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81. 

    Helen Hawkins-Ainsley
    Member

    Morning ladies

    Hope you're all keeping well & had a good weekend.
    I'm still attempting to knit at the moment - seem to spend as much time going backwards as forwards. I've done a little cardigan with raglan sleeves, but now need my mum to help me set them in the cardigan. I'm doing a little dress a the moment - it looks ever so sweet in the picture.

    The fence is coming on well at the front - at least it keeps Mick from under my feet on an afternoon. Will need to find something else when that's done.

    As for hospital appointments Barbara. I have found over the last few years that my Dad gets the really early ones - wasn't too bad when I worked on the outskirts of Leeds & could drop him off, but I got the ones at 11am or 2.30pm - completely messing up the working day. We should have had them the other way round - I prefer early or late ones. Don't get me started on the GPs - they won't do in person appointments & don't even seem to do video ones either - so frustrating. Then I got annoyed about the dentist & the news on about people missing appointments & how they need to see the dentist - my dentist sent me a text in August to say they were postponing my October appointment & would contact me when it could be rebooked - still waiting.

    Have to go now - I have an all morning video meeting - wake me up for lunch

    Posted 4 years ago #
82. 

    Jean Strange
    Member

    Morning everyone
    Talking about Dr appointments supposed to have one with consultant at Kings today. Had letter to say will be phone consultation. Hope it happens this time last time he was supposed to phone on Thursday afternoon and didn’t. Got phone call from the hospital on Friday morning with “did Mr Jessum phone you?” Answer no “oh your another one he missed then. He seems to have missed a few people off the list “ Not amused!! Had waited all afternoon next to the phone.

    Our GP’s are doing some face to face appointments. You have to wait outside in car park and they phone your mobile when they are ready to see you or come out and call you in. The same for blood tests.

    I’ve been knitting and stitching when my eyes are tired or deciding that there is something in the air they don’t like I knit otherwise I sew. Have started making some place mats and coasters for Christmas to use up some of the stash of fabric I have. Bought some heat resistant wadding for them. Have also made a few lavender bags with some linen band that was in my stash ready for Christmas presents.

    Well off to do some baking. Found a couple of recipes for Christmas stuff I want to try. First one for Christmas cake bites a light fruit tray bake that can have marzipan and icing. As if I made a proper cake it would only have a few slices eaten I thought this would be a good idea as Mary Berry says it freezes well without the marzipan and icing. So can freeze at least half for later. If my son in law was near would make a proper cake as he loves fruit cake and would easily polish it off.

    Eldest grandsons birthday today. Hope he has a good day at school. As I said before all his birthday treats have been cancelled due to Covid-19 so sent him a Scalectric set that he will be able to play with his brother and probably his Dad!!!!!

    Posted 4 years ago #
83. 

    Helen Hawkins-Ainsley
    Member

    It's my step-daughter's birthday as well today. Don't how she can be 25 - she was just a tiny little nearly 4 when I first met her.

    The sun is shining - ideal for stitching & I'm stuck working :(

    Posted 4 years ago #
84. 

    Barbara Stone
    Member

    Hi everybody. Seems like everybody is being very industrious again, and either knitting or sewing while we're all locked down again. I've given up on the knitting for a while, - the pattern I had was so awful, that I unpicked it so many times, so I'm giving up on it for a while. Instead, I'm doing cross stitch again, and I've started quilting again, having stopped for a while.
    Incidentally, our GP's are doing face to face appointments, but they are few and far between. As for dentists - I saw mine once in August, and I'm still waiting for a check up date for next year. It was meant to have been in April, but obviously that didn't happen. However, if you do need further treatment, then appointments for hospitals have been a lot easier to get. X Rays etc., are timed, and there is no waiting around. Maybe there is a silver lining to some things after all!

    Posted 4 years ago #
85. 

    Jean Strange
    Member

    Hi everyone

    A nice bright morning here after several horrible grey days.

    Will be in tier two as from tomorrow so no meeting inside houses again. Can’t go to visit Jeff’s Mum as not allowed into Wales except for business/work or education. Will have to send her Christmas presents going to cost a lot as have a large number of jigsaw puzzles for her. It’s what keeps her and her friends going. They do the rounds of people in the flats then go to a charity shop.

    Think Kings College Hospital are expecting the worst had a letter to say my next appointment in February will be a phone consultation due to Covid-19. However I do have a diabetic eye screen appointment this Friday.

