Amazon exiles discussion
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Or you could just grin and bear it. After all, it's free(ish) meal.
We were invited by a colleague of my husband to dinner. We hadn't met his wife and I didn't know him, either. She, for some reason, wasn't particularly welcoming and another couple, who were long-standing friends of theirs were invited, too. The two women sat together and chatted about mutual interests and the three men did, also. In spite of my DH's efforts to include me, I spent the evening almost without speaking to anyone. I still don't know what we'd done to offend. We didn't return the invitation. 😕

Or you could just grin and bear it. After all, it's free(ish) meal.
W..."
God, that's fairly awful, incredible that the other two women just chatted away, seemingly oblivious :0
I suppose he's not that bad, just annoying. He likes to tell long stories and throughout demands full attention while he's doing so. His wife hardly gets a word in. Which is a shame as I enjoy talking to her more, she's Russian and I find talking about her home country really interesting.

Or you could just grin and bear it. After all, it's fr..."
I suspect that he had invited us without asking her first, so she was miffed at having two extra unknowns.
As for the guys (and in my experience, it nearly always is men😉) who monopolise conversations in that way, there's not much you can do. The crunch really comes when they reach the point of telling the same stories again and again and again ...
Been there, done that ... Our only solution was to keep contact to a minimum and treat it like rewatching a film that we quite liked. It's a pity about his wife, though. Are you thick skinned enough to manage to interrupt or divert the conversation? Not easy for the naturally polite.

One of the benefits of having a Dog reliant on Insulin injections, is you can leave your dinner invite at 8pm.

That be my post for today. Utterly pointless but still trying to contribute a bit of something. Getting a little frosty, this forum; not unpleasant, just not as friendly... at least is how it seems at this end. My twisted perception? Perhaps.

Dogs help, in my experience, get you out in the shite weather.
And reward you with fragrant punctuation marks throughout your evening.
There goes another one..................................

I know it's not a word in daily use but I didn't realise "widdershins" was that obscure. I must be even older and more out of touch than I thought ... 😕

Believe me dude, of that I'm only too aware. What did the 'nam vets used to say - I seen some shit!
But ya see, one of the main reasons I visit this forum is due to the friendly vibe that we tend to have. Plenty places I could go for the opposite. If I feel the slightest of disturbances in 'The Force' then I'll give the tree the most gentle of shakes, and see if owt drops. Usually turns out to be nowt but...


I've planted a few. Fairly easy, and cheap too.
What're you going to plant?
Keep the trees in a bag, don't let the roots dry out, if you buy them and aren't using them for a few days, keep the bag tightly closed. If when you take them out the roots look dry, dunk them in water before you plant.

I've planted a few. Fairly easy, and cheap too.
What're you g..."
Thanks, Serial. I'm planting beech, in a fairly shady area, where there are already a couple of trees - pine and silver birch and holly seedlings, so I expect to have to watch the watering. A wall would be too expensive and the existing fence posts have rotted so hope hedging works 🤞

...the farm's combine-harvester! Who did ya think I was talking of??
And he needs that support because Daughter got a pup in last year. He's now six months old. German Shepard/Lab cross. His name is Bear and tis an apt name I must tell thee. He will defend their northern border, as will Dust protect what's left of our territory (the greenhouse already annexed).
Sorry Isabella, didn't wanna cut you up, just being silly is all. As you were...

Silliness is good 😊

I've planted a few. Fairly easy, and cheap too...."
I have some Beech hedging, worth planting 2 rows, staggered, makes a better hedge.

Such true words."
Yes, number two on "Things life has taught me."
Sadly, I do have a list. Maybe I should put some of it on "Not enough lists on here". 😉

Tbh Val, he's not keen on a confrontation with either. He's a brave cat, even arrogant as he struts around bullying our daughter's cats but since Bear came on the scene he's not over there half as much... tho he is cheeky enough to chance it sometimes. First time Dust actually got a good look at him was last summer when we were on the back lawn. Was pretty warm even tho it was evening and we were having a time-out from chasing the ball around. Putin came strutting around the corner of the house (in his usual confident manner) and he then saw Dust - closer than ever before - and froze with one paw out in mid-stride. Was so funny, like something outta a film. Needless to say, Dust shot off after him - I didn't have a chance of stopping him - and old Putin just squeezed his fat ass under the gate as Dust reached it. Only saw him occasionally after that but he's now back on a more-or-less permanent basis but sticks to the greenhouse. It's a large greenhouse (farm field directly behind it, thus easy access) so he has several places to sleep but all of em are a few feet off the ground and give a good view of the property. Not daft are cats. Yeah he's a tough one is the farm cat... but not totally out of his gourd. : )


I'd love a cat again, Val, but as you say, the birds are a real issue. Also, we live in cat distance of a road where some people drive too fast, in spite of the speed limit, so I think we'll have to say no, both for the cat's sake and the wildlife.

