The Lockdown Gang - Indomitable Lobstars ?⭐️

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Grammaretto that's my kind of music - wish I still had my bodhran. Having no transport has cut all my ability to get to folk clubs and festivals. Life is dull as a result so thanks for this .

You had the BBC taken off your nose? The mind boggles. Radio 4?

Nfk Good for you, jigsaws should be pleasurable not stressful.

Missedout A wise child once told me not to compare my situation with a worse one because that did not diminish in any way what I had to cope with. It freed me from feeling guilty.
Glad to hear the hand has improved. Warm water and Epsom salts soak prior to physio sessions might help.

Doodle Sari is a lovely name but yours is nice too .

Snow Mum often told me about snow up to the bedroom windows the year I was born.
When I began writing my life story I discovered it was all true. Cottages in Huggate Village near Driffield were totally covered with just chimneys sticking up from massive snowdrifts.
Emmanuel (Manny) Shinwell Minister for Energy had to work under armed guard as there were riots due to no food and coal getting through but the piles of coal at the mines were frozen solid.
POWs cleared the main roads but it snowed another foot every night.
My Dad dug himself out each morning and walked to work (normally he went on his motorbike) and carried his army kitbag in case he saw anything in the shops he could bring home.
When the thaw came, flooding across the UK was so severe that hundreds of thousands were homeless, some temporarily until houses dried out. People lived in school halls fed by the WVS and other charities.

There you go, a potted history of The Big Snow of 1947.

I'm thinking kindly of each and every Gangstar and hoping for gentle, painless days for you all.

I meant it was 30 years ago when he died Doodle, but he was about 27 or 28. Not a bad age for a horse. Fate is a funny thing isn't it. We ended up with a horse and you with a dog and both worked out really well.

Not a very snowy picture of our garden. Through the window this morning. I did go outside as far as the bird table!

♪ ♫ I wonder why you keep me waiting, ♬ Charmaine, my Charmaine ♩ ♬ Mantovani and his Singing Strings 1951. I remember it well.

Afternoon Indomitables.
I am having a couple of seedy days and have upped my meds, so feeling slightly better.

Doodle you are very thoughtful and always ask questions to include everyone in the thread. Thank you for asking about our cats names:
Missy because she has always been a self opinionated little Miss.
Minnie because she was the most gregarious and inquisitive kitten, so we named her ‘Minnie the Minx’ after the character in the Beano.
Ollie was a stray who turned up in our garden and eventually stayed. Having been stray, he’s terribly food orientated. So my partner named him after Oliver Twist (‘Please sir, I want some more).

Hope everyone has a pleasant, warm, relaxed evening. ???

Nfk I love the story of your pony. 30 years is quite a long time, do ponies/horses live a long time normally?
Your memory triggered one of mine. We were thinking of buying a puppy when our boys were young but put it off because it was coming up to Christmas and we had lots of family visits on the horizon. Then one of the boys went down with chicken pox so all the visits were cancelled. We got the puppy instead. Best Christmas present we could have bought. Much loved by all of us.

