The Lockdown Gang - Indomitable Lobstars ?⭐️

Hello early birds/lobstars,
There was a recent thread devoted to fishy puns. Someone is a dab hand at them. I codn't begin to play-ce.
Surnames are intriguing though. Mine used to be one with religious connotations. When I was at school, I shared with a POPE, an ABBOTT, a PRIEST and a BISHOP. My Christian name was so common that we were often distinguished by our surnames. It should have been amusing but wasn't.
I did giggle at this joke though,
he needs to be careful, she can move in any direction.

Did Jeeves find Dragonfly? I do hope so. Marydoll has had a heart attack, been in hospital but has now recovered at least enough to get home. I hope she is resting.

I use ZooDoo, not just because giraffe, elephant and rhino poo is excellent but it also has free delivery to the door-garden.

It was begun as an enterprise to help people with psychiatric challenges - a cause I support.
www.secondchance.org.nz/Home.html

Do UK zoos sell poo?

Grammaretto Gubbins still has digestive problems, we hope only temporary, and Mum has sent for some special organic 'gripe water' .

Missedout there is something about Ophiuchus I find a wee bit disturbing (male fantasy) and a wee bit amusing (ditto)

Mamissimo Keep guessing, you're getting warmer

I hope Jeeves finds dragonfly, I know she wasn't feeling too good. Marydoll too and anyone else who needs his tender ministrations and a nice, big chocolate mud cake.

I had cauliflower and white sauce for breakfast...no fish in the house 'cept me. hee hee

Mamissimo ha ha! Michigan is where to start looking!
NfkD what a nice thing to look forward to.
My DB has a plan that we siblings should go to NZ together as soon as it's possible. Nothing to do with the funerals but as he was born there and we lived there and DS now lives there as well as BradfordLass plenty of good reasons.

I wonder what a cubic metre of frozen manure looks like Mamissimo?
I usually raid my friend's manure heap. She only gives her ponies natural feed, without additives. It's always full of worms so I trust it.

I had a delivery of frozen clay today.
It's very comfy in our new home. Thankyou Doodle. The hot chocolate was delicious.
Night night all of you xxxx

Our neighbour died during the first lockdown Grammaretto and could only have a small funeral and his DD who lives in Australia obviously couldn't come. So this summer when hopefully all will be better and DD can get over from Oz, they're intending to have a memorial service and a bbq wake on the first anniversary. Having that at the back of their minds helped cope with the tiny funeral.

Bradfordlass I did walk down your lanes. It looked a lovely open place. It’s a shame you had to leave.
Missedout oooh you’re posh. Not plain old Leo for you but Ophiuchis (I had to look it up ?)
Grammaretto crumbs we’re moving on. Lobster mobster gangsters ?. A force to be reckoned with I think
Oh I would love your snowy scene. I know many don’t like snow but I’m like a small child. I love winter wonderland. ?
So no one will be able to wander through your garden without leaving tracks. I gather the deer have been already.
Glad your cornice is finished, my DGD would approve she loves pineapple designs.
Well now isn’t that another gangster coincidence. My brother married a Dane too although they lived in this country.
Glad the genealogy is keeping you interested. We need something to do in lockdown.
Nfk my DGD is far to young to be into fertility symbols thank you ?
You jigsaw gang are getting competitive now.
Mamissimo I have mentioned before I have a bad memory so I might have told this tale before. Your mention of the manure sparked a memory of my mum who once got conned persuaded to buy a cart load of manure from a local farmer. She did it because my dad was a keen gardener and she thought he’d like it.
It was duly deposited on the pavement and when my dad came back from work he had to spend the next week hours putting it in a wheelbarrow and shovelling it over the garden........there was an awful lot of it, it was inches thick all over and dad had a really big garden ?
I bet you try on those tiaras before you pass them on. Don’t forget some feather boas too. ?
Jan I certainly do need a geography lesson. I am hopeless, even though I have been to the Broads. 60 miles is not too far for a day trip is it. Do you go often (outside of lockdown that is)?
Jeeves is still out looking for Dragonfly. I hope he finds her soon.
cherry are you ok?
Panache did you both sleep last night?

Grammaretto in my experience they usually wash up in Michigan!

https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202101/medium-236137-thepineapple-exterior-gardenfront-600x400.jpg https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202101/medium-33327-snowy-pentland-view.jpg

Wow! NfkD 10 pieces.
I am well impressed.
Thanks for the info about the pineapple too.
I have always wanted to visit The Pineapple, a romantic folly near Stirling where in normal times you can stay courtesy of the Landmark Trust.

