Hi Dita and all

[vannin]

Good morning all and I am sorry to have been missing for several days, I have no excuse to offer.

Penny I hope you lose the aching and feel better very soon.

Andere, what a relief for you both, hearing the good news about your OH. I hope your evening went well for you.

Dita, I am in the throes of another clear-out, I try every now and then to be ruthless about items including clothes which haven't been used or worn for ages. At present, I have 'culled' books and condensed them from four bookcases down to two and a half. Many were paperbacks but some were very presentable hardbacks and their only purposes were decorative. I took six loads out in my shopper-on-wheels, distributed among the charity shops. Two loads to the BHF and the others to Helen & Douglas House, Oxfam, Scope and Cancer Research.

I deliberately left out Save the Children after what has been in the news about them in the past week. I notice there are posters saying 'Everything down to half-price'. I know it is not the outlets' fault if their executives are moneygrubbers but the message might get through to the greedy so-and-so's.

For a few years I have done most of my fiction-buying secondhand at those shops especially BHF where the usual price of paperbacks is £2 then take them back to be sold on. So they may even be tenth-hand!

Viv

[dita]

Hi Penny and all, sorry to hear news about your hubby and his skin problem, I do hope he is still clear when having to go through all that again. My hubby at clinic at the moment, they are trying to sort out his breathing problems, we are all having trouble with hubby illnesses on here. Gonna take doggie for morning walk in a little while, it is sunny, big hugs for you first today. Enjoy your weekly shop and shat with your son. Hope pussy getting a bit of sun too Andere, keep smiling Penny and all out there.

Ps We posted together Viv, good to see you. My OH is the one who who has every hobby under the sun but never does any of them, keep throwing hints around to encourage.......him but.... my stuff I take to our local hospice which is clothes and books, but his artistic things like pottery kiln, stain glass equipment etc etc is another matter, and thats only a start of his collection.

[Andere Richtingen]

Good morning, all! No sunshine here today at all and it's just started raining but the wind has dropped, thank goodness. It was really getting me down, it sounded so eerie, howling around for hours on end. Oh, Penny, so sorry to hear about your hubby's renewed problems. Fingers and toes are crossed that it's nothing nasty this time and can be dealt with quickly and his mind - and yours - put at rest. Big hugs for him and a de-stress purr from Lucy K (who is resolutely not going anywhere this foul morning!). Dita, I hope your hubby can be sorted out and made more comfortable; I had a call yesterday from an old friend whose OH has recently been diagnosed with emphysema and is feeling very weak and depressed, which is making her depressed, too. These men are a constant source of worry .......

Last night's story-telling event turned out to be a lot of fun and I think everyone - story-tellers and audience - enjoyed it. I already knew quite a lot of the people there but also met some really nice new people. OH and our friends were as good as their word and plied me with food and sustaining drink afterwards although, honestly, I'd forgotten the need for gin the moment I picked up the microphone and the nerves vanished. The librarian who organised it all is keen to do it again so maybe it can become a regular event as it already is for small children. Better go and make lunch now as OH is off out this afternoon and wants to eat first. If I don't go and do it, I'll have to clear up when he's made his own .

[vannin]

Dita, I know what you mean. Our garage was a DIY man's paradise and the newest thing was a wood-turning lathe. I decided to send two van-loads of DIY equipment to my husband's old school woodwork and technology dept, about four years ago. But the lathe - which I gave him one Christmas, my daughter said no, don't even think about getting rid of it. But what if I want to downsize? Is it just sentimental value or does she think 5-year-old Charlie will do woodturning in his middle age! It will be very 'old hat' by then.

There is still a great mountain of other stuff there which I usually close my eyes to. On the other hand, all the beautiful built-in - and some free-standing - furniture was hand-crafted so how could I downsize away from the built-ins?

Viv

[Penny]

Hi all, back from lunch with son. Bucks me up no end. Didn't have much shopping back early. You know who is you know where. Seems us group of women are the old type of wife, keep putting up with things. Nevermind, fingers crossed for all. Sorry weather so awful for doggies and pussies. Simply pouring down here and a drop in temperature. Here's to an early summer this year. Friends in some parts of America are having a bad time with ice and snow. Seems world wide at the moment. Take care all and keep warm. Pleased you are O.K. vannin. cheers Penny

[Andere Richtingen]

Gosh! Am I first here today? I hope that's because everyone else is just busy getting on with real life and doesn't mean you've all been washed away in this never-ending rain. It has at last stopped here for the first time since about 10pm yesterday. The sun is shining brightly and it looks like a fine spring day. But don't worry - Weatherwoman says there's plenty more rain left in the sky and it'll be with us late tonight. Ugh!! Enough, already! Will somebody please turn off the taps? Lucy K not impressed and has been outside for all of 5 minutes so far today! Probably not great for little dogs, either - paws on short legs sinking in the mud..... Local radio was full of traffic reports about flooded roads and closed schools so I'm glad I don't have to go anywhere and needn't be out there adding to the chaos. Now I'm going to have a useful day, doing the ironing and making soup and catching up on some overdue emails and phone calls. Keep warm and dry, all and stay home if you don't need to be somewhere else ....

