diffrence is amazing, he's out in the yard doing stuff again. If the dreams come back he can change to a different medication for the blood pressure but we'll see how he goes.

Alison

Having a really rough day today, do not want to put it on here. Knowing you lot are around and having friends is helpful.

Love and hugs

Gail

Glad you are feeling better Lorraine.

i am feeling loads better, thankyou to all those who helped me , im also avaiable always for a private chat to with fibro ms aspergers or anything else love always lorraine xxxxx

My post with critcism about that mindless GR member is still there for all to see.
Gail, you really made me laugh with your comments about your ‘finds’ in the cupboards.Have had such blitzes a couple of years ago…lots of stuff way past there sell by dates…”biscuits made with formaldehyde” LOL. Did anyone read an article about MacDonald’s food? I am no fan, but have eaten the odd hamburger and chips years ago. We used to stop off for coffee there on our way home many years ago, in the good old time when you could sue them for scalding YOURSELF with coffee…it made me think of a lot of silly things, i.e suing the gas company when you burn yourself on the flames or hot pans, suing the manufacturers of electric kettles when you scald yourself,,and so on.I would be a very rich woman by now if that was possible..Lol. Was off on a tangent again, sorry! Hamburgers and chips from MacDonalds: After a year lying (laying?) on a shelf, they were still perfect, only had to be warmed up in the microwave..Food for thought? Wonder what made them last for so long in perfect condition.Best not to think, fingers in ears and sing la la la.
We used to have a big freezer (is it called a chest freezer? I don’t mean one you can keep certain body parts nice and cool in.), which was necessary with 5 growing kids. I used to go picking beans and strawberries in farmers fields and freeze them in.Also used to buy 60 kilo of peas from a farm factory every year…lots of work involved, but, again, I feld VERY smug afterwards.The big drawback with such freezers is, smaller things used to burrow down under everything else…no taste a year on…One time my ex. decided to put some bottles of beer in there, to cool them off quickly, but forgot.Of course, the bottles exploded, guess who had to upend themselves into the freezer, to get all the glass and beer out?Those were the days!
My black booties were covered in fine dust on saturday, even though they were worn the day before, when I looked around the house, everything was covered in the same sort of dust…must be volcanic dust..ha.ha, that is MY excuse, anyone with a better one?

Very chilly here, but I refuse to put the heating on in april. Just use more layers of clothes.Masochist is my middle name.

Keep warm and happy.

Eileen

Gail, last Sunday our car was covered in a fine dust that I assume was from the ash.

Know that smugness Eileen, also know the horror of cleaning out those very deep cupboards. Like to think I am reasonably organised and do rotate what goes in the food cupboard. Last year I cleaned out the food cupboard and was shocked to find some items up to 5 years out of date. Must admit the chickens had a grand time after I had thrown it all out, all still edible. Also shocked to find a packet of biscuits, 5 years old and still looked okay, still crispy and did have a taste and was okay, chickens got them just the same. So would like to know what they put in them to still appear fresh after so long? Formaldehyde?

Now do not ask what I have found in the freezer, that is a whole other story.

You are not going nuts Liz, I did see your post, then it was gone, like a couple of mine. No loss, got my point across.

Just for the record I have had many years of councilling, unfortunately still need the meds.

Forgot to ask, are you seeing the ash from the Iceland volcano? I ordered a certificate a while back and know there is a holdup with GRO, but I had forgotten that our mail comes by plane from UK. A distant cousin pointed this out as we have both been waiting for ages. Bit thick at times.

love and hugs

Gail

The posts deleted were the ones criticizing the person who asked if people had thought of counselling.

It is decidedly chilly here, sun is shining, so am thankful for that small mercy.
It IS great fun in Amsterdam on the 3o th april, but certainly not if you suffer from claustrophobia, you can hadly walk sometimes, there are soooo many people on the hoof.Def. wouldn't dream of driving up there, it would be too nerve-wracking.
I hold my hand up to deleting some mails back in 2008 (?), but not recently.
Had a good old clear out in the kitchen earlier. Threw out lots of tea, all different tastes, that have been hanging around far too long.I feel smug now.Lol.
Take care. Eileen

Well that's strange cos I am sure I posted recently, and it doesn't seem to be here lol

Sounds as tho lots of you are really busy, I am not doing much, sort of just plodding along, taking each day as it comes, some good, some not so good but then there are other people much worse off than me.

take care all

Lizxxx

Eileen interesting to read about the custom of being able to sell things in Amsterdam for just that one day. Could have a lot of fun with that.

Gail, sorry you have been having a couple of bad days but glad you are 'on the up' again. I see there are several deleted posts over the last couple of pages, not something we get on this thread usually is it? Wonder why?

Another nice, sunny day.Not as warm as it has been though.

Colin, my sister’s trip to India has been cancelled completely, but she has been offered a trip in september…she won’t be refunded for her train ticket from south wales to Heathrow, or for the insurance…at first she was philosophical about it, but now says she is gutted.Still, she is grateful she isn’t stuck in ‘limbo’ like many other poor souls.
I too, would love to see India Mary, was offered a holiday 5 years ago by my a friend of my son, who’s parents live there.’Only’ had to cough up for the fare,(hmmm!) but wish I had taken him up on this.On the other hand, the extreme poverty of far too many people there would hold me back.I don’t think I could live with that.
Mary, how did Em do at the dance competition?
The last christening for me was when my 4th child was a week old. Didn’t get to go to nr. 5’s christening, as I was ill in bed.I don’t like such occasions either, nor the first communion business. Bigger and bigger presents are given for such occasions…
Gail, am sorry to hear about your “rough couple of days”, hope you are fighting fit again?
A close friend asked me to go to Poland with her soon, taking it in turns to drive there. She and hubby have a (second) house in a mountain village. It will mean driving through Germany, on the very busy ‘autobahns’, where the speed limit is far higher than say, France.Hmmm….she has asked me before, but I never really was too keen.Will see how it goes.
Am maybe going up to Amsterdam for a few days at the end of this month.30 april is the birthdate of our old queen Juliana, the present queen Beatrix still keeps up the tradition her mother started, i.e keeping it a national holiday, allowing everyone to sell (unwanted?) things all over the city.It is the only time this is allowed. Have seen some really creative costumes, (has to be orange-coloured) acts etc.in the parks, great fun, but, it is nigh on impossible to get on a train on the 30th, you are crammed like sardines, so will have to go there the day before and come back the day after…
A friend of my youngest came up with an ingeneous idea one year. She had a small barrel with a tap, of snaps, strapped to her back, and skated around a park, selling small (plastic) cups of it.It was a great success. I took my two youngest up there one year, we sat on a pavement selling stuff. I had several rosaries etc. one daughter had lots of pens..they all went like hot cakes.It was more for the sheer fun of it.I had some trouble when trying to find a place to park though.

Must get a move on, am due to go out soon.

Be safe and happy, as far as it is possible.

Eileen