Yawn Yawn Wakey Wakey 2025

Morning,

Sorry to hear you've lost your sense of taste and smell @AuntyRach , must make eating quite miserable. Hope it comes back and that you start to feel better soon.

@Goldenlily26, do you think those bantams could be enticed with food into a dog crate if you could borrow one? It might get rid of the problem quicker.
Good luck at the ear clinic, you do seem to be quite busy with appointments at the moment but I suppose it means they are doing something at long last. I meant to ask you earlier whether you are still suffering with your knee/leg pain, hopefully it's eased off a bit. Could you tell me please the brand name of the beta blockers you were taking. I have a friend who seems to be suffering the same problems and I wondered if it was the same tablets.

After eating not a lot all day yesterday, I was really miffed when I weighed myself just now and found I'd put on nearly a pound - so not fair!!! Must try harder.

It's dull outside but forecast is for sunny spells this afternoon. Going to take it easier today as I think I overdid it yesterday. Might even go and have a mooch round the garden centre.

Have a good day folks.

 

There was no talk of allowed or not allowed. I have a few, but missed some good shots of the bride and groom. And also no one else posted any.

 

There are other photos on their facebook of things they did, fishing, traveling etc.

 

Today was a trip to Bouaye to deposit my sewing machine for a service @Ladybird and then spend the day pottering around Pornic before picking it up again this afternoon. Left at 8am, got to the shop at 9:40 to find madame in shaky form and monsieur (engineer) absent cos his mum died in the night. She sent me a voice mail just after we left but I don't have my phone on when driving and I do all the outward journeys while OH does the returns.

Left the machine anyway and will have to do another trip to fetch it. No hardship as Pornic is lovely and it was very sunny and warm. We had a much needed coffee by the chateau on the shore then went for a wander round its narrow, winding streets before having lunch on the quay - razor clams then moules marinières and they were delicious - some of the best we've had.

Sorry about your taste and smell @AuntyRach. Hope it comes back soon. People here put masks on the minute they start with a cold or other bug now but then continue their usual activities so shopping, sewing club and dancing for people I know.

We can have our flu jabs as of the 15th and have been looking up which "OAP" jabs we should be getting or boosting. Need a chat with the local nurses to book them plus Covid top up in November.

Did you go for a splurge @lizzie27 ? Good luck with all your appointments @Goldenlily26 and those chooks.

 

Oh @Obelix-Vendée I was so sorry to hear about the sadness you encountered when dropping off your machine. As for my fantasy about your patch club - heaven knows where that came from. I have only ever lost my sense of taste and smell once - when I was a student in Liverpool. A group of us had booked to go for a Chinese meal and I was devastated as everything was just like cardboard in my mouth, so I can empathise with you @AuntyRach. I am at a meeting tonight at Church, discussing our Christmas Fair and no doubt tomorrow's quiz will be mentioned also but we are on top of that. I hope someone pinches me to keep me awake! I will bid you all an early good evening and see you all in the morning,

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Met my cousins today. Was shocked to see how frail one has become (she's younger than me, but has heart problems). She had difficulty getting in/out of the car.
Car MOT and service tomorrow, then, fingers crossed it passes, up to the van on Saturday.
Weather is benign for October.

 

No, I was very restrained @Obelix-Vendée, I only bought 4 more steel stakes for the raspberry bed and some lawn seed for OH. We didn't even stop for lunch! Finished the raspberry bed this afternoon and spread the bark mulch on the path around it. Looks much tidier now.
Sorry to hear about the sewing machine proprietors bereavement but glad you enjoyed your seafood lunch - sounds yummy and as you say, you'll have to go back to fetch the machine. Hope it's serviced fairly soon though as you'll be a bit lost without it.

It is a shock isn't it @Penny_Forthem when you meet up with ailing relatives you haven't seen for a while. Slow heart failure is such a draining illness.
Fingers crossed the car passes its MOT.

 

@lizzie27 never fear. I have a small 150€ Brother machine that weighs 6 kilos and has about 80 different stitches which I use for any patchwork projects at the club. It's partly becasue lugging the very much more expensive and heavy Bernina in and out of cars is a pain but also because I don't want to risk it being damaged if it falls over or gets knocked as happened to the one before when we moved.

