The Lockdown Gang - carry on chatting ⭐️

Boadicea I’m not sure I’d call it wonderful news but it’s been raining here today too ?
However, I understand your need for rain and glad you are all topped up now.

Crumbs that’s a fantastic tale about Maui. Not a nice way to go though.
Glad you are being well looked after. Your normal Bp and pulse is exceptionally good. Mine is higher than that but I can imagine your anxiety when it got higher. Hope you are feeling better now.

Nortsat the hampers are a lovely gift but I do find it hard to get through so many things. DS2s hamper was chocolate and wine (no problem with that) DS1, fruit cake, wine, chocolates, Xmas pudding and nuts (no problem with that either) One in a lovely box which I will keep and use for storing our Christmas baubles and the second in a hamper style box which I will use for my sewing things. The one we will have most problem with is the the one with 7 different types of chutney. We do eat chutney but only rarely . Good job they last till 2023. Just hope we don’t get more next year as we haven’t eaten all of last years yet ?
Oh poor Missy. I hope she takes her meds well. I remember a similar problem with my brother when he had dementia. So hard to find the right thing to tempt someone with.
Please tell Missy pate is delicious and I thorough recommend it. ?

We had a visit from the BT man today because DH couldn’t get our new router and booster to work properly. Turns out BT sent him the wrong router and it wasn’t the right one to work with the booster they sent us. DH now very happy as he doesn’t like to be outwitted by IT things and couldn’t understand why he couldn’t get it to work.
Whilst doing the ironing today I was listening to a programme on BBC 3 which was billed as slow radio (like slow tv but without the pictures) . It was four peak walks in the UK an I was listening to the Ben Nevis one. I got really annoyed because I was expecting it to be just the noise of birds, the crunch of walking and the descriptive narrative of the person walking. It was all of these but they insisted in putting in background music which I found really irritating as it was overwhelmed the sound of everything else. Fortunately, for many parts of the walk they turned it off.
I’m someone who likes quiet and I can’t cope with constant background noise.
Panache Cherry and all the gangsters, thinking of you and wishing you well. x

Doodle I have this wonderful image of you buried under a landslide of chutney jars...safely, of course! And all that chocolate! Yes, isn't that background music so annoying! It was one of the most irritating things I noticed about shops, cafes, shopping malls, TV when I went to the UK in 2000. As if people are frightened of silence, because they have to think and rely on their own internal resources. And now, it's the same here. The peak walks programme sounds delightful.
Nortsat Oh, I do hope that you can persuade Missy to take her meds. It’s a worry when they won’t do what’s good for them. A bit like recalcitrant children and irritating husbands. I must look for “Renegades” – sounds very interesting. I’m re-reading Bettany Hughes’ ‘Istanbul: A Tale of Three Cities’… I went to Turkey and Jordan in 2019, as I had such an amazing time there back in the 70s, and can’t get enough of Istanbul’s amazing history and culture. Kaimoana also reminded me about Anya Seton’s ‘Katherine’, a book I absolutely adored as a teenager, and so I’m also dipping in to her ‘Devil Water’, which is about the Jacobite Rebellion of 1715, and early America. My Scots ancestors were Jacobites, and sheltered rebels in the attic of their barn on Arran after the ’45.
The weather is cooler today, a bit gusty, but at least the extreme heat has passed for now. The couple of rainy days have allowed me to transplant my plumbago cuttings, which have been raring to go for some time now. I’m going to make a “hot, dry garden” along the retaining walls of the drive. They get all-day sun, dry out very quickly, and at the moment are over-run by kikuyu grass, which grows like the Beanstalk, and require so much maintenance. So it’s going to be tumbling plumbago, agave, NZ flax and other drought-resistant plants that won’t require daily attention. This afternoon, my French group meets, as per their request, for an hour of fun and convo. Some of them are going snorkelling(!!) this morning and will arrive damp and exhausted for their class…wish I had half their energy.
OK – off I go to get materials sorted for this afternoon. Have a great day/evening, everyone, enjoy the leftover leftovers and don’t eat TOO much chocolate.

