With best Wishes for the coming Year.

                     

Good evening I am not going to write an entry philosophising on the year’s passing as all the more competent writers have already done so suffice to say thank you all for visiting my journals and commenting, it gives me great pleasure reading your thoughts and advice. I do enjoy reading all your news and hope to do so in the coming year.

We have been out and about today it was very mild with a bit of rain later on but is was nice to get out for some air. Stuart seems to be a bit better today so hopefully his Sciatica has running out of steam.

Last night we sat down to watch ‘The Shadow in the North’ hoping it would be as good as ’ The Ruby in the Smoke.’ As the titles started to roll at the beginning I noticed that the author was Philip Pullman and I said to Stuart I thought that was the name of the author of ‘The Golden Compass’ the film of that book has been making great headlines this Christmas. I checked up today and I was right it is one and the same person. There are two more in the series so hopefully BBC will make them to as it is so refreshing to see something different on the box.

It seems strange not to be cleaning the house from top to bottom today but I gave up that custom a few years back when I had to work all day in the supermarket, I did a bit yesterday and will tidy round later what’s the point as there will be nobody coming and we will be in bed before the bells anyway. I’m afraid my days of staying up till midnight are long past. Changed days when we would have had a big crowd all night.

Hogmanay is not one of my favourite nights of the year I can get very depressed, and I feel that I am writing myself into a corner here so I will stop now and just wish you all A Happy New Year from Stuart and myself. Till next year. Love Joan.

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Passing time

                                      

Good Evening, it is still very quiet in J-land so I thought I would tell you what I do to pass some of the time on these dark and dismal days when it is hard to get out and about. Shopping is out of the question the shops are far to busy for us and Stuart’s shoulder/neck is still causing bother but a bit better than goodness.

Stuart has been a great fan of Sudoku for the past two years but I have never really sat down and tried until the last couple of weeks. With Stuart ailing and the weather awful I thought I would give it a go on AOL Leisure. They print three Sudokus every day easy medium and hard I am on the easy at the moment and having success Stuart (smarty pants) is on the hard. I am finding it quit addictive and can’t wait to do today’s puzzle. If you are interested just click leisure on the AOL welcome page then quiz the Sudoku comes up from there give it a go its great mental exercise.

Its been very quiet here over Christmas we did have Ellen yesterday as Richard and Lisa were at a funeral so we had her for a few hours. She loves to play ’Bejewelled’ online and likes to try Luxor too. She gets very excited and jumps about on the computer chair. I do not play games on my new laptop as I seem to get a bit of a problem sometimes when I am playing online games so I am trying to keep this PC good so to speak.

Have been feeling very down this week even with Christmas just can’t put my finger on what is wrong but I wish it would go away whatever it is that is bothering me. I think some of it is due to lack of sleep not sleeping well at all just now and oh it is such a long night you see every hour passing think I will have to try Horlicks or the likes to see if that will get me back into a pattern of sleeping.

Will be off now and see if there is something to watch on the telly least said about the festive programming the better. Till next time.

Love,

Joan.

Tags: Sudoku

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A Wee Christmas story.

                                    

Thought with it being such a sad time in J-land I would relate this tale of the happenings of a neighbour on Christmas Eve.

My neighbour across the roads daughter was due to deliver her second baby on the 23rd of December. Nothing happened on Sunday but in the early hours of Christmas Eve she went into labour. At about 11am on Monday, Christmas Eve she gave birth to a son. Now this being her second baby and a ‘normal birth’ mother and baby were fine she was sent home at 3pm that day.

Unfortunately nobody told the car it was it was making such an important journey and it did the unthinkable and broke down on the way home from the hospital. Now just to keep the story right for the time of year the breakdown happened right outside and Inn that is actually called an Inn. My neighbours daughter promptly called her and she told here to go to the Inn and ask to shelter there till the breakdown service arrived but I’m afraid just to spoil the story she would not be persuaded to go to the inn she thought every one there would think she was just joking. The breakdown service did make an great effort and were there in no time at all and delivered the three of them home safe and sound.

When I was told this story on Monday night I was rolling about laughing as I could just have imagined the mother and baby going to the Inn for shelter on Christmas Eve. Glad to say Mum and baby are doing well and as we say all well that ends well. Till next time, Love

                                              Joan.

