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General => The Stay Safe Board => Topic started by: Caw1 on Saturday 06 February 21 23:32 GMT (UK)
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Well thought I’d start today’s as I’ve not posted for the last few days... I’ve read everyone’s posts but to late to respond to all that’s been said...
felt quite down so not been worth writing...
Today was pretty much the same as the last few days...
mixed weather....
shopping delivered on Thursday.... drove to the post office to post grandsons card for next week and my DiL’s to Oz for mid March birthday in the hope it’ll get to her in time....
Played some games of scrabble and won, lost, won.... so think we’re back to me being four games up...
Watched England v Scotland rugby match... couldn’t believe how badly they played loosing the Calcutta cup after 38 years... spent a lot of time shouting at the tv and the ref who was so biased it wasn’t true...,
Consoled ourselves by watching The Plank... anyone remember that with Eric Sykes, Tommy Cooper, Jimmy Edwards and a few others.... it made us laugh!
Other than that not much else going on....
Washing machine decided to have a moment when it was spinning and made most dreadful noise... as has our boiler aged five years! Think it’s the pump ... if it is and needs a new one that will be the third in the five years.... chap coming on Monday....
Previous boiler lasted 30+ years.... just hope it doesn’t konk out with cold weather looming...
Not much else to add really... think I’m going to have to get back to sewing my 🌈 scrubs on Monday as they’re crying out for them!
Hope others days have been better...
Caroline
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Caroline, have missed your posts, sorry that you've been feeling down. I'm imaging you jumping up and yelling at the TV! I'm afraid I know nothing at all about rugby other than the players get into a scrum. There must be something in the air with these pesky washing machines, hope the central heating manages to keep going.
My day:
A bit of a strange day, I seem to have been busy all day but not sure with what. It was raining when I woke up and it didn't stop all day. Would have liked to get out for a walk but there's no pleasure in it when the weather is so bad, pretty cold too. The Beast from the East 2 seems to be on its way, bringing Arctic air.
I remember a joke from the last one - Southerners, stay inside, do not take any unnecessary journeys. Northerners, you'll need your big coat. ;D ;D
No rush to do anything this morning, read for a while, exchanged messages with a friend. Did some ironing at some point during the day, gave the kitchen worktops a good clean, also the hob, seems to get dirty so easily. Other than that I can't really recall what I did.
Had a go at cooking Caroline's recipe of chicken breast with cream cheese and bacon. Did jacket potato, roast peppers and tomatoes, broccoli.
Watched an episode of Doc Martin, also Joanna Lumley's programme about her travels in Britain, it was quite good. She'd been up in Whitby, don't know if she was there for goth weekend or whether it was just footage. Great atmosphere there on Goth weekend. :D
Don't know why I feel so tired tonight when I've done so little.
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Good morning all
Had a good start to the morning, the sun was shining, mostly blue sky and warm for the time of year, but I knew it wouldn't last.
Letting the golden devil out for his usual sniff around the perimeter of the tiny garden, it was eerily still and quiet, and quite dense line of low lying fog hugging the far side of the valley, looking like I needed to take a photo, then I realised it was smoke from a huge bonfire. OK, so I'd only just woken up
The smoke was drifting very slowly from right to left and disappearing behind a hill, which leads to the Exe estuary, I still thought it worth a photo. Within 15 minutes, the wind had done a 180 and the smoke, still very low, was going left to right, down the valley towards Pathfinder Village. It was an extremely smokey fire.
So, time to wake the OH up with her usual cocktail of tea, toast, nebuliser and meds, remove her oxygen and sit on the bedroom chair, telling her about the smokey valley. It got me talking about an experience years ago in Northern France when I was crewing for a hot air balloon and it was my turn at the retrieve. Sat on a huge ex WW2 airfield, watching 500+ balloons all heading off into the distance very slowly, followed by the retrieve crews, except for about half a dozen which included me. I sat and watched for about 45 minutes by which time mine was 3 or 4 miles away and wasn't going any further. That's because the slow, weaker morning breeze had stopped and the stronger, more prominent daily wind had taken over and was blowing everybody back, I had to laugh when eventually, the balloon I was retrieving flew right over head and landed a short distance away, so I drove over and was greeted by the pilot (who just happened to be my older brother) with "you smart a**e" or words to that effect. Next morning the same thing happened and nearly all the crews remained at the airfield.
