The Daily Drop-in

[Gemini]

Daisy I have gone out in the daytime leaving the conservatory door wide open! Try to rest your shoulder as much as you can xx
Nan2, it poured with rain all day here.
What a shame about the paper Lizzie! I'm glad GDs brace is less painful now.
Oma, I hope B had a painfree night.


A bit of a busy day here with packing, clearing and visiting.
Mum was a bit tearful today on and off, and it was one of those days of her saying 'I can't see me staying here the rest of my life'
I will get DD to phone and check on her when I am away, and will see her next Saturday. I felt very sad for days last time mum was tearful, but they told me she had been fine after that, so I will try not to dwell on it.
The shoes I exchanged for a size 4 were fine for mum, and I got to look at all her birthday cards, and read out a nice message in one of them to her from one of her friends.

Night ladies

[Gemini]

Daisy we posted at similar time!
It is the Leeds Liverpool Canal. We have 4 nights, but as we have to hand the boat back at 9am on the last day we will be back at the starting point before dark the night before. We watched several You Tube videos about people travelling in the area tonight.

[Daisy]

Gem - at least the water levels should be ok after all the rain! Is it a circular route? I'm sure it will be lovely, whatever the weather, and quiet and peaceful. You certainly can't hurry on a canal! Is it a 4mph speed limit?

Poor mum, but I'm sure she would have been ok after you'd gone, and hopefully had a nice tea to look forward to. Sending hugs. xx

[Gemini]

Thanks Daisy.

No it's not circular. They suggest how far you can travel in the time you have, then you have to turn round. Yes 4 mph limit.

[Daisy]

No speeding, now!!!

[Plantaholic]

Gemini, have a lovely fun and restful time

[Lizzie48]

Good morning, Gem, I was wondering if it was a circular trip you were going on, now I know it isn't. Have a good time, I hope the weather is better than it is here at the moment. It wasn't wallpaper, it was material for new cushions I bought. I hope your mum is more cheerful after her tears.

Daisy, the textile markets are usually twice a year, when I did a lot of dressmaking etc I used to go to Delft, Rotterdam etc to catch them all, now I closed my eyes as I walked round, I have some material in my cupboard for when I want to make myself something. I do want to make a top today for gym but that won't be complicated.

[Nanto2girls]

Good morning Lizzie and all who follow.

Gem, sorry your mum was a bit tearful. Try not to let it spoil your holiday.

[Gemini]

Good morning dear friends.
Thank you for your comforting words. I am sure it was very temporary with mum, but as you would with your child, I find it so hard to leave here that way.
I'll ask DD2 to phone the home today. If she was upset I'm sure one of my 3 DDs could visit during the week.

It's cold this morning! The sun is shining however, and yesterday's incessant rain has stopped.
Catsitting friend is due at around 10 and we are leaving around 10.30. We will travel in convey with our friends and are having lunch on the way before collecting the boat at 1.30.

We have wi fi on the boat, so fingers crossed it's reliable and I will be in touch regularly

Enjoy your Sunday everyone.

[Oma]

Morning ladies ,

Gem Don't worry about Mum too much I bet she was fine after you left they usually are , My Friends Mum is the same ( although she lives in Inverness and He down here ) when he has phoned her she has been so tearful and wanting to leave the home ,
He will ring later and they will tell him she is fine chatting or watching TV .They have even sent him little Video's to prove she is fine

Enjoy your break its only 4 days and you need it xxxx

Lizzie years ago when I did a lot of sewing especially for the children there was a big Market near here , it was so tempting to buy more than I needed ,
Sadly like everything else its not there now .

The sun is out but Rain forecast for later so before I even had a shower or got dressed I went out in my PJ's and pulled out all the plants I needed to get rid of while it is dry ,
I raked over the boarders but by then my back was breaking so didn't get all the leaves up , that's a job for the leaf blower sucky thing especially when they are wet .

Its too heavy for me so B will do that .

I have put my thin coat away this morning and brought out one of my winter ones , not the heavy one but warmer than my light coat ,
We put the heating on last night as it turned really chilly ,

My eye is fine today I think I may have rubbed it in my sleep or scratched it the night before , anyway its fine now

Daisy did you tell J he had left the doors open

We off to have a look at beds this morning , I want to change my metal framed bed to a Divan with Headboard , seen a couple on line but I really want to buy one I can see ,
Trouble is so many places only do online now and have limited stock to see .

Have a good day ladies , Safe journey Gem xxx

[Daisy]

Good Sunday morning everyone. It's dull and m'eh here but better than yesterday's downpour.

Gem - please try not to worry about your mum. If one of your DDs can visit that would be great, but you're only away for 4 days. I'm glad the sun is shining for you - everything feels better when it's sunny. It's lovely to know you're leaving kitty with a reliable friend, isn't it. I bet he gets lots of cuddles from her. I do hope your wi-fi's ok, but just in case it isn't - have a wonderful, peaceful and relaxing time. xxx

Oma - I'm glad your eye is ok now and has cleared up nicely. What are you like - doing the gardening in your PJs!! Shhhhh ... don't tell anyone but I've just cleaned two downstairs windows and the utility room door in my PJs. OH told the window cleaner not to bother with them because of the work going on on the patio! But they were covered in mud, dust and debris. I couldn't stand them anymore.