    Judith can’t bring the boys for a visit as she hoped on 18/19 December. We are meeting her at a shopping area outside St Albans when she collects her step daughter Yasmin to exchange presents and at least see the boys. Judith in tier three even though they only have 10 cases in their area but come under Rotherham and South Yorkshire.

    Well off to do some nicer things like clear up so we can bring the Christmas trees in. We had a trip to a Christmas tree farm last week and bought 2 trees one for the lounge and one for the conservatory. Will look forward to decorating them. Christmas CD’s on the stereo!! Bought the Michael Ball and Alfie Boe one.

    Hope everyone is keeping safe and well and keeping sane with the stitching.

    Posted 4 years ago #
86. 

    Helen Hawkins-Ainsley
    Member

    Yesterday was a lovely day & typically I was working at the office so saw very little of it.
    The drive was beautiful though. Driving directly north with the moon on one side and the sunrise on the other.
    Today it feels & looks very wintery
    Friday, when I don't work is forecast to be sleety - never mind

    Apart from that we're well & hating tier 3

    Posted 4 years ago #
87. 

    brenda midgley
    Member

    Hello girls,

    Been into Crewe this morning to do a big shop. We are in tier 2 and it seemed as if everybody was enjoying a bit of freedom.......Crewe felt all Christmassy with loads of people milling about, carrying bags and smiling - a really nice atmosphere.

    Had Andrea's Newsletter through as no doubt the rest of you have too. Magazine shortly on its way to us as well, so suddenly the world is feeling a much happier place.

    Also Jane is on Sewing Street on Friday.....grief - I shall be falling over with joy before long. Will have to watch it on Youtube though as we can't get Channel 74 here and haven't got Sky.

    Am partway through the Christmas card list now and sent Geoff to the Post Office last week to buy up a bundle of stamps - I thought it made sense to do it now rather than leave it til nearer Christmas. Our main Post Office in Crewe is inside W. H. Smith's and there's always queues to get in anyway, so it will be even worse once everybody is wanting stamps for their cards as well.

    Shortest day looming on the horizon - that's always a psychological boost as we dream of lighter evenings again.......

    Posted 4 years ago #
88. 

    Barbara Stone
    Member

    The weather today has been diabolical - raining all day, blowing half a gale, and its freezing cold on top of all that. Went into the cabin this afternoon to work, and the temperature was 6.5 degrees! A tad on the cold side until the heating kicked in. I've actually finished the quilt top I've been making, with material I got for last Christmas. Haven't been making it for very long, but its very pretty now its finished.

    Been writing cards all evening, while watching the snooker, so I'm thankful I got my stamps earlier from the local shop. Unfortunately our village Post Office is closed at the moment, due to the lack of a postmaster. He died very suddenly, and the Police had to decide whether it was foul play or natural causes, and consequently sealed off the Post Office and all the post took about three weeks to reach its target, when it was subsequently released. So, we are without a Post Office at the moment, which means a drive to the nearest one, in order to post cards and parcels. (It was natural causes, in case you were wondering).

    I don't believe it - I missed Jane on Sewing Street again, like Brenda, I shall have to watch it on You Tube. We have Freesat, and can't get Channel 74.

    Its been lovely hearing the trains running out of the station again - they've been doing guard and TTI training all weekend, so, although I'm not allowed to work at the moment, to know that they are running again is a bonus.

    Got the decorations down from the cupboard, and will start to put them up tomorrow. Christmas is on the way....

    Posted 4 years ago #
89. 

    brenda midgley
    Member

    Hello girls,

    Well, it's not quite so cold outside this morning - hooray!!

    Your quilt sounds lovely Barbara and it also sounds like you've got it done in record time...brilliant or what.

    Bit of a nuisance with your Post Office being closed - and yes, I was wondering about the cause of the Postmaster's death (poor chap) - but you gave it all the theatricality of an Agatha Christie murder mystery..... (must be your background with all those pantos and am dram things you get involved in.)

    Wading through my Christmas card list like everybody else and odds and ends of jobs I want to clear before Christmas gets too close. Stitching, therefore, seems to have gone for a burton for the time being and my preferred time of stitching is the afternoon but daylight hours are getting shorter and shorter, so by the time I feel ready to sit down and get out the needle and thread the best of the light has gone.

