General Chat

Oh how lovely Florence a new cast iron casserole dish. I love cast irons cooking pots & have a full set, they are lovely things to use & washing them afterwards is a doddle.

Pitsligo is not for from where I live Florence.

As for the weather it's soo changable isn't it,. on Weds here it was a real scorcher, yesterday it chucked it down for nearly the whole day, not drying up until tea-time. today it's cooler & the sun is in & out & it's rather windy.

Joan.

I lived in West Hartlepool for six years when I was young Florence

Afternoon all

Another miserable day here. Oh my when will the weather change?

Linda one of the relatives was born in Pitsligo, Aberdeenshire and married a lady from Easington, Durham. They had 2 children born in West Hartlepool. One of those has me as a DNA match. I think the connection is further back to the family of 7/8 kids.

Not so easy searching Scottish records but I have found a lot on the censuses so far.

Daughter away all day so very quiet here and no much in the way of chores as did all me ironing etc yesterday.

Im longing to get outside for fresh air as so desperately need that but unless the wind and rain stop, I am copped up indoors for now.

Linda, hope your eye is so much better now.

Ooh postie has just me brought a box which contains my new cast iron casserole dish. So cant wait to use it now

Florence in the hebrides

good afternoon. I have not really been on the boards much for a couple of weeks as I have been in the Lake Dstrict staying with my daughter. I have read most of the posts though but lacked time to reply. Linda I am sure that Esme will have enjoyed the theatre course as she loves to dance so is probably an extrovert. It must be good for her too.

How sad that some parents just dropped their children off when maybe it would have been something they could share with them. I suppose, to be fair they may know their children don't need them there, or may have been told so. And it was a welcome respite for them, especially if maybe they are lone parents.

I have Scottish DNA as well Florence. It is from a man who married into my dad’s side of the family in County Durham. All of his records simply give him as being from Scotland, but with a very common name I have never been able to trace him back. One day maybe a DNA tree match will turn up for him, but it hasn’t yet. There may be other people from Scotland in other parts of my tree who I haven’t come across of course who have passed on Scottish DNA as well.

I have a nice lazy day ahead of me, with no need to go out. OH is going to paint the two garage doors. They are the roller shutter type, he gave them a good clean yesterday while I was out. He was still cleaning them when I got back, there did seem to be a lot of dirt still coming off them , but he says he isn’t doing any more cleaning! They are white and look very grubby, so it will be a big improvement once they are done. They won’t have been painted since they were installed thirty years ago, as very little else in the house had been updated since then.

Evening all

Where is everyone today? Very quiet on the boards.

I have just had a DNA match and.....it proves I am actually of Scottish descent :-D :-D

My next task is now trying to find the branch that connects us and is no easy task as there is a huge family with 8 kids all in Scotland. So thats my project that will keep me busy.

The calf wraps are not to bad to wear with a liner stocking underneath . I have feet wraps as well! daughter thinks my left leg is looking a bit smaller already but im not so sure as its a bit oo soon. Shall wait for the nurse to come back to me with a plan.

heavy showers and windy yet again...nothing new there :-(

Oh Parents! :-|

And who would be the first to complain if something happened to their little darling :-(

I hope that you are coping with your wraps Florence, they sound dreadful to wear..

I have been a a SEND theatre course today with Esme. Her mum took her the first day , her dad the second and I did today. There was one other girl with her carer, the rest were just dropped off by their parents,but some of them definitely should have had an adult with them! Anyway Esme had a great time which is all that matters.

I hope that Sylvia has settled into her new home

Evening all

Didn't have much time to get on here until now. Was bin day and the wind early blew me over and was raining hard so not pleasant having to be outside.

A nurse came to fit my calf wraps and liners. I felt like a trussed up chicken as they are so thick i could only wear my long shorts! I cannot possibly get my jeans on at all. i suffered wearing them until teatime and then my ankles were so sore so i took them off. I have foot wraps too but when I removed both wraps from each leg, my left foot was so swollen??

I shall put it all back on after my shower first thing and then the nurse is popping in later to see how Im managing.

She took 3 lots of blood too....what a vampire lol

My dad phoned me at 5pm, not a good time as I was just about to eat but of course I couldn't put him off so that delayed the food and I was so behind with everything.

Anyway now sitting and catching up with emails etc and Vera.

JustGinnie glad you had a good crop of tomatoes. Had to laugh about putting the washing out on the line, mine would be halfway to Iceland lol

I remember Terry Wogan always talking about the snow gates closed at Tomintoul and having no idea if it was real place but now living up here for 30 years, i realised there is such a place after all lol

Florence in the hebrides

You are lucky Ginnie, my tomatoes have been a disaster this year. The greenhouse is in a shady position and the weather hasn’t helped. I will have a go at growing them outside in hanging baskets next year.I was looking forward to having a greenhouse again, but I can see why the previous people gave up using it

We booked a holiday to Zante in September, it is the first time we have been away since Covid. I have been sorting all the paperwork out including the travel insurance. We have a bank account which has a monthly fee. It gives us breakdown cover for the car, mobile phone insurance and travel insurance. Of course because of our age and medical conditions we have to pay extra, but it is only £60 total for annual worldwide cover, so that isn’t bad. We are planning on going to Florida next July for the Costello conference and two weeks in Disney, so it was worth getting the annual cover. I did look at Jet2 insurance last night for just the single trip, but that was £30 each, so the bank insurance was a bit of a no brainer. Probably there is cheaper insurance out there, but filling in all the medical conditions is an absolute nightmare

Hello all,
Another lovely day here and I'm just waiting for my washing to finish so it can go on the line. OH has gone to the dentist and after that he is off visiting family so I have a quiet day by myself waiting for a parcel to arrive. Yesterday was a Drs appointment for me and happy to say I dodged the thunder storm and the rain.

