🦞Lockdown friends still together🦞

ixion - I don't know your map image but I do remember the Gall–Peters projection - often known just as the Peters Projection, which looks at land mass area. We always had that up on our wall when we still had family living at home alongside the one we commonly see. It's amazing how much of the globe Africa covers!

I'm sure you've seen it but basically it prioritises the relative proportions of the landmasses instead of the outlines of countries and it doesn't have a Eurocentric bias like the familiar Mercator’s map.

This is an old but interesting article about a moving to a different nap and how it changes our perception
www.theguardian.com/education/2017/mar/19/boston-public-schools-world-map-mercator-peters-projection

https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202501/medium-96194-1000021706.jpg https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202501/medium-293099-1000021697.jpg

Hello Lobstars 👋
I am so sorry about your floods ixion at least they were discovered and presumably can be dealt with.

Welcome home Cherry !!
I am sure you'll mend faster there.

Sending 🫂 and cwtches and flowers 💐 too.
Snow all around me but some neighbours managed to find me and bring me cups of tea and nice dips from M&S. I served Christmas cake which I had hastily iced on Monday.
They served themselves while I held court in my salon!

I hope some more friends and family will brave my icy road to call today.

Kaimoana keep on educating us as well as entertaining us. We love it!

This is the view from my window today and the cake last night.

ixion ever since you posted your Christmas ingredients I've been meaning to tell you it's illegal to sell trout in New Zealand.
Pity, I used to love it.

Welcome home Cherry & Grammaretto.
Your cwtches much appreciated.
Paracetamol and I are still best friends alas but at least I can lie down as and when I want.

NaughtyNeine I wonderif you know any Shona? (Bantu - southern Africa)
If so, your name means, Naughty Me! - honest

ixion I know you always longed for an indoor swimming pool but perhaps this is not what you envisaged?

M'lani is such a lovely girl and she's just turned my house from the Wreck of the Hesperus to something like a tidy home.

My lovely Mil always consulterd St Anthony of Padua when anything was lost Doodle. She said he never failed her.

I'll have a word
♥♥♥

Oh Ixion that’s bad. Hopefully you can get it dried out without too much damage. Is it because of the weather?
Sorry probably a silly question.
Grammaretto have they let you come home without any support? I’m surprised. I would have thought you should have someone with you for a while. Thank goodness you’ve got a lodger to keep an eye on you. How are you feeling? Is it painful? Can you manage the stairs ok?
Cherry hurrah! Home at last. I hope you too are comfortable and not in too much pain. How pleased you must be to be home at last.
No I’ve not found my heart yet but I haven’t given up looking.
Been to see if DH’s tree survived the atoms and high winds. I am pleased to say it’s still standing tall and has all its little cones still well attached.
Going to Bracknell shopping tomorrow and on Sunday I’m going to the pantomime……..oh no I’m not…..oh yes I am 🤣
Kaimoana sending you much love and hoping you’re ok
Hope the rest of the lobstars are keeping safe from all the bad weather. Take care all

Wooohoooo!!!! Cherry is home!! Wonderful! And Grammaretto too!!

Ixion, what flooded your basement? Is it rain or the tank in the loft? It sounds quite worrying. I do hope all is well and it can be sorted quickly. I don't have a basement, but if I did I doubt it would just be filled with air. I really hope the water hasn't done too much damage.

Hopefully, NaughtyNeine, you're recovering now. So many people I know are suffering from horrible tummy bugs and coughs and random debilitating not wellnesses. Perhaps it's our age.

Still, it's a new year and a new beginning, strange how we manage to put so much emphasis on a particular day. But today it did seem to stay light just that little bit longer. Spring is coming!

Hello lobStars 👋, and Happy New Year.

I'm home from my incarceration and I've managed to type this without the pop up. Yay 😁.

Wow Grammaretto, the hospital you were in didn't mess about, did they. Brilliant! Crutches and by the sound of things great appropriate pharmaceuticals too the pain is horrible at first isn't it 😁. You'll be using your new walking poles before you know it.

Drat, ixion! What a nasty start to the year. I hope your basement hasn't had too much damage 🤞. Have you got much down there?

Not a great start for you either, Naughtyneine. Sorry to that you're not feeling well 💐.

How are you feeling now Kaimoana, after you have heard from your family? I hope your arthritic flare up is easing 🤞. Sending warm cwtches to you 💐.

I hope you had a lovely day with your eldest and son in law yesterday Jan and are having a great day today.

How is our Doodle doing? I'm so sorry you seem to have lost the silver heart off your bracelet. Back a couple of months ago I thought I had lost one of my rings whilst I was out with friends but I found it a couple of days later in the bread bin 🤷‍♀️. 🤞 for you.