So, there I was this morning, boring the OH to death with one of my many ballooning adventures, sadly, although I did that for some 15 years, it was before we met.
By then it was time to get her into the bathroom etc.
The dressings on the wound were a real mess this morning, so I cleaned and redressed the wound but decided to try something other than how I'd been shown, and it's not leaked all day and should go through the night too.
On Saturday, we have a mobile shop come to the village, a good chance to catch up on the local gossip, but even that was thin on the ground today, so it was a quiet day.
I did get to watch one of my favourite shows tonight, The Voice, but it seems to me its going the same way as everything else and "staged", some of the singers are so talented though.
By half way through, dinner was ready, a simple one tonight of whole tail scampi in breadcrumbs with mash, easy for the OH to eat, the potato was quite coarsely mashed which leaves some small chunks and I use a French, butter with salt grains that gives it an occasional crunch and when dished up, a couple of thin slices of brie on top, soooo tasty!
Dinner things washed up, dogs fed and a nice cappuccino, that's my day done, a little TV and a scan through one of my many photo albums ending the day.
Photo is of the smoke from the bonfire. I think someone must have complained because it was eventually put out.
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Nice to see you girls back on the diary thread. ;D
I hope you are feeling a bit brighter Caroline. I don’t watch any sport but I can understand getting involved in a game and shouting at the TV. Yes, I remember seeing The Plank many years ago. I loved it at the time. Great to have a bit of nonsense and light relief. Household maintenance repairs and getting “someone” in to repair things I find quite stressful - I hate having strangers in the house fiddling with my things. ;D
Roobarb, you said you cooked Caroline’s chicken recipe bit didn’t tell us if it was a success. ;) It’s one I fancy trying too.
As usual, a fairly uneventful Saturday for me - very hot, so sheltering indoors with the airconditioning turned on, binge watched The Drowning. Interesting story but the ending spoiled it somewhat. Still, it was worth watching. Walked the dog, but unpleasantly hot.
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Well done everyone, another day over and no-one murdered, so pretty good!!
Woke horribly early, but was rewarded by an amazingly clear sky. The living room was brightly illuminated by a crescent moon and its reflection across the water. Lots of stars/planets visible too.
Slipped out to buy bread as soon as it started getting light, and really enjoyed the quietness. I don't see anyone around at that time, except I did pass a car on a side street with the engine running and the door open.....That would have disappeared very quickly in Newport!!
Walked back through the park and via the prom. The grass was covered in frost, and I needed to watch my step. Glad I had my big coat on Roobarb! ;)
I heard oyster catchers calling as I was walking, but could'nt see where they were.
4 cruise ships at anchor in the early sunlight.
One oyster catcher very busy in the harbour, along with swans and seagulls.... don't know where the turnstones are hiding.
H watched both rugby games while I watched some Ted talks on my laptop.
Tried to watch a Montalbano later, but that always lulls me to sleep, so around ten, I gave up on my non productive day and went to bed.
Caroline, I am sure that getting back to your sewing will give you greater purpose through your days.
The photo is lovely Griff. Not surprised you thought it was mist! Ballooning tale amused me. Great memories for you.
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Good morning everybody. Will post my Saturday entry shortly.
Griff, I was intrigued by your reference to Pathfinder Village so I Googled it. Sounds like a very nice little community. From the location I guess that places you somewhere in the Six Mile Hill area between Tedburn St. Mary and Whitestone?
I'm just dead nosey.
Glyn
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Mowsehowse, good morning and thank you.
I've quite a few ballooning tales stored somewhere in the old memory. Including one about taking a boy scout for a flight from the Isle of Wight, across the Solent and landing in Southsea.
His task was to cook something to eat in an unusual place, he grilled a burger on the balloon burner while over the water. I think he got his badge. :)
Glyn, good morning.
Yes indeed, spot on.
Pathfinder village is on what used to be the A30, the main artery into the west country before the duel carriageway, I remember it well from my childhood holidays going through it in the sidecar and knowing our destination was getting close, the next landmark was Okehampton and the first building on the left was a big guesthouse called "Yer Tiz!". I knew we were in the west country when I saw that.
