Hi Dita and all

[Penny]

So pleased you got home o>K> Thought the storms might have driven you off. We have been very lucky here only a couple of slight showers, Yesterday we were out to a camera place and saw several pools of water so we were very lucky. Lovely and sunny again so far. Just been busy (halfway through) making marmalade. Hope all are well big hug for Dolly and little ones. Give LK an extra hug from me. Take care all. cheers Penny

[vannin]

Welcome back Andere, and I am sorry the Forty Shades of Green were shades of grey. I remember Holyhead terminal as a rail connection and always hated the length of the ride to/from Euston. Fishguard-Rosslare, on the other hand, when we took the car, the drive through Wales was a pleasure. We had a Morris Traveller and two small children in the back 'Are we nearly there yet?' Is this Ireland?' 'Is it still Wales?' 'Will it be Uncle Eddie's farm soon?'

Hope you feel better now, and OH too. LK must have quickly forgiven you after reproaching you for the first few hours.

Maggie, my little family gave up having a car too, about four years ago. My daughter's fairly new car gave up the ghost one Sunday evening when they had left here to return home. As they have very good public transport and also have bikes, they are happy without a car. When they visit me, it is by train or sometimes she hires a zip-car and I contribute to that or the fares. By train and tube it takes two hours, the same by car or longer in traffic. Sometimes we meet halfway and have a meal out, but Charlie has so many activities now!
My road will be closed next week for re-surfacing at long last, but as the bus can't use it, I'll be stuck! The town area, when re-surfaced, the closures were overnight and the council profusely apologised in the press, for inconvenience. Out here, much more inconvenient in the daytime but no apology!

[Penny]

Morning all, quite windy here but no rain. Grand Prix this p.m. so if your interested get ready tp watch.Take care all, cheers Penny

[Andere Richtingen]

I'm glad we aren't in Ireland this weekend !! It's raining on and off here and there's a stiff breeze blowing but nothing like the poor folks in Wales and Ireland are having to put up with.

Poor Viv; we had to endure the road re-surfacing one one of our clearing out trips back to the old house. The only places to park were up to half a mile away and we had car-loads of stuff to take to the tip. The road was a cratered mess and had needed doing for a decade or so but ...talk about picking their moment!! The local bus was diverted so far off route that it was quicker to walk into town than hunt the temporary bus stops. I hope your work is over quickly and without causing too much hassle for everyone.

Your mention of the Morris Traveller brought a smile. A friend of mine had one in the late 60s and loved it to bits for its reliability, practical space and low running cost but she was a very petite woman and drove around sitting on a pile of telephone directories so she could see over the steering wheel!! Funny how that sort of thing was considered acceptable in those days .

I'm just waiting for the man from Waitrose to arrive with stuff to fill up my fridge then I guess I'll have to finish the holiday ironing. No point in trying to think of somewhere nice to go in this vile weather. Enjoy your GP, Penny (how can you hear the noise?) and enjoy whatever else you're up to, everyone.

[dita]

Hi everyone, don't know about you but the colder weather is getting to me at the moment ?? I am so grateful that we have not had the bad weather that lots of other folk have had to endure the last few days. Hope you are all rested and ironed up after your holiday Andere, sorry to hear about the nasty colds yourself and OH are having to put up with since your return. I recall our Morris 1000 was hard for me to drive because the seat was so low and I couldn't see through the windscreen without a cushion, Don't forget you promised me a jar of that gorgeous marmalade Penny, sounds like you have been busy nipping out and about of late. Dolly sends you her usual hug and so do I, Take care everyone xxxxxx

[vannin]

I am not surprised some of us were fans of the Morris cars, as we have a few things in common and get on well! I have quite sentimental memories of my husband's first Morris 1000 when we met. Then there was a second 1000 and a first and second Traveller. It was a wrench when we had to change to another make and the choice was Renault, and over a number of years we went through Renault 12, 5, and about three others. Finally we were 'with Ford, the last one being a Focus.

[maggieh]

Good evening everyone.I am sat here with the heating on as its quite chilly,but I am eating a choc-ice.lol.
Had a lovely time out on Thursday evening.To eat I had baked skate with new potatoes,spinach,lovely sauce.The shrimps hadn't arrived so I had clams.But didn't like the clams.To start with we shared fish cakes and lemon mayonaise.That was tasty.Then we finished with a cheese board and biscuits.

Washed it down with a couple of glasses of fizzy spring water.Then before coming home in a taxi,I had one small bailey.

Have been to see Logan today and played lego.and his xbox.And some silly giggles with him.

Was very cold waiting for the bus home.Parcel on my doorstep from Amazon.