Good evening folks, how is everybody.
This is first time i've logged on in nearly a month, so i haven't yet caught up with anything, so i hope all is well with everyone.
I can't remember what i last posted, so i'll just give a quick update on what has happened. I have got cancer in my bowels and i'll be needing a large tumour removing along with part of my intestines before beginning chemo and radio therapy therafter. The good news is that i have now been given a date for my op....and that is coming up early next week. I will be hospital for a period of time, as they'll be wanting to monitor my initial recovery assuming that there isn't any complications during the surgery itself......hopefully not. I'm expecting to undertake possibly several different course of therapy afterwards, as this type of cancer isn't easy to deal with i'm told. I have exactly the same aggressive cancer my dad had, so it looking more that it is hereditary. Fortunately things have advanced considerably since my dad's treatment, my consultant had informed me that 'they' now have an 'arsenal' of drugs to fight this type of cancer, that didn't exist during my dad's illness, 25 years ago.
So..things are happening at last...but i have a long way to go and a lot of treatment and aftercare to go through, and it all begins from next week! I don't know when i shall be able to return, i expect i'll be busy dealing with this for some time to come, certainly this first half of the year anyhow, but i'll try and bob in and let you know what happening from time to time. In any case, i'm still feeling positive and in good spirits, especially glad to finally be ridding myself of this bloody tumour i'd been 'carrying' around for goodness knows how long! 'bout time i say! :)
And while i've been waiting for all this to start as it were, i haven't been resting on my laurels as it were, i've not stopped working on my shed. Waited until xmas was over, and got right back on it. Everyday i've been doing stuff and a lot has happened. The plan has changed several times...(i still don't yet know weather i'll build that extension or not, but the current plan is to rig up a car port on the gable end instead now!), the entire workshop is getting a complete makeover...all new wiring to comform to the latest spec and all new lighing for the same reason. My floro btten lights are 18 years old and no longer energy efficient in today's modern lighting regs...so it's all being replaced with led lighting. I've got the outside lamps up and running, again both now using LED bulbs...just 16 watts combined! :) I've bought some new electrician's tools to do the jon properly, socket testers, circuit tester and a new digital multi meter, since they're not expensive.
Have laid a new self leveling cement floor down in the day room area, and cleaned, sealed & seamed sealed the cracks of the workshop area then put a couple of coats of light grey matt concrete paint over the whole thing Looks fab! Finished filling in all the sections of boarding that were removed or never actually put in in the workshop in the first place..and those sections now sport insulation as well as new wiring and sockets. I've made two new mobile workbenches from scratch, one carrying my vice and anvil, the other will take my bench saw and pillar drill when finished. I,ve replaced all the power sockets & main light switch box and am currently adding in 8 more double sockets into the ring mains, some on the partition wall i built in 2018, the rest going in the day room, one can never have enough sockets i say! :) And just to ensure that there'll be no risk of shortouts, i'm slowly replacing the 2.5mm standard ring mains cable for 4mm, which is good for 80 amps max loading...more than plenty.
The next big job will be the roof. It'd been leaking for some time, and i can't insulate and clad in the inside until i fix that. I have the roofing membrane & mobile scaffolding units to do it with, but i've run out time now. The next big thing to focus on is my health..however long that may take. Hopefully i can get to do that in April or May, if i'm well enough. My workshop is all i think about at the moment aside from this cancer, i just want it all done and finished as i originally wanted to do it, back when i first had the bloody thing put up in 2004! There's always something else that needs doing first isn't there?! And now it's the turn of this thrice damned fecking tumour! I bet even as i'll lay in my hospital bed recovering from the op, i'll be thinking about the next thing i want to get on with.....it's all i want to do right now. I've never been so bloody minded!
So yeah...i haven't stopped folks, as soon as xmas was done and over..i carried on whatever the weather! Actually, it hasn't really been that cold here....these last few nights i've actually been sweating like a stuck porcine at night, I'm already down to going commando with just the duvet cover on at night, it's too bloody hot! Window open, the heating off...winter? What winter???!!! We haven't had one this year!
Anyway...that's where i'm at folks....and it all kicks off in five days time....come what may. Dunno when i'll next be online..but i'll try and pop in when i next can.