I have women in the patch club with heart problems and it's very wearing for them @Penny_Forthem so I hope your cousin responds to treatment. We also have another new hip needed and 2 more cataracts - lots of spare parts needed when aging!

 

Good morning everybody. Well the meeting last night was as bad - correction, twice as bad as I had anticipated. So much so I will be opting out of the social committee. I will help wherever possible and I will continue doing the tea/coffee mornings which are a complete and separate entity but to have to suffer any more of those dreadful meetings (nightmare reminisces of staff meetings at school) no thank you. Rant over.
I was sorry to hear about your cousin @Penny_Forthem. It must be so difficult for all her family members seeing a loved one going downhill. I hope all goes well with the motor.
Food Bank duties today so I'll be picking Bestie up about 08:45. I will be taking my knitting and speaking of which I have finished the baby scarf which has gone down very well with the Dad!

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Good morning all.
Sorry to hear about your friend PennyForthem. We notice changes in people when we do not see them often and it is often a shock if they are unwell.

I have a small, table top Singer sewing machine my parents bought, 2nd hand, as my 18th birthday present. It folds down into a small carrying case, still perfect working order, has lots of attachments for pin tucks etc. and has seen me through making my wedding dress and bridesmaid's dress, 2 children, curtains for our first home etc. I know it is worth nothing on the market but has been priceless to me.

At last, something positive has happened in my mundane life. The nurse in the Ear Clinic is lovely and she was able to tell me the lesion in my ear has healed. Quite unusual apparently, they can take a long time, if ever, to heal. 2 years in my case. I only found out there was a problem because I went for a hearing test, I was referred to the hospital who found it when doing a deep clean of my ear. A small area of exposed bone, important not to allow infection to get into it.
A new day treatment hub has been opened on the hospital site but no extra car parking added. I had to drive around the car park 3 times before spotting a car leaving. At least parking is free but surely some extra parking should have been part of the development.

Lizzie, the beta blocker I am taking is Bisoprolol.
I am biding my time with catching the chickens. If they come into my front area I can herd them into a corner where they hide under a fuschia. I can then pick them up and put them into one of the many coops in my neighbours garden. I feel it is up to my neighbour to catch them but she is away on a course until the week-end. I do not want to make too much of an issue as I want to remain on friendly terms with her.
Yeah! My neigbour has just looked in to let me know she has caught all of the reprobate chooks, she has borrowed my pet carrier to put them in, for her father to take them to the woods, where they can live wild with the other cockerals and her Mum and Dad will give them food.

Oh boy! Is there going to be fun and games for the next 9 weeks with the forth coming road works. As a trial run for us drivers, they closed the byepass down to 1 lane at a 3 road junction yesterday. Traffic lights, Asda and 2 roundabouts all close by. The tail back was unbelievable, and so slow. It is going to be a nightmare, especially in the rush hour.

I bought myself a fish and chip lunch on the way home. Very disappointing. The shop is under new management and the quality of food and cooking has dropped significantly. Poppy helped me to eat the fish but I will not be going back there in a hurry. The young lady serving was a delight and when I asked if they had any empty pickle jars, went above and beyond being helpful to give me one. Rinsed, stuffed with paper, not sure why, and wrapped in several more layers of paper to avoid it leaking in my car, in a carrier bag, bless her. Now I can make my pickled eggs and pickled onions, one more jar to track down. Quite difficult as they all get put into recycling.

An e-mail has been sent to all trustees of our club asking for 2 resignations as part of the rules of being a charity. Because we have 7 trustees we have to change 2 each year. I have said I will stand down, a gentleman has said he will also stand down as his wife is terminally ill and he is caring for her. One less boring meeting to go to.
Have a good day everyone.

 

Committee meetings can be fraught or just plain frustrating can't they @Ladybird4? The president before me at the dance club liked the sound of his own voice, had all sorts of ideas to propose but no idea how to implement them or that the members would like them and meetings could go on from 8pm till after midnight. Not good for those who had to work the next day.

