General Chat

Good morning all.

It is dull and damp here today not a day for hanging washing out that's for sure.

The council gardeners have been out cutting back the shrubs across the road from our house, the noise the cutters make set my teeth on edge. lol.

Florence I hope you feel better soon.

Joan I bet you will be glad when the leaves have finished falling, hard work sweeping them up isn't it?

Hope everyone has a pleasant day.

Good afternoon all.
Well still coughing but feeling a little better so decided to make my summer berry jam.
Its gone well and made 6 jars so i am very happy.

I let it cool and just now decided to have some toast and the jam and it was delicious. I shall give my neighbour a jar and my friend up the road plus one for another lady and then keep the rest for ourselves.

As Im home alone until next Tuesday, i have just pottered about starting one job and then starting another. I do this just to keep me from getting bored. Half the xmas cards are done but needed a break from that.

i ordered a scrabble 2007 game off the internet & it arrived today so going to try that out in a bit.

Oh Joan yes you will be glad once all the leaves are down. Its rainy and windy here today and quite chilly too but i agree it gets you outside for exercise and fresh air.

Got the better quality pastry now so may make mince pies again tomorrow and see how they go.

Ginnie, if i hung out my washing, it would probably land up in Iceland lol(not the shop hehe)

Stay safe all

Florence in the hebrides

Good evening peeps
Well shock of shocks...loud noise on my kitchen door so i put the outside light on to see....blooming large hailstones battering down brrrr. Hope it goes away else im in for a sleepless night!

Joan. all you need for jam is one pound of sugar per one pound of fruit and 3 lemons.
No need for special sugar etc just a lot of patience. I only use stork but the tub not the block as its easier to cream with sugar...

I made a grave error with my large shop on Saturday! I completely forgot to buy laundry liquid & softener. Thought i had 2 bottles under the sink but it would appear I have used them.

I have enough liquid for about 2 washes but no softener so asked my friend up the village if shes going to town fri/sat to get me some.Im very cross as normally my stocktake of the cupboards is done often but hey ho thats how it is today.

Poor you & the leaves Joan
Enjoy the rest of the evening

Florence in the hebrides

Morning everyone.
Joan re the jars, i havr been saving all my sliced beetroot jars as well as the odd marmalde ones. I also had some local chutney in small jars, Im saving them for the next time.
Had more sad news, a step great aunt who i grew up with sadly passed away. She apparently had a small stroke, went to hospital caught covid and died.She was so healthy up til then and used to ride her bike 2 miles to the village shop and she was 90!!
We had more hailstones last night and a heavy shower earlier. They are forecasting snow i think end of the month...its cold enough brrrr.

Ordered 2 beanie hats for my grown up children but they had a bright led light at the front of the hat. You charge it from a USB. It will be good when they are walking in the dark from the bus stop and its very bright. A really useful gift.

Was thinking about a baked fish tonight with peas and a few new pots so better take the fillet out of the freezer for later.

Can I have some of you energy Joan please
Have a good day all. :-)

Florence in the hebrides

Good afternoon folks. We have just had the most horrendous shower like a power shower on full blast!!

So glad I managed earlier to go outside with the kitchen bin rubbish as otherwise would not have got rid of it. The wind is howling too and the sky now is getting very black.
I decided to polish and dust all the shelves and bookcases and now feel everything is sparkling again. Not feeling very hungry at all so no idea what i shall make for tea tonight, something light anyway.

I had to laugh just now as the neighbour has returned after not seeing him for 2 weeks(he works away !)he was washing his car and then opened all the doors and went inside. Suddenly saw him run outside when the shower came, slammed all the doors and ran inside. Why would you want to wash the car on a day like this beats me!!

Might do a bit of family tree research later as not looked at some for awhile now. so may find something new hopefully.
Have a good weekend all and stay safe.

Florence in the hebrides

Oh Joan, the jam sounds great. Dont know why people think its complicated really. As long as it boils, simmers and passes the crinkle test its ready. Hope you enjoy some once its cool.

I really have not much energy today, the dusting was enough. Im attempting a jigsaw puzzle i bought daughter for her birthday. Its 500 pieces that are a double sided picture of a fish supper. Really difficult but keeping me brain working lol.

