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Topics - Caw1

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19
The Stay Safe Board / Diary - Wednesday 13th January
« on: Wednesday 13 January 21 23:14 GMT (UK)  »
They say the 13th is an unlucky number for some ... my Son was born on 13th so for both him and us it was a wonderful day....
Sadly there are those that this date is not so fortunate... a little riddle that some will know what I’m talking about...

My day
I didn’t read for long last night as I’d had to set the alarm.... something not done for some time... it woke me with a start.... I first thought it was my son sending more pictures of his pool room build... but no it meant I had to get up and go and wake OH too!... why you may ask... it was the day for our annual boiler service...
I decided to shower and wash my hair before breakfast and Daniel arrived as I’d just finished making my breakfast...
Everything had been opened removed etc so he had to touch the minimum of places... I didn’t see him or speak to him just left OH to do that...we were hoping he could fix the tap in our kitchen sink too but sadly not...
All done and dusted in about 40 minutes and about £60 lighter... good money but worth it and he’s a lovely chap... in fact he was a pupil at OH’s school many moons ago...
Wiped down and cleaned everything he would have touched and as most of the stuff was out of the cupboard under the sink I gave that a good clean and sort out.. I could start my own shop selling rubber gloves and dish cloths.... don’t think I’ll be needing any for a year at least 😂😂..
Having put all the washing away I did yesterday I looked at the pike of ironing and it was reaching a massive pile... my next job.. whilst ironing I phoned my friend in Cirencester ... we had a good natter whilst I did the ironing .... it took me until lunchtime to finish!
After lunch I spoke to the greengrocers and they’re able to deliver for free so no need to go out...
Quickly re read the last few pages of the book we would be talking about and then logged onto zoom... nice to see friends ... first twenty minutes we just caught up.. three friends all had had family who’d either had covid or positive tests since we last spoke ... interesting that two sets are hospital doctors... thankfully all fine now and symptoms not too severe..
We all came to the same conclusion that it wasn’t Sue Townsends finest work... in fact her life history was far more interesting! Despite the fact it was written in 2006 you would have thought it was written recently as she’d got the Royal  family to a T... our next book is Jamaica Inn... can’t remember how long ago it was I read that!
Once we’d finished OH and I played scrabble... I beat him soundly... got all the best high scoring letters 😀 so I’m now one ahead...
Dinner was marinaded lamb chump chops cooked in the oven with mushrooms, onions, sweet pots and butternut squash cubes served with mash, cabbage and gravy...
Watched the new Landscape Artist.... won’t comment in case others not seen it yet...
Now off to bed for a read...
Hope others days have been better.... weather has been wet all day and lights on at 3pm!
High numbers again today... hope they start going down soon...
Good luck to Viktoria for tomorrow as I think she’s having her first vaccination...

Caroline

20
The Stay Safe Board / Diary > Monday 28th December
« on: Tuesday 29 December 20 09:05 GMT (UK)  »
Is this situation were all in just wearing us all down?
Are we fed up with our daily grind?
Can we see an end to it all?

Probably, like me, you feel the answers to those questions is No not at the moment...

Another day has passed and there was nothing significant that happened...
The weather was dull, cold and cloudy... it’s hard to be positive at times and I didn’t feel in a positive mood yesterday as it now is....
Usual activities of nothing... hard to feel motivated to do much at all...
usual cooking....
some reading..
Another game of scrabble....
OH finished his jigsaw... if I’d thought back to this time last year that my active husband would have resorted to doing jigsaws I’d have laughed!
Oh well that’s the sum total of a day...
Sorry not to be positive and unbeat but just don’t feel like it...
I should because people like Viktoria, Roobarb, River Tyne Lass and others who all live on their own are having a much harder time than I am and seem to be getting on with it.... so I’m sorry for sounding miserable .....
I can’t write anymore today it’s too depressing..
Wishing the best to all my virtual friends, your posts have been so comforting to read ....
Caroline

21
The Stay Safe Board / Diary - Thursday 17th December
« on: Thursday 17 December 20 23:24 GMT (UK)  »
I’m making an early start tonight due to lack of sleep last night and quite tired!