I took over when he left and the first meeting ended at 9:35. I looked at them all and said what have I missed? Nothing so we had our drink and cake and chat and everyone went home at 10:30, happy.

Patch club meetings are very congenial but we do have one problem member this year and I've had to call an extra one on Monday morning to get a collective decision on booting her out. Not pleasant and we'll have 20 minutes before people start arriving to set up the tables for our all day workshop.

Great news about your ear and the chooks @Goldenlily26. You've certainly had your money's worth from your sewing machine. I liked my old machine but it fell off a shelf and died so needed replacing.

Hope the car has passed @Penny_Forthem and that the weather stays good for the caravan. It's gone cloudy here but is still about 20C and set to be dry, sunny and warm for the rest of the weekend. that means lots of watering needed for the recently planted roses and trees.

Bought some more bulbs in LIDL this morning but they'll have to wait till the rest of the roses and bigger plants go in. Found a special offer on a food processor in Leclerc - half price for a Moulinex so one came home. I've had my Braun for about 25 years and it's long lost the ability to grate and has chips all over.

Hope your day is going well too.

 

I took the car to the village garage this morning and they, very kindly, ran me home.
Only an oil change, not a major service - and the car passed its MOT. She brought the car home at 2, with a card reader, so I was able to pay without leaving the house! It's run by a local lady and has recently won an award for its service. I can see why. And they're very reasonable.
We took some stuff up to the van and I found my watch and hub his watch charger.
I've ordered a pheromone collar for Gin, to help calm him in some of the situations he finds tricky, particularly some separation anxiety. He's becoming an integral and joyous part of the 'pack' now and we all pile on our large sofa in the den together! Bless him!

 

The joys (not) of Committee meetings! OH has been off and on one at the car club for the last 40 years. Like you @Obelix-Vendée, he ran his to timed sessions and made sure, as far as he could, that the members got through the agenda in good time. All men, most of them got easily diverted and loved the sound of their own voices. Never again, he says.

We had a joyful piece of news yesterday to counteract the sad tales of recent posted bereavements. Whilst out on our usual walk, we met a young mother of twin boys who lives near us. She'd had the misfortune to have the twins during covid, so not many family visits, no health visitors, twin clubs etc which must have been really tough. We'd seen her lately with a small bump but didn't like to ask but yesterday she had the most beautiful and tiny baby girl in a babysling out for her first walk at 1 week old. Mum and Dad were fizzing with happiness and Mum kept exclaiming 'there's only one, there's only one!!! We were most amused.

So far I have managed not to buy any bulbs at all, there's not much space left in this garden for new ones and I've still to plant two bags of left over tulips from last year. Where, I'm not sure.

Tidied up the area I was working on yesterday and in a flash of inspiration inserted a very sturdy steel fencing pin (it's got like a shepherds crook at the top) at the top of the stone step up onto the bark mulch path. I can then use it as a handhold if need be if the bark gets slippery in wet weather. I use these fencing pins quite a lot in the garden and find them very useful.

Thanks for that brand name @Goldenlily26, I'll tell my friend. I bet you're so pleased the chickens have gone at last, another problem sorted. I thought of you whilst watching Escape to the Country this afternoon. The would be house buyer wanted a big garden for her dog, chickens and bees - I felt sorry for her poor neighbours.

 

Sounds like excellent service @Penny_Forthem. Good luck with the pheromone collar and all the training.

@lizzie27 I didn't time myself, just kept them on topic. Do the same with patch club and we whack thru the agenda and then chat. Nice to have some good news isn't it? Loads of space for bulbs here but I'm concentrating on alliums, multi-headed daffs and species tulips so they all keep coming back with no fuss.

I've been out to water all the newly planted trees and roses plus all the pots of stuff waiting to be planted and the permanent pots. There's a nasty cold wind from the north now so I had to rug up. Brrr!

 

The best meetings we ever had were with a boss, who put his watch on the table and made us stand.
I concur with @Ladybird4's assessment of teacher staff meetings. A nightmare. Just when you wanted to be home, but still faced mountains of marking.