It's Spring Chit Chat

Good morning and Sandy thanks for the bday wishes.

The only day I had time to come here, I signed in and then the internet went out. Must have been the day Dougie saw me here and me not saying anything.
Hiya Dougie

All the birthdays here have come and gone thank goodness and I've been busy going out a lot.
Although it's Autumn here now we are still having hot weather. Thunderstorms on the cards today and it's very humid this morning.

Just read back Sandy and I too would stay put and see how things go before moving that far up.
Sarah and the girls have cars and can always drive down to see you.

I'm not on the computer much these days and only quickly reply to FB messages via my phone.

Sorry to hear about your back Wendy.  

We have Jessie's birthday next week.  I still can't get her to tell me what she wants.  I suspect she is rather hoping for money so that she can buy more nail stuff.

I had a lovely afternoon yesterday.  I had been invited to a home Bible study group with Pearl (new friend) a couple of weeks ago but couldn't go last week due to not being at all well, but I was determined to go this week.  There were nine of us in all and they were all such lovely people.  I thoroughly enjoyed it.  Now I just have to remember all of their names.

I already knew Rosemary from my old block and Pearl of course, but all the others I had never met before.  I've already forgotten the name of the lady that picked us up and drove us there, lol.

Actually sitting here and in my minds eye seeing us all there, I have only forgotten three names.  That's not bad for me.

I'll get Pearl to remind me of those before we go again next week.

Have read all the posts , hello to everybody, 

Hello everyone. 

Sandy, 
How wonderful that you had a good time at the Bible study.

Wendy, 
Hope your back is better. 

Martha, 
I will be experiencing Spring thunderstorms her pretty soon, I think.

What a gorgeous picture of blossoms that is, Geru. 

I went to my daughter's baby shower yesterday.
Baby showers are not usually my type of thing.
But I had to go since it was my daughter.
It was fun to see my aunts and some of my cousins.
This will be the first baby for this daughter.
I'm very happy for her.

Three of my granddaughters wanted to come home with me
after the baby shower (My other daughter's girls)
so I had them overnight.

I took them to a crystal shop this morning
as I had promised the oldest I would buy her
some items that she's had her eye on.
She is very interested in crystals.

I brought them home about an hour ago
and am just enjoying the quiet right now.

Hope everyone has a lovely rest of the day.

Hi Kerri.  It's always nice to catch up on your news of your Grand children.  I so miss mine being young.

I finally sold my trike yesterday.  The chap came down all the way from Bristol to pick it up.  His wife, who has cycled all of her life, now has MS and is worried about riding a 2 wheeler now.  Hopefully my trike will be ideal for her. She can still ride it as a 2 wheeler on one setting but will have the stability of a solid trike to get on and off with.  A bit like having a bike with stabilizers.  They didn't quibble over the price of £750.  He drove off thrilled with it.  I was sad to see it go.

I am now well used to my scooter and am very much enjoying using it.

Jessie's birthday today so going out with the family for a meal tonight.  I don't want to leave Louie on his own all afternoon and then after a short break leave him again all evening so I am forgoing the Bible group today.

It was such a lovely day yesterday here, that Louie actually asked to go for a walk twice.  I have his lead hanging beside the front door and I was very surprised to see him actually go over sit underneath it and keep looking at me.  There was no hiding in his bed as he normally does when I got up to put it on him.

It looks like it's going to be another nice day today as well.

Hi Geru.

Lovely sunny days here too for a couple of days. A bit chilly but pleasant walking weather. Louie is pretty smart. It's great that you know your trike has gone where it will be appreciated Sandy even if you're a bit sad to see it go. Enjoy your meal out tonight.

Congratulations to your daughter Kerri. Before you know it you'll be doing all sorts of fun stuff with your latest grandchild as well as those three. Is it a boy or a girl this time?

Nothing exciting happening here. I've got Alfie this morning. I haven't had him since last Monday so Pippa has been lulled and is not happy to see him again. lol Doing some boring cleaning up here this morning with the pup's "help" and then we'll have our usual Monday lunchtime get together and he'll get to play with Spencer.

Hi Geru. I agree with Kerri. That's a beautiful picture.

Nothing exciting happening my end either today.

Yesterday Charlie brought along an 8mph scooter for me to look at that he had been given to get rid of by an old boy, to see if I would be interested in it.

It hasn't been looked at by Charlie yet to see if it works or whatever so have to wait and see on that.

I couldn't see it properly as it was wedged into Charlies van along with all of his tools and it's far to heavy for him to have pulled it out for a few minutes and then lifted it back in again.

But from what I could see I don't think it's been looked after properly.

