Oh sorry, I am Netflix deprived. ☺️

Lin

Yesterday’s post seems to have disappeared that I typed late in the evening! What did you miss? Horrid weather, a shorter walk and finally getting to the end of The Crown on Netflix!
Our latest storm called Barra arrived in the early hours and the gale force wind woke me and George. Betty will sleep through anything I’m sure! We didn’t walk until late morning when the rain eased but I could tell from our flooded parking area that nowhere would be easy for the pooches so popped them in the car and set off for a recce since I needed to go to the post office anyway. Our usual parking area was deserted but I could see rain water running in rivers across the moor so left immediately, popped into the post office just a few meters down the road for postage stamps to send off overseas cards and a couple of local grocery items… I managed to ignore the hot pasties! Closer to home I found a soggy but easier place to walk so George and Betty had a fun run about while I did my best to keep warm. It’s been a cold day with lots of hail and wind and even thunder and lightening as I cooked an easy pasta meal this evening but it’s cosy by the fire….. Brady decided the sideboard is a more friendly place to sit while I eat.


Anne, I too saw the story about hundreds of employees being made redundant during a zoom call and do wonder at the integrity of such a “boss”. What must the remaining staff be feeling in case it’s their turn next? We have legislation in place to protect workers from such behaviour thank goodness.
What an amazing job Mark is doing and what a talent to take it on in the first place.

Enjoy your busy time out and about Sandy! You’ll feel pleased to have got those tasks out of the way!

Wow, not sure where my evening went. I was going to put the kettle on for tea but it’s already gone 8.30pm so instead will make an instant Cappuccino ( hooray for spellcheck!).

Lin, I hope your sinuses are less painful and Patsy, John and Katy are enjoying the finished stove chimney.
Stay warm and safe everyone.
Jackie 🥰

Brady looks none the worse for his horrible experience JACKIE.

Not much to report except I feel like my old self which is LOVELY. I had a shower, put the washing machine on. tidied up etc AND put my sparse Christmas decorations up. Don't know if I can tackle a tree though and the decorations are somewhere in the jumble of a spare room downstairs. Mark and Mary Jo popped in just for a short visit because their old car wouldn't start so they came in the "best" one. They think the battery is gone. Anyway, Mark measured the floor downstairs which needs a cement job and then the three of us, bundled up against the bitter cold, took Jilly the Beanie for a walk. We had trouble with her harness though which felt too tight. I think its her Pomeranian ruff which she loses in the summer and really thickens in the winter. Of course Mark said she gets too many treats and not enough exercise. WELL, now I'm feeling more human again Bean and I are on a Jackie inspired exercise campaign. Although it was cold I found it strangely invigorating, but Mark was muttering about being cold as he headed ahead for the old homestead. Nobody about but us four.

PATSY, I find my poinsettia is taking off by facing an east/south window. Mainly south.
I'm not sure what to do with her once Christmas is over. She's grown even more since the photo. Like you we take our decorations down on twelfth night and I'm finding myself just like you. remembering those lovely Christmas's past. We always had two big family parties in my youth, Auntie Kathie joining the men in a game of darts which she was hopeless at resulting in Mom and Dads piano looking as if it had woodworm from all the bad throws. That would be us on Boxing Day and my aunt Mary had her party on New Years Day, same crowd of course, My family was a VERY merry crowd, full of fun. Like you, we are sadly diminished these days.

Not complaining though, just a different time and age. Hard to imagine but my favourite memories of Christmas is in wartime when all the hoarded goodies came out of Moms secret squirrel box and we all fattened up to face January. Mind you my dad used to say that when you ate one of moms sausage rolls the first bite was pastry and the next bite was past the sausage meat and pastry again. I won't go into our homemade blackberry and rhubarb wines. Just remember the adults getting merrier.

Well almost 6 o'clock news time. Do I really want to know how many people are facing Christmas in an ICU ward.
Anne and a pooped out Jilly [from a very sniffy walk].

Good evening. It was another very cold day so I postponed running errands but did get a birthday card out in the mailbox. I will make a trip to the post office when the weather warms up a bit later this week. I finished a card for that little girl I mentioned and it has a bobble head and requires extra postage to try to get it delivered intact.

One of the ladies from my old Mah Jongg group called me last evening. She was letting me know that a mutual friend (and Mah Jongg buddy) had just gotten out of the hospital. Yes, it is Covid and I don’t know how long she was hospitalized but it is the lady I was concerned about as she had disappeared from Facebook and wasn’t responding to texts. I have received a couple lines of text now. She is apparently extremely weak.

