Time to Chat Day by Day

[Oma]

Morning ladies , overcast but not as windy so far although heavy rain is orecast for us.

Off to the farm shop soon and I think DD may be popping in. Other than that nothing planned.

[Enfys]

Good morning. Pouring with rain here, very dark and dreary. Just off to the library for our knit and natter group ao am prepared with raincoat and big umbrella. I’m pleased I got out into the garden yesterday and did a little bit of tidying up, no chance to do that today.

have a good day everyone 🌞

[Daisy]

Good Saturday morning, everyone.

Like Enfys, we've got pouring rain, dark, dreary and cold. The horse chestnut tree outside our house is looking very autumnal already. . Enfys, I hope it's not too windy for your umbrella. It's quite gusty here.

Lizzie, I'm glad you escaped the storm yesterday, and got your calendar done nice and early. Our dog visitor is Bailey the Border Collie. He doesn't like travelling much, but gets in the car ok. It's Cooper the Viszla who has become car phobic!

Gem, it must always be a relief when those meetings go well, and good you had a chance to see your sister as well. Have a lovely family time this afternoon.

Oma, I can understand your MIL being confused - surgery, pain, different environment etc, but at least her book was found. Does she read a lot? It sounds as if the staff will have to push her a bit to make progress. Not easy though, is it.

Plant, how is your back today?

Nanto, your OH is a treasure - GS1 will be relieved to get those jobs done, I'm sure.

Oma, I hope you can get your door done soon, but much better to wait for better weather. He sounds a nice man to be so apologetic.

[Daisy]

Yesterday didn't go to plan. My phone has been playing up recently, and I mentioned it to GS1 last week-end. The upshot was he'd just got himself a new one, but his other is only about a year old. So I've bought that from him. Needless to say, it's all singing, all dancing and twice the size of my old one! We didn't have time to sort it out then, so DIL brought it down on Thursday and DS2 said he'd transfer everything from the old to the new one. So I went over there yesterday to do that. But problems with my password meant I had to change it, and Apple said it would take an hour because I wasn't in my home location. Sensible security measures, but frustrating. So DS and I went out to do some gardening. Then it took ages to transfer data over. By then DIL2 and GD1 were home so we had a natter. I didn't get home till nearly 8 o'clock. Thank goodness we had some left over curry in the fridge!

I've still got a lot of sorting out to do on the new phone, and I definitely need a new cover for it - GS1 had a boring black one, but I like a bit of bling. We now have a big bag full of green tomatoes from DS2. They were starting to show signs of blight so we harvested them and I said we'd make chutney to share with DS. Today's job!

We were woken in the night by first Bailey and then Eva barking their heads off. Bailey had heard the milkman delivering and, being a good, conscientious doggy made sure we knew as well. Eva never bothers to bark at the milkman, so I hope Bailey hasn't set a precedent.

[Gemini]

Daisy, I hope Bailey isn't teaching Eva bad habits! (A funny aside, GD's oldest friend is called Eva and DD2 messaged the Whats App group this morning to check it was OK to bring Eva to the gathering this afternoon . For a second, thinking of your Eva I thought Not a good idea with the new cat ) New phones can be a pain. I hope you soon get used to yours.

At least Knit and Natter is an indoor activity Enfys

[Lizzie48]

Daisy, when I changed iPhones it all went automatically, the same with the Mac.

[Plantaholic]

Young man is here cleaning my washing machine and microwave. He comes from Sierra Leone, married to an English girl. Very wet here today and chilly so I will be going nowhere. My back is not a lot better, I can’t bend, a pain shoots across my lower back and down my legs, very hard putting my knickers on. GD1 cleaned my place yesterday and changed my bed.

Daisy lovely to have knowledgable youngsters in the family to sort us out. My GD1 sorted out my pics yesterday. You will have to look for a colourful case for your new phone. I hope
Bailey hasn’t taught Eva to bark early in the morning.

Gemini, enjoy your family gathering today.

Oma, I hope the physios can get your Mil moving, not easy for a 90 year old. I hope there will be some fine weather on the way so you can get your front door painted.

Enfys, enjoy your knit and natter group.

[Gemini]

Plant that sounds a lot like sciatica. Get into a comfortable position and use heat to sooth it xxx

[Lizzie48]

DS2 has just phoned, he works for himself and has been making cycle wheels for the same firm for 20 years now, very good cycles, made to measure etc etc , very expensive, they have always sold very well, even during the lock down, these last 2 years sales have plummeted! 10 years ago they moved to a larger factory and now only half of that is being used, they provide the police with cycles, that is keeping their heads above water at the moment, I asked him how something like that can go wrong, is it too many sales, too good a cycle, made to last etc?? They have no idea, a lot of good cycle firms are losing the trade, that whilst everyone here has at least one cycle, or more! There is a business making and selling cycling clothes, very good ones as well, I don't know if they are available in the UK, AGU is it called, my helmet is one of that make, apparently they are in big trouble as well, there was a take over that went wrong and now probably facing bankruptcy. DS2 said when he first started cycling , around 1980, if he could afford a shirt from Agu he was over the moon!