Kaimoana the story of your friend and the piggy back made me laugh.?
As far as names go, we liked Claire if we’d had a son and I liked Bethany.
I didn’t like either of my names when I was a child. They were both long and unusual and I was forever spelling them for people. When our sons were born I was determined they would have ‘normal’ names that everyone knew how to spell. Short and neat ?. We picked names we like and I think they are happy with our choices. I was happy to get married and change my surname to something short and neat and easily spelt too.
My mum wanted to call me Sari but the rest of the family vetoed it. I have always thought I would have preferred.
Nfk there is an online app called Libby which I have been using since lockdown started. I prefer to go to the library but it is a good alternative in lockdown.
Please can we see your snowy picture if you take one.
Good idea about packing up the jigsaw. Hope the next one you do is more colourful
Jan lovely snowy picture. Thank you. So good you sent it twice ?
Grammaretto I bet your little DGD is having fun in the snow.
Have you got round to starting your list of things to do yet, or is it still on your To Do list? ?
I always wanted a pony too but no chance in the area where I lived. Not much in the way of fields or paddocks. I had to make do with a make believe pony made out of a broom handle a stuffed sock for a head with button eyes and woolly mane. My pony and I won many gymkhanas and received lots of tissue paper rosettes. ?
Yes Mamissimo it seems Jan and Grammaretto are both hitting the bottle and having doubles. ?
I like the names you wanted for your DDs but like me, they may have had problems with the spelling. Are they happy with the names you chose in the end?
It’s just as difficult to choose pet names. You want something that you don’t feel silly calling out.
Do you remember the viral video of the poor man who was trying to get his dog to stop chasing deer and was running after him calling Fenton, Fenton (below if you haven’t seen it but you might need to turn the volume up the sound quality is poor)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=CtB1HQt6ak8
Nortsat you obviously had an easy choice naming Minnie, she’s so tiny. What about Missy? I had a black cat many years ago that I called panther but Pandy what what she ended up as.
Well if Grammaretto’s having a triple I may well join her.
How funny you could have had the same name as your DH.
I will have a look at your friend’s video soon. Love her name.
Missedout I’m sorry you are robotic again. Hope it sorts things out quickly. 5 pieces today. Wow at this rate you will be finished ......sometime ?
Glad your sons are keeping in touch. Nice to see your DGD too.
I’m with you on the fairy lights. I always missed them when we took the Christmas lights down. We have Philips hue lightbulbs and strip lights which we use to provide background lighting.
Glad you hand is feeling better. Hope you gain more use as time goes on.
I’ve been cutting my hair too. Well my hair is in two layers
The top and front shorter than the back and sides. I’ve cut the short bit but can’t tackle the back and sides which is now so long I have delved into the depths of my drawers for an Alice band to hold it back (amazing the things I keep in my drawers?)
Yes I found GN was down last night too.
Hope the Panaches, Cherry and Dragonfly are all ok.
Take care all. It’s nearly 5pm I might have a yardarm. Cheers ?

Thank you so much Grammaretto for saying "Well done" for my abandonment of the impossible jigsaw. It was really hard to admit defeat. Especially when we have real experts in our midst!

And of course it's not too late to have a pony - if you have a handy paddock like Mamissimo! We hadn't intended to have one. We'd had a couple of meat-for-manners mounts from the riding stables where we all went (apart from DH who isn't at all horsey) during the winter months and that worked perfectly. But we hadn't intended to actually own one. But, a couple of days before we were due to go on holiday to France, DH b*****ered off a ladder and dislocated his elbow. So we cancelled and got our money back. Then the stables closed and we were asked if we'd like to buy McT. DH was feeling guilty because we'd missed our holiday (although the fortnight in Norfolk worked out rather well!), so we gained a horse in our menagerie. He was like a big Thelwell - nearly horse sized - and became one of the family. Thirty years on and I still miss him.

It's good to hear that your hand is improving Missedout, even though tediously slowly. It's so easy to overdo using it. I remember a surgeon telling me to "Just potter, do a little at a time - and if it hurts, don't do it". The trouble was that when it hurt it was too late. I'd already done it!

My highlight for today was that I cut my hair! (Go for it Missedout!). I was due for an appointment last week and it had got all heavy and turned into a Beatle cut. It isn't now!!

Take care all, and I hope Cherry, the Panaches and Dragonfly are snug and warm and ok.

Hello Lobstars, I had a phone call from my GP today and am back on the robotics. As much as I was hoping my dodgy immune system might be able to cope, I'm uncomfortable and fed up with broken nights. However, that is nothing compared to how some of our most poorly lobstars are all the time. I will be a lot better soon. Meanwhile, I have THE IMPOSSIBLE MYSTERY PUZZLE to keep me occupied (5 pieces today).

Our AC are keeping in touch. DS2 was looking after DGD2 and decided to FaceTime us. We spent a couple of hours 'virtually' following them about their house. DS1 rang for a chat too. We had a long, comfortable, rambling conversation.

I'm with Norstat, shielding is really boring. Today's highlight is a food delivery. Fair play to today's online retailer, no substitutions, no items I ordered were out of stock and everything really fresh with long 'Use By' dates.

We've bought a string of coloured lights for our conservatory. I miss the multiple reflections of the Christmas lights in the glass so much that we have decided to have a permanent fixture. We'll still add the Christmas lights next December!

My hand is getting better. Although it often hurts when I use it, I can manage (even the washing up) but cannot bend my thumb much and it isn't very strong, so I'm clumsy. I have an online physio session next week, but I suspect I will only need a single session.

Grammaretto, the algorithms used by Pinterest are amazing I'm really blown away by the artificial intelligence behind identifying the photograph of the set out jigsaw pieces on a black board together with the mesh table in the foreground and matching it with a stock photo of a table runner!

