What are you all up to
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A small step forward yesterday, we went out to a pub for lunch with our regular Lunch Club chums, mainly ex colleagues, must be nearly a year since we attended the last one? It went much better than I thought it would and good to catch up with people, even if much of the conversation was about health issues! I was worried how I would cope food eating wise but I needn't have worried. Margaret had her Vatican knife with her. I can almost hear you asking what is a Vatican knife? Margaret used to carry a fruit knife which had its own cover, so hardly an offensive weapon. Many years ago we were on a coach trip to Italy and one day we visited the Vatican and in particular the Sistine Chaple(absolutely amazing if you can get there) The guide happened to ask if anyone had any knives before we went through security, so up steps Margaret with her fruit knife. Which from that day onwards has been called the "Vatican Knife"
David
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It's a problem for MiL as well @DavidKlyne. It was one of the main things she was worried about particularly as her left arm had Stroke Distonia. Nowadays she chooses meals such as soup or sits next to a friend who will cut a meal up for her if out eating with friends. Obviously we do it if we take her out. Glad you enjoyed it, probably more than you thought you would.
Well, the rain continues to fall.☔️
I agree with what you say @DEBSC about appreciating where you live. I'd like it even more if the weather, as a general rule, was better but COVID lockdowns and restrictions helped me appreciate some of the forgotten local corners around here. Here is a view looking down towards the town of Ruthin and the valley it sits in with the mountains of Eryri and the Carneddau range behind it. The photo was taken, obviously, in better weather when walking up the local Clwydian hills nearby.
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It’s raining here in South Yorks still as well. Unusual for us to locally get so much, as we are in the dry side of the Pennines and Sheffield, so it has usually fallen there, at least most of it. I think our situation of not being able to get away much has made us appreciate what is on our doorstep more, we have nice woodlands, canal walks, Trans Pennine Trail very close, and it’s 20 mins into Peak District. We been exploring local big houses, castles, industrial archaeology around us as well on day trips. I have got National Coal Mining Museum, and Yorkshire Wildlife Park lined up this Spring. I have done both, but OH hasn’t. It’s around 5 miles around YWP, so a good walk as well. No point in this rain though, animals will be inside keeping warm.
Got back from Mum’s early today, and having the whole weekend off as well, so a treat for me. If it stops raining, we might get a drive out somewhere. Meantime my latest addictive hobby has kicked well and truly in, I am really enjoying crochet, am currently making myself a bag. Will pos5 a photo when finished, it’s not just crocheted, a bit more to it……😄
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Attended our Grumpy's breakfast club meet-up yesterday, it’s a monthly meet up with ex work colleagues
This morning I had a hospital appointment with my consultant fortunately, apart from a medication change, no further ops for 4 month.
Caravan all ready to take to dealer on Monday for its annual service
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That sounds like good progress @DavidKlyne well done, it looks as if you had a nice time.
Pleased to read that your car passed it's MOT @DEBSC it is always a worrying time waiting for the call to say whether or not it has passed!
Good that your visit to your consultant went well @Oneputt I hope the dealer doesn't find anything untoward during the service of your caravan.
It has been a horribly wet and windy day here at home, certainly not the best for getting outside work done. However it might just have stopped raining so we may get a relatively dry walk in before turning in.
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One of the roads in the village is flooded this evening, as a result of the river Anker bursting it's banks. The village centre has water coming up through the drains. Fortunately we are a bit further up so we don't get effected, but the centre of the Polesworth is prone to some flooding. A couple of the Abbey choir didn't get to practice because of the floods. 😦 Just hope that this rain stops soon...
Glad you had a good time out @DavidKlyne and that the visiy to the consultant went well @Oneputt.
David
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Well, I suppose I should be doing something important but wanted to see how the Curling went this morning, pleased they did well. I now can’t seem to stop watching the skiing, I think it’s called slope stile, wow how do they know where they are - spatially!!? Very skilful.
Our little granddaughter in Macau goes to an international school there. I was surprised, and a bit saddened, when she just told us they are having lessons in learning what is real and what isn’t. Son told us it’s to with the rise of Ai etc. She is 7 next week! What has happened to the magic of childhood? They will be telling them Father Christmas doesn’t exist next 🤦🏻♀️😳. I can appreciate that it’s necessary to try to understand but surely not at 7!?
Have a good weekend everyone. I will be watching the curling again this afternoon!0 -
@Oneputt hope the caravan service goes well with no issues.