Yes, Nfk, I have hopes that for all of us that 2025 charts an easier route.

Thank you all for the care you have shown me whilst I have been in hospital and fir your good wishes for my recovering and coming home. You are all 🌟s. I know I have a bit of a way to fully recover yet but with my lobStar friends caring as you do I know I can be strong. I'm a stubborn woman at the end of the day, I will be marching on my walks before too long 😁.

*

Oh no ixion. That's too bad.
We have some snow here so the drive home from Glasgow yesterday in the dark and ice was a bit scary.
We got here and DS lit my fire before he left with DGD.

My lodger has said she'll shop if I need her to. I'm drugged up to the eyeballs with the entire pharmacy looks like I actually have to inject myself with blood thinners daily. This is instead of wearing those tight stockings.
I don't think I need it though as I'm already walking about on crutches.

I am so sorry about your silver heart Doodle Could it turn up? I hope so.

Sorry you aren't well Naughtyneine

Happy New Year to all the gang!

Would make a meaningful contribution, but we have floods in the basement needing attention, just discovered😡.

Thinking of everyone, back tomorrow to linger longer!
🚣‍♀️

Oh Naughtyneine I’m so sorry you’re both feeling poorly. Hope you both feel better soon.
Grammaretto I hope you’re doing ok and not in any pain. Do you know when you can go home?
Cherry are you still in hospital? Hope you’ll be allowed home soon
Jan hope you had a lovely time with your family visitors.
Kaimoana not been a great year for you either, now your arthritis is playing up. That sounds really painful. Is there anything you can do? Hope it eases soon
Weve got gales and high wind here too, very wet and blustery
NFK I watched Graham Norton too. I also like John Bishop. He’s looking older these days too
Happy New Year to all the gang. Thank you for all your kindness, love and support last year. It certainly helped me through. bless you all
The new year didn’t start well. I have lost a silver heart off my bracelet. It had DH’s writing on it. I was really upset this morning, Been to sons for lunch and cheered up a bit. Hope all have a good day

Happy New Year lobsters.... I wish you all health and peace and happiness this year. We are both laid low with a lurgy... I've just managed to lift my head off the pillow...it's grey and murky and wet outside so I will not be venturing too far from my bed/sofa. I will be back on..xx

Happy new year all. Grammaretto glad all went well and you’re in the road to recovery. I’m off to bed now so tired, catch up tomorrow

Just popped in to wish everyone a very Happy New Year.

I fell asleep on the sofa, woke at nine o'clock and decided to go to bed. Of course, by the time I'd got ready for bed I'd woken up again. Watching Graham Norton now! Only because John Bishop is on and he always cheers me up. Best Beloved really didn't like New Year's Eve stuff. And like Doodle I feel unsettled leaving a year behind. Staying up and all that enforced jolity.

Wonderful that you're already up and about Grammaretto. The surgeon who gave me my new knees doesn't believe in the use of catheters which is a great incentive to get out of bed! A couple of days and you'll be home - and short a tree or two. Hopefully the weather won't stop it being done. It's blowing a hooley here with great gusts coming through.

Have a super day tomorrow Jan, it'll be a lovely day whatever the weather.

I saw the fireworks in Auckland, Kaimoana. They were very lucky with the weather. So many have been cancelled here - even Edinburgh isn't risking it. I hope as the weather improves for you your arthritis improves. It's horrible.

2024 hasn't been the best year for so many, perhaps it's good that we're leaving it behind. It's time to look forward again.

Good ness Grammaretto the nurses didn’t waste much time getting you on your feet. Hope it’s not been too painful but I bet you are relieved it’s over and done with.Good luck with the walking.
Hope Cherry is home and also isn’t in too much pain. Oh dear so many of us struggling at the moment.
Kaimoana Oh dear that sounds so painful. Hope things improve for you soon. No I can’t say 2024 has been a great year but on the other hand we are all still here albeit with various aches and pains and sadness too.
Doodle I too Dislike New Year but really have no idea why. We will be in bed well before midnight but will probably be woken up when the fireworks start although it’s usually fairly quiet here.
Eldest daughter and son in law are here today. We are out for a meal tomorrow lunchtime then DD1 best friend from school is coming to visit. You would never believe the noise 2 50 year olds can make! They turn into 15 year olds in 5 seconds flat but are also incredibly funny and entertaining!
Hope you all have a good evening and will raise a glass to this great group of ladies. 🍾🍾🍾

Gosh they have had you on your feet early Grammaretto.
Glad it all went well.