I was supposed to have had a hair cut this week. I'm now trying to psych myself up to cut my own hair again, that's the trouble with having a 'pixie' cut, it's now goblin-like.

I hope Dragonfly and Panache and Mr P are comfortable and comforted, that The Dude is mending and that Cherry's latest 'tattoos' are fading.

P.S. I tried to post this last night but the GN server was down.

Today the sun is shining and the sky is blue, there is no sign of snow but it rained hard in the night and DH reports that the river in the village is high. I'm still not up to going for walks.

Sorry about the double posting. Make mine a triple next time!

That is a lovely story of the names Mamissimo
My DM delighted in telling me that if I had been the longed for boy I would have been named DH's name. I married one instead.
Are your girls identical?

My lovely friend Siobhan will be singing at Celtic Connections on Monday night. I have bought a ticket. It's all on-line ofcourse. Here she is in different times:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=55bMnnwSlpk

My achievement today: I posted a letter in the postbox and it seems to have caught the last post. 12 noon on Saturday.

In view of the double postings today I will try to make this a single....but I'm better known for large ones doubles ?

The talk of names has taken my brain on a lovely ramble until I suddenly recalled that DM told me that if my Grandfather had had his choice she would have been Charmaine and I would have been Deirdre. I think I would have turned out very differently because my DF wouldn't have known anyone called Charmaine! ?

I also asked what I would have been called if I had been a boy....Alan, she replied, and your sister would be Timothy. I'm glad none of the aforementioned occurred....but I really wanted and dreamed of being Siobhan. When I found out I was expecting twins I dreamed of Siobhan and Sinead....and Mr M rightly pointed out that as no one can spell our surname or say it right, to saddle our daughters with names no one could spell would be a crime.

I'm making pasties today ?

Jan I see you are showing off now!!

DD has trumped us all with photos of such deep snow it's up to DGD's middle.

Poor DH "scarface", indeed. I had a BCC removed from my nose a few years back and despite fears of looking so awful I'd scare the DGC, the wonderful Japanese surgeon with tiny delicate hands, made such a good job of the removal and subsequent stitching up that I can hardly notice the scar now.
I asked her, jokingly, if she was also good at dressmaking. Oh yes! she replied, she had a pile of fabric to make her 2 daughters dresses and as she was 8 months pregnant with her third she was looking forward to maternity leave.

I like most of your chosen names too Kaimoana
My DM was an Irish Kathleen and she told me how Caitlin (Kate-Lin) was the Irish spelling of Kathleen. I told this to a new parent of a Caitlin who was quite sure it wasn't.

My plan for today is to make a list. of things to do
Last thing at night I can always think of the things that need doing but come the morning, I have forgotten them all.

Well done NfkD on abandoning the impossible jigsaw. Sometimes life is just too short and you can choose things you like.

I am envious of all who had a pony. I always wanted one. Is it too late?
I helped with RDA for 17 years, which gave me a horsey fix, but it wasn't the same....
However it did make me realise that if I really wanted a pony, I probably could have, but I made different choices.

Jan I see you are showing off now!!

DD has trumped us all with photos of such deep snow it's up to DGD's middle.

Poor DH "scarface", indeed. I had a BBC removed from my nose a few years back and despite fears of looking so awful I'd scare the DGC, the wonderful Japanese surgeon with tiny delicate hands, made such a good job of the removal and subsequent stitching up that I can hardly notice the scar now.
I asked her, jokingly, if she was also good at dressmaking. Oh yes! she replied, she had a pile of fabric to make her 2 daughters dresses and as she was 8 months pregnant with her third she was looking forward to maternity leave.

I like most of your chosen names too Kaimoana
My DM was an Irish Kathleen and she told me how Caitlin (Kate-Lin) was the Irish spelling of Kathleen. I told this to a new parent of a Caitlin who was quite sure it wasn't.

My plan for today is to make a list. of things to do
Last thing at night I can always think of the things that need doing but come the morning, I have forgotten them all.

Well done NfkD on abandoning the impossible jigsaw. Sometimes life is just too short and you can choose things you like.

I am envious of all who had a pony. I always wanted one. Is it too late?
I helped with RDA for 17 years, which gave me a horsey fix, but it wasn't the same....
However it did make me realise that if I really wanted a pony, I probably could have, but I made different choices.

Sorry don’t know why that went twice!

Morning All. Well that will teach me to say we don’t get snow in this part of Norfolk!