The funeral, such as it is, for FiL is next week. No wake allowed which is sadly ironic for possibly the world's most hospitable man. There will be a rare chance to see my DC (apart from the DS in NZ) and my inlaws.

On a happier note. The snowy walk today was beautiful.

My genealogy searches went well but we cannot find what became of this mysterious couple. Did they perhaps emigrate?

Jan16 I'm also horribly foggy when I wake up - I've decided I need caffeine in my old age.

Afternoon All. Absolutely freezing in Norfolk today and was horribly foggy when we woke up.
Think Doodle needs a geography lesson on Norfolk!! NfkDumpling and I both live in Norfolk and the Broads are an area in Norfolk and Suffolk about 60 miles away from us. The Broads are man made lakes dug out many years ago and they are now a holiday destination for boating, fishing or just enjoying. We love going there.
BradfordLass73. What an amazing area you lived in and must be great to bring children up in. We went to Australia several years ago and really enjoyed it except for the long flight!! Hope everyone has a good a day as possible.

Good morning lobsters - I feel like Bridget Jones but here goes.....laundry ✅ dishwasher done ✅ anti bac ✅ Sainsbugs order received and away done ✅ source of fermentation in the potato store and resulting whiff ✅ jigsaw complete - nope! -- weight gain from chocolate and random Christmas stuff I'm tidying up.........not telling ! ?

I've been mulling over the putative surname of Bradfordlass. Mrs Scallop would be quite Dickensian......Mrs Salmon too Scottish......Mrs Mullet.....Mrs Snapper....Mrs Dab.....give up! My own surname is very tiny and I always have to spell it for people....and even then they subconsciously can't believe that I've spelt it right and they add bits to it. I've been called many things but hardly ever correctly by name until people have come to terms with it memorised it!

I've had a cubic metre of manure delivered this morning but it's too cold to deal with that this morning so instead I've been buying dressing up tiaras, clicky clacky shoes and diamonds for the DGC.....because I always wanted those and my mother wouldn't let me have them!

Good days everyone

Pineapples were considered to be a sign of welcome Grammaretto. Many stately homes have them in the reception rooms and especially on the staircase to the main floor. They were very fashionable home decorations in the Jacobean period. (And of course they're fertility symbols too - but most fruit is!)

I only just popped in quickly to say I fitted ten pieces of jigsaw this morning! Now waiting for DGD2 to call for her reading aloud practice.

Hello lovely lobster mobster gangstars,

I woke to see a beautiful winter wonderland. No sign apart from fresh footprints of the deer family.
I am very glad the cornice lady has finished the ceiling. I would have worried about her driving through the snow. She found there was, or should have been, a pineapple in the corner of the cornice so she made a replica yesterday and put it up. Pineapples must have been an exotic fruit back in the 1820s or whenever the plaster was done. She also complimented me on how I hadn't decorated much and slathered paint all over the plasterwork. It's not often that laziness is rewarded.
She took all the scaffolding down by herself too.
Now to get the room back to rights. No hurry. Not today. Not this month.

Ophiuchus is the 13th star sign, Missedout well, well. I had never heard of it before. Very exotic lob-star!

I daren't be too sceptical about astrology because an old friend makes her living reading peoples charts and performing magic
I feel she is really a kind of counsellor and able to help people at difficult times in their lives.

That's interesting about the brash American lack of manners Mamissimo. My DB is married to a Dane and lives there and I was surprised to find there is no word for please in the Danish language.
It sounds so gruff and abrupt. I'll have that!
They do say thanks tusind tak a thousand thanks.

Echos of the elephant and the bad baby
www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhMUW0ohyIE

I must away and get on with the genealogy. I am engrossed in my friend's family.

I should be asleep but couldn't resist popping my head round the door to say I'm a Monday born left-hander and my star sign is apparently Ophiuchus. Lucky me!

I actually managed to join up the 4 sides of the puzzle today. Is puzzling one of my star sign traits, I wonder?

I'll be back laters (to quote Cherry). I wish you all a peaceful night (or productive day for BL).

Nfk close but not quite. Maybe this should be one of the GN games 'Guess the Lobstars surnames'?

Mamissimo Americans tend not to say 'please' just, 'would you pass the salt' or in your case, the research. They don't see it as bad manners. Glad you did the schoolmarm thing

Doodle Kai rhymes with Sty. Then Moh - ana - but all run together.
.
Yes, you got it right - I did live in the middle of a forest, or rather in an area where 22 acres lifestyle blocks were surrounded by forest.
Quiet, peaceful place for my sons to grow up and Joe knew every single path and inch of that forest before it was sold to a developer. He used to take his chook for a walk there every day.

