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Happy New Year

(12 posts)
  • Started 2 years ago by Helen Hawkins-Ainsley
  • Latest reply from brenda midgley

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  1. Helen Hawkins-Ainsley
    Member

    Wishing everyone out there a very Happy New Year
    Hopefully it will be more normal & we will all be able to do the things we enjoy

    Posted 2 years ago #

  2. brenda midgley
    Member

    Oh hear, hear that we will all be able to do the things we enjoy..... and I could add to that in warmer temperatures than we had yesterday and today.....

    It started trying to sleet, then snow just before lunch today so I guess it's probably worse for others slightly further north than us (Crewe).

    Still on the plus side I'm sure I've noticed a slight increase in afternoon light and - most pleasing of all - a slight increase in morning light too..... I could actually turn the lights off at 8.00 this morning compared to Tuesday morning when I set off for the RSPCA just before 8.00 it was really dark and still felt like night-time.

    Hope Spike is now all tucked up in bed Barbara, having a nice long winter snooze. Carrie at the RSPCA on Tuesday morning was making me laugh as she had taken home a hedgehog from the Wildlife Hospital (we always seem to have a large number in the Centre) and she'd bought it a proper hedgehog house and made it comfy inside, bowl of water, bowl of food - only the little chap decided he didn't like it and buggered off elsewhere to find a bed more of his own choosing. I was in tucks when she was telling me, so I tried to cheer her up telling her that it was probably close nearby and when it came to time to emerge again it would more than likely come back to her garden. Hope it does. Very often they are around but you don't always see them. We usually have one or two about and you sometimes catch sight of them as they go across the lawn in the back garden - but this year I've not caught sight of it (or them) at all, but there's been plenty of hedgehog poo about, so they (or it) has obviously been round and about.

    Posted 2 years ago #

  3. Helen Hawkins-Ainsley
    Member

    Did I tell you I had finished my CSG band sampler?
    The bell ends arrived at the weekend so I now need to decide where is it going as it is extremely long. I'll be bringing it to Swindon for you all to see.

    Posted 2 years ago #

  4. brenda midgley
    Member

    Oh wow Helen, this sounds really fantastic. I can recall having seen it at some point in the past and it looked brilliant then so goodness only knows how it looks now....... Well done.

    Thought of you on Saturday just gone. Now that sounds weird I know....but I was in our library. My books were due back and I was in the process, therefore, of choosing a new bundle. Then I thought of you....The Yorkshire Vet. I know you've watched the t.v.programmes....and there sitting on a shelf in front of me was one of Julian Norton's books. Grabbed that pronto; so I now have the pleasure of a nice read in front of me.

    Posted 2 years ago #

  5. Helen Hawkins-Ainsley
    Member

    Brenda, you do make me laugh. Yes, we do watch the Yorkshire Vet & when I googled Julian (after he set up his own practice in Wetherby) it turns out he grew up not far from where we live. We also watch the Yorkshire Shepherdess - I think she is amazing. There was a new one started last week - Our Great Yorkshire Life - it's going to have some of the Vets in it & I think people from other programs we watch. I think we watch a lot about Yorkshire to see the places we know & those we don't - the scenery is so pretty that I think we take it for granted at times

    You would have seen the sampler at Leeds or Leicester - it is only stuff that I stitched in 2021 - one project from each magazine and the 2 weekend projects

    I've just finished stitching a picture for a friends' 60th - just need to frame it at the weekend, then I should get back to the other 2 I started last year & make an effort to finish them

    Posted 2 years ago #

  6. Jean Strange
    Member

    Happy New Year everyone.

    Hoping for a better year this year. 2021 didn’t end on a very good note as Jeff’s Mum died in hospital on 28th December she had been in hospital for a few weeks. She had pneumonia twice in the last couple of weeks and basically her lungs filled and failed. She was 95 so had a good innings.

    Anyway have booked for Swindon and am really looking forward to it. I’m hoping it’s third time lucky!!
    Who watched the celebrity Sewing Bee? Really enjoyed the two programs. Looking forward to the 2022 series.

    Posted 2 years ago #

  7. brenda midgley
    Member

    Hello Helen, yes I remember we've discussed The Yorkshire Vet before and I too am watching Our Great Yorkshire Life now. You probably saw then the programme over the Christmas period where all the vets, including all the younger ones who feature now, finished up in the pub together. It was lovely to see that now there are several surgeries running, they all work in conjunction with each other and often assist each other in various ways and I think it's really great - a lot of banter but steadfast back-up to each other when needed. There was one scene too where they'd all gone out hiking together, ending up on Sutton Bank .......and again, you and I have discussed the wonderful view from up there.

    As for your band sampler - I don't think we can be talking of the same thing as the one you showed me was from several years ago ......I dunno - probably me getting dotty in my old age..but I thought it was much longer than how you are describing what you are doing at the moment.

    As for you Jean - sorry to hear about your mother in law. Age 95 though, so she did really well. They can very often go with pneumonia at that age.

    Sewing Bee, yes I enjoyed the programmes too. Not too sure about Sara Pascoe at the moment, but it could be that she's just settling in and has yet to carve out her niche. It was a real treat though to see these two programmes over the Christmas period when just about everything else was a repeat of what we've seen no end of times in the past anyway. Must confess though I did also enjoy seeing the old Morecambe and Wise programmes again - they can't seem to make funny programmes nowadays on a par with the humour of - what would it have been? the 60's or 70's. Shirley Bassey in an elegant pink evening type dress, wearing hobnailed boots whilst singing had me in tucks even though I knew what was coming.

    I also recorded South Pacific. Still haven't watched it yet, but I loved the film when it first came out all those years ago......(thinks to myself......bet our little Yorkshire chick wasn't even born then!!)....

