🦞🦂 *What are we up to?*🦂🦞

Thank you all for you compliments. I will invite you all to my next exhibition 🤣🤣
Notspaghetti a stressful time for you all. Sometimes it’s hard to make decisions when you want very thing to be “just right” .
Jan we once planted a whole row of pansies along the border of our front garden. They looked so pretty until the following morning when they were all decapitated. Muntjacs again!
Have a nice evening with your friends.
Grammaretto your new tenants sound very exotic. I take it quite young, Hope they will be good tenants and not cause you any problems.
Good luck with your fast broadband. BT have just cancelled my order because they can’t complete the work. Hopefully I’m now sorted with Talktalk.
ixion the art class is a franchise. We paint what we are told to. Each week we get a new subject and run through a variety of mediums. It’s a candle next week I think. Not particularly inspiring though I am learning.
I must admit I have never heard of a solicitor notifying anyone of a death. Is this where a will is involved?
I have only ever been notified by a member of the family by phone or letter.
Went to the panto last night and had a lovely time. Very good. Only downside was trying to get a taxi in the rain after and trying to get out of the cab when we got home. With one friend pushing and the other pulling I made it 🤣🤣

ixion - he had already spent the best part of a day phoning people up before he wrote
but yes, he is really lovely, kind and generous

I'm sure the clearing will be straightforward - it's the legal stuff that's maddening and the rules around music at the crematorium for example.
My mother-in-law was from Swedish stock and lived her life as though she was "death clearing" - lots of "hard tack" and frugality interlaced with rash moments which made everyone gasp!

Just this minute discovered my lovely husband has given two different dates to some people!
aaaarrrrghh!

I had the job of phoning everyone in mum's address book after she died and had some almost funny conversations. One woman said she hadn't liked mum at all and certainly wouldn't be attending!
I can laugh now but was quite hurt at the time.

I hope it goes well. One good thing that came out of lockdown was streaming funerals.

I had a similar experience, Grammaretto, when collecting for a leaving gift for a work colleague.

Not from me, thank you. I never really liked her.

No wonder team building was so difficult.

Just popping in to say hello. Went to sit fit this morning for the first time in weeks. I can hardly move now. Think I stretched to far. Going to head off to bed to see if I untwist myself while I sleep. 🤣. Take care all

As it is summer here, I was sitting with the French windows and doors wide open, knitting and listening to a Jane Austen novel (Sense and Sensibility for the umpteenth time).
I felt something at my big toe and saw a rather large beetle (about an inch square) nibbling it.

It made me laugh - was this the first stage in its grand plan to consume me nibble by nibble?

After this, a moment of pure delight as I played a video of a Scottish military pipe band marching through the streets of Rothesay, taking me back to my girlhood.
I had the shivers from start to finish.
I know bagpipes are not everyones cup of tea but they go right to my heart every time.

Apart from a visit to the podiatrist Monday, I have not left the house, nor had a proper conversation since Christmas Day.
My homecare ladies come of course but they don't want to talk So mainly they come in, say Hello and get on with the work and leave for the next client.

It’s a quiet life.

I wish I was sitting knitting with the French windows open.
I'm sitting with my coat on. My fingers are too cold to knit.

Can't you phone friends for a chat or invite them round Kaimoana? Or is this like Marie Antoinette allegedly inviting her subjects to eat cake?

If so I am sorry.

Another old friend has died. It wasn't unexpected but a shock for his family nonethelessless.

Kaimoana your ladies used to be so friendly are these new people. Have you heard from your son? How is his job going?
I bet you’re a tasty morsel. I quite like bagpipes too. Stirs the blood.
Sorry to hear about your friend Grammaretto even if expected it’s a shock.
I’ve still got a bad back. Not as bad as last night but still painful so talking it easy (well that’s my excuse anyway)

I hope you've warmed up a bit Grammaretto🥶. Being cold is miserable.

So sorry to hear about your friend. I recently bought a new Birthday and Special Events book.
Sadly, I transfer fewer of the former and more additions to the latter in the form of R.I.P.s

Continue to take it easy with the back, Doodle. We could get our Team Sports Physio to work on you, but it's a bit, er, strenuous.

Watch those toesies when sitting out, Kaimoana
I hope you get some company soon🌺.
I would come round every day for your drinks and home baking, honest.

Just popping in briefly as I'm still working towards my mother-in-law's little service and helping my husband with admin stuff. I can't believe the convoluted way some things have to be done!

I'm not really ignoring everyone - and hope that the "warmer" weather here has also travelled north to you Grammaretto
No chilblains for Kaimoana's toes though!!
eek
🪲

Evening all. Been to art class today. Worked in charcoal. No you can’t see it unless you look in my bin. Covered in charcoal dust all up my arms and hands. Not my favorite medium at all. Roll on watercolour week. Everything washes out 🤣

You could use your charcoal for birdies instead, Doodle.

Then you'd only have to coat a finger tip.

(Photo refers!)

