Builder will finish work today. It seems as though the problem with leaks is how the house was built originally. Too bad the house has outlived its guarantee.

O/H has taken the days off and he is asleep still. I have watered the plants, emptied the dishwasher, gotten dressed, put a laundry on and am about to start ironing! Exhausted already!!!!

Gym tomorrow. I was so sweaty yesterday. O/H didn't understand why my workout is only 20 minutes - he should realize I am no spring chicken, very unfit and have asthma! He thought I'd be at it for over an hour!!!!

what a strange day....

do we have any more news of John, and his tour of Europe?


Im just back from having my hair done....the luxury!! I could even get used to being spoilt!! But this morning I went to collect my regular prescription, only to be asked if I wanted to have a 1-1 with the pharmacist to discuss my prescription....vaguely intrigued I agreed, wondering what this was all about, and it was a total waste of time. Apparently its a govt initiative to check that people are taking their prescriptions properly...

Well if I wasn't why would I be bothering going to collect it in the first place???? I expected a warning about how you cant take thyroxine with x y and z, especially iron tablets, but ended up realising the pharmacist knew nothing about this....What a stupid paper exercise.....

Still hot and muggy.....is there anything good on tv at the moment?


luv m

Morning all

Think you are unlucky with your pharmacist augusta. Mine has called the Dr about a couple of drugs. I think the govt is keen to get people weaned from antibiotics.

I agree with you though. Love going to the hairdressers. That and the gym are the only times you really have to yourself. Just cleaned the kitchen and am about to tackle the bathrooms. I find that I can't do anymore housework after about 9 am. The heat saps my energy.

Have a good day all.

Sorry you're not too fond of the heat Nyannie. I love it - great excuse to do no work i the house and loll about in the garden. Lazy? -me?!

Bet it's hotter for John in Cyprus - his tweets sound as though he's having a good time - real good.

Off to do some strenuous gardening now.
Sun cream - check
Sunglasses- check
Sunlounger- check
Book........

I'm sure you all get the kind of strenuous activity I have in mind!

Evening,

i,ve decided to just give up any idea of housework

i,m just going to chill near the nearest fan, sunbathe a little or go for a little
dip in the pool

just.....
relax thats me from now on , it to hot, for anything else

just going to read back
hoping all are well

sounds good
but
don,t forget, that long, cold, iced drink or is it Cocktail time

pleased you are enjoying the gym,
but
take it easy with the housework Nyannie, with this heat and your Asthma
i know you know to be careful
but i do worry xxx

yes a little more news re..... john
i did see on twitter that jj tweeted that they would be meeting up
as well as visiting mario


pleased your hair went well, its nice to be spoilt a little, i,m getting mine done
tomorrow

Hi everyone, hope you're all well and enjoying the glorious weather.

Have to admit I'm loving this, but maybe it's because I have a gentle sea breeze to take some of the humidity off - in the house though it's a different story - just can't get enough airflow through which makes for uncomfortable nights. Not helped by the human generator lying next to me.

I've just ordered two sun loungers which are due to arrive on Monday, hope that won't herald a change in the weather.

I'm sorry I've not been around for a while but it's been fairly busy here what with one thing and another, and the loss of a lovely member of our extended family (one of the nicest people I've ever met, who always had a smile on his face) kind of took my mojo away for a while.

Decorating is in full swing here, the kitchen and hall are finally finished, work on the bathroom starts at the weekend - got to go and choose some tiles on Friday - just hope the old ones come off without damaging the walls.

I also seem to have been adopted by a couple of feral cats, we think mother and daughter. They have now been named Misty (all grey) and Twinkle (all black except for a little white star in the centre of her chest. There's also a male, an old boy who is well and truly battle worn, known affectionately as the Old Colonel (who we think is dad), Twinkle is the spitting image of him. He only appears when he wants a meal, sadly he's become painfully thin in recent weeks. Twinkle well and truly has her paws under the table, she wanders in and snuggles up on her blanket on the sofa in the evening, while Misty lies on the door mat in the hall. We've bought them little wooden shelters that sit outside the back door, very handy for when it rains. They are eating me out of house and home!

So John is on his travels again - Greece, Cyprus and then apparently 'the only way is Essex'
He seems to be enjoying himself, good to see him on twitter again.

Must go as I'm supposed to be cooking dinner, Spaghetti Bolognaise tonight, I try to avoid having the oven on if I can avoid it in this heat lol.

Will post again tomorrow, will get back into the habit I promise.

i love the story of the cats who have adopted you lena.....that is really cute.