    Posted 2 years ago #

  8. Helen Hawkins-Ainsley
    Member

    Jean, so sorry yo hear about your mother in law

    I watched the Sewing Bee & like Brenda am not sure about Sara yet - I though Joe was so good as the compare so it may take a while

    Brenda, you are right about all the repeats over Christmas - program makers seem to lack imagination these day. We watched a lot of Carry On films - they are so funny, but very much of the era. Have you noticed that some of the old programs now have a warning at the start - "was recoded ..., contains humour & attitudes of the time, etc".

    I like the vet programs but think the young vets have only been brought in for the program as Huddersfield (where the hospital is) is quite some distance from Thirsk (where Peter & Julian) started. Have a look on a map, I'm sure it's a couple of hours drive.

    As for South Pacific, I'm not telling you when I was born but the Sound of Music film was a couple of years old by then.

    I'm going to bring the sampler to Swindon. It was started & finished last year and is about 4.5 feet long - the other CSG ones that I have done are about 3 feet long

    Posted 2 years ago #

  9. brenda midgley
    Member

    Hello Helen - back again - don't know where the last couple of days have gone to.....anyway... and yes, I do agree about all the programmes nowadays apologising beforehand just in case there is content in them that may cause offense or upset us in some way. Honest to Betsy - it's all this 'wokery' lark basically and I for one am sick of it to be truthful. We are being treated as if our finer sensibilities may be disturbed by things we see and hear - at the end of the day I think we are made of sterner stuff than that.

    In terms of 'wokery' and on a personal issue - back in the mists of time I had to have a hysterectomy and after the operation some woman came to see me who told me it was okay if I wanted to cry a lot. I was truthfully mystified and asked her why I would want to cry. I was fine, I was taking the painkillers I was given etc. etc. and she replied that well, it was okay to be upset because I was no longer a complete woman. I nearly laughed out loud and thought what a load of poppy cock. If you think of yourself as a victim you will become a victim, and it didn't occur to me to think of myself in that way. I could have been the original 'woke' had I thought about it. Indeed - did this fanciful word even exist in those terms in those days - I don't think so. After she'd gone I concentrated on getting better and then just buggered off home ....

    Actually you are right about the distance between the vets and their practices....so I agree the t.v. production company has probably brought them all together to make a sort of 'jolly' programme. Still enjoyable to watch though.

    Ah...the mystery of the band sampler is solved - there are two of them. It's the first one I've seen then. I recall it quite clearly as it was so eye-catching; but the second one is 4.5 long - crumbs - there's been some dedicated stitching time gone in to that !!

    As for the next Sewing Bee series - does anyone have any idea when it is due to start?

    Posted 2 years ago #

  10. Christine Berrett
    Administrator

    There's no news on when the Sewing Bee will be broadcast this year, but hopefully it will be some time in April again (fingers crossed)

    Posted 2 years ago #

  11. Helen Hawkins-Ainsley
    Member

    Did you know the Christmas Sewing Bee was filmed up here in Yorkshire - Sunny Bank Mills, Farsley - that's the other side of Leeds to us.

    Actually there are 3 samplers - 2 that are the sorter length & the monster. Still trying to decide where to hang it.

    I had a hysterectomy in my mid 30s & it was the best thing that could have happened. It has allowed me to have my life back as I was subject to the whims & fancies of my womb & ovaries making my life a misery.

    Barbara, are you out there? We've not heard from you for a while

    Posted 2 years ago #

  12. brenda midgley
    Member

    Morning Helen love,

    Yes, I did know the whereabouts of filming of the Christmas Sewing Bee - I think they made reference on the programme actually of it being 'somewhere near Leeds' - although not the exact location.

    You poor darling - you too have had a hysterectomy. That couldn't have been an easy time for you. Medical wallahs are usually reluctant to perform this surgical procedure on someone as young as you were at the time so I can only guess at the problems you were experiencing to warrant it; notwithstanding of course the pain you were no doubt having to endure as well. I'm sending a big cuddle to you.....and it's good to know that life is so much better for you now.

    I did tell you in a 'posting' earlier on that I'd picked up one of Julian Norton's books at the library. I'm reading it right at this moment and although he doesn't quite have the charm that James Herriot had in his books, it is still an entertaining read and feels very much as if he is standing in front of me talking me through his written words. I think it's his latest book as he mentions the new practice to which he now belongs and also refers to Matt the young vet that we see on the programme with his cohorts in their surgery. This particular story relates to a call-out at Cann Hall farm (you will no doubt have seen the programmes that these two brothers - Rob and Dave - feature in as well). He mentions that the farm is a bit out of his catchment area and he and Matt had worked together on the problem. So it does seem as if they do actually call on the services of each other when the necessity sometimes arrives. So that's nice to know as obviously then it isn't just for the sake of 'good' television that we see these things actually happening.

    Have to laugh though at this book as he is very explicit in his diagnosing of various animal problems and animal anatomy. It pondered in my mind that there isn't a page at the front guiding us to a helpline of some sort in the event of we readers being disturbed by the distressing basic language being used to describe where problems lie and what he has to touch or squeeze etc to help bring about some relief to an unwell creature. (Wokery Helen - oh dear, do try and keep up love......)

    Joking aside, I reckon by the time I get to the end of this book, because of the knowledge and descriptions he imparts, that I could sit a veterinary exam and pass it......

    If you are a reader yourself and visit your own library do look out for one of his books. He's written several so I shall look out for more myself when I take my current 'borrowings' back.

    All for the moment, love you lots. Keep smiling......xxx

    Posted 2 years ago #

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