Griff
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Well done everyone, another day over and no-one murdered, so pretty good!!
Mowse, at one time OH and I were contemplating relocating from Sweden to somewhere in the English countryside. However after watching Midsomer Murders, Agatha Raisin, Father Brown, Shakespeare and Hathaway, Grantchester and Miss Marple we decided to abandon the idea as the risk of meeting a grisly end was far too high. On the other hand, considering the high mortality rate there must be some fantastic properties going cheap. ;D ;D ;D ;D
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The rugby score of 6-11 flatters the English side , the Scots lost 8 points through missed kicks. Superb outcome though! ;D
Skoosh.
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Talking of the A30 Griff reminds me of a holiday OH and I had with close friends in England some fifteen years ago. We'd rented a cottage in St. Keverne in Cornwall and hired a car to drive down from Heathrow. After a few nights in the Mendips we took the M5 down past Exeter and then branched off the A30 onto Dartmoor. Stopped at the Warren House Inn for lunch and then drove on. Just before Two Bridges OH says "Where's my handbag?" A thorough search of the car failed to unearth said handbag. Now both OH's and my passports plus all our holiday cash and credit cards were in the handbag. Total panic ensued. I envisaged us having to go back to the Swedish Embassy in London for emergency passports - I have dual English and Swedish nationality and travelled on my Swedish passport. Lifted OH back into the car, friends in back seat a quick three point turn and a run back to the inn which Lewis Hamilton would have been proud of avoiding sheep lying in the road. A search of area round the outdoor table where we'd sat revealed nothing so I wheeled OH into the inn and up to the bar. The barman took one look at OH, reached under the bar pulled out OH's handbag and said "I think this is your handbag madam". Someone had found it where OH had left it by the table and handed it in. The barman had checked the contents and recognised OH from her passport photo - that in itself is remarkable as we all know what passport photos look like. No information as to who had handed the bag in so we could thank them in the proper manner but all contents were intact down to the last penny. After OH and friends had a couple of stiff drinks and OH a couple of smokes to calm their nerves we resumed our journey at a now legal speed.
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Glyn, I can't imagine the panic. I throw a wobbly when I mislay my keys or wallet inside the house, let alone outside. That sick feeling in the pit of the stomach, so the thought of losing all that would see me reaching for the OH's Diazepam.
Nice to know there are some very honest people about though.
Oh and I read your last post, only one thing to say to that,
Dark, depressive, gun toting, volvo driving Wallendar!
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Griff, lovely photo, you certainly have a beautiful outlook there.
Ruskie, the chicken was a success, I think Caroline put some parsley in and I forgot about that but would ass it if I made it again. I would also have done extra tomatoes or perhaps ratatouille (from a tin!) to make the meal a bit more moist. I tend to make my own versions of things, couldn't even aspire to turn out the lovely dishes that Caroline does.
I've recorded all of the episodes of The Drowning, will watch a couple together. Can't even imagine what unpleasantly hot is like at the moment, we've got blizzards here! The very fine dry stuff so it's not laying at the moment, fingers crossed it stays that way.
MH, pleased to hear you got out and wore your big coat. :D Sonds like a beautiful peaceful walkl lovely to watch all the seabirds going about their business. Our local ones seem to be all on the nearby field lately, there was a huge flock the other day.
Glywri, I once left my handbag on the shelf under the table in a pub in the centre of York. Hadn't got far down the street before I realised, the couple who were sitting at the table looked a bit puzzles when I came hurtling in, they hadn't even noticed it. Phew!
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Another off topic post. I'm currently ploughing through all the tips on my various family trees on Ancestry. I have my late mum's partner on my tree and am helping him too. Found some interesting tips for his 4 times great grandfather so decided to check them out. One led me to a public family tree so I had a look The tree contained over seventeen thousand names including Cleopatra and Gaius Julius Caesar as well as most of the kings of England going back to William the Conqueror. Now I'm no expert on ancient history but I was always under the impression that Cleopatra and Julius Caesar were lovers and that she had his child and that Julius Caesar was assassinated in Rome in 44BC. However with the information from this family tree it seems that the history books must be rewritten as Julius Caesar was Cleopatra's half-brother and that he died in 1944 in Rome, Oneida County, New York!