    I have a choir rehearsal night again this coming Wednesday. Yay!! only very limited numbers are allowed and I was one of those who put my name forward. We also have two choirs running to enable us to keep to the rules. I should have been singing on the 16th December with Choir 2, but someone in Choir 1 wants to swap nights because it clashes with her son's birthday party, so I'm now singing on the 9th December and Sue is using my slot on the 16th. We are in tier 2 so are working within the parallels of what is allowed. What will happen after Christmas is anybody's guess.

    After Christmas it had been planned that we host a Come and Sing day - open to all - which is something we do every year. We were doing the Messiah again which so many people love, and love to sing, but we usually get around 250 singers from all over the country. Obviously though that won't be going ahead this time!! Such a shame.......

    Posted 4 years ago #
90. 

    Helen Hawkins-Ainsley
    Member

    Morning all
    Monday again !!
    Only this week & next to go then I have 2 weeks off. As I don't work on a Friday I actually finish on the 17th - 10 days to go.
    I need to finish the cardigan I'm doing so I can get the baby stuff to my step-daughter before the little one arrives.
    As for putting up the tree - I need to decide where it is going as we have reorganised the living room & its' normal space has gone - a job for the weekend, that's soon enough.

    Friday was awful here - really cold all day - the morning was rain & sleet that settled to rain & then drizzle. Saturday was much better, but Mick had to work.
    Yesterday wasn't too bad, cloudy & dry for the most part. So we took the car out for a run -too cold for the bike. We went up in to North Yorkshire (not sure if we are the same tier, but we live on the border) to find the ford from the opening sequences of the original James Herriot TV series. We found it & had lunch next too it - it's actually not too far from the Yorkshire Shepherdess & Tan Hill (for those who know that part of the world). Once we got up in to the Dales we were above the snow line for parts of the drive & went through one pass that looked like they'd had a snow plough out.

    Today doesn't look too bad. It's cold out, but then again it is December.

    Brenda, I have to do all my stitching / knitting after dark (except on a weekend) at the moment. I have asked Santa for a new daylight lamp as the current one is getting a bit past its' sell by date. I did say I could do with 2 - one for the extension & one for the sofa - will have to wait & see what he brings.

    Have a lovely day all

    Posted 4 years ago #
91. 

    Helen Hawkins-Ainsley
    Member

    Hi Ladies

    The postman has just brought the latest Guild magazine, but I'm supposed to be working !!

    Posted 4 years ago #
92. 

    Christine Berrett
    Administrator

    Everyone seems to have had the magazine bar me. Not a happy bunny :o((

    Update: It has arrived now, hurrah!

    Posted 4 years ago #
93. 

    brenda midgley
    Member

    Saturday again - my goodness how these weeks are swiftly passing by.....

    Got my fingers crossed Helen that Santa will bring you at least one (if not the desired two) new lamps for your stitching.

    Your trip out in the car sounds to have been a lovely little jolly....and the ford you mention, I just wonder if it's Aysgarth Falls you are talking of?...very pretty areas in a lot of Yorkshire.

    My magazine arrived too; in fact our post generally seems to have upped its game a bit just lately, although I think they've taken on some temporary staff for the Christmas period as I've seen quite a few new faces from our usual postman. We didn't get anything yesterday until 10 to 4, so unless they are working shifts, they are having very long days out on the tramp delivering to us all. I notice though they are all back in long trousers again now!!

    One of the items delivered recently was the double issue of Christmas/New Year Radio Times - and what a little gem that holds! - most essential viewing. Great British Sewing Bee - with celebrity contestants, so that should be interesting and a good laugh. BBC 1 in the evening on Boxing Day and New Year's Eve (for those of you who may not yet be aware of it).

    Signing off now - the day job calls.......

    Posted 4 years ago #
94. 

    Helen Hawkins-Ainsley
    Member

    Hi all

    Christine, I'm glad your magazine turned up

    Brenda, not it wasn't Aysgarth Falls. If you tried to ford them you'd get washed away. If you ever watch the opening sequences of the original James Herriot TCV series you'll see what I'm talking about

    Barbara, did the train manage to run Santa up & down the line to wave at the children?

    Hope everyone's keeping well & not getting too down with the dark days.
    Only another week(ish) & the days start to get longer again :)

    I now have a nice new fence at the front of the house & a newly decorated hall - downstairs only. Mick is now putting a canopy over the front of the garage to try & stop the rain blowing over the top of the door - if it would stop raining he'd be able to get on with it !!

    I finish work on Thursday evening - have to go back on the 4th though, still at long way until I can finish permanently

    Better go & do some now

    Posted 4 years ago #
95. 

