Elderly chatting

kittylester No ! It will be 'old' (ish) ladies chatting with a few

Ordinary chatting I'm okay with though I do try to curb myself a bit sometimes to make space for others.

Elderly chatting is when, say, I'm going through the supermarket checkout and I say things like:

'Well I don't know how I ended up with all this, I only came in for a few things.

Then in spite of the bored face of the checkout operator and everyone in the queue behind fidgeting abou,t I find myself carrying on with (for instance):

'Well I suppose it will all get used up when the grandchildren visit this weekend'

[cringe emoticon]

Petallus don't worry, we all say that at the checkout!

Or 'Doesn't it mount up?' when they tell you the total......

That's why, one the very rare occasions I go to a shop, I use the quick pay!

many thanks annobel, will give it a try. p.s. i never moan in front of ladies lol.

Hello, johnl! There is also a grandads' shed somewhere, if you can't stand the pace of Lil's bar.

My mother could go a short bus ride and when she came home she could tell us every detail of the woman who sat next to her - her marriage problems, her operations, her holidays........ She must have been a great listener. She did have a lot of friends, so I guess people liked her.

Lovely to read all this, because yesterday I met up with a friend I had not seen for some time, a known chatterbox, and she did not stop talking for about an hour. Can't remember a thing she said, all about family, I think, but we were at a funeral, and there were others there I should liked to have met up with, and didn't have the heart to leave my friend on her own. My husband on the other hand was circulating - he is the chatterer - will chat up the ladies on the super-market check out - they must get really fed up with the old men. Here's me thinking I don't chatter, and look at all that I've written. I am a good listener though.

I've had some very interesting 'chats' on buses and trains,since using public transport more. Driving alone insulates us in our bubble.When working and having constant contact with the general public I was glad of this isolation on my way home but now realise it can cut us off from possible interesting encounters.

My husband is the chatterer now that he is retired. I can't believe the amount of stuff he tells the checkout ladies or the barber!! He never used to talk to anyone when working, how times have changed. The other thing he does is stand at the window and watch who is going up and down our little cul de sac.
It makes me laugh.

My mother could talk the hind legs off a donkey. Shortly before she went into care I was singing in a performance of Brahms' lovely German Requiem in Ely Cathedral. I managed to get her a really good seat at the front and during the interval, I glanced down and saw her chatting away to the lady next to her. After the performance I asked her if she had enjoyed it and she told me she had had a lovely time because she met a really nice lady from Saffron Walden

That put you in your place, then, merlot!
I love the German Requiem! Wish I could have heard it in Ely - one of my favourite cathedrals!

I'd love to go back to choral singing, Annobel but I don't think I can cope with the commitment at the moment. I had to pull out of two major concerts, having gone to all the rehearsals, because of family problems so it's not really a good idea to take on any more work but....never say never.

Isn't it wonderful to hear a great oratorio in a big English cathedral? I remember especially Gerontius in Southwell Minster and even better Elijah in Coventry. I think Belshazzar's Feast might have been in Coventry as well.

There is something special about music in church - Granjura and I have been lucky enough to be visiting very old churches and found small groups rehearsing for a concert. We just sat very quiety at the back of the churches and enjoyed the music.
I was once on my own in Lesbos (no, no special reason for my visit!) when I went into a tiny white chapel on a hill overlooking the sea. A group of robed monks came in and began to sing plainsong - I was mesmerised.

It's all down to a very live acoustic.

I too have wandered in somewhere to find music being made - it was a cathedral (Winchester) and there was a full orchestra rehearsing. I just sank into a pew and that was me for the next couple of hours!

I also heard the late Carlo Curley, in St George's Chapel, Windsor, with that big Allen Electronic organ - magnificent. As a lad, in my first job I would go to St Michaels, Cornhill where Dr Harold Darke gave lunchtime organ recitals. Well, it made a nice change from the Fleet Street Jazz Club!

grandmanorm I live in quite a long cul de sac and am a self confessed curtain twitcher so I can relate to your husband!
I have seen some interesting things, the best being five naked young men, running from one end of the road, to the main road and back again!
It was in the middle of the night and they made a lot of noise, waved at a couple of passing cars and then went home!

No wonder I'm a light sleeper!

I love plainsong. I used to nip over the road to the cathedral when I was at boarding school in Lichfield to hear the theological students sing compline.
We weren't usually allowed out of the grounds at a
L, but this was 'religious' do allowed.

Elijah is my all time favourite oratorio. Beautiful, rousing and exciting.

At my wedding in the school chapel in Kenya, a small choir of my colleagues, all excellent singers, sang 'lift thine eyes' from Elijah. It was worth getting married just for that!

My ex used to sing the bass solos in 'Elijah' so I know it well having sat through several performances and rehearsals.
It's still my favourite oratorio.
When my children were at junior school we occasionally sang a family 4-part version of 'Lift thine eyes' .Wish I had a recording.

I was just watching some u tube versions. Lovely. I used to sing the fourth part at school.