Amazon exiles discussion
Don't Kill Snails with Salt ... Creme Eggs & Toasted Teacakes ... Biscuits & Bench Stories, Life, the Universe, & Everything!
poor Lady Lux, nothing! however, dried up now and had a good walk. bob z. does like to lurk under the tree, but his ambushes are reserved for the lovely lady lux!not an avalanche of choc this year, but very nice thoughtful presents all round. jnr made play on his inheritance by sourcing a ltd ed framed and signed (geuine) photo of rammstein for his mum. sook!
can't complain about dad, as his neighbours are feeding him today (in their bubble), so i don't need to bother my arse! still working at 3 tho', will wear my secret santa b.marley t-shirt, although miss tech (the queen of buying t-shirts) has extended my cramps and ramones attire, quite splendidly.
My bunch have already had a practice run a couple of nights ago which ended in one of our lads very pissed and stomping around the room to something he'd manged to Bluetooth through to the stereo from his phone - 'Drill' is the name of said musical genre.. It's like hip hop just wasn't violent enough so 'Drill' came forth!! I mean I've thrown as much of my stuff at him as I can over the years - and I'll listen to just about owt - but none of my stuff is cool enough apparently. Y'know, I used to think me kids would think I was a bit of a cool parent when they got older - what with mixing up dance music and such being a hobby of mine - but no, not a bloody chance. No such thing as a 'cool' parent I suppose.
Merry Christmas to y'all in any case. Have a good un folks.
Suzy !A very happy Christmas,I hope you manage to enjoy your day.I hope your mums well?We are obviously not doing tHe family thing so I am cooking dinner for the first time in about 15 years,we have an enormous turkey As originally going to my brothers and then went into tier 4 in Kent and not able to change to a smaller one .The guy over the road lost his wife last year and I've said I'll pop a dinner over,my neighbour is sending a dinner ove to the lady next to him.The turkey is at last in the oven!!We ve had my brother over saying hi through the window.A merry Christmas to the gang on here.🎄🎄🎄
Well, it may be a very strange one this year - and it may not be the Christmas that you all genuinely deserve or had come to expect, or had planned and worked hard towards and so desperately hoped for? ... but it's still Christmas time all the same and it can still be a special one.We have all made it through a truly terrible year in which everyone and everything has had to learn fast, and change and adapt to, and nothing can be relied on to be certain or as good as guaranteed anymore ... and some of us have also very tragically lost very dearly loved ones ... family members, friends and neighbours ... but - we are all still here ;o>
The World still turns ... and Life still goes on ... and the Birds still sing, the Sun still shines, and every day is still a precious gift that is full of blessings - no matter just how incredibly small they might be and so very hard to dig deep down and find sometimes.
We also know as well that there are so many clever, kind and caring, and special people out there who are all actively working all around the Clock towards bringing about a much better and a far brighter tomorrow for us all - and that there are still so many incredible and beautiful things to always be thankful and grateful for ... x
So Happy Christmas Everyone! - and I hope that you all have a lovely one ;o>
... x x x Suzy x x x
it was a strange one, almost completely bereft of atmosphere.my maxim over xmas has been the same as it has this whole year - expect nothing and you won't be disappointed!
Yeah, it was for us here as well, Poppet ... xMy emotions feel so far beyond raw and surreal that even the idea of it being Christmas time just hasn't kicked in at all for me this year. Instead it's all been about going through the motions of planning it all out like a military operation via my Laptop, getting over-anxious and excited over getting any Delivery Slots, waiting on tenterhooks for Couriers, and all about trying to make it come together and happen for everyone else.
My Mum had the Carol Services on full blast on the TV and Radio as usual but I had to leave the Room and her to it because I just couldn't bear to listen to them as I know if I give in to starting crying about anything I won't be able to stop myself at the moment. And I absolutely insisted that I was having a News-free day yesterday - M&D were more than welcome to watch it on TV while I was out of the Room but not to discuss anything in front of me - because there is only just so much awfulness and sadness that I can deal with without taking in or taking on anymore.
