Winter Chat

it's too early for winter chatter lol

susan

Thanks for the suggestions ladies. The hair is out unfortunately. My sister does it for her every Monday when we have our lunchtime get together. She used to do mum's at the same time and she does my colour or a trim whenever it's needed as well. She had a salon for over twenty years but gave it up a few years ago. She keeps her hand in by doing family and a few old clients who didn't want to find a new hairdresser.

I've had no enthusiasm for Christmas for years now Kerri. It's become more of a chore than fun. I hate how commercialized it is these days.

I hope your Daughter gets well soon Kerri and that it's not something you can all pick up.

What about a pretty shawl for her shoulders Wendy?

Yeah, I do seem to be doing some sewing every day at the moment.  It's not only the making of things that keep me amused though Geru, it's the enjoyment of looking around the charity shops to find suitable material.  I know some of the things, like the mop caps are useless, but it's keeping me amused and staving off the winter blues.    I still haven't figured out how to make a perfect bonnet cap though.  I really must persevere with that.   They look like fun.

The problem is though, that I don't want to spend money on buying new stuff, like lace and ribbons and such.  I'm trying to do everything with 2nd hand stuff, so I'm a bit limited.  Maybe after Christmas I might buy some fancy bits to add to the bonnets and see what I can come up with.

Dental work is very expensive over here if one goes private rather than the NHS too.  I don't begrudge that money though, because I am so well looked after with mine, and I simply couldn't go back to the NHS for it.

Weather is very gloomy , dark and raining lightly too, heavy wind is forecast , but not to cold '

Sandy: what is NHS  ?   Nice to hear you enjoy the shopping around looking for the materials etc . I was out looking at Christmas decorations yesterday, bought none , they are asking fantastic prices , highway robbery I call it . lol    , I don't bother to much any more, and will make do with the old things I have . 
I am hoping that the mail strike is totally over now , or at least until after all the deliveries are over with, so many folks depend on it. 

Kerri: hope your daughter gets over her tummy bug soon and feels better fast .

Wendy:  how about a bit of her favourite fragrance ?   a manicure  , a book ?  Sounds like she is fortunate to have her hair done every week , wow.

hello Tara, Elaine , see you later folks

Morning all. Thanks for more suggestions. I have visitors arriving tonight who are mad enough to brave the roads on a Friday night so I won't be around tomorrow. Shopping to do this morning once I've thawed my car. The frost is very pretty but I'd really like a car with a heated windscreen on mornings like this.

The NHS is the National Health Service Geru. Paid for via taxes rather than private insurance.

Kerri thank you much appreciated.

Sandy thanks matie ... my depression was triggered by something Catherine said/did and I just snapped. This of course brought out all the crap I've had happening to me over way to many years and it all came to a big blow.
Part of me feels embarrassed and so utterly sad and miserable; the other part says " well hello, about time you dealt with this once and for all"!
I feel numb most of the time and am trying to breath through anxiety attacks. Then I sleep a lot.

Wendy it's as if we as their mother just don't count as high as what we should isn't it.
My son has been doing this to me on and off and when I snapped I let him have it too.
Enough is enough .... when they need something they get in touch straight away but if we need something from them we have to wait till it suits them. I told my younger 2 that they have double standards and they where not happy with that observation lol.
So needless to say that I have not seen or heard from both of them in weeks now. No phone calls to see how mum is doing; not even a text message.

Geru thank you it will take time but I'm just going to roll with it and see how well I do.

When those you love turn against you, even for just a short time, it drags you so low.  It's like trying to swim in mud, and unable to move a muscle to drag yourself out.  Having been through that myself I feel hurt, sad and angry for you Martha.  I'd just like to throw back at you all the advice you gave me during my time of suffering which went a very long way to helping me.

I'm praying for you matie.

I'm in the middle of making Margaret's skirt but for the life of me can't get the pleats right somehow.  I've already spent over an hour on pleating just one side.  It's doing my head in.

Hi everyone.

I rented a rug doctor carpet cleaner this morning
and washed the carpet in some of the rooms in our apartment.
My back is a teeny bit sore tonight
but it smells lovely in here.

I had promised my granddaughter that I would
buy her a Christmas dress for her Christmas concert
on Thursday night. So after I finished the carpet cleaning,
I took her to Burlington and she found an elegant, yet modern
dress that she loved.