Morning All. Well that will teach me to say we don’t get much snow in this part of Norfolk

Oooooh, I never knew you could 'borrow' books on line from the library - I shall investigate! Thanks Jan. I hope it won't be too long before your DH has his facial 'thing' removed. Scarface. I'm sure it suits him.

And - we have snow! The real thing! I thought we were going to just have a very light dusting, but its now snowing! Such an unusual occurrence here I shall be out as soon as it's light enough to take pictures. Well, perhaps not actually out - just in the conservatory snapping through the glass! We used to get snow which lasted for days, even weeks when I was little, but not for many, many years.

The jigsaw is now broken up and stowed in its box waiting for the time when I can give it to my expert friend to have a go. I'm sticking to pretty pictures in future. With a proper picture on the box to follow. And with lots of different colours!

Grammaretto Ages ago you asked what names I would have chosen for Gubbins had I been naming her. I'm sorry, I totally forgot to answer you. I have always loved unusual names, although many of these are now quite popular, they weren't 50 years ago in Yorkshire!

As we have a Gaelic surname, my DH gave an Irish name, Sean to our first son. By the time the 2nd was on the way, Sean said he hated it, so we changed it.

When pregnant I'd considered both Dominic and Benedict; both were immediately stomped on by my mother For girls, Charlotte, Sophia and Claire.

So in answer to your question, here's what I like right now.

Rhiannon; Abigail (never shortened to Abi); Fern; Ciara (pronounced the Gaelic way: (kee-rah); Brianna; Bryony and Brielle; Bethany; Willow and Rowan; Sorrel; Wren and Lark; India and Gabriella (we once had a GN poster with that name, is she still with us?)

My younger son's 3rd name is Jared, I still like it.
I don't like names to be shortened (why give a girl a beautiful name like Charlotte, then call her Charlie?!)

Although people have every right to pronounce their name how they wish, 'Caitlyn' is Gaelic and pronounced 'Kathleen' not Kate-lyn.

A bit like Mainwaring being said Mannering!
My own two name are mundane and boring; I've often thought of giving myself a new name.

I'd be very interested to hear other people's favourite names.

All this talk of snow is making me shiver.

It snowed a LOT in Bradford and we lived at the top of a very, very steep hill.
School was 2miles away at the bottom.
I would trudge up this hill, snow hurtling into my face and coating my duffle and when I got home, I wasn't allowed in the house until all the snow and encrusted ice was knocked off!

I had a schoolfriend and neighbour, Carole with severe asthma, long before the days of inhalers and she just couldn't manage the last and steepest part of the hill. So I piggybacked her up every day.
In the snow and ice we often fell but she had a cushion - me.
We fell frequently, lying in the snow laughing, too weak to get up. The cold and wet 'enlivened' us eventually though.

Ancient memories!

Jan sorry to hear about your DHs results. Has he had many removed before?
I use the library app Libby too. Not quite the same as holding a book in your hand but no fines for late return ?
Nfk if the mallet won’t work, try cutting some corners of the last 4 pieces. I would be livid if I’d spent so much time on a puzzle and not be able to finish it.
If you do get snow I would love a photo.
I have spent most of the afternoon trying to fix our video recorder. The cassette drawer is jammed (it doesn’t have a tape in) and it won’t close so I can’t play back any of our tapes. I was hoping to do something for our DGDs birthday but that doesn’t seem likely now. ?
Hope everyone is ok. Take care all.

NfkDumpling. Well let’s face it Norfolk is always behind - well a bit slower than most. Actually I know quite a few people round here who have had the jab. Don’t get much snow in this part of Norfolk- touch wood!!

Congratulations Jan - somebody in Norfolk is getting the vaccine!! It seems that the East is rather dragging behind the rest of the country, but we've heard one of our local surgeries started vaccinating last Wednesday. We've several care homes here so they'll need to be 'done' first of course but fingers crossed DH may get an appointment soon. (I'm in the tranche after him.)

I've admitted defeat on my bloody jigsaw. I've re-done the expanse of black several times and always ended up with the same four pieces spare. There is a slight difference in tone in some bits and very faint lines on some of it which only show up when a torch is shone on it at the right angle! I am wondering if there's something in the rumours that pieces are muddled sometimes. I'm going to pass it to a jigsaw expert friend to have a go at - when we're allowed to see them.