It's only just over 6 years old and a top of the range one, but it's had 3 owners, and I could see thick rust on some of the metal parts, the seat was broken and the front tyres are as bald as a baby's backside.

Quite honestly it looks at first glance to me as if some teens could have, at some point, been playing with it, with wheelies and such, which would explain the tyres, and also the broken seat.  The rust tells me that it hasn't been under cover for a time.

Ok, tyres and seat can be changed and the rust can be cleaned off, but my worry is that if it has been so negected and misused, as I am tempted to believe, what damage could be lurking in the under parts and those that can't be seen.

Optimistically:

It could be that the seat post has just come out from the grip at the bottom, or not put back in properly, and not actually broken, when at some point it was taken off to transport it somewhere.. 

The front tyres could be bald from natural wear and tear and the back ones could simply have just been replaced without replacing the front ones, which would explain the rear ones in great condition and the front ones still bald.

The rust could simply be cosmetic such as on the mirror stem, the bar that holds the rear basket and so on.  It was so tightly squeezed into the van that it was hard to see all around it.

I'm now waiting to see what Charlie makes of it once he gets it back to his shed, sorts it out and tests it.

Definitely worth Charlie checking it over. If it's mostly cosmetic you could get yourself a great bargain even after replacing the front tyres and having a few other bits of work done. If it's top of the range it may well be worth the money and effort.

Alfie arriving shortly. I wasn't supposed to be having him until next Friday but my niece and her partner want to go house hunting. They're thinking of moving to the town where they both now work.  It would definitely save them a lot of time and money they spend commuting at the moment. They would have to find a new dog sitter/walker though.

Will they be moving very far from you? 

Well, so far Charlie has sorted the seat out.  It seems that at some point it must have got very wet and then left to soak in the water as the base of the seat (the base being wood of some sort) was rotten along the sides where the metal was holding it all together.  The wood base then crumbled away from it all.

He has now made a new base and as the seat itself is still perfect with no wear and tear it's all now back together again and good to go.

He has checked all the underside of the scooter and there seems to be no damage or rust.  So it's looking highly likely that the rust is just on the cosmetic bits and anything rusty can be replaced for peanuts.

Two new front tyres will cost £55 each but he hasn't checked the batteries yet or found out the price of new ones.  But he reckons they are ok and to use laymans terms he says they might need descaling (not the real word for it) but he has a low amp charger that can do that, thereby giving the batteries back the ability to charge fully again if weather has corroded them.

The next step, if he deems it safe to ride, is to bring it over for me to test out on a few short runs, in and around my area, to get the feel of it.  He said he doesn't think it will be as comfortable a ride as the one I have now.  He has had a tiny test on it and it doesn't seem to have the spring over the lumps and bumps of our roads and pavements as mine does he says.

If all is good then some time and a little money can be spent on getting it up to scratch.

I should take Louie along to have his nails clipped today.  But I'm looking at the weather first.  If it's still all dry by lunch time he and I will run along to New Milton on the scooter.  We do have a dog beautician around the corner here, but she is bloody useless and never does his nails and anal glands properly.  She is ok in an emergency but to get a good job done it means a little trip out.

Hi everyone.

Sandy, 
I hope Charlie can get help you get the scooter fixed up.

Wendy, 
My daughter is having a boy.
It will be my first grandson as my other daughter has all girls.

I made it up to the store by 7 AM this morning
hoping to beat the crowds.
Everyone else must have had the same idea
as the store was very busy. 

Yesterday, I left work early and rented a Rug Doctor
carpet cleaner and cleaned the apartment carpeting.

I'm hoping I can relax a little today.
One granddaughter is coming over tonight.
She wants me to take her to see a scary movie tomorrow.
I believe I will.
I'll just have to keep my eyes closed or my hand in front of my face
for the scary parts.  Haha

Hope everyone has a lovely rest of the day.

Good morning all. Finally showing my face again lol. I've lost interest in the boards lately and have just been enjoying outdoor activities and besides that I read a lot. No doubt come winter time I feel like spending more time on the computer.

Kerri how exciting to await a little grandson

Wendy you will have to find another reason to go for walks then if your niece moves away.

Sandy you are so lucky to have Charlie taking care of all those things and to even find you a (perhaps) faster scooter.

I'm still resting my body more then I ever have but it's needed big time so I'm just going with the flow and enjoy being lazy hahaha.

Lazy is good but it sounds as though you're getting out and about plenty too Martha. That's a good balance.

Exciting Kerri. It'll be nice to have a boy too. Enjoy the scary movie. lol

I've had visitors overnight again but they've left for home now so all is quiet. Back to housework tomorrow but I've decided I'm having today off as it's Mothers' Day here.