It does make you wonder why on earth some people have family trees at all.
Glyn
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Glad your chicken turned out well Roobarb. I'm not very good at cooking chicken breasts and tend to overdo it, with rubbery results. I generally adapt recipes to suit as well. Something I've always found odd - they don't sell ratatouille in tins here. I found it very handy and often used it in my cheat's moussaka. :)
Added: Glyn, that all sounds correct and reasonable to me. ;D
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Glyn, there is a clever chap related to H who has the tree including half the medieval royal families of Europe.
Interesting, because l can't get beyond the 1778 bastardy bond citing a Totnes tanner!!
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Roobarb, it's the second best place I've ever lived, I can't see me ever moving from here though.
Glyn, my OH has roots back to Frankish royalty, Troy and goodness knows what through her Jocelyn line according to a tree I found, a direct link back to Sir Percival Jocelyn, Norman Knight, 1066 and all that! I used to bow to her and call her "princess" but she threatened me with banishment to the spare room.
The spare bed in there is surprisingly comfy and there's no snoring.
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Griff be careful what you wish for. Though like me I suspect that you gladly put up with things like snoring, leakages in the middle of the night etc just to be close to the one you love.
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Griff be careful what you wish for. Though like me I suspect that you gladly put up with things like snoring, leakages in the middle of the night etc just to be close to the one you love.
Absolutely, and tbh, it's during the night that things usually happen.
I've had a few early hours emergencies with high temps, low Sats, laboured breathing and delirium.
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Absolutely, and tbh, it's during the night that things usually happen.
I've had a few early hours emergencies with high temps, low Sats, laboured breathing and delirium.
And how about OH? ;D ;D ;D ;D
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Saturday was a pretty emotional day for us but more of that later. Woke up to a glorious sunny, but quite cold morning - minus 13 Celsius ( Fahrenheit). Decided for some unkmown reason on breakfast in bed. I can’t hoenstly remember when we last did that, both OH and I hate crumbs in the bed linen.
Anyway when OH called me I went upstairs detached and emptied her night bags which are attached to her ordinary day bags and after propping her up and getting her comfy in bed so she couldn’t topple over went back down prepared breakfast, boiled eggs, toast, marmalade and tea and took it up on a tray. Once we were finished with surprisingly little mess helped OH into her chair and into the bathroom. Emptied and cleaned her day bags. Normally on Saturday I’d remove them, clean the stoma and the skin round them and attach new bags. But as the bags and the area round the stoma looked OK with no leakage I decided to wait until Monday morning when I’ll clean both stoma and change the bags before taking her to hospital. Helped OH get showered and dressed and took her downstairs. Yes we live in a two storey house which makes things a bit more complicated but we’d moved in here only a year before OH’s accident where she lost her legs, arm and hand so we had the house made wheelchair accessible and have never moved.
Wrapped her up warm and took her outside as usual. The sun is now just high enough to peep over the house opposite for a few hours if we sit in the corner closest to our garage so we had coffee there. Also gives OH an excuse for staying outside longer so she can get more ”fresh air” as she calls it. After morning coffee at about half eleven I got her into the car and we drove over to our eldest daughter. Our three eldest grandchildren were there - her two and our middle daughter’s oldest and our middle daughter and partner were going to be there with our youngest grandchild to pick their daughter up so we took advantage of them all being in one place. As the weather was sunny we were able to sit outside well wrapped up as the temperature was still minus 6 Celsius.
Everything got a bit overwhelming and emotional with both daughters crying when they realised that this was the last time OH would ”see” them and the grandchildren. We all got a bit teared up including me. This will be something different to what they’ve been used to. OH became an amputee not long after our eldest was born and our two younger children were born after that so for them mum has always been an amputee and in a chair but as I said this is a completely new ball game. Anyway we had lunch and afternoon coffee there before saying goodbye and driving home before it got dark as I don’t like driving down country roads in the dark any more. Apart from anything else I don’t relish hitting any wildlife like roe deer, moose or wild boar.
Once home I made an evening meal of gratinated penne pasta, broccoli, blue cheese and diced kassler which we washed down with some white wine. Kassler is a joint of pork loin that’s cured and slightly smoked. Common enough in Germany and here but not so usual in England from what I’ve been able to find out. I guess the nearest English equivalent would be gammon.