I called the remaining Mah Jongg player from our old group this afternoon. She was best buddies with this lady until they had a massive falling out over Covid. The lady who is ill doesn’t believe in Covid vaccines. They have been friends for decades but this broke the tie. They had massive fights and stopped speaking. She said she wasn’t that interested in how her former friend was feeling but basically said it is what she deserved given her behavior. Okay, I am out of sharing information now! I resign.

A blurb about the Zoom firing.

The CEO of Better.com might want to consider his company’s moniker the next time he plans extensive layoffs.

Vishal Garg, the head of the digital mortgage company, jumped on a Zoom call last Wednesday to abruptly inform more than 900 of his employees that they were being terminated.

“If you’re on this call, you are part of the unlucky group that is being laid off,” Garg, looking stiff and unemotional, said on the call.

“Your employment here is terminated effective immediately.”


That is cold for sure. I guess that was about 6+% of the workforce in one call! Yipes!

Anne, glad you are feeling yourself again which means the shingles are going away? Happy little Bean, surrounded by loving humans. Her life is pretty good. Our attitude towards holidays certainly changes over time and with differing circumstances. It is just nice to have some pleasant memories. I hope my memories are never lost.

Jackie, yes Brady, a much safer place to hangout. I think I may make one more cup of hot tea. It is a nice warming drink. I like the painting on the wall behind Brady. Sweet!

Kerry, the man who has Max, planted a tree in memory of the little boy who was tortured and killed. I had never read many of the details before. Jackie, you are probably well acquainted with it.

For anyone who hadn’t heard about this, here’s a bit of a newspaper account.

“ Arthur Labinjo-Hughes is a name that now rings with sadness. In fact, it goes way beyond that. The little boy endured agony, tragedy and even torture that no one should ever suffer, least of all a six-year-old innocent boy.

He suffered at the hands of the worst of humanity. Made to stand still facing a wall hour after hour, day after day. Barked at by his bristling step-mother if he dared try sitting down to rest, battered and bruised from repeated beatings.

He was deprived of food and water and was being attacked with hidden violence too — being poisoned with salt.

On June 16, 2020 he collapsed in a heap from fatal injuries, so fragile he could barely pick up his blanket from the living room floor he was forced to sleep on.

That afternoon, his stepmother, Emma Tustin, 32, had inflicted one final attack, brutally shaking his head back and forth and slamming it off either the walls, floor or both. His father, Thomas Hughes, 29, openly encouraged violence towards his son. Arthur was rushed to Birmingham Children’s Hospital but the damage to his brain was irreversible. He died in intensive care at 1am on June 17.”

People are savage and often wore than animals.


Sandy, did you make it through all of your errands? A very busy day for you. Best wishes tomorrow.

Patsy, oh how lovely that you have seasonal flowers now. Best wishes on bringing both of them to bloom. That will brighten up the house. Good job John.

Here is a sample of the snowflakes I am die cutting. Each little hole needs to me punched out with a tool. It takes a while so I will,be working on the stack for a while.




And a teapot



Be safe.

Lin🙋🏼‍♀️
❤️❤️

Yet another unsettled weather day with rain, hail and high winds but I attempted to walk George and Betty on the moors when the sun showed itself. BIG MISTAKE! A beautiful rainbow warned me another shower was on its way then we were hit in the face by painful hail. At one point I took the pooches into a circle of gorse bushes that protected them but George was having too much fun to stay still for long! Once it eased we set off again and were lucky to get back to my car as the next downpour arrived.
I’ve phoned Chrissie to let her know I will pick Bella up in the next hour, unless the weather is unkind again, and we’ll just have to take a chance because she is apparently scared of hail. Perhaps she had stones thrown at her when she was on the streets of Romania.

I still haven’t hung my new curtains but did at least fill the extra holes in the wall ready for a spot of yellow paint! No excuses, I’ll get on with that job when I get back from walking.

Anne, I’ve seen several stories this past year about executives sacking large numbers of staff during video calls and think it’s indicative of today’s reliance on social media to communicate any sort of news. We have employment laws in Britain that insist workers have a right to a consultation and someone to represent them but it still happens. I gather 3 executives have given in their notice at Better.com because of what happened and perhaps his customers will walk away too!
As for dear Arthur, these dreadful murderers are facing possible life in a prison system that won’t treat them kindly. I read yesterday the step mother has already had a meal that’s prepared by prisoners, laced with salt and is apparently on suicide watch.