It has been very hot over the last week and the tomatoes have started to go red and if they all go we will have loads of them . Mainly little cherry tomatoes though we have 1 large tomato plant and 1 with orange tomatoes . The cucumbers did ok this year and we grew one called melon cucumber which is round and yellow but tastes the same as the long green ones.. Also tried salad beetroot which needs no cooking but I am not keen but it grew well .

I also used to like listening to Terry Wogan and loved his commentary on the Eurovision programme. He had a way with words.

Take care all.

No I didn’t know that, thanks.

Hello All
I don't come on to Gens very often.
The memory of Terry Wogan made me smile.
Did you know you can listen to some of the
Jane and John's stories on Ytube
Ann

Ah I loved Terry Wogan, he always made me laugh. Especially when he would go on about all the traffic cones on the road. :-(

We had the thunder here, too, at about 8am, followed by torrential rain bouncing off the windowpanes.

(I know people say "thunder and lightning", and not "lighting and thunder" - but the lightning does come before the thunder.)

This afternoon's nice, though - dry, sunny, windy.

I was able to get a satellite TV picture yesterday and this afternoon, while it hasn't been raining, but otherwise I've only been able to watch the various streaming services - BBCiPlayer, etc - for the last 10 days or so.
A tree surgeon will be coming at some point to fell the tree which is blocking the signal. He says he's booked solid for the next month, but will pop in next time he's passing, to see what's required.

I really only listen to the radio when I'm in the car, as I can't get an FM radio signal in the house, and we don't have DAB radio in this area yet.
In the house, I can get radio stations on the TV (when the satellite signal works!) or on the computer , but I'd have to turn the volume right up to be able to hear it in other rooms.

I could carry my tablet around the house with me - but somehow it just doesn't feel the same as years ago, in a previous house, when I used to take my little radio with me as I went around doing the housework.
Terry Wogan was my saviour when the children were small - an intelligent adult voice in the mornings!

In later years, when I was on my way to work, his "Janet and John" stories always began when I reached the speed limit signs at the edge of town, and finished just as I was parking at work. I used to drive through the town, laughing aloud.

Hi Florence, the rain has almost stopped now, & the tv appears to have come right again, I was watching an old black & white film when the channels vanished.

Yes I do have a radio, I have it tuned to Classic FM, that was my hubbys favourite radio channel, I would normally listen to the radio if the power was to be off for sometime, unfortunately though I find the radio doesn't last too long even after being newly charged !

It's quite new with little use,it's one that is rechargable, I much prefer the ones with loose batteries,they lasted much longer that this new type I have.

Joan.

Aw Joan, glad the thunder didnt last long. Im sure the tv will retune itself soon.

Have you got a radio? or do what I do is switch on the tv and put 702 on the remote instead of say 3 for itv( freeview) and I listen to R2 no need for the radio. if you want R3 its 703 or R4 704.

Glad your power came back on as quick. Its bright here but gale force winds as was the forecast.

Hell to all.
WE have just had the thunder Florence, woke this morning to a very windy but dry day, since dinner time the wind abated a little & down came the rain, quite heavy as well, then the thunder moved in.
The power went off about 1/2 an hour ago but was back on in seconds !!

I have lost some of the tv /sky channels at the moment, mostly the ones I tend to watch so I'm hoping they return soon, it's so quiet & lonely here without the tv.

Take care everyone.

Joan.

Afternoon everyone looking in today

Well I had a rude awakening this morning at 8am as a loud clap of thunder woke me up! Boy it was loud and not something we get that often up here!

i waited for the lightening to follow but it never came just more thuinder so i jumped out of bed and headed to the kitchen to get the kettle on incase the electric went off.
It didnt and by 9.30, the thunder had moved over towards NE Scotland. It did pour hard though, torrential and we are on flood alert towards the end of the week.

Its blowing a gale here but had dried up so much so my grasscutters came and decided to push ahead with mowing today as the rest of the wind is awful.
So glad they did it and it looks very neat now.

I tel the chemist today to see if my calf and foot wraps had arrived and was told yes, they are awaiting your collection!! i said well someone was supposed to tel me & let me know when they arrive but obviously they didnt. Luckily daughter is at the dentist today in town and has been & collected them for me.

I then tel the drs and just got a phone call back from the district nurse who is coming tom at 10am to fit the wraps and.... I need a FBC, HB1AC, LFT & Kidney plus BP!! Oh my full MOT lol

Might as well get my moneys worth while they are here lol

The cold salmon salad I made yesterday was so delicious as the salmon just melted in the mouth and there is plenty tuna pasta left for tonight to have with a jacket potato so thats tea taken care of.

When I was younger we had our main meal which we called "tea" at 5.30 every night. Dinner was what some call "lunch" and always at 12.30.

My nephew has his meal at 5pm on his own each night as his mum waits for her hubby who isnt home until 7pm and they don't eat until 8pm! He is self employed so comes home when he finishes a job!

If we were eating out after 6pm in the evening, we would say we are going out for dinner as in evening meal.

The post was here before 10.30 so I'm guessing no mail plane today.

Hope all is well with everyone

Florence in the hebrides

That 's the trouble with getting rid of things. You may not have used a particular item for years, but as soon as you throw it out you're sure to find a need for it!

Yesterday I got rid of 15 shoe boxes. Well, at least I flattened them and put them in the recycling bin ready for the next collection. I've still kept five - just in case!

We had the forecast good weather here today, thank goodness, though the sun didn't come through until about lunchtime.
One dry, warm, sunny day - wonderful. I have cut all the grass, which had grown long. I haven't been able to cut it for a couple of weeks because of the daily rain, and tomorrow we'll be back to showery weather - but at least the grass is now cut, so it'll be OK for a few days.