I had great fun having my hair done....trouble is this humidity has me sweating so much, its now just plastered to my head, after I had the crazy idea of getting the hoover out!!!


tales of johns journey are fun........its nice to think of him being able to travel around and meet up with old friends....actually it does fit with the kind of laid back person I though he was....so its nice to see that I kind of interpreted his character properly!!



now its back to sorting out paperwork....and doing things like booking the gas service for the boiler.....the to do list is growing daily...and im not really getting much done!!

we are getting to the stage where the kitchen is starting to be torn apart....in preparation for walls being plastered and floor tiles going down.....its a gradual process and I have to keep telling myself it will get finished eventually , I must just continue to be patient!!!

have a wonderful day everyone

luv m xx

me again.....

seething because of Ryanair.....online booking procedure.......

To start off with, when did it become obligatory to pay for a reserved seat on a plane? wouldn't it actually be simpler to charge a straight fee for a flight, instead of being sneaky and charging for both the ticket and to reserve a seat?

there is in theory an option for an unreserved free seat. but.....you can only get this if you book a few days before you go, so this would have meant trying to get an unreserved seat on a full plane for our return part, the day we actually go.... Which wouldn't really be the way I would want to organise things, as I like the tickets ready to go a few days in advance.

And then I wanted to get an extra suitcase, which I though cost £40, again I think this is a ridiculous price, but I clicked for it...and ended up owing Ryanair an extra £100, I had no idea quite how they had reached such a high sum, but there wasn't an itemised bill, and there isn't an option to go back and see how the bill was worked out...so reluctantly I ended up paying. And then sent a complaint to Ryanair....which probably wont have any effect.

I do not like flying with Ryanair, they are not a good airline, the only reason I do ...is because of all the 'London' Airports, Stanstead is the only one in Essex that is anywhere near us, and they virtually have a monopoly on all flights from east Anglia because of this...

I certainly do - but you forgot the WATER!!!!

I share your feelings about Ryanair - but all the low-cost airliners do this now. We paid for extra legroom and aisle seats for our holiday last year - and never got them.!!! At least Ryanair doesn't charge anymore to use the loo - I would say that is against human rights legislation. Someone I know took a bucket onto the plane - when the cabin staff saw it - they waived the loo charge!!!

You are very kind-hearted Lena - good to see you again by the way! Just hope you don't get any vet bills. Friends adopted a feral cat and it cost them a fortune for shots etc. They didn't let the cat in the house though - it stayed in their conservatory.

So glad John is still friendly with Mario - wonder if he will contact Dave and JJ. Hope we get a photo or two.

I am sorry to hear about your bereavement. Very sad to hear of another death.

I do envy you though actually having something hot. We have been living on salads - and I am fed up now with them.

England has won some medals at the Commonwealth Games. Yeah!!

Have a good evening all.

afternoon averyone....


have the builders finished nyannie? Lovely lazy day here, But now I am waiting for the storms!!! Its hot and close....


how much longer do we have wih BB this year? And is there more news from John?

morning. in the case of research I watched the BB eviction last night, and Steven got evicted, it is always interesting to watch how people do react and respond, even to highly artificial situations and scenario!

it is a bit scary though when they feel like total strangers and you have nothing invested in them personally. I can almost feel the urge to humiliate or play with these fools further, and have to take a deep breath and remember that they are real people, with real emotions and feelings......even if they end up looking artificial and unreal on TV.


I also watched the episode of black Mirror as well yesterday, which is a fascinating study of our culture.

life is very curious and interesting at times.

Hi everyone (hoping that no one has noticed that this is not tomorrow as promised)

Still very warm here, loungers arrived yesterday (earlier than expected yippee) so felt the need to check that they were in full working order . Very nice and comfy, although because I'm such a short a**e my feet don't touch the floor which makes the lying right back(zero gravity position) quite hard to achieve as you have to push to make it slide back. O/h says he'll make me some chock's for my feet

We had a very heavy shower of gallstones that came from nowhere yesterday afternoon (I really must see if there's a way to turn off predictive text on this Kindle, that should read hailstones) rofl . How can you have hail in 26c temps??

O/h had car booked for MOT at 8.30 today and it still wasn't ready two hours later, he had to 'lose himself' for another 40 mins - not a happy bunny. Even unhappier when they told him a spring on suspension had gone again, second one in two years - these flipping pot holes are all back again! They said there's not a day goes by without a car failing with same problem - maybe we should send the bill to the council.