    Barbara Stone
    Member

    Good afternoon everybody. The weather today is cold, but bright, I’ve had my hair cut, so my head is cold, and I generally don’t feel very Christmassy. I know why, just wish I could snap out of it, and start enjoying myself.

    My magazine finally arrived on Friday, together with the rest of the post from last week - due to lack of staff, they have cut the number of deliveries we are getting per week, and at the moment it’s about every 3 days. And finally my Radio Times arrived this morning, and I was intrigued with the sewing bee item as well. I know what I’ll be watching! Our postman (when he arrives) does so in a van but he doesn’t wear uniform, he’s dressed as an elf, complete with large floppy hat. Very festive.

    I heard the train running up and down the line to Williton at the weekend - really upset I’m not able to work this year, or next, or until Bob comes off steroids - so hope the kids had a good time. This is the first year I’ve missed for five years, and it’s left a hole in my Christmas preparations.

    Had a delivery of logs for the wood burner on Friday afternoon - they dumped half a load on the top of the driveway, and consequently had to spend the afternoon moving them down to the log store. There are thousands of them - I know there weren’t as many last time I had a delivery. Must have some more fires, just to use up the ones I can’t get in the log store.

    I’m disappearing now to do some more stitching - hope you are all okay.

    Posted 4 years ago #
96. 

    Christine Berrett
    Administrator

    My Radio Times hasn't arrived yet, and I'm hoping that by saying so on here it might magically turn up, like my CSG mag did ;o)

    Posted 4 years ago #
97. 

    Barbara Stone
    Member

    I was told that mine would possibly arrive last Tuesday, and it eventually arrived 6 days later. Hope you get yours soon.

    Posted 4 years ago #
98. 

    Helen Hawkins-Ainsley
    Member

    Barbara, I know what you mean about not feeling Christmassy as I don't either. I just hope next year is going to be better & THEY don't want to keep up locked up all year. I'm glad you heard the train running, even if you can't go it must make you feel a little better.

    The one sound I've really missed this year is the church bells ringing the cheerful tunes at 9.45 on a Sunday morning. I love to be able to lay in bed & listen to them. When they were allowed to have services the only real one was at 8am & that is just a single bell - can't really sing without its' friends to keep it company.

    I shall look out for the sewing bee as well

    Posted 4 years ago #
99. 

    brenda midgley
    Member

    Crumbs Helen - you are so right with your comment of 'dark days' - aren't we getting some dire ones! Been out shopping this morning and although it was spitting with rain, it was okay. When we got home though we were only in for about 10 minutes and then the rain started in earnest - dear me - it was really dark in my kitchen. It's not raining right at this minute but it's aobut 3.00p.m. and I'm sitting in the back bedroom typing this and I need the light on really - can't see the bloody keyboard for love or money! Had to laugh at your comment though about Mick not being able to get on with fixing the canopy outside due to the rain......

    Oh - so I was wrong then with Aysgarth Falls. Funnily enough though I did record the other day the Christmas special of the old All Creatures - so when I do set it up to watch I shall particularly look through the opening sequence to see the water-ford you are talking of.

    Now then, I see Barbara's had her hair cut.....me too, I went yesterday.....looks like we are all set on looking smart for Chrimbo then! Wasn't absolutely sure mine was ready for another chop just yet, but felt if it was left until after Christmas Boris might put us all in a third lockdown and close all the hairdressers again.....lordy lord, I really don't want to go into a third lockdown and I bet none of you do either.

    I did love the little story they told on BBC news a couple of weeks ago about the little boy who'd written to Boris asking if it would be all right still for Santa to come down his chimney to deliver Christmas presents and we saw the letter Boris had taken the trouble to write back to say yes it would. We need these little touches of humour....and of course in all seriousness we dp need to protect Santa seeing as he enters so many different houses on the night of the 24th.....so I hope you are all doing your bit and making sure you keep your distance if you just happen to see a red leg suddenly appear at the fireplace as you are setting yourself up to go to bed.......

    Posted 4 years ago #
100. 

     Helen Hawkins-Ainsley
     Member

     Hi all

     I'm going to lay claim to post 100 on this thread

     It has been so dark here all day & wet for most of it.

     As for hair cuts. I thought about getting mine done a few weeks ago, but all the hairdressers are shut - one of the joys of Tier 3. Then I took a proper look. If I get the straggly bits tidied up I might as well go for a mohican I have so little left at the sides. So I'm keeping the straggly bits to cover it all up.

     Posted 4 years ago #

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