General Chat

Oh yes - bother!
Can't even look anything up. Maintenance going on until 7.00am tomorrow.

A cloudy day here, with intermittent rain and a few short sightings of the sun. Not a day for gardening - everything's wet and midgy.
In any case, I have to be near the phone, as my GP is going to phone this afternoon with results of tests on blood and urine samples from my routine annual review appointment last week.
Fingers crossed everything's OK!

I just went on the GRO to download something online and it says, maintenance going on and so you cant order anything grrr.

Better go and vacuum or dust as cant seem to get anywhere on here today!

Hi to everyone.
Florence we have sunshine, at long last after several, very dismal, damp & misty days we have a really nice day, I have been outside & done some errdkilling here & there through the gravelled areas.

I have Roses in bud,& the 4 new Clematus are coming on a treat, I have tied the stems on to the canes & after that they are free to climb & scranble anywhere they like, they are up against a long stone wall, about 25 foot long & about 3 to 4 foot high, so plenty of space to go whereever they want.

I can see the wall from the living room window so when the flowers appear it should give a nice show.

I haven't been able to continue to cut down the rest of the Rugosa hedging,I think there are birds in what's left so I am leaving it for the time being, the half that I did manage to cut back has put on some new growth, I'm ok with that but i don't want it to get back to the height it used to be, once I can tackle the rest of it I will just make sure I can keep it at a more managable height.

All the best to everyone.

Joan.

Exactly. I shall ring them 1st thing tomorrow. I shall say, i dont live in England, I live in another country lol Now get this account blooming closed pronto lol

Keep your account open. I don’t like the sound of that - what if the new owners don’t register a new account?

Afternoon.
Raining and foggy here...what's new!

Just been busy with usual chores and a huge basket of ironing but all done now and i'm sitting resting my legs.

At least I don't have to water all the plants later.

I emailed the estate Agents first thing and now realised they are probably closed as BH grrr. I'm sure they will contact me tomorrow.

Br Gas sent me an email confirming the balance is at zero and said they would keep my account open in case I need them in the future after I asked them to close it!! So another tel call to deal with tomorrow and so it goes on and on.

What's everyone up to today and anyone got the sun please?

Florence in the hebrides

What a nerve!
It should have been passed on.
Anyway, if they were that concerned they should had the gas checked themselves.

When late BIL’s house was sold OH passsed on the number of the key safe to the estate agents. 3 weeks later same agents were asking for the number. :-|

Afternoon all.

Well for now its bright and sunny but with a keen chilly wind. However its good for drying so the washing is heavily pegged on the line.

I have just spent the best part of an hour trying to pack some gifts in a box for my cousin's 60th birthday but he lives in Sydney Australia. I couldn't find a box of the right size so had to cut up a larger box and mend and make do as they say.

Finally padded with bubble wrap and extra cardboard for support and then wrapped in a heavy duty bin bag, its now ready for posting. I printed out the address labels , mine and his and stuck them on the front.

Written a list of the contents for the PO so there's no confusion like the last time!!

I'm guessing as it weighs 3.5kg, it will be pricey but we only do gifts for special birthdays.

Had a bit of a situation at my brother's house this morning. He was out with the wee one but SIL was at home. Knock at the door and 2 European people were on the doorstep, the new owners of mums flat! they demanded to get a copy of the Gas safety cert done back in Dec which both sols and Estate Agents had. SIl told them to contact their sol and that they cannot just turn up at their house anytime they have a problem.

She messaged me and I have an email with the cert attached to send first thing tom morning to the Estate Agents asking them to contact the buyers and invite them in for a chat. I've asked them to explain that they cannot turn up for anything else to my brothers house and instead should contact their sol if there is a problem.

Lucky my brother was out as he would have hit the roof and sent them packing but SIL was calmer about it. What next?// They couldn't come to me as I'm too far away!

Joan, good to see you posting. Yep we have had so much fog here too, so depressing and for me being asthmatic, its not good when its damp weather.

When i make a curry, I buy chicken breasts(frozen) and cook them, adding onions, peppers, mushrooms etc plus the sauce. Even if the sauce has veg, I always add extra. I'm thinking now, mmmn curry would be good tonight lol Thanks Joan for putting that idea in me head.

Hope the sunshine and warmer weather returns soon so we can all get outside and feel the benefit of it.

Florence in the hebrides

Good Morning, though there's nothing good about it.
It's very drab, again, it's misty again at the moment & really dim so much so I have had to put the living room light on., not for the first time these past few days I have had to have it on.

Because of the dismal weather I haven't been able to get into the garden for several days, it's not cold but I need "day light" to work outside safely & I really don't want to be outsdie when the air is damp with mist .
I haven't been able to finish painting the potting shed which is annoying.

re handbags, I use a handbag but it's by no means a large one, just need it to hold my purse, some tissues, my house keys & a spare fold away shopping bag,
I don't have a mobile phone, I don't drive & don't use make-up so I don't require a big.bag.

I have settled on having a curry for tea today, just a shop bought one but I have some extra chicken to add to it, the one I buy is a nice mild one & I like it but there's not enough chicken in it, lol.

Well I best get on with some household tasks, I'm not really in te mood for HW but I need to show willing.

Joan.

