Come and tell me your dull and unexciting news 21: Calmly through the day

[MissConductUS]

I've started a new one. Please join us and share the boring and mundane things happening in your world. It will be calming for all.

Here is the link to the prior thread:

Come and tell me your dull and unexciting news 20: Calmly through the day

Miss I've got 'place envy' - have a great evening.

Ohhhh I'm so jealous MissC. That looks right grand (as we'd say in Manchester).

halfpast, I hope they feel better soon. I’m a bit surprised you haven’t caught it from them.

bobby I make a cookie like a jammy dodger. They’re called thumbprint cookies here and I use cherry and raspberry jam.

ZZ, it was right grand. 😊

I’m off to dinner shortly.

Predictably there was no word from the mortgage company. My broker is completely baffled as they are apparently usually very efficient.

Picked my car up today but my ApplePay was declined for "potential fraud", however the physical card worked first time. I rather wish it was an out of the ordinary occurrence for me to spend large amounts of money at the garage

Only two and a half hours to go. I have it on good authority that DH has not eaten his choux pastry I bought him

Champagne, your mortgage broker should tell the lender that you will withdraw your application and go elsewhere if they don't get the stick out.

ZZ, are you from Manchester originally?

We went to a posh steakhouse for dinner. It was nice but I am ready to go home tomorrow.

I think that's the best thing about a short trip miss, the ability to go home once the novelty has started to wear off! I love travel and holidays but seem to have really lost my mojo since Covid. Also DDogs are getting older (they will be 8 & 9 in the next couple of months) and haven't been kennelled for almost 3 years due to Covid, so I worry about them as well to an extent.

I think we are getting to that stage with the mortgage company, though we're that far in you just keep holding on in case it happens tomorrow. I am so over it all now

Hope you have a safe trip back and it's not too cold when you get there!

Have a good trip back MissConduct. I like getting home too.

I am happy to tell you that a shop round the corner (< 300 m) will sell potting soil from Monday at a reasonable price. DH does all the food/soil shopping in this household, so finds out about things like that. He'll get the stuff on foot while I am at the office. [insert little dance of joy]

Excellent compost news there Prok. I am happy for both your garden, and for the health of your back

Getting home is always nice after a trip MissC, going away definitely makes you appreciate home when you get back, even when the trip has been lovely!

Champagne, crossing everything for your mortgage company to get on with it 🤞

DH came home with flowers and chocolates last night, and Lego for DS. He forgot Valentines Day (🙄) and has generally been a bit of a grumpy git recently, due to an intractable issue with a website. So I read him the riot act yesterday morning, a bit at least. He should be happy now though as he is in the garden hedge trimming. It involves power tools, being outside, and a simple and finite task, so ticks all the boxes.

DS and I are still in our pyjamas. DS has been re-enacting the bit from Fawlty Towers when the moose head falls on top of Basil. I don’t know when he watched this first, but he is finding it unfailingly hilarious

Safe journey back MissC.

DD and I are also still in our pyjamas Spudlet , she is messing about on the iPad and I am having a cup of tea and an M&S shortbread.
DH has gone off on his “mumsnet hobby that must not be named”.

Fingers crossed you get somewhere with the mortgage Champagne

Good to see you back, Spudlet

I’m very envious of your sunshine and pool, MissC, even if it was a work trip. Mind you, it’s nice and sunny in our little corner of the world today, if cold-ish.

I’m just about to make a batch of madeleines as a present for a friend. I found a really good recipe online (mind you, it’s pretty simple) and they came out perfectly with lovely humps. Somehow my trial run have all been eaten....no idea how that happened Hence the need to make more.

I’m mighty relieved to read about the latest soil news, Prok.

I am waiting to hear when I can go and visit my aunt. She is very unwell and has had a lot of visitors and needs to rest. I am allowed to go because I am taking food for the family

What a gorgeous day - it almost feels like spring Just had an hour tidying the garden, still too wet to dig but it looks better for removing dead stuff and a lot of rubbish that blew in during the storms last week ( the house opposite put out their wheelie bin a day early, predictably it blew over).
We have grandchildren sleeping over tonight.
Have a lovely weekend, all.

Nydj He has roped in DD (at 09:00) and DS (at 18:00) for the double amount of soil and I will clean the starter pots for tomatos and chilis on Sunday.

Great soil news Prok

So sorry about your DB Lemons

DH has had bad hearing problems for about 15 years (deaf in one ear) but refuses to get tested for a hearing aid as then he would be old. Today the chicken proudly announced her egg again at 12.15pm and he still did not wake so I suggested a test again. He said no he was going to gp but he has been to gp before and just comes back with ears cleaned and only slightly better. I managed to persuade him to go to Specsavers for a free hearing test and free hearing aid consultation and he is going on Wed at 12pm. Hopefully he won't be deliberately late as its the only appointment they have. The free helped a lot as he hates spending money. He said he also needs an eye test.