Mamissimo, I am very envious of your little paddock. We had about a third of an acre which could have housed the pony - but only because our garden ran into a belt of mature woodland. I had to drive to the livery stable every morning to chuck him out and do the stable. But I loved the friendship of our horsey club of other owners.

It's been a thoroughly miserable dank day here in my bit of Norfolk too, but snow is forecast for tomorrow morning so maybe it'll look pretty for a little while - until it turns to sleet in the afternoon!

I hope Dragonfly and the Panaches are all ok.

Norstat. Got the results of the biopsy today but who knows what the consultant was talking about! It’s actually a copy of the letter sent to the GP but basically it means the “thing” has to be removed. My poor husband will soon be known as “scar face”! Just a miserable dull day in Norfolk - AGAIN!
Just discovered I can download free books for my Kindle from the library. Very excited!

Grammaretto I think your little granddaughter will love helping granny with her Gaelic ?
Ah kaimoana I could be classed as a dissectologist under your last definition. ?
I love walking in snow. The crunch and being in snowfall. We had a memorable trip to Switzerland one year when it snowed all the time. We were staying in a small village and they lit logs by the roadside to light the paths and we went for a candlelight walk. It was magical for me. We finished back at the hotel with a glass of “mullet” wine, which made us laugh ?
Grammaretto you have described exactly how I feel about snow. Hate the slushy stuff but that chilled silent air where everything is muted by the snow, I think is wonderful.
I hope you don’t need to go anywhere in the snow. Much as I love it, I hate driving in it. Somewhat inconsiderate of your neighbour to block your car in like that.
Nortsat I am deeply impressed that Minnie has deigned to join us today. Where’s Ollie? ?
DH and I enjoy a glass of wine with our meals. It is our wind down part of the day (we very seldom have scraps ?)
We have sunshine here. Nice to see it.
Panache hope you two are ok.
Back later lobsters. ?

Good morning Indomitables, I am here with the Gang-stars Molls, Missy and Minnie (and we’re all sitting comfortably, thank you Doodle).
Panache how are you both? Is your dear one any more comfortable? How are his meds settling down? I hope you have both had your jabs by now. Hoping you both have a gentle day. ?
Grammaretto interesting choice learning Gaelic. It’s not a very phonetic language. I did 19th & 20th century Irish history as my specialism in my first degree. This involved trying to read some original documents in the Gaelic ... that was a challenge.
My partner’s father was from Donegal in Eire and was a Gaelic speaker, but somehow that didn’t help.
I imagine you’ll be interested in Scots Gaelic, of course. I will be very interested in hearing how you progress and I wish you sláinte is táinte with it. (Health and wealth as my FIL would say).
Cherry hope your IT issues are resolvable. How tedious.
Jan hope all went well with your DH’s biopsy.
Mammissimo I agree and really enjoy both Landscape and Portrait Painter of the Year. We don’t have Sky and so I am delighted Sky Arts is available on Freeview. I must remember to record the series, thanks for the reminder.
Missedout given the size of the challenge, your jigsaw photograph demonstrates considerable progress. Well done.
Doodle you are leading the Lobstars by example, finishing the remaining wine in the bottle. We often have a couple of bottles with ‘scraps’ in them in our kitchen, which I use up in my cooking ... though some evenings we say to each other, ‘Scraps?’ and then we drink the ends of the bottles (we have no shame, Doodle).
Kaimoana, firstly an apology, I think I have written your name in about 4 different ways. I will pay more attention and proper respect to your name henceforth.
Sorry to hear your lunch didn’t work, but very pleased to hear your hob is now fully functional. ?

I have no news to share ... as Marydoll reflected on another thread, shielding is lonely. It’s also boring.
Have a pleasant, peaceful day, all. ?

Hiya Lobstars,

I love it when the snow has covered everything and there's that total silence . All is bright and the world pauses. But I do not like when it begins to thaw and turns to icy slush.

A man is calling to fix up my phone changes this morning. It's the last day he is allowed. The screw tightens from tomorrow and nobody, apart from essential workers, are permitted.
It feels a little like the Stasi, in those cold war films.

My car hasn't been out for weeks and now it would be hard to move it as the driveway has been kindly not blocked by piles of snow from a neighbour digging out their vehicle.

Oh Kaimoana poor you having to put up with a disastrous lunch experience. I nearly said date but it could hardly be called that
Thanks for the snatch of advanced Gaelic. If I learn to count to 10 in 8 weeks, I shall be happy.