All the best Duke.

There was a cat once that used to visit a mate's house and sit atop their coalhouse at the back. We christened him 'Rasputin' because he was indeed a mental. I'd walk up the path with our two Collies that we had at that time, and he'd be there on the coalhouse almost like he's waiting; he'd then literally throw himself at the dogs! I had to stop taking the pooches up there... else there woulda been serious injury to one animal or another. Old Ras' policy was obviously offence being the best form of defence. Or more likely he was just bonkers.

Good evening folks, how is everybody.
This is first time i've logged on in nearly a month, so i haven't yet caug..."
Hope your treatment goes as well as it can, Duke, and that they look after you. I did post the following elsewhere when you first told us before Christmas but I'm not sure you saw it...
"Just to give you a little bit of optimism - my Dad had the same in 2001 (he was 53) with an operation followed by intensive chemo. He is still with us and cancer free 20 years later and treatment is a lot better these days."

(Had forgotten to add about tech/treatment being so much better now than fifty years ago)

After a shitty year I was kinda weaning meself back onto these boards but.... what's the point? Folk are moving on I guess. Like one poster told me not long ago - this community has done well to survive this long going back to the days of 'zon. Now Suze has given it up. Sera already left. Leftin left (gheddit?) as this place was getting started! Not seen owt of Foe for a while, has he gone too?
A shame. I've met some lovely folk over the years. Would be good to stay in touch with the ones that wanna do likewise.


It's worth persisting, I think, Blastro. You'd be missed if you left us. As for the diminishing numbers, we can hardly advertise, can we? Just keep on, it's surprising how much popping in and out means to some of us when things are not going well.

Re Leftin, Blastro, even I've given up on him. Last time I spoke to him (although he was no longer working so unable to use the computer there to participate on the threads), he was getting his own computer and was going to start posting again blah blah blah. I sent him a text last summer to see how he was and tell him about wee Snowdrop and I'm still waiting on a reply.

Re the voting threads. Spacepig has valiantly carried on with Fave Artists but there has been a marked lack of interest, particularly with new artists so I think the current one (Elephant Gym) will be the last. I am looking after the Themes thread during Duke's health issues and nominations there remain between 7 and 10 each week.
I suspect there are myriad reasons for non-participation. People getting back to working in the office? Health/family commitments? Also, as numbers dwindle, we find fewer devotees of our particular musical tastes (whether it be country, reggae, pop, folk, house, etc) so there's less opportunity for sharing stuff. I miss many of the regulars. Haven't seen Derek for ages. Gordon seems very busy. And where's Brass got to?

I can only really say how much in awe I am of Tech, who has kept up his humour in what must be far worse work circumstances than mine. And then he gets the kick in the guts of losing Lux...
Sorry. This is supposed to be the sunshine thread.

Don't apologise, Gordon. Sometimes it helps to set out a problem. The sad thing is, that some issues just won't ever go away, whatever efforts we make. I try hard to be positive, but it isn't always doable, so then, like you, I stay quiet.
I really hope that things improve for you soon. I can't speak for others, of course, but if posting about you troubles helps, I'll always listen.

hey, but, nice to see you! 😁

If I ever started taking part in any other forums elsewhere on the mighty internet, I wouldn't abandon this place. Reckon I was posting more in concern that maybe folk would agree to wind it up here and go their separate ways.
This seems a bit petty doesn't it considering what's happening a couple of thousand miles east? So much respect for Ukraine standing up to the school yard bully. God bless every single one of them.
Sorry, sliding off topic... as usual. Back in the older days, didn't Amazon show a forum option - or something of the sort - right at the bottom of pages when anyone ordered stuff? Like if you ordered a CD you'd see the Music Forum or a video game, you'd see the Games Forum?? I seem to remember that or something similar. Made it so much easier to stumble across. We're much more tucked away here aren't we. In a nook/cranny. Hard to find and almost impossible to stumble on.
Now ya mention it, I haven't noticed Derek around for a while. Brass, I think, posted a week-or-two ago I reckon but I don't know how often he usually posts. If it's almost daily then... he too is MIA. They both probably got stuff happening.
Well, re Leftin.... I think we can safely assume he has left us. At least for the time being. Perhaps he's at a commune in Tibet? : )
Gordon - yer welcome to drop me a message anytime re your mother's situation if ya feel like it. Shout at me a bit if ya want. As you know, I been there recently - well it's well over a year now but it feels very recent. A horrid situation to be in. Very stressful.