Bright but cold day here today just heading up to sons flat as the gas man is coming today to move a couple of radiators. Just booked the sites for our planned March trip a week in Chester and a couple of days in Blackpool on way home looking forward to that hoping the weather is ok to get a bit of cycling done . Planning on going away just local in a couple of weeks for our first trip of the season. Caravan show is on in Glasgow this weekend so that’s what we are planning on doing tomorrowHope everyone else is having a nice weekend
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Our daughter, SIL, and grandson (who live on Lewis) travelled down to Glasgow yesterday, in order to go to the show @Francis. It's a bit far for use, and I do find these shows 'heavy on the legs' these days. It's the Birmingham Show soon - only about 30 mins for us, down the M42, but I suspect we'll give it a miss this time.
David
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@Francis - we bought our last caravan from the show, around 3 years ago, but we bought it from our usual/ local dealer 😀 - and I reckon I could have got the 'show deal' by just popping down to the dealers… And to crown it all, Snowdonia Cheese didn't have a stall that year.... 🤣
David
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we got ours from Campbells in Preston done the deal at the show then went down and collected it a few weeks later they gave a good trade in price on our previous van and threw in a motor mover ffor us too so worked out really well. If/when we change again we would probably go to one of the shows again to see we what deals are on offer although we don’t have any plans to change van any time soon
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Well I’m getting old and I’ve shrunk! Painted one wall in the dining room with the roller, carefully painted all along the skirting board with the brush. A couple of inches at the top need doing with the brush where it meets the ceiling. Got out our usual little steps, can’t reach! I’m sure that I used to be able to. Then I realised that even if I get in the step ladder I can’t hold the protector, for a straight line, and the paint brush high above my head. Since my op last year I find it difficult to hold my arm up for more than a few moments. Standing looking at it forlornly and OH walked in from watching football. I’ll do it tomorrow he said. I am grateful but it is annoying I wouldn’t have thought twice about it a few years ago.
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😳Our overnight guest has arrived. Rupert the Whippet, five months old, into everything. Luckily he has brought his cage as well😂
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Thank you for my birthday wishes. I had a lovely birthday - celebrated with the family at the weekend and then various visits from friends also cards, presents, flowers and lots of cake! OH and I had lunch out on the day (Tuesday). Most of the rest of the week has been spent with me taking our daughter to and from the eye clinic at the hospital. She developed a problem with one of her eyes and it eventually culminated with them giving her laser treatment yesterday as she had a tear in her retina. So fortunate that it wasn't a detached retina. It has been rather worrying.
In between all of the above the family and I had a discussion about my (very old) PC which was playing up and had a hissy fit whenever I switched it on. It was decided that it was no good trying to repair it and that I should use my laptop so a new 'proper' keyboard was purchased and DIL came on Monday to set it all up. Unfortunately the printer and the laptop wouldn't speak to each other. Fortunately son, after many visits has sorted it out. Modern technology!
I love the look of your visiting dog @Takethedogalong Wippets are real characters 😅
The weather here has been dreadful all week. When I got up this morning it was bright and sunny - hooray - sadly it didn't last long and it is now dreary, grey and damp again.
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Our daughter and the boys were at the caravan show in Glasgow today, they were very disappointed. No accessory shops, most caravans were large expensive fixed bed ones, several over £50k, MHs and statics dominated.
Last year there were at least a few family vans and the boys enjoyed themselves, this year apparently there was a lot of moaning!
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@milliehull Glad you got you computer sorted. I like my desktop PC but it is nealy 6 years old. I think Margaret's laptop is even older. My PC is a pretty hi spec Dell so hopefully it carries on for a while yet although I have not upgraded to Windows 11 yet. With regards to printers most of them now seem to connect via WiFi rather than a cable which can sometimes cause a few issues.I sometimes find mine has gone offline so have to fiddle to get it to wake up!
David
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@KjellNN I have noticed a lot of complaints on various Facebook Groups that the show seems dominated by motorhomes/campervans.I do wonder if some caravanners live in a sort of bubble and have not realised the future looks motorhome shaped rather than caravan shaped? I have not seen the latest CCC stats on sales of both types of leisure vehicles but it seems they are currently fairly even, which wasn't the case not so long ago.
David
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I can see that older couples might prefer a MH, but if a young family already have a family size car for holidays, I could see that they might well prefer a caravan rather than yet another expensive vehicle, if they want a touring type holiday.
We did suggest a shared MH to our daughter at one point, but she said a caravan was more flexible for them.
Last year we asked our dealer whether they had any new family layout caravans we could see, either with bunks or fixed singles, which they had hardly any of. They have found that there is plenty of demand for caravans, but not family layouts as most families cannot afford a new caravan , let alone a MH, so families with younger children are looking at more affordable second hand vans, and manufacturers are pretty much concentrating on the couples/fixed bed/more upmarket models.0 -
@DavidKlyne perhaps the reason that the future appears to be more M/H based is because that is what the manufacturers are pushing hard, as they get a greater percentage profit from the sale of M/Hs compared to caravans, hence the cutting back on the number of caravan models.