Dear Lin, you are so good at imparting news of fallouts when it comes to Covid and make me smile every time! Lots of stories abound about anti vax Covid patients sick in hospital demanding to be vaccinated… too late! I think it’s Austria that is threatening the unvaccinated they won’t get hospital treatment if required. A bit extreme but then it is Austria !
That’s the prettiest teapot and I’m wondering if a bird is painted on the other side. Perhaps we’ll never know.
The picture on my wall over the sideboard was a birthday card I received a couple of years ago that I I loved so much I photographed it and got it printed on canvas. If I whisper that it was sent by a dear friend in Canada you might guess who! 😁

The sun is shining and I must walk Bella.
Stay safe
Jackie🥰

Hello. I wish I could share the video of the tree planting but it is only on Facebook, not YouTube. Here’s a bit Kerry posted after the Live feed video.

A calming hour sat at Memory Wood after our live feed next to Arthur’s tree.
Paddy unusually quiet, Harry never left my side. Dogs just know




Jackie, I thought I recognized the style in that painting. Well done to think of enlarging it to put on the wall. Love it. And we will never know what is on the other side of that teapot.

I need to go to the post office today although it is still cold. There is a possibility of a day or two in the high 50’s or low 60’s next week. Wow!

And my attempt at making peace between those former friends taught me a lesson. Never try that again.

Anne, I hope you are able to find all the supplies you need/want. I am going to try to shop in person tomorrow.

Be well.

Lin🙋🏼‍♀️
❤️❤️

Hello sweet friends! Well! We have some of that partly cloudy-showers-sunny-blue skies kind of weather. Throw in a bit of chill as well! It is truly December here.

I am still trying to manufacture some holiday spirit and Christmas jolly. I guess I succeed at various times. But if things don’t stop breaking, I think my inner Grinch might show up. This time my blood sugar monitor. That is important to me. I plan food and exercise around this little monitor. There are times I wish we had a total physical in a monitor that tells us what on earth is wrong with you, Miss Patsy. Oh that it were available.

Great news! My little amerilles bulb is alive and well. She shot up a flower bud in one afternoon. I read all about them on Wikipedia. I am to give her half strength plant food every other time I water her. Exciting to have a plant that grows dramatically in one day!

I will make a sugarless cranberry loaf today. I think John will like that. I am going to see if I can find an acceptable mulled wine recipe for the holidays. Kind of like sangria, only heated. These diet restrictions are a pain during the holidays, especially when I am trying to make a jolly pandemic Christmas.

I have brought out every Christmas movie dvd that we own. John will only give a nod to Die Hard so far. Seriously? I also have a small collection of children’s books, some with little moving parts. Our kids loved them. I might gift each one their childhood favorites as a Christmas stocking stuffer. I am really a sloppy sentimental goof.

Years ago I helped direct a great children’s play called, “The best Christmas pageant ever”. It had dozens of kids in it. After is was over, John almost thought I might need to be hospitalized. I was so exhausted I remember sitting in the living room in the dark with only the Christmas tree lights and slowly sipping a huge brandy! If I could have, I would have consumed the whole bottle, just to calm my frazzled brain.

Katie will be wearing her Christmas scarf…which she will try to eat, and her reindeer ears. and if we can do it fast enough, we will take her photo. Later on that project.

And all is merry and bright🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶
Patsy☘️

Yea, Christmas poincettia that I have not killed so far. There are windows on each side of her. Not sure about the exposure. I think it is west and southwest windows. I think…not good on directions. I get lost very easily.

Happy holidays
Patsy🎄☃️🌺

Me again, the Christmas table arrangement came. Really pretty I think. It will cheer up the table and dining room. We are thinking of some board games this Christmas. So that will be fun and the arrangement will add a bit to the gaming.

Not sure how the rest of the family is doing but I am having fun planning games, decor, non-sugar-low fat treats, music and a few token gifts along with the usual checks. My holiday outfit will be the usual Oregon jeans and a sweater. Not too classy but I will wear hoop earrings and bracelets to try to make it look dressy. Pandemic Christmas outfit. Maybe John will consent to a nicer shirt and newer blue jeans. But I don’t count on that. Our photos are always casual.
Patsy☘️

Sort of a nothing day here. We had quite a bit of snow fall and it was very cold but today it starts to improve and its positively balmy on Saturday. The groceries arrive today, a big order just in case I can't get delivery next time just before Christmas. Even in a cold clime fridges are a very useful item! Michael is supposed to arrive today. He comes for about four hours, lunch included. As for Mark, and often Mary Jo. he works on the house most days but not yesterday. Well actually he did and he shovelled the drive for the grocery delivery man and then he took some measurements of the sides of the stairs to cut out at home the stepped skirting boards. Now the "apartment" area is now free from damp he is going to concentrate on finishing the back entrance hall and stairs and painting the steep well. I have no idea what colour, I have been warned it won't be any shade of green however pale. So at least we will look normal in the back entrance hall and I can shut the downstairs door on all the junk lurking behind it.