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Christmas Eve. (Early)

                     

Good Morning, yet another early entry from yours truly this could get to be a habit. So here we are Christmas Eve all the bustle will be in the food shops today like they were going to close for at least a week. I have been finding it very distressing this year especially with all the talk of how much we are spending or not spending, more like this Christmas. What is going on we watched A Christmas Carol the one with Patrick Stewart and it really got me thinking about the amount we spend over the festive period. In days of old even in my lifetime it seems to have gone all out of proportion. You feel so sorry for the people who just don’t have it to spend and how they feel when they can’t buy all those gift for their families. When I was a girl Christmas was so much simpler it did not start at the beginning of September nobody told you you have not been spending enough, and the country will go into recession, shops did not open all night and then to crown it all the sale adverts of furniture started last night with a vengeance it would make you sick. Rant over. (What a great place our journals are to have a rant.) Don’t know if we will be going out and about or not Stuart is still in a great deal of pain we have been trying Ibuleve gel and that seems to give a bit of rest bite along with the tablets and the hot water bottles.

We have been having a lot of bother these last few day with the laptop wifi signal it has been coming and going all the time. We had to phone AOL again and they thought it was our router but I was not convinced it was that. Where we stay we have dreadful TV reception we are ok as we had a Satellite dish but in the kitchen I have a wireless connection sort of an infra red thingy it works very well usually. These last couple of weeks I have been getting awful lot interference and last week I discovered that I could change the channel on the little boxes that sends the signal from the main telly (hope you are still with me) this seemed to work and the interference stopped I think it is all the flashing Christmas lights round and about our street (it looking great very cheery) so I will have to wait till all the festivities are over to see if thatwas the problem and I can go back to the setting I used before as believe it or not that is what was causing the problem what the laptop so now we know what the problem was we can correct it by keeping the kitchen TV off when the laptop is on very complicated but it works, and it took this elderly lady to work it out. Well done me. Off for my shower Stuart has surfaced and come down so I am back in the normal world. Hope to be back later in the day. Love Joan.

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The Winter Soltice

                      

Good afternoon, After one of the worst week weather wise and pain wise for Stuart we have arrived at Saturday. today is the shortest day of the year the Winter Solstice.
I was pottering about the kitchen this morning making the breakfast and I was singing my favourite carol which is "In the Bleak Midwinter." I have always loved this carol but could I remember the second line once past that I was fine it was just the second line I could not recall call it a senior moment. I popped on the PC for a moment and typed in the first line and found out what I needed but was so surprised to learn the music was written by none other than Gustav Holst (Planet Suite) and the words are from a poem by Christina Rossette. The net never ceases to amaze me you just have to type in what you want to know and up it comes. That it for now will be back later but its lunch time and I'm starving and the leek and tatty soup will be ready.

 

1. In the bleak mid-winter
  Frosty wind made moan,
Earth stood hard as iron,
  Water like a stone;
Snow had fallen, snow on snow,
  Snow on snow,
In the bleak mid-winter
  Long ago.

Love Joan.

 

                 
                     

 

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Good Morning.

               

Good Morning, I can really say that this morning as it is on 7-30am early for me, but as I was a bit restless I thought I could do this now as I don’t think I will have much time later on.

You will maybe remember me telling you about Stuart’s pain in his shoulder/neck well over the weekend it became much worse and at last I managed to persuade him to go to the doctor. He managed to get an appointment on Monday morning and he has Sciatica in his neck. My Stuart never gets normal things he has to be different in the spring it was shingles with no rash now this, everybody else gets Sciatica in the hip not Stuart he gets it in his neck. He has been a great deal of pain but the tablets he was prescribed seem to be keeping things bearable at least.

We had yet another early morning call yesterday when the carpet fitter came to lay the carpet on the top landing at 9am this is great just now everybody and everything we are waiting for comes first thing so you don’t waste the day hanging around. The upstairs is looking really good now and all springy to the step.