Took me ages to get to sleep finally about 2 ish I think and got woken by a loud thud... could have been at bird flying into the window... it was 6am! Couldn’t get back to sleep so typed two letters to cousins and added some photos...Today was another sunny day, OH was playing golf today so I had the house to myself... what shall I do such excitement... well I couldn’t go out for walk as having, for the first time, booked a parcel collection from Royal Mail for today... our postman could come any time...
I decided to give the house a good clean... out came my trusty vacuum and all my cleaning gear... I’d promised a friend I’d call her at 11am and we had a lovely chat whilst I did all my ironing! We have similar likes so it was great to have a long chat... after we’d finished our call I had some lunch and then did some paperwork, paid some bills etc... I noticed a friend had tried to WhatsApp video call me and I’d missed her so I gave her a call back... we had a good natter... so nice to see one another even via video as we’ve only seen one another once since March!
Continued cleaning upstairs after finishing our call and was knee deep in shower cleaning when my daughter FaceTimed me... so I chatted to her whilst I finished... we’re trying to sort out meeting outside halfway somewhere on 23rd or 24th to exchange presents...
OH back from golf... looking quite tired and very stiff... no motorised trolleys allowed as ground to wet and pulling one is quite hard and he’s at all the wrong angles...
Post man arrived late afternoon and took my parcel... I said I liked the idea of not having to go to the PO to do it... he joked and said don’t make it a regular habit of It though... cheeky chap...
Still had more paperwork to finish doing... don’t know where it all comes from! There’s me thinking the internet would reduce it!
We had chicken casserole and vegs for dinner...
Watched film about Steve Jobbs... never realised what an egocentric man he was not giving credit where it was due for sure...
Retired to bed early as not much sleep last night...

Hope it’s been a sunny day for others.... we know it has for Carol in NZ as she’d told us yesterday!
More local towns been moved into tier 3... glad we live where we do ...
Take care all and stay safe...
My friends mother aged 92 had her vaccine jab today... my friend  got quite emotional about it... such a relief for them... second one early January...

Caroline

22
The Stay Safe Board / Diary - Monday 14th December
« on: Tuesday 15 December 20 00:02 GMT (UK)  »
Well here we are again another week starts.... what’s changed... well quite a bit really... more places now in tier three... covid seems to have a new strain... is everyone wondering more about what’s going to happen over the five days of mayhem..oh sorry Christmas....

Today was sunny when I got up, put some washing in the machine...
After breakfast I did some cooking and cleared up the kitchen...
Messaged Son as seen in news Eastern coast of Oz getting a bettering... he said it’s rained for a week... more to come... they’d had 60mm in two days and tge Gold Coast has had 600mm! 😱😱it’s put paid to his building of their pool house at the moment!
Hung out the washing... I hadn’t been inside more than five minutes when the heavens opened and boy did it pour... the rain was bouncing off the garden table...well I might just as well have hung the washing out without putting it in the machine at all... it was drenched... brought it back in once it stopped and respun it... no point going out again as there was more rain... once again lights on inside...
OH decided to get the tree up and decorated... I helped him with the lights then left him to it.... I did all the rest of the bits whilst listening to him muttering about going over the top do we need all the stuff out... well yes we do... it’s only us but we need some cheering up... for the first time in a while we had the CD player on and listened to some music while we decorated... first up was Caroline Dale, cello player wonder music... brought us both to tears... what a pair of daft idiots!
We’d been to Malmsbury Abbey in 2016 to see her perform live it was an exceptional night... lots of fuss getting in, checked and re checked, all had to be in by certain time no stragglers.... then we realised why... HRH Prince Charles was attending... he only lives up the road of course... never realised how short he was... brought back happy memories... next up was Katie Mellua then finally James Blunt... we did enjoy listening... don’t know why we don’t do it more often.. well all decorating done.. message from daughter to say their in tier 3... she’s thoroughly fed up .... we are too and not being able to see them isn’t helping... miss the boys... next thing we get two videos of them saying hello to us... we sent one back!
Dinner was rest of the lamb joint sliced in gravy with mushrooms and onions and sliced pots on top in the oven... mixture of vegs... and a glass of wine as we’d felt sad today...
OH went to do more of new jigsaw and I read... book all about Dickens, interesting....
Caught up with University Challenge ... right team won tonight, and we answered quite a lot of the questions!
Enough of today... retired to read after writing this post...

Hope others day has been better...

23
The Stay Safe Board / Diary Sunday 13th December
« on: Monday 14 December 20 00:01 GMT (UK)  »
Starting earlier tonight....