After I’d cleared up we settled down on the couch and watched the first round of the Swedish Song for Europe competition. All done of course without a live audience and with strict social distancing between the various performers. As usual I thought most of the songs were dreadful and couldn’t understand how the winning song did just that. Maybe I’m getting old but rap isn’t my idea of Song Contest winning material. Once it was over and we’d pulled every song to shreds I helped OH outside for a last time before taking her upstairs and going through our evening routine before snuggling down in bed.
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I am truly humbled, reading the previous posts, feel incredibly grateful and full of admiration .
Thanks,really .
If I ever feel down, really down I will read them again ,give myself a kick up the ***** and get on with things grateful that I can.
Viktoria.
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Glyn that's very moving and I can definately identify with the emotions.
I was bought up not to have any as a child, except fear. But as I've got older, I find myself getting a little emotional at times. It really grabbed me when the OH was away from home for 5 month, hospital then rehab, I never missed a single day, no matter what. The OH had sessions with a psychiatrist in rehab and they thought it a good idea if I did too. The first session for me was mostly with my head in my hands, blubbing.
I think it made me a stronger person and able to deal with far more than I would have.
I like the sound of your evening meal, anything with blue cheese and I'm there!
And is it coming up to Eurovision time already?
I bet I know what score the UK will get. "nul point"
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Mowsehowse, good morning and thank you.
I've quite a few ballooning tales stored somewhere in the old memory. Including one about taking a boy scout for a flight from the Isle of Wight, across the Solent and landing in Southsea.
His task was to cook something to eat in an unusual place, he grilled a burger on the balloon burner while over the water. I think he got his badge. :)
Brilliant. What a great tale.
I have been to Brownsea Island, and saw lots of strange little fluffy chick birds running round on their surprisingly long legs, but no red squirrels at all.
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Mowsehowse, good morning and thank you.
I've quite a few ballooning tales stored somewhere in the old memory. Including one about taking a boy scout for a flight from the Isle of Wight, across the Solent and landing in Southsea.
His task was to cook something to eat in an unusual place, he grilled a burger on the balloon burner while over the water. I think he got his badge. :)
Brilliant. What a great tale.
I have been to Brownsea Island, and saw lots of strange little fluffy chick birds running round on their surprisingly long legs, but no red squirrels at all.
Good morning mowsehowse, now that's a place I'd like to go.
I didn't know there were reds on the island, perhaps they migrated to Sandbanks where all the millionaires live, richer pickings.
It really is a beautiful area there, just on the limits of my teenage wanderings.
Griff
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As I understand it the reds have survived on Brownsea and IoW because the greys haven't managed to invade, yet. You are right though, Sandbanks is THE place to be!! ;)
Visiting Osborne House on the same holiday I saw some reds that were like little balls of flame, the brightness of them almost hurt my eyes!! It was Easter time, fabulous weather for the time of year, and the squirrels were as cheeky as sparrows on the lawns near the front door. I was gibbering with joy to see them. :D
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As I understand it the reds have survived on Brownsea and IoW because the greys haven't managed to invade, yet. You are right though, Sandbanks is THE place to be!! ;)
Visiting Osborne House on the same holiday I saw some reds that were like little balls of flame, the brightness of them almost hurt my eyes!! It was Easter time, fabulous weather for the time of year, and the squirrels were as cheeky as sparrows on the lawns near the front door. I was gibbering with joy to see them. :D
I could see the Isle of Wight from my childhood home and never went there.
Greys are so destructive, one place I lived, they would ring branches, chewing the bark off and the branches would eventually rot and fall off.
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The best of it is humans still introduce non native species willy nilly imagining it is a Good Thing.
Words fail me. :'(
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The best of it is humans still introduce non native species willy nilly imagining it is a Good Thing.
Words fail me. :'(
I'm a non native species here in Devon, commonly known as "incomer" or "grockle"
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The best of it is humans still introduce non native species willy nilly imagining it is a Good Thing.
Words fail me. :'(
I'm a non native species here in Devon, commonly known as "incomer" or "grockle"
Me too, but hopefully I don't cause equivalent damage that e.g. grey squirrels do. :D
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The best of it is humans still introduce non native species willy nilly imagining it is a Good Thing.