That's why I put my Post up yesterday. As days go - it actually wasn't a bad one in the end but it was such incredibly hard work just in getting to that point and it was such a relief to get to go to Bed at the end of it. I didn't want anyone else sat there reading lots of really happy-happy Posts and thinking that maybe it must only just be them who isn't getting all of this joyfulness and into the Christmas spirit this year.
It was a quiet, deflated, and rather an empty kind of a day - but we were still together for it, M&D&me, and so we chose to celebrate that rather than to celebrate Christmas by having ourselves a fantastic Meal. And even though I couldn't get us a Turkey for love or money this year we fell back on my Plan B standby instead, a large Cook From Frozen Boneless Turkey Joint, and it exceeded all expectations of it and surprised and delighted us all by being absolutely amazing!
I'll definitely be buying another one for the Freezer with our next Iceland order - if they are still in Stock and I get lucky on getting one ;o>
Blastronaut wrote: "My bunch have already had a practice run a couple of nights ago which ended in one of our lads very pissed and stomping around the room to something he'd manged to Bluetooth through to the stereo f..."Hey cool Dad! - they don't make Music now like they did in our day, do they? Real tunes that you could actually dance to! Eee, those were the days! ...
(*giggles*) ... ;o>
Anita wrote: "Suzy !A very happy Christmas,I hope you manage to enjoy your day.I hope your mums well?We are obviously not doing tHe family thing so I am cooking dinner for the first time in about 15 years,we hav..."So tell us? ... how did all of the Cooking go, Anita? ... was it a huge success? - or do you never want to see another bloody Turkey again for as long as you live now?! ... LOL!!! ;o>
Suzy it was fine,I didnt poison my mum or the chap over the road who I dropped a dinner into.He came over today with an enormous box of thorntons.The turkey etc were fine.It actually tasted.better today with the mashed potato and pickles. I made the turkey lasagne tonight ,that worked really well.It sounds like your day went off ok.was one of the big beasties birthdays today ,he was 16,I've actually been there since he.was 3 and the girls were 2.They all rang for a chat today so that was great.Iv got my mum's birthday on the 28th soI've had a cake made in the shape of a penguin.
Oooh, Turkey lasagne?! ... Mmmm yummy! ;o>Ohhh I am SO glad it all went well for you - and how very kind of you to also do an extra lovely Roast Dinner for your Neighbour as well ;o>
We were planning to have another Meal and decided on just having a few Sandwiches for Lunch ... and then ended up in going all out on having the works instead! ... fantastic Turkey & Gammon & Stuffing & Pigs in Blankets all piled up on a Barmcake!
We were then still so full come Teatime that we waited until it was 8pm and just had a big piece each of our favourite Plum & Apricot Tart with some Vanilla Ice Cream ... and we'll be finishing off the rest of the gorgeous Turkey Joint tomorrow by making up another full hot Meal with it ;o>
I'm guessing that your Mum must be very fond of Penguins then? I made my Mum a Bird Box Cake (many years ago now) as she has always been into Bird-watching ;o>
She likes an animal cake ,last year it was a llama.whats a barmcake Suzy.
She likes an animal cake ,last year it was a llama.whats a barmcake Suzy?
I know they have different names for these all around the UK so I don't know if it will help to tell you that it's also known here an extra large Bap, Anita? It's a very soft and light Bread Muffin that is roughly the same size of your Hand ;o> ...https://www.lovefood.com/gallerylist/...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barm_cake
I had such great fun making my Dad a Gromit Cake for his 70th - LOL!!! ;o>
suzysunshine7 wrote: "Blastronaut wrote: "My bunch have already had a practice run a couple of nights ago which ended in one of our lads very pissed and stomping around the room to something he'd manged to Bluetooth thr..."They don't make em like they used to. I agree 100% Suze. Am pretty sure tho that I'd have rolled me eyes back when I was that age when anyone told me that.