If this works, it will take you to the very overgrown driveway to our house.

You can't see the house itself as the property has been un-maintained for over 10 years.
I once took a drive out there with a friend and it nearly broke my heart to see mould growing inside and out of my beautiful little cottage.

www.google.com/maps/place/43+Anzac+Valley+Road,+Waitakere,+Auckland+0816/@-36.8632774,174.5397327,3a,75y,292.13h,78.82t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sDng1j65gajFKt6Ozfrys6Q!2e0!7i13312!8i6656!4m5!3m4!1s0x6d0d6b6e0138162f:0x8f143aa51b3566cc!8m2!3d-36.8608139!4d174.5377048

Feel free to walk the lanes it's changed a lot since I lived there.

Mamissimo little Mattie Hancock has written to DH too telling him he should have his vaccination by mid February. We will wait and see.
There seem to be many gangster lobsters with similar interest. Geaneology, growing veg, musical instruments (including me and my triangle ?) the jigsaw gang. Thursday’s children.
Grammaretto I’m with you, a little ? too.
I had a strange occurrence with my first baby. During pregnancy I lost my voice. I had to take pen and paper with me everywhere and write down what I wanted to say.

Hello Gangstars,

I'm a Monday's child ofcourse! Leo the lazy lion. That's me.
I am so glad the Panaches sound 100% happier and rested today.
Ooh Bradfordlass is about to have a name change. How will we cope?
I'll bet those new photos are wonderful of little Gubbins. Perhaps her crying was due to that discomfort, nothing to do with her digestive system. Poor wee soul. Nothing worse than misdiagnosis.

I had a friend who was in her early 20s, expecting her first baby . She had agonising pain but everyone put it down to the pregnancy . It turned out she had gall bladder problems and had to have it removed half way through her pregnancy. She was fine after that.

I have been helping someone with their Ancestry today too. I have a subscription and she doesn't because the Scottish records are few and far between on Ancestry. However her relative was in the army and on a passenger ship so she was delighted.

It has been freezing today especially indoors so I shall have to go and soak in the hot tub I wish

Yup Cherry I'm a Thursday born left handed Sagittarian. Mess with that if you dare ?!

I'm afraid I let Doodle down and did a little light vacuuming today - and it absolutely pooped me! My own fault, I decided to 'prove' how much better than our cleaner I am at cleaning - forgetting that she's forty years younger than me! I also got out the super efficient heavy weight Sebo whilst she runs around with a dyson cordless. I do think I probably shifted more dog hair and burned more calories but it's not a game I want to play too often!

It did however save me from the jigsaw of doom. No pieces today......

How's the genealogy going everyone? I've got the Christmas rush on at the moment - because I've been in the game for many years I often get approached to help people with Irish heritage. Today a chap from Canada sent a message that simply said....."Will you give me access to your research" - no explanation of why, how he thought we might be related.....and worst of all no 'Please'. I love helping people with their histories but learning is a two way process and his tone hit the wrong button......I replied to him that he obviously isn't related to Mr Manners.......which I think makes me worse than him. Never mind ?

Another nice email from little Mattie Hancock....all about changes to shielding for young people...and jolly nice compost it will make too.

Wishing you all a lush night's sleep

Cherry I was born on a Friday. Loving and giving, need I say more ? ?

Well good evening all. What have the lobsters been up to today?
cherry you can tell female pots from males because the female pots are more sleek and elegant whilst the male variety are more sturdy and robust....or perhaps the female ones have a neat hole in the bottom to let the water out and the male ones just splash over the edge
DH is doing well cherry thanks for asking. He is still using the walking frame as he is (has been for a while) a bit unsteady on his feet. His back hurts if he stands up for too long but otherwise is doing well.
I hope the gas man cometh and fixed your problem.
Any football matches due soon?
Bradfordlass footstools and recliners all in place and as an added extra we have some massage chairs too ?
That’s some bottle of spirit you have there. I think I might give the Purple Death a Miss thank you ?
Glad you made it home without Jeeves. He would have been upset if you were missing.
How do you pronounce kiamoana? Sounds like it could be a winner as it fits in with the lobster theme ?
Lots of cosy blankets and beds for any cats or dogs that want to join us.
Sorry to hear about little Mila. I hope it is nothing serious. Glad she’s had her first treatment which seemed to work.
Missedout there you are. Glad Jeeves found you ?
I gather yesterday’s stroll was a little muddy ?
Your wi if deal sounds good. Not often you get something better for less.
I too think that young Rege-Jean chap might be too distracting. He also might cause the blood pressure to rise ?
Nfk you seem to be getting on with your puzzle. I wouldn’t have the patience. Six pieces, wow. That’s progress ?
No it hadn’t occurred to me either that us all logging into WiFi would affect all the schoolchildren.
Do you not object to Mr Nfk going birding ?. I am going to have a pootle around on Google Earth later and see the area of Norfolk you and Jan live. Sounds lovely.
Bradforlass I did try the coordinates you posted recently but I’m not sure I put it in correctly it looked like you used to live in the middle of a forest ?
Panache a little sleep at last. How wonderful . I hope the chemo doesn’t cause more pain for MrP
So glad to have you here with us. Take care. Love to you and MrP . Fingers crossed for a good night.
Jan obviously I need a geography lesson (I have no sense of direction). I thought you lived in Norfolk too. Forgive my ignorance, are the Broads a specific area of Norfolk?
Ah yes, you weren’t with us when the lovely Gubbins was born. Mila is her name and she’s very smiley and lovely.
Nfk no one is called Mrs Lobster surely ?. You’re not are you Bradfordlass ?
Jeeves is out with his Brandy barrel again tonight. He is out looking for dragonfly to show her where our new home is. Hope he finds her. ?