[Penny]

Morning Dita and all, early bird today Andere, well done. I did try to post early but was interrupted by you know who. Lovely and sunny here too, still too cold for pussies so kisses on the way to have a cosy day in and big hugs for doggie to help along with walkies if possible. Nothing planned. So pleased you enjoyed your evening out Andere, here's to many more like that. So cold, just been out helping OH to move the van, ready to get the roof put right. Got frozen so am sitting here with water bottle on my knees. Trouble is as soon as we plan one move, down comes another load of the wet stuff. A lot is forecast for this weekend. Do take care all and keep warm. cheers Penny

[dita]

Morning Penny, Andere and all. Hope he brought you another hot water bottle to keep you warm Penny, I know what these fellows are like, they tend to forget you're there and go make themselves a cuppa, hee hee. It was a case of short legs sinking in mud like you said Andere, you both deserve return big hugs today, bet Lucy K back in doors snoring and dreaming by now. I am sick of them damn call centres ringing up every 5mins the last couple of weeks, it seems they are targeting our area at the moment. We are protected supposingly but they are unable to do anything about it unless we get all international calls stopped which is'nt what we want to do. Sun shining now for a bit, must make the most of it before it starts raining again. Keep smiling Penny Andere and all.

[Penny]

Morning Dita and all, If you have the same weather it is lovely and sunny, very cold of course. Big Hugs to keep doggie warm and kisses for puss to stay in where it is cosy and warm. Nothing planned, just making bread, have to pick up grandson from a hockey game this afternoon. Take care all and keep warm. Catch you later. Hope your work outside is all done and dusted Dita. cheers Penny

[dita]

Morning Penny and all, nice and sunny here too, very cold blustery wind for doggie walk though she pleased to have your hugs today it warmed her up lovely.
They have not started at our house yet, hope its going to be next week. The gas board are having to do changes to lengthen the gas pipe which releases the steam from the boiler, more to this job than you realise. That L Katt is snoring again I bet. Keep your pecker up Penny and take care all.

[Penny]

Hi Dita and all, just a quickie to start so that I can send hugs and kisses to our most important guests. Hope they manage an outing today. Very cold here and wind been dreadful. Am full of aches and pains today, no idea why. Didn't have to go for Grandson yesterday so have been busy today slicing the three loaves I made yesterday. Got a slicer but blade beginning to need a bit of a sharpen No idea where I can get it done. Doing Lamb steaks on a bed of mushrooms for lunch followed by Sticky toffee pudding and cream. Don't forget ;The Midwives this evening. Promises to be a banger. Take care and keep warm. cheers Penny.

[vannin]

Call the Midwife......looking forward. Also, Jessica Raines will be in Line of Duty, returning to our screens this week: Wed BBC2 9p.m.

Viv

[dita]

Hi Penny and all, doggie did manage a bit of a walkies today but it very cold, plenty mud around too so hugs are the order of the day, for which she thanks you for. Blooming aches and pains Penny, hope they ease soon, thats what we get for growing old gracefully. Your lamb chops sound delicious, not sure what we are having yet. Looking forward to Midwives tonight we will both know what each other are up to at that time. Purrs to pussy, keep smiling Penny and take care all.

Hi Viv just noted you are here too, that will be 3 of us watching Midwives
Hope you are ok.

[Andere Richtingen]

Hello again, all and hugs to brave dogs who made it out into this foul, cold wind! At least it's not currently raining but it's a very grey day. LK is very undecided: she rather enjoys a stiff breeze and plays stalking games in the long grasses so she keeps going out to play for 5 minutes and then rushing back inside to get warm again with her fur all ruffled. She smells lovely when she comes in, like sheets that have been dried outside

OH is hunkered over his PC but I'd better not complain because well, what am I doing?? I was just looking out of the window and thinking how pathetically quiet it is here - such a change from last Sunday when everyone seemed to be out enjoying the sunshine. Today, it's like everyone's in hiding. Can I come to lunch Penny? That sounds delish and it would save me cooking .... Borscht, cold gammon & whatever vegetables inspire me today. Hope your aches and pains improve soon - I suspect we'd all feel a lot less creaky and cranky if this bliddy weather would only improve ....

[dita]

Hi Penny and all, sun shines today and roofs had frost on them, if it wasn't for all the mud it would have been great for doggie walkies, came back blathered so hugs a-plenty the order of the day Penny. Had a rush round with hoover and flicked around with the duster, lunch time now. Hope aches and pains gone, get hubby to make you a cuppa if he can drag himself from watching the Olympics, keep smiling Penny Hi L Katt, take care all.