Silkie "refuses to get tested for a hearing aid as then he would be old"- that sounds familiar, that is what a lot of people say.

I don't think potting soil will be available at the warehouse club for a few weeks, which is fine as I don't usually pot plants until early April. Hard freezes are common here in March.

Silkie, an asymmetric hearing loss should really be checked, so it's good that he's going.

I'm waiting outside the gate for my plane. Boarding should start in about an hour.

@Prokupatuscrakedatus

Silkie "refuses to get tested for a hearing aid as then he would be old"- that sounds familiar, that is what a lot of people say.

Also "I'm not deaf, you're talking too quietly"?

Sue And it is only with hearing - nobody refuses glasses and tells other to become more distinct.

DD will take a course in DGS next semester and perhaps I'll join her, so we have been looking into these things.

I’m sorry about your DB, Lemon. Keeping my fingers crossed for a good outcome.

Hope you get to see your aunt soon, Nydj, and that she’s on the mend!

We have taken DS to his swimming lesson, had lunch in the cafe at Sainsburys (#fancypants) and taken Spudpup for a walk. Spudpup was very naughty, probably in revenge for being left at home while we were out, so spent most of the walk on the lead. He was not amused. But he brought it on himself.

DH has admitted that he is feeling under lots of pressure at work and that he feels he never gets a break (he never takes one!). So I am trying to figure out to best way to make sure he makes time for a bike ride this week. I have a really hectic day on Tuesday and a busy afternoon on Thursday but that still leaves him time - to be fair it was too stormy last week anyway, but for the sake of everyone he needs to get out this week. I’ve also suggested he starts running again. Anything so he gets a break and stops being like a bear with a sore head!

I'm thinking about our trip to England in May. Feeling excited but also a bit anxious.

We have not been for 2 years due to the pandemic. Our two granddaughters have grown so much. It will be lovely to see them.

I ordered some new tops from Amazon and the sizes are crazy. Nothing is bigger than a Canadian size large and they only come to my belly button as I am tall. Argh. Back to the drawing board.

We will be staying in Cambridge where son and daughter in law live. We rent a flat a 5 minute walk from them and have it again. It is handy to be so close and the girls come often. I get to practice my rusty family cooking skills as I make dinner for everyone quite often.

We are booked for three nights in London where DH grew up. He is former Royal Navy so he has a membership at the Victory Services Club and we stay there. Good accommodation right near Marble Arch. With a daily English full breakfast that makes DH very happy.

The family will come for two nights. We will probably go to the Natural History Museum. Son and daughter in law are scientists, and I did a biology degree so we enjoy that museum. Probably Tower of London.

I have to convince DH that walking for an hour to get to places is a bad idea as I get there totally wiped out! We did take the buses a bit last time. The buses give you a chance to sight see believe it or not. The Tube is tough physically too with lots of walking and stairs.

Can anyone dial back time to my fitter days?

Silkie, I know what you mean about hearing aids. We have a friend who won't get them and he has become most unpleasant to talk to as he constantly gets cranky and asks you to repeat. He just gets lost in a conversation with a group.

DH has the newer ones with bluetooth and they are fantastic. No more muttering under my breath, he hears it.

Hearing aids help prevent dementia I hear and get them sooner rather than later as they preserve things like speech recognition.

I love my hearing aids although remembering to wear them everyday is still a work in progress .

I want potting compost so that I can sow some sweetpeas - but there is only multipurpose compost to be had so will probably use that instead. You are supposed to sow sweetpeas on Boxing Day in the UK but I sowed mine in March last year and they did well so I will stick to that again. I have also bought longer sticks to support them this year as they were flopping over last year so am braced for them not growing at all this year!

Thank you, Spud - I did see my aunt this afternoon (and deliver food at the same time).

I’m very sorry that your brother has to have more tests, Lemons.

We took off a bit late but smooth flight so far. We were at 10,000 feet an climbing when I took this.

I'm on JetBlue and it's a nice flight. Good coffee too.

My DMil refused her aids for that same reason and because it involved some discipline and effort to get the best use out of them. So she became isolated socially and then dependant (for conversation with GP etc.) In the 30 years she went from hearing impaired to totally deaf she could have learned DGS and how to use a computer. Quite sad really.

I have lined up the starter pots on the balcony - I hope it stays dry tomorrow.