We do carry so much stuff don’t we? Being usually on my own out and about I have devised a few ways of carrying stuff. I have a couple of large cross body bags, about 12 inches across and maybe 8 inches deep without measuring. They are made of fabric that is sort of plasticised so the bag alone is not heavy. It has two large zipped compartments one with a. Inner zip pocket. Then one zipped pocket on the outside on one side of the bag and another on the other side and also a Velcro Ed flap pocket. As long as I stick to the same compartments for things it is fine. I do have smaller smart cross body bags as well. But, in the winter months I have a coat that I wear that has a zipped pocket each side at the top front. One will just about take me phone and one my purse with bus pass. In the summer months I wear cargo trousers and phone and purse go in the lower leg pockets.
On holiday I have a very useful bum bag that takes, camera, phone and purse.

I've had one of those healthy bags for at least 15 years, bought from the American company L L Bean. It's large, black leather, and has several pockets. I bought it because 2 close friends said how good they were.

But we all found that there were problems with them. Mine is too large, and I've only used it a couple of times because it just was not really comfortable or convenient to use. It's just hanging in the closet waiting for something to happen!

My friend Pat relegated hers to using only when they went on trips. It was medium size, and she would wear it across her front so that tickets, boarding passes, passports, etc were all handy and safe.

Janet just gave up on hers after a couple of years!

I've found that the combination of a very small or small crossbody bag combined with a day time back pack that can be used as a handbag-substitute is the best for me.

Money, cards etc go in the cross-body, and the back pack is just about large enough to carry a book, phone, water bottle, and other extras.

I have several larger cross-body bags that I also use.

We're in a spell of cooler weather here, temps down around 12C daytime and 9 or 10 at night!

Florence, I noticed! Yes 20 packs for £7.99 is very good, 40 pence a pack instead of £2 each or thereabouts.

Well each to their own.
I am very happy with my ergonomically designed bags , they have served me well over the years and I don’t suffer from the pain in my shoulder which I do when I use an ordinary bag, so to me they are worth it.

After a lovely morning, it became cloudy and much colder this afternoon. While it was nice, I changed the two hanging baskets on the front of the house from the ones with pansies in, to the summer ones which I have had in the greenhouse. There are two large tubs in the front and two chimney pots with plants in the top of them. They still need changing to summer bedding, but the pansies in them are still fine at the moment. I have also put three haybtrough type baskets on the garage wall in the back garden. They look nice and break up the expanse of brick

I’ve had a look too. Much too big or much too small And very expensive.
When I use it I find a rucksack takes the weight a Ross the back and shoulders whereas that doesn’t look so evenly spread.
Weren’t they first designed because kids always carry their back packs on one shoulder?

Thanks, Linda. Interesting!

However, I think I would need one smaller than the "small", but bigger than the "baglet".
My present ordinary cross body bag is 27 x 27 cms, and is just the right size for day-to-day use.

They are quite flat AG. A lot of the photos are of the large bags which you could use for all your clothes for a weekend away. I have the small size which is still quite large. My iPad fits in it no problem at all and zips up. I usually wear it on my front, but not right on the front as they show in the photos. I have it more on the side, under my arm , but the main body is to the front, that way no one can get into it when I am in a crowded place.
I do have some smaller more traditional handbags for special occasions, but I find them annoying to wear.

Hmmm I just had a look at those bags but def not for me!

A big tote bag style handbag for me. You have to remember I carry my life in my bag lol. I keep a mini first aid, safety pins and all sorts of things for the "just in case."

When i do get to go food shopping, the handles fit on the hook infront of me on the trolley, perfect.

Well its still a grey overcast day and I haven't done much this afternoon. On my own until 8.30 tonight so its been a very quiet day and not seen a soul except for the Tesco chappie this morning..

If you are looking in Joan, hope you are keeping ok and managing out into your lovely garden..

Looking at the Healthy Back bags online, Linda - when you wear them, do they jut out as far as it appears in photos, or do they lie flatter against your back if you don't have much in them?

I’ve never liked the fad of having one’s handbag as a backpack for exactly that reason.

If I use a rucksack on holiday I use a smaller purse which is in a smaller inner pocket that even I have problems with.

Must take a look at those Healthy back packs.

Some years ago i had a friend who had a sort of rucksack that she used instead of a handbag. It was on her back. One day she was shopping in sainsburys and unbeknown to her, someone unzipped the bag, put their hand in and stole her purse which not only contained money but all her cards as well.

When she told me what happened, I said why didn't you put your bag on the handle of the trolley so you could see it infront of you??? She was totally unaware until she got tot he checkout and realised her purse wasnt in her bag anymore and had to leave her shopping behind!

Have to say, i wouldn't use this type of bag at all. I'm probably very traditional as my grandmother always had a handbag with 2 handles and carried it on her arm. All of my bags are the same, lost count i have several lol

Well Tesco came and all present with no subs so that was great.

i cleaned out the salad drawer and rearranged the freezer as it seemed to be very crowded but that's because daughter chucks it all in whereas i sort it all and organise it a lot better. She's away all day so these wee jobs have kept me busy.

It didn't rain, but there's a chilly wind blowing now so i'm not going for a walk. My hands are very cold today.

i have just ordered a 6 drawer chest of drawers for my bedroom to store all the craft things. Its a flat pack but not difficult so when that arrives end of next week, i shall be busy then. Its a narrow tall chest but with plenty of room in each drawer for things.

Good to see you posting Sylvia and keep safe from the fires.
I just found 20 packets of veggie seeds for £7.99 and think this is a good buy, isnt it? beetroot, carrots, broccoli, peas, lettuce etc.

Well coffee time me thinks so have a good afternoon all.