Got Anthrax booming out at the minute (J's at work so vol level is mine... all miiiine ha ha ha! - err, well ya get the gist) and that's certainly not gonna do me any favours in the 'Cool' stakes. Nevermind, when ya look at some of the stuff I've admitted on here (and 'zon before that) to liking over the years, trying to cop musical cred points is hardly high on my agenda. : )
We were young and were never going to get old, were we Blastro?So just what the Hell happened to us then?!! - LOL!!! ;o>
Right, I'm off to start making an early Tea for us all here ... BYEEE!!! ... x ;o>
Blastronaut wrote: "Nevermind, when ya look at some of the stuff I've admitted on here (and 'zon before that) to liking over the years, trying to cop musical cred points is hardly high on my agenda. : )"I'm an openly proud lifelong fan of Erasure, Blastro ... and so I have never had any Musical Cred whatsoever on either the Amazon or the Goodreads Forums! - LOL!!! ;o>
We had a lovely pimped-up Veggie Pizza for Lunch (and Quiche for Dad who doesn't like Pizza) and everything all prepped and ready for a full Turkey & Trimmings Teatime at around 6'ish ;o>
I posted this earlier on Duke's Forum but thought I'd also share the laughs on here as well ;o> ...Mum's had some fun and games with Mitz this week as she's suddenly started with very cleverly hiding her Gabapentin in her Mouth, even while eating some fresh Chicken afterwards as a reward, and then spitting it out when she thinks no-one is looking! - LOL!!! ;o>
So far we've found one under the Sofa, one in her Toy Box, I watched her cough one up in the Hallway the minute Mum had her Back turned ... and the best yet? ... Dad went out to 'clear' the Lawn this Morning and found her early morning one spat out and neatly positioned right next to a fresh pile of you-know-what!!! ;oO
I don't understand how she can have one and appear to have completely swallowed it, and then have a good guzzle on a plate of Chicken, and still manage to spit it out completely intact afterwards?!! ... this little hairy woofer has clearly developed hidden magical talents that could rival Houdini! - LOL!!! ;o>
It doesn't take much at all to set me and Mum off - and finding that one outside this Morning neatly positioned by a pile of poo has just had us falling about laughing ever since!
For a little hairy woofer who is definitely not known for having much of a sense of humour Mitz is suddenly starting to get more and more funnier by the day these days! - LOL!!! ;o>
And watching Mum wander off into the Kitchen yesterday and then Mitz ever-oh-quietly start with shaking her Head until ... HUFF! ... PER-DOINK! ... the Tablet was out of her Mouth and spat clean across the width of the Lounge was just hilarious! She just looked at me as if to say ... "You ain't seen nothing, okay?!" ... and then jauntily trotted off as if nothing at all had happened!!! ... HA HA HA HA HA!!! ;o>
After laughing here,what's Mitzi on medication for?
Mitz has always been a very easily stressed and extremely agitated little hairy woofer and this nervous side to her has sadly only got even worse and more intensified since we had to say goodbye to her wonderful little Sister, Tia. Tia has, and continues to be, SO deeply missed by us all - and poor little Mitz just completely fell apart without having her Sister and Soul Mate always still by her side.
She suddenly started with having terrible crying and wailing do's, for no obvious reason, that couldn't be cuddled and comforted away and they went on for hours and hours at a time ... and it was just so heartbreaking for us all to have her keeping on with crying to herself even under her Breath in her sleep at night.
She has had 'wobbly' Legs almost all of her life so we know she has probably got some mild form of Arthritis - although she has never let it slow her down at all over the years - and so Gabapentin was suggested to us by the Vet as it works in several ways ... it helps to calm down a hyper-sensitive stressed out and over anxious Mind and it also helps to relieve any chronic Pain associated with having Degenerative Joint Disease as well.
Mitz is still just as bright and alert but she also gets to sleep a lot better for a lot longer now and is just SO much happier in herself ever since she was put on it. The absolutely awful bouts of crying her little Heart out for hours and hours have all completely stopped now, bless her ... x
Oh that is sad,I'm glad the medication seems to be working when she takes it.Im not usually on at this time it is nice not to be worrying about getting up early in the morning.