Sandy I hope you're getting spoiled today. Happy Mothers' Day.

py Mothers Day to all the ladies on here from Britain

Congrats on your Daughter about to give you your first Grandson Kerri.

As you know Martha, I often go through "can't be bothered with the boards" every so often.  As long as you are enjoying life while you are away, that's the main thing.

Yes I am very lucky to have Charlie.

I had a great Mother's day.  All my girls and Adam came over for the afternoon.  Sarah brought all the makings of a High Tea with them.  Martyn unfortunately was working.  Aimee was working too, but she made the trip from work to mine for an extended lunch hour.

Charlie had dropped of the new scooter yesterday morning after making a new seat bottom for it, and this morning I cleaned it up and disinfected the parts that I need to actually touch when using it.  My goodness it was mank, but cleaned up amazingly well.  Much of what I thought was thick rust is in fact light rust once all the dirt was off of it, which I'm sure I will be able to clean off.

I then needed to test it out, so Margaret (in her scooter) and I rode up to the top of the road and into the very large seafront car park.  It's so large that during the quiet times of the year it's halved off, so we rode into the empty half and had it to ourselves.

It was great fun.  We were buggering around like a couple of teens on bikes or skate boards.  It's top speed is actually 8.5mph.  Margaret and I had a couple of races and I was quite a bit faster, but we think it might have been because she has a full canopy on hers which could be holding her back with the drag of it.

I found a couple of things that need looking at, beside needing new front tyres.

All the electrics work perfectly, as in indicators, lights etc, but they don't beep when in use which all other scooters, including my 6mph does, and the horn barely makes a noise.  So that needs looking at.

The seat is a fraction wobbly as I get on and off, so the post holding that might have to be looked at.

But the main thing that needs sorting is, when the front wheels are dead straight the tiller handle (steering if you like) is a little off to the right.

Apart from that it seems to be a bloody good scooter.  Charlie is coming over tomorrow morning to bring me the charger over as he forgot to give me that yesterday, so I will mention those things to him.   Oh, and it seems that the batteries are less than a year old.  They are dated from purchase.

Thanks Geru.

Glad you had a fun family day Sandy. I can picture you racing round the car park on that scooter. lol Sounds like with a bit of work and money you've got yourself a real bargain.

Not much happening here. I cleaned upstairs yesterday and I've started downstairs this morning. Taking a quick break for a coffee. Off to my brother's after lunch but that's about it.

My insides were playing me up again yesterday so I couldn't take Jessie up on her offer of going out for Lunch.  Instead she dropped off on the way to me to grab herself a McDonalds, then back to mine to eat it and stayed for a couple of hours.

So far this morning they, (my insides) seem to be behaving, and aren't that uncomfortable. I hope I'm not speaking too soon.

Charlie came early yesterday to quickly drop the charger for the scooter, had a cup of tea and then admired how nice it had cleaned up.  He also brought some soft wire wool which I might (depending on my insides) use today with some cola to clean up some of the rust.

Margaret is up in Scotland for the rest of the week.  She went up yesterday.  So I don't have my racing buddy for anymore whooping it up in the car park, lol.  I can't take it out on the road yet until the tracking is sorted and I have new front wheels.

Charlie also actually has this week off, which he is spending decorating his Daughter/Son-in-Laws house while they are in Paris Disney.

It looks like the day is going to be reasonably sunny so apart from cleaning up the kitchen my time will be spent de-rusting the scooter if I feel up to it.

reading your posts, have a great day everyone 

You too Geru.

Hope you're feeling better by now Sandy. With a bit of luck you can get the scooter sorted while Margaret's away and then be raring to go when she gets home.

I've got the wheely out, washed some dishes and changed and washed the bedding. Having a quick coffee break before I do a few more chores. Having lunch with my sister later. She's got this week off and it's her birthday tomorrow. I've got Alfie tomorrow so my sister will probably bring Spencer over for a play day while she's not working. He's in trouble at the moment for nicking one of her sandals and chewing the strap off it. She'd put them up on a unit thinking they were out of his way but no such luck. They were expensive ones made to help with her heel problem so he's in the doghouse.

Yup, I'm all good again now Wendy thanks.

I hope you have a good day today with Sis and pups.  I learned very early on to dog proof my home from puppies.  If there is something they shouldn't have, they will find it.

I had a lovely afternoon with Aimee and Jess yesterday.  They took me out to lunch and then shopping in The Edinburgh Wool Mill.  I spent the gift card I still had from Christmas on a top quality T-shirt and a blouse/shirt.  It peed with rain but that didn't spoil our time together.