The question, 'Why me?', should always be turned around: 'Why not me?'. I, for one, am nothing special and I've never seen a contract that says life owes me anything, good or bad.
Hang in there, all and as Blastro says, at least we're not in Ukraine. (Even if that Putin person does turn out to be even worse than he has so far). He's worrying my lovely sister-in-law, and that affects my brother and us, so I've selfish reasons to be against him, as well as more public-spirited ones.
Sorry, I didn't mean to turn this into a moan, but I would hate to lose you all.

Great phrase and one we should all repeat every time we are tempted by self pity.
Our Russian friend messaged yesterday (she's in Paris) that she's been crying for days. I didn't know until she said, that she's 1/2 Ukrainian and 1/2 Russian.
For me I just hope that the Russian army Generals may instigate a coup and remove Putin. All those Russian troops are just pawns in the game, its advance or be executed for them.
As for the Ukrainians, respect to them. What a nation.

Well said Isabella. We will never know what each individual is dealing with every day but we can be here to lend encouragement.
I have heard from Brass and he too is currently dealing with issues around his aged parents. He promises he will be back.


I'm wondering if us civvies could stop hating each other long enough to form the 'We'll give em hell' kinda togetherness that we're seeing in Ukraine. Those lads n lasses are so damn heroic - in the face of such overwhelming odds - it brings a lump to yer throat.

I like to think that we would resist in a united way but I'm not sure that everyone would. As an older person, I'm well aware that I'm inclined to see the young as lacking in the kind of spirit that I thought we had, so I'm not sure of my own judgement. Would younger people simply go along with things, as long as they weren't too uncomfortable as a result? I hope not.
Freedom can easily be eroded without people noticing until it's too late. And some, in places like Russia, don't even realise that they don't have it. We can only hope ...

What happens in Ukraine now, makes me sad, angry and my heart ache from helplessness. What bugs me off totally is, I call it "fifth column", my working colleagues, russians born in Latvia (count plus one jew from Kiev) who honestly believe in Putler's righteousness and genius (quoting as example chopping Crimea in 2014). Hearing remarks at work every fuc*ing day, waving their smartphones, like
- hmm, things gonna be harder for us in Odessa,
or
- look, just look at these bloody refugees driving mercedes and lexuses in Moldova!
Happy to find some shit on ukrainians on scial media.
All I can do right now is to pray.

It's totally heartbreaking seeing what's going on. Sat there seeing it on the news every day and you want to do something but feel so helpless. I was wanting to donate clothes ad toiletries but there are only a few drop off points in Glasgow and none near me. Instead I've donated money from myself, D and wee Snowdrop to the Red Cross Ukraine appeal. and I'll drop the clothes off at one of their shops. Every little helps...

What happens in Ukraine now, makes me sad, angry and my heart ache from helplessness. What bugs me off totally is, I call it "fifth column", my working colleagues, russians born in Latvia (..."
Extraordinary, isn't it, how blind and deaf some people are? How can it possibly be good to unleash war on the planet, except as an absolute last resort against someone like Hitler? I can't comprehend the kind of mind that thinks it's good to kill and maim others, especially when those others haven't done anything but try to get on with their lives. There's enough pain and suffering in life from other causes without setting out to increase it.

Collette, I’m glad you and D decided to make a financial contribution as well as donating items. It’s a quicker, more efficient and safer way of getting targeted help to where it’s needed. Lorries of supplies trundling across Europe and getting stuck in Poland can take a long time to get to where they need to be.

No of course not... Putin is an absolute fountain of truth and righteousness. I know, they don't know any different because it's all they see but... surely most Russians with half a brain must suspect something's terribly wrong? There'll be plenty of relatives in other countries that should be painting a different picture in phone calls or whatever. Also most of their social media is disappearing. That must seem very convenient.
Is it a case of turning a blind eye or is it simply fear? I mean they have good reason to be afraid if they say the wrong things... especially on TV. Possibly both of the above??
Actually wept last night when they showed the dude on the train platform waving goodbye to his kids whilst clutching a toy fire engine...
ALL down to ONE man. I've felt something akin to hatred for public figures in my time like Thatcher and Trump but this Putin (or Putler as Post so accurately put it) is on another level altogether! He's either very mentally ill, or just... plain... evil.
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LOL.
And you're going there for dinner on Sunday.