I hope you enjoyed a lovely long leisurely Lie-In this morning, Anita? ;o>
Our Landline has been increasingly going on the fritz over the last few weeks and we've just discovered today that we can't make or receive any Calls ... which is no big deal as we don't often use it or get many Calls ... but it has meant that Mum has had to walk round to Sylvia's first thing this morning to check if she wants to order anything on our Sainsburys Home Delivery tomorrow - and I'm worried that, if it starts with snowing in earnest here, then I don't want Mum or Sylvia going forwards and backwards between our two Houses and risking having any falls.It looks like we need to buy a new Phone Set ... but can I just find a top quality and extremely basic one with three Phones and an Answerphone? One that two Parents with Dementia issues will be able to use with ease without also needing to start studying for a Degree in Electronics and Telecommunications Engineering?
My Mum can barely manage to work out how to use our old Landline Phone Set or her Doro Mobile as it is - and both of them are quite ancient and only basic no-frills Devices.
I've spent SIX hours online now just in looking at Phones! - and I've still got absolutely no idea as to which one would be our best bet and worth risking buying?!!
suzysunshine7 wrote: "Our Landline has been increasingly going on the fritz over the last few weeks and we've just discovered today that we can't make or receive any Calls ... which is no big deal as we don't often use ..."Sympathies, Suzy. I find it so frustrating that something that should be simple ends up by sucking away at our time, making a seemingly straightforward task exhausting.
Good luck!
I've temporarily solved the problem by plugging in our old Dial Phone (last used sometime in the 90's I think?) and have rung out and asked Sylvia to ring in and it's working ;o>We still need 3 Cordless Phone Sets with a Contact List installed in them though so I'll be back onto searching tomorrow. I've given up for now as I've got things to do and a Headache to shift so I've called it a day on endlessly looking up and reading through Panasonic versus Gigasets Reviews.
suzysunshine7 wrote: "I've temporarily solved the problem by plugging in our old Dial Phone (last used sometime in the 90's I think?) and have rung out and asked Sylvia to ring in and it's working ;o>We still need 3 C..."
dial phone... pigtailed cord... mmm...
Yep! ... it works really well until Mum absentmindedly shoves it in her Pocket and then heads off down the Garden! - LOL!!! ;o>
's funny. our land-line phone hasn't rang for about 6 months. i imagine that something's wrong with it!
When did you last pay your Telephone Bill?!! - LOL!!! ;o>And maybe stop letting Lady Lux be your Answerphone as well ...
"Ruh-roo? ... Bisquit? ... Bonio? ... Dad not in!"
Tech XXIII wrote: "'s funny. our land-line phone hasn't rang for about 6 months. i imagine that something's wrong with it!"There must be plug in the wall. Did you...
Tech XXIII wrote: "'s funny. our land-line phone hasn't rang for about 6 months. i imagine that something's wrong with it!"We get scam calls quite often from people pretending to be Amazon etc. Unfortunately, as we live in a flat, we answer because the entry system is through the landline and we could miss a delivery. Otherwise, we could let calls go to voicemail and just ring friends back. We're registered with the preference system but it's not infallible.
"pretending to be Amazon"you can have a lot of fun with this if you press to speak to an 'advisor'.
great entertainment listening to squirming when you suggest that they're not amazon.
You've been pretending to be that Nigerian Prince who is wanting them to bank millions of pounds of Cash for you in return for a large Commission Fee again, haven't you?!! - LOL!!! ;o>
... and rubbing Cat Nip all over the Phone too ... so that Bob Z will quite happily spend hours just yowling away and purring into it while they try to ask him for his Amazon Account Details ;o>
Yesterday, while walking a short way through the village to the post box I encountered about 10 snowpeople on the main road. I took photos but they're not v good because it was dark and they don't convey the spectacle of seeing them all dotted along the main street as you walked along. I think there are more throughout the village that I am yet to discover. Hoping these photos load....give me a few mins. Sorry to bombard you with them all, but just doing thumbnails. 😁
Resting:
Sitting, overlooking the river:
Waiting outside the village shop:
Lurking on a picnic bench outside a cafe (closed indefinitely, seeking new tennant):
Stood besides a bin:
Outside another shop:
Outside another cafe:
Waiting at the bus shelter:
Helen The Melon wrote: "Yesterday, while walking a short way through the village to the post box I encountered about 10 snowpeople on the main road. I took photos but they're not v good because it was dark and they don't ..."Thanks for a smile! :o)
HA HA HA HA HA!!! ... it must have taken ages to make all of those?!! ;o>
Helen The Melon wrote: "Yesterday, while walking a short way through the village to the post box I encountered about 10 snowpeople on the main road. I took photos but they're not v good because it was dark and they don't ..."They're excellent!