A half quota is pretty good I'm my book Panache. Half a glass of something is half full in my book, so I'm pleased for you ?. I hope Mr P's chemo injection hasn't interfered with the rest and peace he has had for a couple of days now?

BradfordLass to say that it must be quite a worry for your DS, DDiL, you and the rest of the family that baby Gubbins needs to have this treatment is an understatement I'm sure. I'm pleased that her first treatment went well. I hope x-rays have been arranged and that they go ahead asap.
I think Grammaretto's suggestion for your new username is a good one too ?.
I'm a Thursday's child too BradfordLass, now you've got me wondering about the rest of the lobStars .. ?. What about the rest of the gang? Are there any more Thursday's children amongst us?

Lobster. You're not Mrs Lobster are you Bradford?!

Ah Panache what a relief that you're getting sleep and a little more peace of mind. Don't like the sound of that chemo and like you, hope it doesn't undo the good MrP is feeling.
Much love to you both.

Glad the dissectologists (yep, new word for me) are beating those dratted puzzles.

Gubbins got her first treatment late yesterday and seems much better. The drive home was pain free.
Just to make sure the good effect remains, they will take her to the doctor today to ask about X-rays. Taking no chances with this precious girl.
Today's batch of photos ( I do wish I could share) shows a happy, grinning little madam who would far rather stay awake getting attention from her devoted parents, than rest at nights.

Nfk and Jan we get those wild winds from the Antarctic - but not at the moment, it's 18 degrees and belting down so I may rethink my walk.

I'm going to go with Grammaretto's suggestion of Kaimoana unless anyone else wants to nip in with an idea?
Not only is it appropriate for my taste in food but if you know my real surname, it's even quite funny.
No, I'm not related to Steven Haddock the marine biologist.

Doodle How are you and MrD ?

NfkDumpling. We love the Broads and come up there every year! Yes we too get that Artic wind!
Been lovely sunny day again but freezing cold.
Hope all those feeling poorly have had a better day.
*BradfordLass73. Poor Gubbins. So awful for the parents hearing their baby screaming in pain. Hope he/she gets some help soon.
Panache Fingers crossed your man is getting some relief now. So sorry he’s going through all that pain and hope you have another good nights sleep.
Boris on tv later. Really can’t think what more he can say ?

Ah, Panache, its so good to hear you're feeling rested. I hate to think what a prostate chemo injection involves. It sounds as if it could be dire!

We decided on a different view and drove five minutes up the road to a local common but we managed to take a only short, if very soggy walk in the sunshine. Large lakes where there should just be fields and streams running over the roads. No snow here but I rather think we're in for a very cold night.

And, triumph, I've managed six pieces in the jigsaw!

What an uplifting,entertaining lot you all are and you truly take me along your oft merry way..........although I am well aware that there are far deeper pictures behind most of your posts.

Indeed I too rejoice because yes I did have quite a reasonable bit of sleep,so am firing on at least half my quota today!
Awaiting our Nurse to administer the monthly chemo injection re my man`s poorly prostate issue,this is painful but hopefully will not undo the small amounts of peace he has enjoyed over the last day or so.

Weather has been most tempting,bright,sunny and dry..........I would have loved to dress up warmly and take a stroll ........however rather grey and gloomy out there today,so I am more than happy to stay put and enjoy the indoor warmth.

Love to you all.........you are helping make my little crumbling world to keep on turning...........please stay safe.