Tomorrow, I am taking another granddaughter
to a church Christmas carol sing.
They always have the most delicious Christmas cookies
there, as well.

The temperature was 46F/8C today, which is warm
here for this time of year.
The weatherman said we may have a brown Christmas.
Which is fine by me.  

Well wishes for everyone.
Take care.

Where do you get all that energy from Kerri? Enjoy the carols and cookies.

Martha it does good to let all this stuff out. We let it brew for years when really we should be much more open in the first place. That's so bad that they haven't even checked to see how you are. Stand firm though. Ungrateful brats! Try not to let it bring you down too far for too long. It may be unpleasant right now but it's much better that they know exactly how you feel about being taken for granted all the time.

Have a great time at the carol service Kerri.

I finally got those pleats sorted for Margarets skirt.  It became quite a chore to make that actually.  I'm pleased it's over with.

This evening I am meant to be wrapping pressies, or so I have promised myself to do.  Not sure if I will get around to it, or maybe spend tomorrow day doing it instead.

Only 9 days to go.

I got so much done yesterday it was unbelievable, but shattered by evening.

This morning first thing I had to alter the straps on a new dress our Jess had bought to wear at her works do this evening.  She brought it round last thing last night.  She left it to the last minute last year too for me to alter a dress.

I managed to get a bit more wrapping done this morning before going with Margaret to our Christmas dinner on site.  I've just got back from that and now sitting with a cup of tea.

I think I will find a Christmas film showing on tele and have it on in the background while I wrap, clean the kitchen floor and then cut out the material for a skirt for myself.  Not sure I will get all that done though before I peter out.

Another wet morning here, and more mess to clean on my balcony , raining lightly , 9c

Nothing much new, all the stores are soooooo busy , don't care for that , everyone rushing from here to there,and the prices .... oh boy !!  
There is this new huge doggy store , it's never busy looking ,bet they won't last long cause the other one  seems to be liked better , it's been there some time . The Village looks so pretty with all the lights , they have been on since USA Thanksgiving it seems , but this is Canada .... lol . It's all about Business .

Sandy:  Your niece  is lucky to have you to help her out with the alterations , but... one hand washes the other as they say . Hope you enjoyed that Christmas dinner, and find the energy to get everything else done today ... if not ...there is still time left .

Have a lovely day .

Well, I didn't get anything else done after the dinner after all.  All the hard work I've done this week, plus a really full belly tired me out.  The Christmas dinner was lovely.

One thing I did notice at the dinner though, was that out of a packed dining hall I was the only woman in a skirt.  All the other women were wearing trousers.  I'd never really noticed it before but it seems that now, all women over a certain age only ever wear trousers.  I find that very strange.

Charlie popped in for a cuppa just before he finished work and went home and Jess made a quick pop in to get her altered dress.  Apart from that I've just sat on my backside and watched a couple of Christmas flims.

I've completely avoided the shops this year having bought everything I wanted on line.  It's too cold, too wet, too tiring, and too busy physically and actively shopping.   I hate packed shops.

I haven't worn a skirt or dress since compulsory school uniform Sandy apart from my wedding dress. I hate them. I mostly live in jeans or cargo pants and sweatshirts or fleeces depending on how cold it is.

My sister and I picked up the second puppy yesterday. Very cute. The weather was atrocious though. Heavy rain and strong winds. Not ideal for house training. I have my niece's pup here for the day and then that's it until Sunday evening. He's been here three days (not the nights) running and I'm worn out. I forgot how much work they are. I need eyes in the back of my head.

Puppy pads matie.  They are the the trick.  I wish I had known about them with my other dogs.  With Louie I was talked into using them for him and it was the best thing I have ever done.

For instance last night he wasn't well.  Diarrhea and throwing up twice.  All of it he did on his puppy pad that I lay down in my shower for him.  His instant thought when that happens is to rush on to the pad.  So much easier to clean up.

Margaret is the same regarding trousers.  She also hasn't worn a skirt since leaving school.  My Sarah wears black trousers occasionally but mostly wears skirts and the two girls wear skirts for work and going out in the evenings, but wear jeans for casual.  Aimee's favourite style of dressing is actually 1940s style lengths of skirts and with a little flair. 