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Your visitor appears to have made himself comfortable and cosy in front of the wood burner @Takethedogalong
That looks a lovely cake @milliehull I'm pleased to read that you have an enjoyable birthday week, and that your son has managed to sort out your computer. I hope the laser treatment has rectified your daughter's eye problem.
It had been a much better day here than forecast with sunny blue skies until around 2:00 this afternoon, after which it rained quite lightly for about an hour before stopping. It was definitely better for getting outside work done today.
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@DavidKlyne my old PC was over 12 years old so I think it was well past it's sell by date!
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@nelliethehooker I think manufacturers react to trends. If there was a big demand for caravans they would be doing their best to meet that demand. You only have to look at Bailey. 15 years ago they only made caravans and now they are probably one of the largest producers of UK motorhomes. So they obviously saw the market was changing and did something about it. I am sure the demand for caravans will continue but clearly not as much as it did in the past. Whilst I would agree that they probably like the value added when selling motorhomes they are more complicated beasts so probably cost more in warranty issues? Everything is more complicated by the future change over to EV's which may also be contributing to the popularity of motorhomes. Although interestingly electric motorhomes hardly seem to exist. Something else to keep an eye on?
David
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I don’t believe the demand for caravans will continue at all. As the present generation of pensioners dies out caravan touring will dwindle to nothing. The younger folk have other opportunities . And for that age group it’s not motorhomes either.
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@milliehull lovely looking cake, glad you had a good birthday. Yes, the whippet is already quite a little character, he’s been great fun. Slept all night in his basket, in his travel cage (which is huge). He’s already a well trained, well socialised little sweetie. Into everything of course, but he’s only a baby still. We gave him one of Rieves’ toys last night, a tugger, which he loves. Managed not to fall into pond this morning, then out for a walk with OH. It’s strange having a small dog around, and we have to be careful not to pat him too hard.
Doggy heaven……a stove, a thick rug, and a toy or two……..
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Pleased you had a nice birthday @milliehull - I'm still drooling over that cake!!😁
What a happy little chappie @Takethedogalong - I know someone else who likes to do just that in front of the stove. By the way - did I notice a bit of carrot on the floor in your last pic - that certainly wouldn't have been there if Meg had been anywhere near!! 🐖🐖 She'd eat all day if I let her.
@Bakers2 - you mentioned a few pages back about your OH being put on Dapagliflozin for his heart problems - I have to say that after only a week of taking it - I've noticed a dramatic improvement. My ankles were starting to swell quite noticeably - even after just a couple of hours being out of bed. Now - nothing at all - even at the end of the day - so I'm guessing it must be doing it's job. Plus the breathlessness has almost gone as well. Feeling much, much better - and - touch wood - no ill effects either😀.
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FFeeling Sorry for myself. Both of us achy, cough and energyless 🥲. Have phoned my cousin to say we won't be at her dad's funeral Tuesday unless things miraculously change. I certainly wouldn't be safe driving today and it's an hour and a half each way.
Looks like a super birthday cake @milliehull
We were expecting a quiet day for my actual birthday. Meal out at lunchtime and enjoy the quiet without workmen. Wrong! DIL and youngest grandson came, bringing their lunch - was prearranged. He had has nap here whilst mum went to older grandson's school to assist with an inspection. Both she and grandson came after school. Son arrived after work, literally seconds after our pizza delivery arrived. Lovely pizza place in the next village 😋. Son and DIL too far for delivery. Then it was more cake, bathing the boys, tidying up and rest 😳.
Cute puppy @Takethedogalong
@richardandros that's great news on the effect of your new pills. I presume OH has similar but he's been on them for so long etting on for 7 years, i couldnt tell you how soon he was given them, we'd not know now. I dread to think how he'd be without them 🫣. I've noticed that they must be off restricted licence for making them, as we have several different manufacturers now. Long may the improvement continue.
It's still grey, dull, damp here although currently, the grey is lighter than of late, and it's not quite so chilly. The ditches are full and fast flowing, and the fields & my garden are waterlogged. Whilst on the phone earlier, there was a butterfly in our back garden. A red admiral at a guess as I only saw the underside. I hope it found some nectar.
We have a great show of snowdrops in our garden and around, but I think some sun would enhance them. Our hellebore and cyclamen are putting on a good show too. Crocus just appearing.
This bed was FULL of elephants ear when we moved in..I'm really pleased with my efforts.
A few days ago
The derelict church in Denton. A sparse show compared to previous ones. I notice white pegs, marking building lines?, and much trampling of snowdrops..I expect they'll all be gone once the building is done.
The fabulous show in our churchyard,taken a few days after the Denton ones.
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