He has plenty of other work as he helps building and decorating friends, the wheels were one thing he thought would last.

[Plantaholic]

Lizzie, I am sorry to hear about your sons work problem, I hope it will pick up soon.

Oma, I thought sciatica just affect one leg. I am going to have a read.

[Gemini]

Plant, could you maybe ask your physio GS for some advice? xx

Lizzie, it seems no business is safe these days.

[Nanto2girls]

Plant, i was thinking it might be sciatica as well. I've had it, i know what it feels like.

Lizzie,sorry to hear about DS2. Hope things pick up soon.

Its strange not going out on a saturday,not to worry.
One job done,was making some pancakes for the freezer,i only had 2 left.

Gem,enjoy the family gathering.

Daisy,i'm sure you will get the phone sorted eventually.
I like blingy phone cases as well.

[Oma]

Daisy
I wouldn’t know where to start with phones B does all that,
I have just changed from O2 to iD everything changed over automatically when new sim went in.

All new for Bailey and I suppose him getting startled by the milkman will have put Eva on edge .

Yes MIL reads lots of books always has a pile of them .

Enfys
Hope you enjoy your knit & natter and didn’t get too wet .

Lizzie
Sadly no business is safe these days are they,
As long as he has other jobs he can do to bring a wage in .
You would think as everyone uses bikes there it would be a secure business, but times are changing arnt they .

Plant
To be honest I didn’t think a washing machine cleaner was a thing 😁, did it take him long to do?
Have you a heat bag or heat patches you could use on your back .

Its turned out a bright day but blustery .
Went to the farm shop stocked up with meat then too the on-site bakery , I treated myself to a fruit meringue and B got a Strawberry tart.

DD came with Storm , she’s going to the hospital tonight to see her Nana .

[Daisy]

Daisy, when I changed iPhones it all went automatically, the same with the Mac.

There were a couple of hurdles - not at the right location (ie home), I store everything on iCloud which is safe but more fiddly, DS2's connection is quite slow, GS2 had a lot (and I mean a lot!) of clever things set up that I'd never seen before, and we were trying to hurry because of the time. I suppose it's the fact that the phone isn't new, just new to me. Last time I swapped phones there was no problem.

It's hard being self-employed like your DS2. So many small or niche businesses seem to be struggling at the moment, and perhaps bikes overall have become relatively less expensive and people just get a new one more often. I do hope your DS is ok - it's good he's got other strings to his bow and a lot of practical skills which will always be in demand.

Plant, poor you, you must be in a lot of pain. Perhaps heat or an ice pack might help. I know it's more pleasant to use heat, but maybe an icepack would reduce any inflammation there may be in your back. Take it easy and no trying to do the impossible.

Oma, how was your MIL when your DD visited? You were lucky today was brighter than yesterday. We've had awful rain until tea time, and it's not warm at all. The cakes sound yummy. Eva can't resist joining in with another dog who is barking. I didn't know having someone to clean a washing machine was possible, even less so a microwave. We run a cleaning programme on the washing machine about once a month, and clean the filter out when we think about it. I do the microwave when I spill something in it.

Gem, did you enjoy your family get together today? I promise you, our four-legged Eva would have been a disaster with the new cat (or any cat for that matter). I'm sure GD's friend was delightful, though.

Nanto, I'm actually looking forward to choosing a blingy case for my new phone. I might also get a new one for my Kindle. What kind of pancakes do you make - Shrove Tuesday type or American?

OH and I made about 14 jars of green tomato chutney today. It seemed to take forever, but I've only got to put the lids on and label the jars now. We did it in two separate preserving pans and did one with light brown sugar and the other with dark (that's all we had!) I don't know if they will taste any different.

While I was out with the dogs OH took down the compost bins we no longer use. It's quite a sunny corner of the garden and I'm going to make a little area there planted up with as many of my DS's favourite plants as I can fit in. But when we looked closely at the fencing there we decided we'd have to put a new panel in first. I'd like to get it planted up before the winter sets in, so hopefully by next Spring it will be established and looking nice.

[Lizzie48]

Good morning, yes Daisy, phones etc can be very complicated, especially when the connection is so slow, luckily it works now, what model iPhone is it?

I love the idea of a plants in your garden that your DS loved.xxx

I have never eaten chutney, do you use it as a veg?

Plant, I have heard of people having their ovens cleaned but never a washer or microwave.

We had rain yesterday afternoon, so humid all day though.

DS2 will cope, he will have to! The cycles he makes wheels for are specialised, Santos is the make, not one leaves the factory less than €5,000. If I see one in the village or anywhere I think "that is a lot of money"!

I want to go to the gym at 8am, it then depends on the weather what I do later in the day.