Grammaretto I was reading in the papers today that learning Gaelic was becoming very popular. A lot of people learn it on Duo which is what I am using to learn French.
You are obviously part of the In crowd. ?. My French is coming along well. In about another 5 years I hope to be able to string a sentence together. ?
I am actually enjoying learning a language from scratch. I am usions it a bit like a memory game to keep my brain active. Duo is brilliant to learn with. I use it for free and put up with the adverts. It’s quite expensive to buy a subscription to but using the free app is fine for me.
Feeling very full now as I have just raided the chock stash.

Norstat Have you tried Easypill putty to get Missy to take her pills? I haven’t but two friends have and say it works really well. It’s chicken flavour! You can get it from Amazon. Just a thought. Good luck and be a good girl Missy!

Sorry for my absence. Haven't been well since Xmas and still very much under the weather.
Love to you all
xxxx

Doodle et tous mes amies - bonne soir ?

Missedout I have absolutely everything crossed for you and I have spoken to the higher authority in very tough terms! I hope with all my heart that the anti viral infusion is all that they think it is and that you benefit from it. ?

Chutney is a devil isn't it? On the one hand it is a truly great way to prevent waste but the recipes all make at least three jars...then multiply three jars by beetroot, green tomato, red tomato, running bean, apple, chilli, sweetcorn. Divide by Mr M and moi, and we would have to eat almost half a jar a week each to use it all......each year! It stinks the house out when it's cooking and every three years or so I have to dispose of about twenty jars of sticky brown over mature chutney. It's such a lovely idea in theory only!

Mr M is responding to my cajoling and has shuffled strode out with H Beagle in the garden today. He returned with a list of tasks that he thinks I may have overlooked in the last couple of weeks and suggests that I get a wriggle on with the manuring. I dug deep and didn't even reply......but he may, just may, live to regret his helpfulness!

Et maintenant, c'est l'heure pour preparer a dormir........bonne nuit mes amies ?

Mamissimo - love your posts, you leave me chuckling for hours!

Take care Kaimoana.

Kaimoana sorry to hear you’ve not been well. You have been missed. I hope you managed to see your family at Christmas.
Look after yourself and hope you are feeling much better soon.
Mamissimo I could just about work out what you said with out resorting to my French Dictionary.
I didn’t learn French at school and started with Duo on the recommendation of some gransnetters. I find it an easy to use app and it does test my memory so gives the old (very old) grey matter a good workout.
I see MrM is a almost back to his usual self. I wonder how much longer he can avoid the leg of lamb ?
Muse happy birthday ? ?. Hope you have a lovely day.

Thank you Doodle.
Celebrating at home with MrMuse. Safest way. ??

Good morning Gang-stars from Missy (who is doing moderately well with her meds) and me.

Kaimoana, I have missed your lovely posts. So sorry to learn you’re unwell. Hope your improving and are as comfortable as possible.
BJ I have never read Anya Seaton, so will now look out for her work and make good use of my Christmas vouchers.
Doodle I am very interested to hear about your French language learning. Do tell us more. I was very good at French at school but then dropped it. When I went to University, you had to have a language qualification to read History, to enable you to translate original documents etc. I did German, which I thoroughly enjoyed and it’s very phonetic, so you pronounce all the letters in a relatively straightforward way, but the grammar is complex.
I love the idea of remote learning French.
Jan thank you for your thoughtful suggestion of EasyPill putty for Missy. We used that successfully for months and months until one day she just refused it. Then we went on to Pill Pockets (a recommendation from another GN-er) and that worked for months, but now she won’t take them.
I have chicken liver pate coming with the groceries today and am hoping that might work.
Missedout ??
Mamissimo all your chutneys sound wonderful. You could set up a cottage industry.
You must be delighted that Mr M is able to critically analyse your gardening progress and advise you on how to address your shortcomings!
It’s good he got a bit of fresh air in the garden, though.
Muse wishing you a very Happy Birthday. Jeeves is on the way with cake and fizz ??
? for Panache.
Wishing all Gang-stars, including Nfk and Cherry a pleasant day, from the Molls (?‍⬛?‍⬛?‍⬛) and me.