Well there’s only another 8 days before it starts to get lighter which is a good job because we had to have the lights on in what ever room we were in all day today...rain, rain and more rain... I wish it would go away... are we paying for all that glorious sunshine and blue skies we had because it certainly feels like it....
Needless to say OH decided early on that it wasn’t a golfing day!
Read the papers and did the crossword... it’s Sunday a day of rest.... bit like every other day really!
Had a shower then prepared to go and pick up c n c from Asda... I’d downloaded their app as requested and when we got there clicked on ‘I’m here’ on the email sent.... nothing, it couldn’t register me! Great... found the short click & collect queue... when I mentioned it to the chap taking my name he said ‘ nah it don’t work!’... anyway items brought out in the car and back home!
Had lunch... OH busy watching snooker... went to do a card for friends 70th birthday another one that’s not going to have any celebrations.. 🥲 made a Christmas card for my daughter and SiL that’s it all finished now tomorrow clear all Christmas stuff away...
I’d sent e-cards to various people abroad and had a nice reply from my cousin in Oz... not seen his family who live in Melbourne. He and wife ok though... live just south of my Son... said his business was up 30% this year which is good news as he works for himself too.... lovely to hear from him... we met some years ago when he saw a picture I’d put on my family tree of our 2x gt grandparents same one he’d got! From then on we collaborated and he wrote up our family history on the Swiss side... employed a researcher in Switzerland who turned out to be related to us! We’ve met up several times over the years the last being when we’re in Oz last year along with another cousin whose family had owned land in about half of Brisbane in the 1800’s...
I digress... had a game of scrabble got beaten again... down by four games now 😤😤  I blame the fact I was trying to prep dinner!
Roast lamb with normal trimmings, lovely joint...
Watched tv... nasty little film Cape Fear with Nick Nolte and Robert de Nero then a Chateau episode...
Enough of today it’s still raining!

Hope everyone else has had a more worth while day...

Caroline

24
The Stay Safe Board / Diary - Friday 11th December
« on: Saturday 12 December 20 00:59 GMT (UK)  »
Looks like I’m first up....

Once again on opening the blind instead of a sunny day it was raining....read for a while then had breakfast...
Did some tidying up ... we were going to get the tree and decorations out if the loft .... but neither of us felt much like doing it... manyana .... we’ve always had a real tree love the smell of them... it was OH and the children who would go off to a local place so they could pick the one they liked, chap would cut it down and so it was brought home... it usually had to be shaped so it looked symmetrical.... then decorated... they’d take it in turns each year to put the fairy in the top... aren’t traditions wonderful.... now our daughter does the same with her boys!
Our WI president turned up on the doorstep with hampers for the over 70’s or my OH! When I was on the committee we’d all gather at someone’s home and make them all up and then go out in twos to deliver... such a joyous experience... times move on so contents have too... This year it was a bottle of wine, cheese biscuits, truckle cheese, relish a bottle of Cold pressed rapeseed oil  ( actually made in the village by local farmer and sold widely in some of the best establishments!) and a box of chocolates.
Having bought two boxes of my friends home made chocs the other day I thought I’d take some out of each box as there were three of each flavour so ended up with eight, I made a nice Christmasy box used the plastic container that some mini mince pies had come in to put chocs in and all ready to send to my friend who works at Gatwick.... last year I sent her a little mini tree but thought she might like something edible this time... going to make some biscuits too for her...
Had lunch...
Thought I’d make a start on the boys Christmas cards... I knew what I wanted to do took me the rest of the afternoon to do one but now I’ve figured it out next one will be quicker... it’s a stocking, I’ve attached some little led battery operated lights onto the back and punched holes in the front to thread them through... made concertina side attached a piece of clear Perspex type stuff with a backing to it leaving the top open and I’ll put some chocolate money in attached to a felt reindeer with a pull cord so they can get the chocs out... pleased with how it’s come out and at least when T says to me ‘well what does it do Grandma?’ I can tell him it lights up and has chocs in it!
Got dinner ready a gammon baked in the oven with cider and slices of orange and onions. Which we’ll have with mash, red cabbage mixed with spices and apple.
Had a game of scrabble.... tables turned today I got soundly beaten! So back to three down again!😤😤
Watched last episodes of The Crown and then an additional programme about Diana...
Never really brightened up all day... pretty dreary really... now instead of talking about covid on tv we’re being subjected to brexit again!

Hope everyone else is ok...
Caroline

25
The Stay Safe Board / Diary - Wednesday 2nd December
« on: Thursday 03 December 20 08:04 GMT (UK)  »
Looks like everyone was too tired to start yesterday’s diary! So here goes....

Another dull grey day.... it was soon brightened up with the good news that the Pfizer / BioNtech vaccine has got its approval and they will be starting next week to roll it out.... certainly a moment to cheer about... watched the briefing with the Regulator and other scientists..... felt quite uplifted by the news although in reality it’s still going to be some months before it filters down to us...
We now had a dilemma... our friends up the lane have a bonfire and fireworks do every year had to postpone it because of lockdown have invited us up on Saturday... along with other friends.... the bonfire is in the field behind their garden....they’ve also invited four members of their family... along with us other friends in total it makes 12! Six in the garden and six in the field... not comfortable with that although we’d all be separate..... spoke to other friends and they’re not to keen either but thought they wouldn’t be able to go anyway... so difficult... don’t want to offend, they’re very good friends but.... in the  end we both decided to say we were sorry but couldn’t feel happy about it so this year we’d say no and look forward to next year... we had already arranged a zoom get together with other friends that night .... hate being put in awkward positions like that... they’re such generous people and lend a helping hand whenever it’s needed...
decided to clean the upstairs of the house to keep busy take my mind off it....
After lunch our window cleaner arrived... rather him than me as it was extremely cold outside ..... last time we’ll see him before Christmas so gave him some extra money and a nice bottle of wine...
Thought I’d carry on with card making.... blow me down the next time I looked out if the window it was raining.... it would be really nice to have at least one day after the windows have been done for it to be dry!..
Dinner was turkey bake.... with green vegs... nice one pot dish... turkey with mushrooms, spring onions, garlic, pine nuts, apricots chopped up shredded basil leaves... then a cheese sauce ... I use creme fraiche and little milk poured over then breadcrumbs... home made ones from end of bread... mixed with parsley sprinkled over meat mixture and baked in the oven till slightly crispy top...
Finally got to phone friend re fireworks to explain... she was fine with it... but left me feeling awful... still do...
Watched tv...
After a euphoric start to the day went to bed feeling dejected and hoping we’d not offended our friends....