I've always wanted to make one in the middle of a road.
must be a very civilised village, helen, none of the snowmen illustrated (and truthfully, it must have been a pleasure walking amongst them) have genitals or breasts!
WOT!!! No masks! No social distancing!
Tech XXIII wrote: "must be a very civilised village, helen, none of the snowmen illustrated (and truthfully, it must have been a pleasure walking amongst them) have genitals or breasts!" Well, I think most of them were made by kids & that's why they're a bit rough and ready. I don't think I've ever seen a snowman with "bits"!!
In spring this year I did see a v large snowcaterpillar made by children with the very last remnants of the winter snow. If I can be bothered I'll upload that photo too...
Here you go: Mr. Snowcaterpillar
So, the Govt has panicked again ... this time into pushing forward with the first dose of Vaccinations now being administered to as many folk on all of the High Priority Lists as is possible - and everyone who has already had the first and was fully expecting to have their second dose in January will now not be getting it until the very last possible week for it to still hopefully give enough of a high level of Immunity.Yes, of course I get the reason why, but the whole Vaccine situation could now be about to go horribly pear-shaped if they start with messing around with it and it will also be putting such horrendous levels of pressure and stress on an already struggling and over-worked NHS in doing this ... and, hey Boris, why don't YOU come round to my House and try explaining all of this to an elderly and vulnerable and now also rather distressed and quite bewildered 80 year old who was given an Appointment Card and was expecting to be getting her second dose on the 14th of January?!! ;o<
And just whose bright idea was it for the rest of us to have to try to explain this potentially disastrous and dangerous change of previous plans to over 500,000 people in the very first High Priority Group on New Years Eve of all days as well?!! ;oO
It's an incredibly scary and it's also a quite cruel thing to do. To give just the one dose and then withhold and delay the second dose like this for as about long as they think that they can dare to just about get away with doing so ;o<
If they don't manage to pull all of this off by March (and, honestly, would you just place all of your confidence, trust, and faith in believing that they actually can and will?) then the very first Priority Group (including my Mum) and quite possibly also the second and even the third Priority Groups will pretty much just be left stranded with barely much of any significant level of Immunity at all?
It's a quite desperate change of all of the previous plans with so very much at stake and so much potential for it all to go so badly wrong for so many vulnerable people. And I definitely don't want for my first dose of the Vaccine to given to me at the expense of my own Mum's Immunity ... or her life?!! ;o<
I've got no idea now as to just what we will be raising a Glass to tonight?
I dunno?!! ... PIP Forms on Christmas Eve ... having to tell my Mum on New Years Eve that she won't be getting her scheduled second dose of the Vaccine in January ... ! ... Ohhh boy?!! - I can hardly wait now for just what Twelfth Night and the year 2021 might be bringing us!!! ... ARRRGGGHHH!!!Mum's still upset and has gone to Bed for a few hours and I'm about to start prepping for tonight and tomorrow's Meals and then hopefully doing a bit of arm wrestling with a 5kg Free Range Bronze Turkey I managed to Order for us ... if, and when, it does arrive?!!
All News is now banned! ... it's New Year's Eve and I will NOT be having it spoilt anymore than it already is! ... SO THERE!!! ;o>
Amazon exiles
Books mentioned in this topic
Ten Poems about Snow (other topics)And So This is Christmas: 51 Seasonally Adjusted Poems (other topics)
The Tiger Who Came to Tea (other topics)
The Quangle Wangle's Hat (other topics)
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Christina Rossetti (other topics)John Keats (other topics)
Joan Aiken (other topics)
5 boxes of chocolates unwrapped so far from various people ;0
WE'LL BE WEEKS EATING THIS LOT