Happy birthday Muse, I hope you are having a wonderful day ? ?

I'm so sorry to hear that both you and your DH have covid Missed out. I hope your symptoms are mild, stay that way and you recover quickly. I hope you've got sent that elixir to use if necessary. Sending you a (sanitised) cwtch x

Thinking of you all x

Hello Gangstars, just to let you know that I had a call from the NHS a few hours after I tested positive for Covid. The following morning, I drove to hospital for new treatment which involved having a drip in my hand for 30 minutes. I'm told that it should keep me out of hospital and make feel better quickly. Result! I've been worried for so long, now DH and I need to test negative so we can finally hand out all the Christmas presents that are isolating in the spare room.

Thank you for your good wishes.

Incidentally, does anyone know how I can tell my cousin that we really struggle to get through the many jars of chutneys she sends us without fail for Christmas every year - my cousin has taken over from my dear (now departed) aunt who started the tradition at least 25 years ago. They always used to come to us for Boxing day, we'd have cold meat and they always brought the chutney. We ate a lot of chutney when there were more than a dozen of us round the table but not these days.

Get well soon Kaimoana.

My best wishes to you all and Happy New Year.

Happy birthday, Muse! I hope it was a day of (yet more) cake, and lots of fun and frolic.
Nortsat and Jan- I'm intrigued by the Pill Putty and so on...I don't think we have that here - what a shame, as getting pills into our three is pretty much impossible.Good to hear that Missy is doing well with her meds. I don't think that Seton is in print these days-her heyday was the 50s, but she manages to combine a jolly bodice-ripper with the most impressive and scholarly research. After reading 'Katherine' ( Swynford, mistress/wife of John of Gaunt), at the age of 13, I was inspired by the Middle Ages, and became quite the expert (little spotty, bespectacled swot that I was). I was so interested to read of your History specialty - what is your period of expertise? Did you have to study Old German for your degree?
After watching 'The Ten Commandments', sword and sandals/Hollywood pharoahs par excellence, aged 10, I was determined to become an archaeologist, and read up everything I could about Egypt. I was obviously very easily swayed by cheap entertainment, but it led to to lifetime's passion, nay, obsession with the past.
Missedout - I really hope all is well with you. Keep smiling, and remember that we're past the winter solstice, and the days can only get brighter. Sorry, that sounds pollyanna-ish and trite, but it's true that spring in on its way.
My French group's plaintive appeal for a lesson resulted in a very entertaining afternoon chez moi. I print out some of the funny stories from the French Quora site for them to read and chuckle over. Yesterday it was (translated, obviously) "What to do when you are over 70", "Behind every successful man there is a woman who pushes him", and an interesting story about King Umberto I of Italy's doppelganger, a cafe proprietor, whose every life event was exactly the same as the king - even down to their dying from a bullet on the same day -the cafe owner in a mysterious shooting incident, the king by assassination. We meet next week at the home one of the "students", down by the water, right on the Bay of Islands, for a déjeuner sur l’herbe.
Right, NYE preps await. To the supermarket before all the Auckland holiday makers arrive. Bye all, take care.

Missedout - crossed posts! Oh, that is good news! Top marks, NHS! No, I can't think of a diplomatic way to approach the chutney glut, but if it makes her happy, and you have people in the community in need of such a luxury, then long may it continue!
Can anyone answer this question - in this nation of a tiny population, where any new person you meet will have a relative/friend of your acquaintance, why I never know ANYONE in the NY Honours list? Obviously I don't move in exhalted circles.