Yes, my homecare ladies are lovely but order from On High now say "clients are not friends, just do your work and move on"
I don't want to compromise their position.

Doodle (I think) Can't ring anyone, don't have a phone.

ixion I love your little birds

Thought I'd just share this weaving, Ixion. It's representing my immediate family. My husband and I and our 5 children
It's one fingerprint of each person, intertwined and woven on a jacquard loom.

Your little birds made me think of it

How lovely, NS.
How have you used the result?

Ixion i like the birds. I would have preferred that to the miners lamp.
Kaimoana is it not possible for you to have a phone? What about if your son wants to get in touch, how do you manage?
Sadly that’s life most places these days. Care workers aren’t allowed time to do anything other than their basic jobs. It’s totally wrong.
;Notspaghetti what a wonderful piece of weaving. However was it done.
Grammaretto are your new lodgers well settled in now. Do you see much of them?

Hello lovely Lobstars!

You've been very creative and busy what with paintings and weavings.

I haven't. I played skittles today at the Sheep Heid inn. I think it might be the oldest pub in Scotland. Skittles was fun but I was very bad at it.

Tonight my df came for tea and we shared our Christmas holiday stories.

I am concerned that you have no phone Kaimoana How are you supposed to khain touch?

Night night everyone.

I appreciate your concern and care but when Telecom, in an obviously deliberate move to get rid of subscribers like me, decided to charge $200 per unit – and I had two) I lost my phone with its receiver and large press buttons for the legally blind.
I had no choice but to move to mobile even though I can’t see to use it.

A number was necessary however to allow me to dowload audio books, so the hefty monthly fee is not wasted.

I wear a pendant alarm provided by St John, again paid for monthly, which, if I am conscious during an emergency, a fall for instance, I can press.

A live voice speaks from a separate unit and if I answer, asks what the emergency is. This has happened a couple of tmes in the last 10 years but I was able to get up and slowly recover.

If I don’t answer, paramedics are despatched tout de suite and may also call my son if I am hospitalised.

My son uses Messnger to communicate but in fact if there is a real emergency the pendant is better.

If I am not conscious, there s nothing to be done and should this happen on a Friday after my homecae lady had gone, I would be totally helpless until she came back on Monday afternoon (unless Joe texts, gets no answer and assumes I am ill.) This is very unlikely, he will just assume the phone is beside my bed and I am in one of the other rooms.

No point in shouting either, no one would hear me

https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202601/medium-73xdcl-1000044293.jpg https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202601/medium-13qg03-1000044292.jpg https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202601/medium-7vh7nz-1000044289.jpg

I'm afraid the weaving is an old piece, sorry to disappoint!

I was going to frame it but couldn't decide if I wanted it white on black or black on white. It's reversible.

I do love having it though.. and now seem to have an appropriate wall space to put it so no excuse... so after the chaos has died down I should probably do that.

It was Jacquard woven when I was studying. It's a very old computer driven loom. This photo is the same loom it was woven on - but the front-on photo is of my friend's work and there's one taken much later of the side of it with someone hand-tying the new warp on. There's one photo of a wider angle too showing a second jacquard loom and the accumulator stand which tensions the yarn begore the shuttle takes it up. In my day this sevond loom was set up as a "sample" loom so you coild weave (say) three design samples at once.

I loved working with the jacquard once you had sorted out the programming as it wove so easily it looked like a printer.

Kaimoana I'm assuming you have the Internet as you can post on here.
We regular call our family and friends via WhatsApp and my son-in-law calls us somehow through his computer using anothrr free system.*

It might be worth asking someone who "knows things" about these things - as it's really nice to natter now and then.

Sending everyone a smile 😊 and a cheery wave. 👋

I also hope internet can keep Kaimoana in touch with friends and family.

WhatsApp is great. I can phone my NZ son instantly with video option try to check his time first
It never fails to amaze me.

When I had to phone him after leaving my mobile on the plane, it cost nearly £10 for a couple of minutes.

I've given up my landline now.

How are funeral plans progressing NotSpaghetti?

How about your op NN?

I must get outdoors before dark!

Funeral plans are progressing - but the very nice funeral director is a bit like a headmistress if your ideas are a bit different or if you want to OK things strp by step.

She was very keen to stress that everything was up to Gordon but finds it difficult to accept that he doesn't want a photo of his mum on the cover of the order of service (for example)

And you can only use music/hymns that are under licence so although he has permission from the artist to use a YouTube recording of her singing it still can't be used because it doesn't have a licence

He has found another version but it isn't quite so beautiful
This is the one he wanted:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVp9yqkRee0

I suppose it's so lovely and airy because she has a classically trained voice.
Collating photos is taking hours... I don't mind of course but they are still coming in!

Yes, what's the latest Naughtyneine?
🤞

That song is beautiful NotSpaghetti. It made me teary even though I didn't understand it!
Can you play it at the wake instead?

My DH wanted a particular version of the Burmese National Anthem for his funeral.
Unfortunately we couldn't find it.
We left the crematorium to Westlin' Winds, a favourite Burns' song.