My new washing machine is due Monday/Tuesday waiting on a email to tell me when.We have decided to flood the kitchen a little bit when we install it as there's no where in the flat to turn of the water supply.A man did come to look at it last Sunday morning but haven't heard anything since.

Sorry to hear you felt poorly on your holiday Andere,hope you are feeling better now you are back home.

Viv,our road has been cut off for a while now,one end or the other.As waterboard are replacing old pipes for new ones.Friday was noisy as the tree's were being cut down.

I am dog sitting tomorrow for 3 hours while daughter goes to the cinema.I will be going to her house instead of him coming here.

[Penny]

Morning all, just been watching the London Marathon. They all deserve a medal. I couldn.t run a few yards let alone miles. No rain and wind has dropped. Hope everyone is keeping well and warm. Big hug for Dolly and same for little ones. Hope you and OH are feeling better Andere. Do take care. cheers Penny

[maggieh]

Good afternoon.Been busy here today.My new washing machine came at 11am.So nice and early instead of waiting all day for it.I have a small kitchen with 2 washing machines in it.Tumble dyer is in the living room/kitchen.
Bedroom has got stuff from the hall in there.I don't like being in a muddle.But thats how its got to be for a while.

I had a lovely time dog minding yesterday.I watched the marathon too,Penny.I always feel out of breath watching them running.They all looked like they were enjoying their selves.

Lovely and warm outside today,I just taken a lot of cardboard downstairs.There is more from the washer to sort out yet.
Oh well coffee break finished back to the recycling.

[Andere Richtingen]

Lucky you, Maggieh: warm outside! OK, it's not especially cold here but we've had two solid days of greyness when it doesn't seem to have got light at all. I hope the new washer is everything a washer should be and you'll soon be waltzing around in your sparkling clean smalls or pristine pyjamas ...
Like you, I hate living in chaos but, sometimes, it's inevitable.

Not much to report from here. The cold virus is well on its way out, thank goodness, just residual catarrh now and a feeling of exhaustion. We cheered ourselves up yesterday by booking another trip with the travel company we went to Ireland with. Northern Netherlands in July this time, a part of the country we haven't been to before and the trip looks to be full of interest - a trip on a tall ship, steam railways and I forget what else. It'll give me the opportunity to practise my Dutch at any rate. I've spent time over the winter trying to learn it properly and, at last, feel I'm getting somewhere.

Viv, we obviously do have things in common! Our present car is also a Focus, a shiny black estate car and we both love it to bits. It's the third Focus we've had and they get better with every new model. OH has always been a Ford fan, learned to drive in a Thames van and took it very hard one year when the company he worked for announced that new company cars would hence be Vauxhalls. (It was a Vectra estate and absolutely superb but he never forgave it for not being a Ford!)

[dita]

Just wishing everyone a Happy May 1st, despite all the troubles in the world. Take Care of Yourselves from Dolly & Dita xxxd

[vannin]

The same to you Dita and have a good week-end.

[maggieh]

Good afternoon,lovely weather for May the 1st.

Nice couple of hours at drawing group this morning.3 people didn't turn up so they had a extra week off.

Have Noddy here tomorrow afternoon,had the joy of seeing him on the bus this morning.

Mr.Plumber is calling in here Friday afternoon to put a stopcock in my kitchen.Then I can change washing machines over.Just as well I have too many clothes as haven't been able to wash any for 2 weeks.

Have a lovely evening.

[maggieh]

Good morning.Nice day weather wise is here.

Not much to say today.Will shop and entertain Noddy with a sandwich and a cuppa later then he will sleep.

Enjoy your day everyone.

[Andere Richtingen]

It started out like that here, Maggieh. We woke up to summer, dressed for summer and went out for the day only to have winter descend on us with a vengeance! Cold, rainy, dark by 4pm, hailstones big enough to dent the car on the way home...It's vile. Oh, but there was a lovely rainbow visible from the back windows when We got home. Beautiful!

We've spent the day in Woodhall Spa; had lunch in a local hostelry with our U3A group then got taken on a guided tour of the local museum and a walk around the town., followed by tea and home made cakes. No matter how many times I go there, I love that little town...

I trust everyone who had local elections today has done their civic duty and voted? I know it's boring and folk will try to obscure decent local debate with woffle about Brexit and Westminster politics but, really, it should be all about street lights, libraries and bin collections etc and, if you don't vote, you surely shouldn't complain about what "they" do! We went and made our X on the way home and the polling station staff seemed glad to have some customers to talk to. Our area is one where they're trialling the idea of having to provide ID documentation before you can vote so we made sure to have our driver's licences. OH caused much hilarity by first producing his WW2 national identity card ...
Night-night everyone. I'm off for an early night. Zzzzz.