Lolling around day today doing what I what when I want.  I may do some housework, I may not, depending on whether I fancy it or not.

Spring is here , flowers are blooming, will need to go find some .... lol

Hi everyone.

Sandy, 
Sounds like you had a lovely day with Aimee and Jess.

Wendy, 
Hope you had a lovely lunch with your sister.
Oh my. Having a dog is like having another child. 
I always had cats because I thought they were easier.
Although, I've had cats unroll the whole toilet paper roll
in the bathroom, urinate and poop in the dirt 
of my large indoor potted plant, 
jump from the top of an upholstered chair
onto the Christmas tree and make it start to tip.
(I happened to be there and caught the tree and put it upright again.)

Martha, 
So glad you are enjoying the outdoor activities.
I can't wait until the warm weather hits and I can get outside
to attend some of the festivals here.

Geru, 
How wonderful that the flowers are blooming there.
I have not seen any daffodils yet. But soon I hope!

The scary movie was awful. 
But the girls loved it and the popcorn and the sweets.
So that's what matters.

I left work early yesterday to avoid some of the traffic.
The NCAA Final Four is being held in downtown Minneapolis
and about 100,000 people are expected to arrive in the city.

On the news, they were giving details of some of the free
events, musical concerts, and some of the yummy food.
There is a free ferris wheel set up downtown as well
that I know my granddaughters would love.
But I don't think I'm in the mood to deal with
such a large crowd this weekend. 

Hope everyone has a lovely rest of the day.

Glad you're feeling better Sandy and had a great day out. I love the wool mills. I have some jumpers from there that I bought decades ago and there's not a thing wrong with them still. Some have been washed quite a lot too. Expensive but value for money.

Hi Geru and Kerri. Still a bit nippy here but some flowers are blooming and there's even blossom on some of the trees now. Glad the girls enjoyed the film Kerri even if you weren't too keen. lol It sounds like you get a much better variety of free entertainment than we do here. Very little is free around here.

More money to pay out initially but cheaper in the long run because their clothing lasts so long.  And as I hate clothes shopping anyway, when I have the cash I do like to buy quality if I can.

With 3 cats and no children in the house my Sarah last Christmas didn't bother with a Christmas tree after the tree was destroyed more than once by the cats the year before.

Aimee had bought me a 23andMe DNA kit for Mothers day, and so this morning I spent over 30 mins trying to work up enough saliva to spit into a DNA tube.  I did it first thing before a cup of tea and a drag on my E-cig because one has to not to have eaten, drunk or smoked for 30 mins before spitting.

My throat was as dry as a bone and for the life of me I just couldn't make saliva.  I had the same trouble when I did the one for Ancestry.com.  BTW, don't ever bother with that one unless you are hoping to find distance relatives that also might have done it.  It's so bloody useless and far too expensive for what you get.  The actual DNA trace from where in the world you come from is so basic and the information you get couldn't fill an A5 piece of paper.  Aimee and Sarah have both done both and the 23andMe one gave much more detail.

They told me the choice of the DNA test for Mothers day was a bit double sided as they want my DNA so they can filter out, via Sarah's, which part of her's is my DNA and which is her Fathers.   I'm just of now to the top of the road with Louie to post it off.  No idea how many weeks it will take to get the results.

DNA testing for regions I think it still in it's early days, but as it gets better they do update your information from the same sample.

I'd have had a brew and smoke first and then waited 30 mins. Priorities and all that. lol It's good that they update your info as it improves. Any particular reason why they want to filter Sarah's DNA or just curiosity?

I've just had the gas engineer here to fix a leak on my boiler (yes another one!) but he needs an o-ring kit which he'll have to order. He's busy until after Easter now but will do it then along with the service he was going to do today. It's not going to get worse (it's a steady drip) and isn't going near any electrics so it's fine to use until then. Another £200 approx although that does include the £60 service. It's a fiddly job likely to take 2-3 hours so not unreasonable. Might be a bit more but if he can get it done quicker it might be a bit less. Could be worse I suppose but there's always something with that thing.

I think it's just curiosity.  Bill's genealogy is Scotland from his Scots Dad, so I think Sarah is just trying to figure out which of her's is from him and which from me.  Once she has mine she will know what part is from him.

It's all pay out when one owns their own house.  I am so pleased I now rent.  I was always poor when I owned my own.

I've spent today changing around my room a bit.  Not finished yet and will have to finish off tomorrow as I am too tired now.  Not sure if it will look better and be more efficient until all things are in place, but it's kept me amused today.