Weekly Chat (Non-Osprey), 14 August 2022

LINDA – May I suggest salad meals. Hah, you are acclimatising to SA summers. When will we see you!!!

I was out this morn to buy veggies and collect my “loyalty” $10. Fairly easy to rack up the points last few months with the high prices of fruit & veg. That’s due to interstate floods and the high cost of fuel to deliver same. I also called in to complain to bank branch which is closing this week. Their suggestion for replacement would be 2 bus trips if I had no car. Further enquiry revealed one much closer & only a single bus. This is the second time a nearby branch has closed; at least this time they sent me a notice, but wasted money on a glossy waffle, plain would have done fine.

AQ - local banks closing is a sadly familiar scene here too. The nearest small town to me now has none, although we are informed that we can make certain transactions at the Post Office. However, even that post office has relocated to just a corner in the Spar shop. There is always a huge queue. What a surprise. On my estate we have a mobile Post Office van which comes for 2 hours twice a week. It is very useful, although in winter it means you are queuing up outside in the rain!!!
Yes, Lindy it was a busy time last week. All in that heat too. I am hoping for a quieter one this week. I am visiting a friend this morning who has quite a lot of problems at the moment. Not much I can do other than listen. I will take her a bunch of some of my last sweet peas. Then, if it continues to be cooler, I would like to potter in the garden this afternoon as the garden waste bin has been emptied this morning.
I hope all this with ailments or other problems manage to have a better week this week.

LINDY Wish we were close enough to get some of your plums....lucky neighbours.

Hope your OH gets the loppers.

Saturday - hot day - some time in the garden. Saturday night - extremely hot, Sunday - too tired to go to church or do anything other than routine indoors.

Overnight - according to J, apparently one loud clap of thunder and some rain. I heard the rain but not the thunder. Hasn.t cooled the atmosphere enough to notice! Cloudy with light rain but still hot here. J went to job centre. Heard nothing from last week interviews, and still awaiting sicknote from doc.

Cleaners due this afternoon, deck too damp to be treated, OH going to Tesco.

We just had some rain, an hour ago! But only a few, sparse, heavy drops, which have just made the cars look dotty. Hum. We have clouds, but they're passing over. It does at least feel fresher.

Went to see our practice nurse, for an annual M.O.T. Found that the new one is a male, and I bombarded the poor man with questions as I have unresolved issues through my illness in the past 12 months. Anyway, he said my blood test showed that all is good, with lower cholesterol than in the past. I asked about having a B12 injection but he said that my levels are alright, so I don't qualify. He's happy, though, for me to take B12 vitamin tablets if I want to. Apparently, I read, B12 helps you to absorb & make use of any iron you eat. So I'll be getting some. He thinks I might be able to have my booster jab for covid in October, as "It's all centrally funded & organised, now." (My OH had his a while ago as he's over 75).

OG -- Hope that J gets some responses to his efforts. Not surprised you were too hot & tired to go to church, it was unbearable here yesterday. Even worse in the night. Ugh.

Rusty, you are being kind to your friends. It's often all you can do, lend a listening ear, but that is so often such a help.

AQ -- My bank has shut recently. Was totally disgusted & annoyed, as our town is growing bigger by the day & I hooked up with this one years ago because it was convenient. We're supposed to be able to pay things in at the local P. Office but as has been said, the queues for that are dreadful. Bah!!

I hope all is going well for Annette and family, and that Diane is reaching those deadlines.

Thank you, DIANE and thanks to everyone for your news !
LINDY, Vitamin C helps the absorption of dietary iron :-)
As DIBNLIB reported, we had a cracking thunderstorm here. Short lived but caused flash flooding - a couple of shops had to close because of damage to their ceilings. We had some fork lightning, not often seen here.
We had a good family lunch on Saturday, in Elgin, at Toscana. It was good to see my youngest and her daughters. Her husband may be back from Australia next weekend, a week earlier than expected. His firm have suggested a job in China. He is not keen and has told them so !

Nasty sounding storms, Heather. Hope you only get ordinary rain this week....

I saw that Vit C helps, and I bought some. It also had Zinc in it, which seemed a good idea, but then I read the leaflet with it which says it's not compatible with one of my medications. <sigh> Will have to have a rethink.

It's been trying to rain here but it's not been much.  Much cooler too. Such a relief and I can hopefully sleep better than the last 4 or 5 nights. Hope everyone else is the same.

Good Morning. Quiet on here without some of our regulars.

It's cloudy outside. Could rain. Might not!

My sis in law, "Sue" has shocked us all by putting her house on the market. It's a really nice "small space" as they call it these days, designed for one occupant with a spare bedroom, cosy kitchen, pleasant lounge, modern bathroom, under floor heating, and a small conservatory where she can view her tiny garden. It's a stones throw from the village shop, bakery, vets, and her GPS surgery. She is buying a tiny bungalow on a retirement development out in the countryside which has only one redeeming feature - a bus calls in regularly. We think she is mad but can't say so! Don't know why her adult sons didnt tell her it was a mad idea! <sigh>