Boadicia I’m sorry we must have crossed posts and I have only just seen your message from yesterday.
You have pictured me quite accurately actually. What with all the chutney and chocolate it’s hard to move round our flat.
Yes the peak walks were good I just skipped over the bit with the music.
Have a lovely time with your French group. I wish I was closer (and had a better grasp of the language) and I would join you. It sounds a fun group.
I meant to tell you that the Dean at Canterbury gave his 2 turkeys and their offspring a Christmas present the other day all wrapped up in Christmas paper. It was dried meal worms which apparently they love ( ?). It made me wonder if you bought presents for your chickens? ?
Nortsat must be a relief that Missy is taking her meds.
I too learnt German at school but wasn’t any good at it. Languages aren’t my thing (job to know what is really ?)
I read somewhere on GN that some GNetters were studying languages using an app called Duolingo. I looked it up on the App Store and you can download it for free. If you want to avoid the advertisements you have to pay a subscription but I just use the free version. I picked French because I liked the idea of learning it. The app is really user friendly and fun. I have continued with it because I find it’s something I have to concentrate on. I have to remember how to spell things and how to use words so I’m using it as a sort of memory skills test.
I don’t know what people who can speak French would think of it but for me with no knowledge at all I’m finding it fun.
Ooh it’s the lovely Cherry again. Hope you didn’t get your Tigger tail trapped in the tumble dryer with Nortsats Minnie.
Hope you are ok and keeping well. Cwtches and x
Missedout that is really good news about the treatment and must be reassuring. I hope you find it works and you remain in good health.
Yes it’s difficult to tell people that you can’t make use of their gifts. Perhaps mention that one jar of chutney lasts you a long time these days. Hard to know what to say isn’t it?
Best wishes and Happy New Year to you too. Hope you keep safe and well.?

Just seen your message Kaimoana, that you too are in the land of the unwell. So sorry to hear it. Sending you a gentle cwtch x

Good Evening ?

Missedout so glad you've had the antiviral infusion. The new system for the immunosuppressed seems to be working. ?

This afternoon the doorbell rang unexpectedly.....--but not enough to wake Mr M-- on opening it, whilst hanging into H Beagle who adores delivery men but can't eat a whole one I found a Sainsbury's delivery man holding out two bottles of Veuve Cliquot......

Nope, not a fantasy moment! I'd mistakenly booked an order on the wrong day......and I always book my slot with two bottles of fizz and then return to it the day before delivery to enter what I really require.

So Mr M and I have two bottles of fizz, some chutney and half a box of cherry brandies for dinner tomorrow ?

Mamissimo! The perfect balanced diet, at least 3 of your 5 a day - grapes, tomatoes/onions and cherries. . Well done!

Hello Gangstars.

Good to see Cherry posting and thanks for the good wishes - you too Nortsat

Anya Seton is available at Book Depository & Amazon UK at bargain prices...and thoroughly recommended, although unlike dear BJ I wouldn't call them bodice-rippers, they don't always contain romance unless it's a factual, historical one like Katherine de Roet and John of Gaunt.

Wouldn't rest homes take excess chutney, or are they not allowed under Health and Stupidity Safety Rules?
Look out for Spring Fairs and other community fundraisers and offer them as donations. Never waste good food.

Missedout I have every sympathy with your having a drip in your hand for 30 minutes. If the post had been from Mamissimo I might have assumed it meant her gallant beau.

I had a solid meal today, 1st since Xmas, and slept most of the afternoon, tottering into the kitchen at 4pm for a hand-made chocolate (sugar free).
My dil loves my boozy truffles and chocs, and I hid 4 from her at Christmas Don't worry, she took over 30 home.

I've just learned a new word and concept an Initialism.
What I and most other people (and GN) call acronyms, aren't it seems.

A true acronym is a set of initials you can say like a word (AIDS, NASA) whereas DGS, HIV, DH etc., are initialisms. Who'd've thunk it?

This came from expert lexicographer, Michael Quinnion who swears that when he worked for the BBC, the title Engineering Information and Electronics Instructional Officer (EIEIO) was apocryphal.

Happy New Year

Morning All

I"ve just skimmed through all your posts, so much news! And then one of you will give an answer to something which I don't remember reading and I just have to go back and find out! And that is why I don't post as often as I'd like. I can now hear DH moving around upstairs and he'll be down in a minute to check his blood levels (diabetes), and start to chat and ....!