Words fail me. :'(
I'm a non native species here in Devon, commonly known as "incomer" or "grockle"
Me too, but hopefully I don't cause equivalent damage that e.g. grey squirrels do. :D
One place I lived that had woodland attached was plagued by them, they did so much damage, so I made a humane trap, every one I caught, I'd take and let go where I was working.
One day I was talking to the local farmer who was bemused by the amount of squirrels that year, well, I'd released about 20 around his land
Ooops!
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The best of it is humans still introduce non native species willy nilly imagining it is a Good Thing.
Words fail me. :'(
I'm a non native species here in Devon, commonly known as "incomer" or "grockle"
Me too, but hopefully I don't cause equivalent damage that e.g. grey squirrels do. :D
We have grey and black squirrels here (Same species, come in two shades) but no red squirrels. Must be our greys are different, they are not known to do damage. They are everywhere. What do the grey squirrels get up to in the UK?
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Greys carry a pox which kills red squirrels but not the greys. Fortunately pine martins are moving south from Scotland via introductions. Reds can cope with pine martins as they have a long history. Greys are heavier than reds so slow & delicious! ;D
Skoosh.
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Thanks Skoosh.
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Daughter just told me black squirrels are a somewhat rare mutation of the grey, and they are very numerous in Ontario. Also there are red squirrels in Quebec, very small with no ear tufts. Lived there for 30 years but don’t remember...guess I didn’t pay much attention to squirrels when I was young!
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Rare mutation may be so in Canada Diana, dont know, but there is a European black squirrel. I glimpsed one in the Tiergarten Park in Berlin and was thrilled to have seen it. :D
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We saw black squirrels when staying up in Weardale... along with reds... beautiful creatures...
Sadly the garden here just has the grey variety who make lots of holes in the lawn when burying walnuts from our neighbours tree...
Caroline
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Rare mutation may be so in Canada Diana, dont know, but there is a European black squirrel. I glimpsed one in the Tiergarten Park in Berlin and was thrilled to have seen it. :D
It looks like the mutation of the northern North American squirrel might be due to the black fur being slightly warmer, but scientists don’t really know. The Great Lakes Basin of southern Ontario and neighbouring Michigan has the highest rate, so don’t know if cold weather is the only reason. The grey ones have quite a variety of colours really, from reddish or beige tails, white tummies, and grey or beige coats. On the other hand, all the chipmunks look the same!
Haven’t done a squirrel count lately :D but looks like a 50/50 split in my backyard.
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Daughter phoned early today, as she is sitting with the horse!
He is calmer when she is there.She saw Flash Harry today,well she was outside he inside the grumbelow where he lives,l
She asked had he been good ,and had he done his work for school with
Daddy ?
He went inside and brought out the chart that has to be filled in each day,to show they have done the work, brought it to the window and held it up.
The little monkey had himself filled it in for today, having put crosses in the answer squares!It has to be photographed and sent to school.
He really has switched off ,what a pity ,he was so keen at school, but one to one is very intense.
Had he been born three months later than he was he would not be in school
yet.
At least he did not cheat and put ticks.
Went for a big walk with Daddy, and I had suggested some things to do ,last week.
So today they were going to throw stones in a wide stream, so were collecting stones and when one had been thrown in ,they would count them again and incidentally he would see the decreasing amount.He can count a long way.
No paper or pencils involved so informal ,like play to him.
They do a lot of that,always baking and weighing .
They have a chart with pictures of ingredients on it ,with the words underneath ,so Mum or Dad will say ,showing a word,” I need some of this “.
FH matches and can say “ flour!”
Hope all are as well as can be expected , a sprinkling of snow today, very cold when I went for my walk, went up the main road where there is another way to get to the Cemetery ,but there is a bus stop on the way and there was a group of about six people waiting , no two metre distances!.
The pavement is narrow and there really was nowhere for them to go and I was not stepping into the road so turned about and went another way.
A neighbour has just had new windows ,really good frames with glass, in the skip, what lovely cold frames they would make!
Guess which neighbour,yes he of the uncontrollable temper ,proud owner of the dipped pavement!
Shame ,I could use some but no matter.
Bright sunshine today.
I expect it will freeze tonight.
Keep safe everyone.
Viktoria.