That map looks interesting ixion, unfortunately it's just a multi-coloured blur to me.
I was surprised to find they were in Somerset as I understood they were in Scotland for Hogmanay. I don't have their itinerary so I've never known for sure where they were.

I had to close my doors last night as the gales were so intense they threatened to suck my blinds clear out of the windows.

There are branches all over the roads, some trees have been uprooted, thousands of homes are without power and there's been a lot of damage to houses from falling trees.

Then, as all the fireworks went off at midnight, it just died down and today is calm and sunny.

Just to round off a very miserable year, I am ploughing through an arthritic flare which began Monday night. This comes with fever and intense pain but at least I know it's a temporary thing and will be over soon.
I'm living on Horlicks and paracetmol

I don't think any of us has had a particularly easy time of 2024 and I've been so very grateful to have your support and the ability to talk about just a little bit of what's gone on for me.
It helps, especially when you live alone and may not see or speak to anyone for days on end.

So, many sincere thanks Lobstars and here's hoping 2025 will be easier for us all.

www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/storm-damage-from-around-auckland/GKP6RYZKBCLJCKPWB5MA3YZEI4/

Hello Lobstars!!
It's been done and I've already walked around my room with a zimmer.
It's sore alright and I may have to steal painkillers. Medicine nurse is being stingey.

Ooh Doodle a nice dinner out sounds perfect.
I asked the staff what they are going to do and most said an early night!! I hear the Edinburgh festivities have been cancelled.
😦

Jeeves can bring treats for all.

Goodness, Kaimoana, your family fair gads about the UK, don't they? Mind you, I think it is we who might be wimps in tackling 'long' journeys by car.
I know that this is not the time nor the place for geographical trivia, but here is a photo I shared with GSs showing just how vast Australia is, compared to our little island.

Hoping Grammaretto is 'out', if not 'about'. I think she's in the best place for the next couple of days, judging by the weather forecast. Let's hope the trees are safely felled, the roof holds and the ceiling is fixed for her safe return!

Every cloud, and all that, Doodle.
It is with a sense of relief that you got the wrong day for Grammaretto's homecoming.
Cheerleading maybe, but I think the adoption of that teensy tartan kilt smacked somewhat of cultural appropriation.
Why that clan in particular?😂

Happy New Year to all the Gang and many thanks for your companionship and support over the past year.

Hoping Grammaretto is ok and all went well with the op.
We are all thinking of you and wishing a speedy recover and back home as soon as is safely possible,
Cherry any sign of you being allowed home yet, Hope it’s soon. Not much fun being in hospital.
I’ve been to have my haircut then going out later for a meal with my friend. Not quite sure what to do with myself tonight. The thought of moving on to a new year for some reason upsets me, I won’t wish you HNY yet but will wish you all a peaceful night,

I'm so pleased to hear that your family have been in touch Kaimoana. It must have been a great relief and I'm sure you'll sleep sound tonight.

Good luck with the operation tomorrow morning Grammaretto. I'll be thinking of you.

Well I blame Ixion myself. Getting on all my cheerleading outfit to welcome you back home Grammaretto and you haven’t even gone. 🤣. So good luck tomorrow, as you can see, we will be thinking of you. Hope all goes well x

That's correct ixion. It's tomorrow morning. I have been going on about it so you'll be forgiven for thinking it must be over by now.
I'm staying at the hospital Hotel which is very fine.
Df drove me here through driving rain and we had a meal in the restaurant. She's left now so I'm lying in bed watching TV and looking towards the lights of Glasgow from my top floor window.
I hope Cherry gets home soon.

Er. Or should that be duh?
I thought Grammaretto's op was the 31st?

Im another hoping Grammaretto’s op has gone well. Hope she’s feeling comfortable
Cherry do hope you get home soon. WP will be missing you
Ixion do not topple head first in the freezer or I’ll have to send Jeeves in after you and he doesn’t like the cold.
Kaimoana glad you’ve heard from the family that will set your mind at ease. They are obviously having a great time visiting lots of historical places. Gubbins wears a crown so well.
Ive had DS2 here today. We went to hospice for lunch which was nice and had a good chat, slightly unnerved by the fact our grandson has bought a circular saw 😱.

Is it all over Grammaretto - you didn't get your surgeons mixed up?
Wishing you well and the very speediest of recoveries.

Silence from family was because they drove from Scotland to Somerset and are now exploring Bath cathedral. Start practising your curtseys!

I think I have noticed The Glums on YouTube!
Also, Muir and Norden were a great team long after "Take It From Here"... We used to have a book of theirs as well, some years ago.

Yes, Grammaretto. Hope the op is done and you will soon be up and about again.