Yes, I told J about leaving the doors wide open. He didn't seem too worried! It's much more risky if I leave doors open, it seems.

Good luck with the bed hunting. We've got divan beds with storage drawers underneath which are very useful. The two single beds stack together as they're not used very often. We bought the stacking beds online and I was quite worried doing that, but they are really nice and we're very pleased with them. We bought the mattresses separately, also online.

Nanto - that looks like an interesting drink to start the day with. Did you have a relaxing day yesterday with not going on your planned outing?

Lizzie - I can imagine how tempting it must be when you see beautiful fabric and know what you could make with it! Kids and sweet shops come to mind! My best friend's mother did a lot of sewing and she used to take us to Crewe quite often to the market there. Although I can't do much more than sew a fairly straight line with a sewing machine, when we were first married I used to make our curtains etc and there was always a huge choice of materials in local covered markets. I suppose they've all gone now though.

[Plantaholic]

Lizzie, I used to buy materials in the market. I didn’t do any garment making before I got married but my mil was a very good dressmaker so I got their bug from her. I do very little now. My needlework friends call their purchases stuff, so when their OH’s ask what they bought, they replied oh just stuff. One thing I have never made are curtains. Good luck with your sewing.

Gemini, Have a lovely time, hope the weather is kind. You will be too busy opening and closing locks to keep in touch with us. Have fun with your friends and don’t worry about your mum.

Pleased to hear your eye is better Oma, gardening in your PJ’s whatever next. I have a divan bed with drawers it is 5ft5 much too big for me now, I could do with a much smaller bed to make bedding changing much easier.

Sil and his brother spent all day yesterday clearing their mothers house. Family members had just taken what they wanted which in a large house was’t much. They made three trips to the tip. His mother was a very smart lady and the thought of her lovely clothes in the tip upset me a bit. Charity shops are overflowing with clothes. Sil phoned me to ask if I would like her bath aid it was new. I can’t get in the bath now so I agreed but it but my bathroom now looks like an old peoples home, it is quite large and I still will not be able to get a good soak as the back doesn’t go low enough. I will have a practise run with DD in attendance, it is battery controlled. I think my GGS will have fun with it. I am hoping to get my wallflowers in today.

[Nanto2girls]

Daisy, i just pottered about the house yesterday.

Done quite a few jobs this morning, and the sun is shining.
After dinner,we are hoping to get the grass cut and tidy round, if it stays dry.

[Lizzie48]

Plant, thanks, it isn't a difficult item to make, I would call all my materials 'stuff"! My sister was a tailoress, when I lived at home, if I wanted anything making she would be there to do it, when I came to live here I missed that so had to learn myself. I do enjoy doing it though. I don't mind making curtains either.

I also have a single bed Plant, much easier to make up and change the bedding. Good luck with the bath aid.

Daisy, of course it is risky if you leave the doors open! Men!!! There are quite a few stalls still around with material, I used to have a favourite shop near Den Haag, sooooo much to choose from, I loved it, I did a lot of sewing for a friend and I used to go and get the materials there. It sadly closed a few years ago.

Oma, I sorted my coats out the other day, it was so cold on Thursday I decided it was time to get into a warmer coat. Good luck with the bed hunting.

Gem, enjoy your few days away.xx

[WeeGranny]

After a day of torrential rain and wind, it was a joy to see the sun today even if the wind was a bit on the chilly side!

Yesterday I went to the theatre to see Tell me on a Sunday and very good it was too. How I wish I had a singing voice like that! DS went to visit OH and we met up in town later intending to go for a drink and something to eat. We couldn't get in to the pubs we tried and the place was manic. So we got the bus home and went to the local pub where we had an early dinner before coming home. By the number of bags some people were carrying it looked like people have already begun their C******** shopping in earnest!

We went in to see OH today and had hoped to take him into the garden in hi chair, but it was just a bit too blustery and cold, so we'll save than for another day. He seems quite settled and isn't aware of how long he's been there and he can't remember being in hospital. So very sad, but we're staying upbeat and everyone there is no nice and kind and friendly, so I really think he's in the best place. I certainly couldn't give him that level of care at home.

By the number of cars on the roads today, you wouldn't think there was a fuel crisis! I'm rationing my trips by car and we're lucky that we have a reasonable bus service if we want to use that.

Hope that the weather holds for Gem's boat trip! We hired a boat on the Murray River one Christmas. We got to the marina to see all these gorgeous boats all hiding ours, the smallest there and named 'The Love Boat', you can imagine some of the comment s we got as we boarded especially with two children in tow! The toilet pipes blocked and we had to go back to base to get them sorted; I was sunbathing topless on the roof when a strange voice spoke to me. I looked up to see a couple of young men walking along the boat seemingly from nowhere. It seems they'd jumped in upstream and let the current take them downstream and then they jumped on a passing boat to take them back to where they'd started. Don't know who got the bigger shock, them or me! OH and DC were in fits as you can imagine!

Chicken and trimmings in oven,smells lovely and should be ready in about half an hour.

Have a good evening ladies. Hope all the aches and pains are easier in the morning xx