Enjoy your evening

Florence in the hebrides

Just seen a weather warning for my corner of the world for this Friday! 74 mph NW winds. Thats freezing and stormy brrr and possibility of snow too.

So plenty of warning to get organised.

Im so fed up of being indoors, im going to town wed I think, taxi there & back. If I dont get a change of scenery and some human interaction, think I may well go mad!!!

I could manage to go around the big coop, albeit very, very slowly and at least i could finish off a couple of gifts from the factory shop within the store. It would be a huge boost to me which justifies the money spent on taxi there & back!

Got 2 bass filets baking in the oven with mushrooms, peas and onions, no potatoes today as trying to lose some weight. Anyway cant wait to eat as im starving.

Hope everyone else ok.

Florence in the hebrides

Hello everyone, Lovely sunny day here, put some washing on earlier but don't think it will dry outside as our back garden gets very little sun at these time of year the front garden gets sun all day but I'm not one for putting washing out front for the world to see plus being on a busy main road it would be as dirty in no time lol. We did have a neighbour years ago that would put an airer out with her (not so small) smalls on. Think bloomers lol.

Anyone watching anything interesting on TV, I have been watching WDYTYA and have enjoyed most of them. I am also watching Portrait Artist of the year but every week I chose a different artist to the judges. Art really is in the eye of the beholder . I have no talent what so ever for painting or drawing I just like to see what the artists come up with.
Apart from the 2 soaps Corrie and Emmerdale there not much that I have watched and the soaps are not as good as they used to be.
Good job I like reading .


Take care all.

Good evening peeps from a blustery corner of the uk! Its about 45mph so a stiff breeze just now but its howling and the racket from my air vent in the ceiling is dreadful. Anyway, power has stayed on so far so thats a bonus.

Anyone been watching one of my fav programmes Shetland. The final episode was last night and as usual was very good.The next series starts in the new year. Ive just finished my latest peter james novel re Inspector Grace. I have now read all the books in the series and watched the first televised episode a few months ago.

The soaps are ok but Emmerdale is a bit slow just now and corrie and eastenders are drifting along, nothing special.

Celebrity Masterchef is quite good at the moment too.

Hope the xmas viewing is going to be entertaining, really need something funny to cheer us all up!

Florence in the hebrides

I really hope you keep the power Joan and anyone else affected by the storm.

Time to keep a flask near the kettle and have at least one hot drink in reserve that way.

So far we've had strong breezes, but nothing like you have experienced.

Keep safe.

Oh dear. I hope your power stayed on Joan and that the wind has eased off up there. Have you had any snow? I have seen that there has been snow in the North East of England.

How is the weather with you Florence. It is wet and windy here but not as bad as in some places, it will probably get to us later.

Good morning all. Well we were very lucky here in the west as the winds only peaked around 50-60 mph. The worst was in the east and Aberdeenshire looked awful. 80,000 homes were without power! Joan i hope you survived and are ok? I know a train was hit by a tree near Huntly and the passengers had to spend the night on it..15 hours before they were rescued. Thankfully noone was hurt. There was someone I know on that train!

It has calmed down now but frequent squally showers of snow & hail and only 2 degrees, so pretty cold. We did fill a flask and had an early tea, as like Joan we are all electric now but thankfully, ours stayed on.

Daughter has ventured to town to post 4 parcels for the mainland and to see if there is any milk. No ferries for 3 days so probably the shelves are empty. We do have a tin of marvel for emergencies anyway.

Just finished my housework and drying off last of the clothes then up to date.

Take care everyone if out & about

Florence in the hebrides

I am beginning to think that we have been incredibly lucky. OH is away for the weekend and he rang this morning to see if I, and the house, were alright. He had been watching the news and was very surprised when I said that we had a fine dry day yesterday and it was the same today. Yesterday was windy, but nothing unusual and just bitterly cold.

I have just been reading the BBC news site (link below) and it seems that almost everywhere except the Central Belt of Scotland has been affected, with power cuts, trains cancelled, trees down, roads blocked and a couple of people killed.

Re heating in powercuts, we cook on bottled gas, so can always boil a kettle, and we also have a small calor gas heater in the living room, so we won't freeze.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-59435965

Well that was a windy night although not as bad as a lot of other areas. We usually don't suffer badly with high winds being in the Midlands area but a near by shop lost part of it's roof . Fortunately we only had a few upturned plant pots Still breezy today but is now sunny but very cold. We woke to snow covering the path and roads but now gone thank goodness.