Anyway, we had a nice quiet Christmas Day. Just the two of us. We did the last full Everyone to Our House Christmas in 2019 and I announced it would be the last time. We'd not done one for a few years anyway as we'd decided a full on Easter was a better option. It got away from the who's turn is it thing, it's always four days and the weather is better. So we had Christmas Day with just us two and the local two families came round on Boxing Day bringing left overs so we didn't have to do too much. More relaxing than we'd intended as the rain didn't let up so the Boxing Day walk went out of the window. Board games instead and a sulky DGS with Christmas-itis as he couldn't ride his new skate board. Otherwise a lovely day. Its usually a lovely day when family are round isn't it?

I am wondering if there's something in the air with all the dicky tickers around. I've now got three good friends with heart upsets of one sort or another. I blame the Russians. Or the Chinese. And as for Covid. It's getting boring now. Can't be sure of arranging anything in case it has to be cancelled. DH is the immunosuppressed one in our house and has been sent a 'Just in case' PCR test kit. I'd like to think he'd get the summons for a miracle drip cure Missedout. I hope you're still feeling well. And its good to hear that Kaimoana is on the mend too.

The shower has stopped running. I'd best put the kettle on for a coffee to keep the master sweet!

Oh Mamissimo that made me laugh. I’ve done the same myself except that instead of expensive fizz we ended up with some very expensive steak and bottles of household cleaner.
Dinner sounds fun.
My grandsons dog prefers Tescos delivery men for although Sainsbugs runs a close second. ?
Have a good day.
Boadicea hadn’t thought of that. I might try and incorporate it into my diet ?
Kaimoana lovely to have you back. Thank you for the book suggestions.
That’s a good idea about the chutney. Never thought about care homes. I suppose they might take them if they are sealed jars.
Glad you are feeling a bit better. Enough to taste a boozy truffles anyway. Sounds like your DIL will be enjoying herself over the next few days.
Just read out your comment about EIEIO to DH (initialism)
Made us both laugh. ?
NfK we love hearing from you whenever you post. Some of us post more often and the thread moves on a pace but I think I speak for all when I say don’t worry about that or about catching up. We don’t expect you to trawl back and read everything just join in whenever you like because it’s lovely to hear from you and hear what you’re up to.
Sounds like our house. DH gets up and checks his peak flow and oxygen levels before the day starts., although your DHs blood levels are more important I would think.
Glad you enjoyed your Christmas and got to see your local family plus the benefit of a quiet day to yourselves too.
Yes difficult to make plans. We have a restaurant booking with DS1 and family next week and are planning the same with DS2 but will have to wait and see what happens.
Hope all the gangsters have a good day. We are having one of my favourite meals tonight. Cheese ?
We are planning a savoury snack type of meal with bits and pieces of leftovers and some nice wine and hopefully a relaxing evening. I will stay awake to see the New Year in if I don’t fall asleep first. Have a good evening all.
Boadicea and Kaimoana you’re ahead of us so Happy New Year to you. Hope it’s a good one. ?

Happy New Year!

or bliadhna mhath ùr (translates as Year good new) funny people those Gaels

I have Dsis and BiL staying so it feels very holiday like. I made a Black Bun today. You're supposed to make it weeks in advance like a Christmas cake but I didn't. I still have no kitchen so have moved into the granny flat.

We'll eat, drink, and try to be merry. Maybe watch a movie and zoom with our DC.

I have been reading and giggling my way through recent posts. I think you are mostly OK at present.
I enjoyed the initialisation and the EIEIO.

DS is excited to be using some new words:- rediscovered orphaned negatives by Susie Dent.
Susie Dent is a lexicographer and etymologist. Her latest book is Word Perfect: Etymological Entertainment for Every Day of the Year
Disgruntled, unruly, unkempt, unwieldy, inept.
Gruntled, ruly, kempt, wieldy and ept are much more positive.
DS particularly likes: Respair (rather than to Despair)
Ruth instead of Ruthless and feck, not feckless. (although you might have difficultly saying that one out loud)

I sincerely hope next year is an improvement on this last one - though we have had some good times haven't we.

Grammaretto glad you’re having a good time. Year Good New to you all too ?
I think Susie Dent used to be on Countdown. Is that the same person? That book sounds good for a laugh.

Yes, we have had some good times and we’ve had lots of laughs on this thread too.
Hope everyone enjoyed their evening.