Hope others had a better one!
Caroline

26
The Stay Safe Board / Diary - Friday 27th November
« on: Saturday 28 November 20 00:06 GMT (UK)  »
Well by this time next month all the moving and shaking will be done and dusted and everyone whose chosen to travel to visit family for Christmas will be safely back home to carry on in whatever tier were in by then.... so much speculation, endless talk, more confusion, daft questions being asked that the BBC feel they need to ask ‘the expert’ of the day ...

Today was a pleasant sunny day... put my dressing gown on as intention was to have a shower after breakfast.... best laid plans and all that...
For some reason OH was twittering on about checking the chimney was ok to have a fire.... we burn logs in an open fire when it’s cold gives that nice warm cosy feel...
excuse me it’s the morning it’s not cold and I don’t think we’ll need a fire...
ok I’ll hold the burning piece of wood up the chimney while you dash outside to see if there’s any smoke coming out .... 😩😩
There I am kneeling on the lounge carpet in my dressingown holding a piece of burning wood... and thinking are you actually going to see any smoke in a bright blue sky.... I always thought he was an intelligent man... not sure now...
Anyway after it’s gone out for the third time he decides to light the fire that’s always prepared in the grate and just let it burn.... realising afterwards that we’ll actually that’s the chimney with the cowl on it anyway so no birds will have got down it 😤😤 really some people...
In the end I get dressed and we go for a four mile walk over the fields... the one we used to do during first lockdown... it was a really still late morning by then and it was a joy to be out in the sunshine and fresh air...
By the time we returned it was a late lunch....
Continued doing some sewing...
Finally showered and then we had a late dinner toad in the hole... very nice but filling ... now I know why I’ve not cooked it for years... unlikely to do so again ...
Watched tv and retired to read...
oh Roobarb the book I’m reading may actually be one you suggested All that Remains : A life in Death by Sue Black...morbid subject but utterly fascinating...

That’s it for today... hope others have had a good day...

Caroline

27
The Stay Safe Board / Diary - Wednesday 25th November
« on: Wednesday 25 November 20 23:53 GMT (UK)  »
Well folks this date in a months time and all the Christmas spirit will either be going completely bonkers.... fallen around our ears..or we’ll just be relaxing in our own homes....

Today was a dull dreary day, no frost and seemed mild...
After breakfast I went to collect my stuff from hobby craft... just turn up big screen at the partially open door give your name they hand your goods off you go... there wasn’t much traffic around but then it was a miserable day...
More messaging with my daughter trying to decide what to do over Christmas... all depends on so many things... we said we’d consider going down...
there and back in the day.... but just thinking at the moment!
Fur fabric arrived so got on with the stockings... managed to cut another seven out from other fabrics so now got the 50 needed...
watched the news whilst having lunch... I don’t know why I put myself through it I’m going to have to stop as it makes me feel very anxious... can cope with listening to the radio as I don’t take as much notice when it’s just a voice ...
Having suggested to my daughter she could buy OH a weather station as ours hasn’t worked for some time... hasn’t given outside temp.. he thought the outside sensor had had it despite changing batteries... he proudly comes to say it’s now working as he’d just realised that he’d never changed the batteries in the actual monitor... had to hurriedly send daughter a message to say if she’d not bought one yet don’t..... once we’re certain this one is actually working we won’t need another... fortunately she hadn’t got round to it yet... on her to do list!
It was a wet miserable day and needed the lights on pretty much all day...
I did a one dish roasted chicken thighs, pots and vegs for dinner...
Watched an interesting programme about Amazon... leant a few things I didn’t know like don’t just click on the ‘Buy Now’ box... check other options written usually in blue like buy new etc as sometimes cheaper.. or click on ‘put in basket’..   .. crafty they are for sure...
a pretty uninspiring day all in all...
Hope others have been better...
Caroline

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