Hope Joan and OH are ok and didn't lose power.

Florence how awful to be stuck on that train for so long.

Take care all.

Morning peeps
Just wondering if Joan is ok as the power is still off in parts of the NE.So many trees down,just hope they are safe.
Horrible gale and pouring rain here today after a beautiful calm wintry day here yesterday.

Took the tree down from the loft with all the Dec's but not doing it just yet.A pile of ironing is calling me!

Hope everyone ok safe and well and hopefully will hear from Joan as soon as she can message us.

Florence in the hebrides.

Morning all, hope you are all ok. Today it is very cold and we have a layer of snow the roads are clear but the pathways are icy .

Florence I did watch Shetland, have seen all of the series and enjoyed them. I am watching The Lost Symbol on Sky Witness based on the Dan Brown book. I liked the Angel & Demons film (same main character ) so thought I would give it a go. Like it so far.

Need to find where my 'get up and go' is hiding .Lol. Bedrooms need doing .

Oh Joan that sound horrific, thankfully your daughter was able to help. Just watching the news about the storm in Aberdeenshire and people still without power etc. I can only imagine how difficult and scary it is as not been through anything like that.

Shopping for more candles on the cards now .

Glad you are ok and hope things stay on now.
Take care.

Joan, so glad you and hubby are ok. Oh my what an horrendous time you had but so glad your daughter was able to get to you and help. Next food shop put candles on the list. I have always stocked up from the first time i moved in 1993. The power went off in dec 1995 for 4 days and i had a 4 month old baby! All we had was an open fire to boil a pan of water.

I have at least 50 candles in the cupboard for emergencies.

Anyway so glad you survived and hope we dont have another storm anytime soon.

No snow here but very cold brrr

Get your heating on Joan and warm all the rooms up.A pan of soup is calling me thinks.

JustGinnie, yes Shetland is my fav.Read the Davinci code, but the film was nowhere near as good.

Had a disaster with the washing machine earlier and daughter is elsewhere today!

She gave me a hooded dressing gown that is very soft and fleecy. It was in a bag in the loft so needed to wash it.AS soon as it had been in the machine for 20 minutes, i noticed soapy water dripping from under the tray!! It was so heavy that it wasnt washing it properly and actually the drum then wouldnt turn. All i could manage was to drain and then somehow remove the gown which was heavy and soaking.

I out it in the plastic laundry basket and carried it to the bathroom. I then put the shower spray on to wash out the soap. Oh my what a job leaning over with my numb leg. Was awful.

I squeezed and squeezed out water but its still heavy so i put the basket in the bath and spread the gown out over it. Not sure how long it will take before i could tumble dry it but when daughter comes back tomorrow...hmmmm i will have words!!

I dont need any more dramas really i dont.

Better go and check on it again and do a bit more wringing .Its pouring outside so cant get it on the line which would help a lot.
Oh well better go to it.

Florence in the hebrides

Take care

Florence in the hebrides

Gosh this is a dramatic thread today
Joan how awful I feel that with such a long power cut more should have been done for you and others in your age group. Something needs saying to somebody, not sure who. Pleased that you got through it though. I suppose it was good that there were two of you to keep each others spirits up. As others have said, stock up with candles. (then you probably won't have a power cut.

Florence that must be a large dressing gown to cause that much probelm with the washing machine. Is it a small drum? I am not sure though why it is your daughter's fault :-D :-D :-D

Had a good trip out to a garden centre, my neighbour took me, didn't spend a lot except on lunch for us both. Did buy one circular stepping stone as there is a part of the garden I can't get to without stepping on the mud. I didn't need much having spent quite a bit in Bourton on the Water last Friday.. I did buy a small cat toy for Milly and Mollie, daughter's cats to share. Cynth has a houseful for Christmas so she bought some crackers. completely plastic free so should be interesting.

What a tale Joan. Glad you are back on. It reminded me of the infamous ‘Michael Fish’ storm. We were told we would be amongst the last to be reconnected as there were only a few houses affected and they would concentrate on larger groups. :-P

Really annoying when you can see lights in the four houses on the other side of the field and our group of about eight where off.