I'd just never noticed at all until yesterday that skirts have disappeared completely from all of the oldies here on site.  Now I'm going to be curious enough to see if it's village wide, lol.  Clothes are not something I ever usually notice on people.  Maybe it's because it's winter that there are a lot of trousers about, or maybe it's their normal style of dressing.  But if it is because it's winter I would have thought that as it was a Christmas dinner, others would have put on a skirt just for that.

I didn't wake up this morning until the alarm went off for my meds at 9am.  I've forgotton how long ago it was since that's last happened.  Slowly starting the day now.

Another rainy day so it looks , but only lightly right now ,mild 8c , but more wind is in the forecast ..
Watching a bird on the tree this morning , it was funny actually , it hopped back and forth from the same  branch to the branch beside it , over and over and over  , wonder if that was for exercise ??? lol 

 Sandy:    Skirts ?  oh dear, I like my jeans , trousers , but do have skirts for dressing up , long ones, and medium long ones , pleated ones too. 

Must see if I can get to my Christmas decorations soon, not going to put up a tree, just a few things . I find that if you put a lot of stuff out, it's so bare looking when you need to take it all down again .

See you later ladies 

He's actually very good at going outside despite the rain but does rush to the puppy pad if I don't notice he needs to go. I've been quite impressed with him in that regard. He's nine weeks old today so doing great.

That's cute Geru. If it was Spring you'd think he was trying to attract a mate but not in December. Maybe he was just bored. lol

I'm not decorating at all. I'm going to be away at my daughter's for a few days starting Christmas Eve so the only things that are up are cards.

More wet and windy weather. It's been a miserable week. The cat is enjoying her peace and quiet with no puppy to watch out for.

I don't put decorations up at all for the same reason that it looks bare once taken down Geru.  Plus I am not here over Christmas anyway.  Where once it was always me that did Christmas I did used to have a lot of decorations, but absolutely no point now.

Great that the pup uses his pad Wendy.  It makes bringing up a puppy so easy.

It's already 11am here and I have done sod all so far except take Louie for a quick walk.  I must finish this cup of tea I have and then get stuck in.

Just dropping in quick like .... weather was awful yesterday afternoon , very very windy, almost got blown over .... lol .Not bad right now , we were lucky , did not loose our power, but lots did .

best take a few pictures now and then so I don't forget how to use this darn contraption , my son gives me things without instruction booklets ... whippy ding .

i put up a few things today for decorating , but not to much . Took this picture of my Planter I put together .  That is a little red bird sitting on the rim . Can't seem to get it to enlarge , so my brain finally went in to gear today and used the hosting site .

Morning I've been up since 4am lol. Have slept a lot this past week due to health drama's last weekend. Long story and have posted about it on my board so won't repeat myself here.
Typing/writing is still hard for me but wanted to drop in to say hi.

Enjoy your Christmas everyone and have a good one!

Hi everyone.

After work today, my two youngest 
granddaughters came over.
We made Christmas cookies and now are watching
kid's Christmas movies.

Pretty plant, Geru!

Hope you have a good time at your daughter's place
for Christmas, Wendy.

Sandy, 
I hope you enjoy Christmas with your family.

Martha, 
Merry Christmas!

Hi Elaine. Hi Susan.

Merry Christmas, everyone.

Thanks Kerri. I hope you and everyone else has a great holiday too however you all celebrate.

The planter looks lovely Geru.

More rain here. It's not going to come light properly again today. It's been miserable and doesn't inspire enthusiasm to get on with anything. I'm like you Sandy. I've done nothing except shower so far today and need a kick up the backside to get moving.

Oh well we're past the shortest day.

Love the planter Geru.

I have noticed on all American programmes that it seems to be the thing at Christmas for all women to bake cookies over there.  Over here if we do bake anything for Christmas it's Christmas Cake and/or Christmas pudding.  I don't think we even have such things as Christmas cookies.  I'm sure your's will taste wonderful Keri.

I did manage to get some things done, although I seemed to have loads of interruptions.  I set aside the morning to ring Martha as we haven't chatted for ages, and everytime this last few weeks I have looked at the clock to ring it's been during Australia night.  But we managed a fairly long chat this morning (my time).

Then of course once I actually decided to make a start on actually doing something, it was the phone ringing or Margaret knocking.  But...........  I have almost managed to get everything done on my today's list after all, and it's only 4pm, so have a couple of hours left to finish off.