Sounds like a perfect spot for your poinsettia PATSY and its a beautiful plant. Mine is now on top of my desk and with my huge nutcracker standing guard under it we look very christmassy. My new next door neighbours spent yesterday evening putting up their Christmas lights around the departed Harrys [and his ancient plastic icicles] front door. In fact the whole street is beginning to look like Christmas.
Everyone in our group seem to be "in the mood".
Hope today is GOOD newsworthy, in which case will "see" you all later.
Anne.

Mikes here taking poor Jilly on a very slushy mucky walk. The groceries arrived intact with a large pre cooked hickory ham ... like naughty Jackie for....just in case. You know why you are naughty Jackie! see above. I like green and I've no idea why Mark is so against a very pretty, very pale yellowy green that I love. Springlike to remind me of dancing daffodils! I'll probably end up with taupe or some "modern" colour that's "in" but doesn't really complement 100 year old houses. I also got a huge bag of spuds for just in case and an enormous packet of toilet rolls etc. We are all set. The grocery prices have been rising steadily here and we are promised a 7% rise again in the new year. I suppose we will all get very slim without MFP help.and thats about it for now.'

Anne [about to eye the fish we are having for Friday lunch.]

Just spoken to Mary Jo and she's ordered a huge ham etc as well so we shouldn't starve over Christmas between us all. Mike's booked the last of his holidays to take off from the 17th to the 28th. The Covid cases here are rising rapidly as well so we could be in for another lockdown.
I've nothing against grey but I hope Mark doesn't decide to go that route because it's grey enough outside without adding to the gloom here. What's left of the walls are painted cranberry. That was MJs choice years ago and I must admit it is a welcoming colour when one steps out of the cold. Not really me though.
Anne.

Hello! Another cold wet morning here. I think it would be fun to go on that traditional evening drive to look at all the Christmas lights and decor around town. I hope everyone feels up for decorating again. But in truth, we still seems to be a bit timid about restarting the old Christmas crazies. And I do mean crazies! There are people who string up enough lights to be seen by the space station as it scoots by in the heavens. And as Mae West once said, “Too much of a good thing can be wonderful!”

Poinsettia is still alive! She hasn’t started dropping her leaves yet. I have had her three days, no disaster yet. The amaryllis bulb is squirting out something else beside the emerging flower bud. Great fun to see what happens next with it. Might be some sort of leaf or a mutant stem or something!!?

I have always maintained that John has all the sophistication of a 6th grade school boy. He delights in silly kid jokes. He accuses me of a severe case of arrested development. I am stuck in kindergarten and finger painting. True story here. Christmas is important to us. Candy canes and toys in our stocking on Christmas morning. It doesn’t take much to entertain us.

Sandy: I assume you will be spending Christmas with your kiddos and enjoying that traditional Turkey and all the trimmings. Christmas with children is the absolutely best, take a ton of photos to share with us.

Anne: your Christmas plans sound wonderful as well. I am sure you will be surrounded by your sons and family and outrageously wonderful food. I always loved how English always wear paper crowns on Christmas. Not sure what that tradition means but it looks fun and I also love the “crackers” that are popped after dinner with little toys and confetti.

Jackie: I have a picture in my brain of you surrounded by your adorable animal family, in front of your fireplace. You watching a rugby game while sipping your salted caramel vodka. Oh my! I suspect you might also be enjoying some tempting English dessert. I have watched that TV show called the Great English Baking Show. Wow! You folks know how to cook!

Lin: Christmas at your house might be peaceful and calm while you are enjoying a Christmas movie? Not sure if you can eat pop corn or some other vegan treat. I do know that the vegan friends I know have a number of delicious things that they enjoy during the holidays. They never seem deprived of holiday treats. Will you be designing new cards as you set aside the Christmas card list?

I have the holidays firmly stuck in my brain, as you can plainly see.
Patsy☘️🎄🐕