Weekly Chat (Non-Osprey), 27 November 2022

I agree, LINDY and ANNETTE. The lady is in her 84th year and the way of speaking, as in ' your people' is very typical of her age and background. I think that it was a bit of a set up.
I met Prince Andrew once, in London, when I was representing a national charity. He asked me where I was from. I replied 'Inverness,' He then asked me what was happening in Inverness. I said ' it was raining when I left this morning '. Not one of my finest moments !
Good LYNETTE, that you are making the family Christmas cakes. It was always my job but has now passed on to eldest daughter.

LINDY Feeling very sorry for the lady in waiting who has now resigned. I am sure she meant no offence. Mountain out of a mole hill definitely.

AQ so funny and so true.

HEATHER We were also thinking set up and that the lady from the charity may not want it to go away!!!

AQ – I have abandoned my attempt at the Christmas letter – I announced last evening that if nobody thinks letters are important I shall no longer bother myself over them! I shall write a few appropriate words in people’s cards, and get the overseas ones posted SAP.

LINDA – we enjoyed our usual haggis, neeps and tatties for St Andrew’s Day – and of course the Whisky Sauce! Laughed out loud at the Advent Calendar Joke – which reminds me --- where did we put it – already a day late! We had planned to visit Christmas market in Carlisle this year, but can’t think why we would want to put ourselves through the journey, noise and general commercialisation – and it’s still too soon to buy a lot of the lovely goodies – we’d eat them all before Ch comes!

LYNETTE – I thought you had already been given a CPAP for your mild Sleep Apnoea! Is the one from Leicester some special new design? Mine has been a nuisance the last few nights as I keep sneezing into it – not very healthy!

PAT – I too am a pedant – though not such a perfectionist as I used to be. I always find that people who criticise me for it also find it useful when they need my insight! We are mostly avoiding Christmas lunches this year – although E-E has one with the Carer’s Trust next week – I shall enjoy paté at home!

RUSTY – glad you enjoyed the garden trip with your friend.

On Wednesday our podiatrist came. We both had slight problems to be sorted, but only E-E had to have a dressing this time. My feet are so painful these days, but she tested the nerves – they seem to be hypersensitive rather than less so, less of a worry, I suppose.

Thursday morning we had a phone call from the programmer saying she would like to send the Gas engineer for our regular boiler check – he would come before lunch. E-E rushed around to empty the cupboard around the boiler and she called again to say he was delayed; it was afternoon by the time he arrived – but all okay, no problems. Last evening, the men sat down together (news in itself!) to order a new Laptop for J; they found something suitable at a reasonable price, so that will arrive next week. Now OH wants to get around to ordering his new desktop PC. (He says mine is less old, so I don’t get one this time!)
This afternoon we are going to Dumfries to shop in Morrisons. We shall probably complete our list for Christmas, and only shop locally until the end of the month. OH is currently preparing Chicken Marengo to leave in the oven.

J’s employment story continued this week – yes, it happened again! He received an email Tuesday evening from Lockerbie Academy asking his availability for three days a week up to Christmas – and maybe beyond. He replied on Wednesday, offered them Wed, Th and Fri each week and was told to start next week. He cancelled his Job Centre appt next Thursday, then by evening had been told he would not be needed as the absent person had returned! He had been so pleased to get secondary school (his preferred age range) and was prepared to do the full weeks - two days Gretna and three days Lockerbie, but it is now not happening so he just has the Mondays and Tuesdays up to Christmas at Gretna! No wonder it makes him ill – and doesn’t do much for the two of us either!

Sorry to hear that OG

OG:  Geez.  Poor J and  poor you and EE!   What a shambles.  Who needs all that frustration and subsequent stress.  Glad the boiler was pronounced healthy

Lindybird: Don't know about 'vile' but the trailer for the Netflix series has Meghan saying "When the stakes are so high, doesn't it make more sense to hear our story from us?"   Am I missing something?  What's at stake here?  They've already 'stepped back' to live their own lives on the other side of the world in a multi-million dollar house in very exclusive Montecito.  What I suspect is really at stake is money....  It's all so bloody Hollywood celebrity stuff and I should just shut up about them.  

The cow in the plural may be cows or kine,
But a bow if repeated is never called bine,
And the plural of vow is vows, never vine.
If I speak of a foot and you show me your feet,
And I give you a boot would a pair be called beet?
If one is a tooth, and a whole set are teeth,
Why shouldn’t the plural of booth be called beeth?

     to be continued