Loving the shower of gallstones Lena We could use one of those - as long as they are the cold type of gallstones, of course! I'm not moaning about the heat though - it's just lovely to have a decent spell of sunshine. And I'm sure it's a bit warmer in Cyprus for John. I should think he'll be in the UK soon - just hope he doesn't provoke rain and wind to restore normal service...
I agree Augusta - this year's BB feels a bit strange. I prefer it to last year's where the people seemed SO desperate for fame, but I'm strangely uninvolved. I really have no firm favourite to win and my dislike of Helen has waned. Now I feel a little sorry that she has such self destrucrtive aggression that you don't remember her warmer side - I'm just glad I don't have to live with her!

-
Morning all

Just put some washing on , Despite 4 visits by repairman and 2 by my other half, the machine still spouts water vapour during the drying cycle! Just have to live with it.

The council has actually fixed some potholes here - using the extra money given by the council. The council has had a couple of lawsuits. Good thing.

Wish we would have some decent rain - it would be very welcome.

Have a lovely day all.

Hi giddy

I have only watched about 20 minutes of BB this year - other things on TV and I tend to doze off about 10.30ish. Can't warm to any of them really.

Wonder if we will hear from John when he comes to the UK. It just occurred to me that he might go to the Commonwealth Games. Just a guess really.

Well, I am just about to start doing Indian Rain Dances in the garden - and make myself a cup of tea, so I will wish you all a good day.

can I join you in the rain dance nyannie? I badly need to tidy the garden up ...but its so hot and sticky out there that I don't want to spend too much time outside.

yesterday we went to Jimmys farm, its a lovely place and so interesting to see how it has developed from his first TV series years ago now. He really seems to have been able to pick the right things to do and has managed to be incredibly successful. Although as a vegetarian I have never tried his famous meat bacon and sausages, but they have created a kids farm there with loads of lambs and animals so its lovely to see this part of it.

I haven't seen a lot of the commonwealth games. After the world cup and tennis, I am kind of sported out....

OH is DIY ing the kitchen as we speak, it will be wonderful when finished, but its hard to do anything useful when the kitchen is so messed up and I cant walk through it!!

You certainly can augusta - had some success as it rained last night judging by our car.

I have always wanted to go to Jimmy's Farm. Looks like he has made a success of it. I wonder if he owns it now.

We met friends for lunch on Saturday and I started my income tax but I don't have a tax receipt from the government so will have to guess to finish it today - unless I can get through to tax office. Wish me luck!

Wonder where our favourite Aussie is.

Off to the gym in a bit - didn't go much last week so must do something this week.

Have a good day all.

Good to hear you're enjoying the gym nyannie and that you're feeling better for it.
I keep saying I'm going to go for a walk for 20 mins every day, really cross with myself for not making the effort - I must do better.

No rain dance needed down here, we had a thunderstorm this morning and torrential rain, thankfully not as bad as a little further along the coast where they had a month's rain in a couple of hours and suffered flash flooding. It dried up for a few hours but it's been raining again this evening. I was actually chilly today and even put a second layer on!

I know just how you feel about DIY, looks nice when it's done but its all the mess while it's being done.
My o/h is tackling the bathroom this week, the plumber came this morning and disconnected the shower and o/h has spent the rest of the day trying to get the tiles off without bringing half the wall with them! I'm slightly alarmed at the state of the plaster in places, plumbers coming back on Thursday to fit new shower and taps so time is not on our side.
Got a fabulous deal on the tiles though - lovely big matt white ones for half price, not sure what colour the walls will be yet - I'll worry about that later.

What colours are you going with in your kitchen?

Is anyone watching The 100 on E4? Quite an interesting storyline about 100 teenagers sent down from a dying space station to a post nuclear holocaust Earth, to see if it's survivable. Kind of like Lost meets Lord of the Rings.

I'm missing Jack and 24 already, gutted there was no happy ending for him though.

Update on the cats - Twinkle is curled up beside me on her blanket and Misty is asleep on the mat in the hall. Not quite sure how I'm going to entice them out tonight, I feel rather mean as they look so cosy and contented.

we are doing out kitchen pale green on the units, with black on the worksurfaces and floor and probably white tiles. they might be white with a hint of something more interesting, but ....probably just plain white.!!

24 was brilliant wasn't it, full of current references like the unmanned drones and the kind of white widow figure. I haven't caught 100 yet, but maybe we can get it on catch up. it does sound interesting.

Does Kiefer Sutherland always sound so husky? I was wondering what he actually sounds like? And is he an American or Canadian like his father? I always get confused about nationality? At times it seems a flexible thing, not that it matters, but I always associate Donald Sutherland with American films and it was quite a surprise to find out recently that he is Canadian and still Canadian!

Its also confusing with so many British actors acting in American films, I had no idea Christian Bale was officially British or that Bill from True Blood was also English. The random bits of useless information that I retain is ridiculous. Just think if I used my brain for something positive!!! and meaningful!!