We are hoping to go to Perth today to finish the Christmas shopping not much to get just one or two odd and ends, that is if Stuart is not too bad, but getting out for a while does seems to help. Will try to get the food shopping done too and that should be it. We have to pick up Ellen at 4pm, her school finished last Friday and she has been at  Art Camp this week so well will see what she has made today.

Now I can see why Marie does her entries so early its so peaceful and quiet at this time you can hear yourself think it’s lovely.

Wonder what kind of day it will be today it is still pitch dark so I can’t tell yet. It has been very very cold this week -6c when we got up on Monday and did not get much warmer all day don’t think it will be like that today. Hope not.

Think that about it for no think I will head for the shower and then breakfast so till next time have a nice day.

Love Joan.

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Hi, we did manage our trip to Edinburgh on Tuesday it was a very cold frosty day the bus had been late due to someone taking ill but fortunately we have a park and ride so we can sit in the car till the bus appears. It was a quick run through as there are bus lanes on the motorway. after a quick coffee and toast we headed off to Princess Street Gardens. The frost was still on the ground as the sun does not get high enough at the time of year.  We walked along past the National gallery we did not visit as we will be going back in January for the Turner Exhibition.  We came to the German Market and had a look at all the lovely candles and decorations they had brought with them.  We carried on and looked done on the Ice rink that has been built for the festive season. I was very tempted but having had a lot of back pain lately I thought I would be sensible and give it a miss  as it is 45 years since I skated. I hate being sensible.
We then crossed the busy road and visited Jenners which have been Edinburgh's no 1 for ever. It was bought by House of the House of Fraser a few years ago but it has stayed unique. The Christmas light are always a sight to behold as you can see do put the pictures up to full size. Shortly after this I felt a bit unwell and we headed off to the bus station to catch a early bus home.  I must say I was a bit disappointed maybe I expected too much.  This is about the third time I have tried to write this so here's hoping.  Till next time.

 

                                          Love  Joan.

 

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Good afternoon, not a very nice day here in Tayside cold and wet. Sitting here half watching a film on the telly that's one thing I likeabout being down in the lounge I can do things at once just about.
we are going to put our tree up today once Stuart makes a trip up the loft he is watching the movie too and reading the paper think this does not say much for the movie.
Stuart and I were chatting last night on our way to bed about when we started working.  Stuart said he was paid the princely sum of £2-7/10 for a 46 hour week (£2-35) as an apprentice Lithographer not much when you think that's is only just over £100 per year. Stuart stayed his trade all his working life until he was made redundant at the age of 62 that's 46 years happy to say the wages did get better. Makes you think.
We are hoping to take a trip to Edinburgh this week to see the Christmas lights and the German Market that is in Princess Street gardens hope the weather will be kind and give us a good fair day.
That's about it for today so till next time,      Love,

                                                                                    Joan

Tags: Edinburgh Christmas Market.

Saturday.

                           

Good afternoon, not great here we were promised snow but got rain not so nice at all. Two sets of our neighbours have been busy in the pouring rain putting up outside Christmas lights, better them than me as it is very cold out or it was when we were out for our coffee this morning.
Really loving my new laptop it is so quick after old slow coach upstairs. This one is up and on the net in  about one minute flat where as the desktop took about 15 minutes sometimes. Sometimes you got so fed up you just gave up.
Am not a boxing fan but I just saw an advert for the boxing match in the States tonight it is going to be shown on Sky box office for £14-95 I think that absolutely ridiculous I think we pay enough as it is.  We don't have the full package but people that do are well over £30-00 a month and they still want more.  For the last two and a half weeks we have had the full package free of charge wow, we had a letter telling us we were getting this FOC. Never noticed before how few films you actually get for your money they just keep repeating again and again. Moan over.
Will have to try to get the rest of our Christmas shopping done in the next few days as the shops will be getting very busy and I am not the most patient person when it comes to queueing. Santa's not coming here as a new camera and a new laptop is plenty for us ho ho.
The Christmas lights have now been lit accross the road and look very festive. Will have to get Stuart to go up the loft and get our Christmas  box of goodies down and get the tree up. Thank you for all your good wishes regarding his shoulder which is a lot better the last couple of days so thank again. Hope you enjoy the rest of the day, wonder who will go at the dancing tonight? Till next time.   Love 

                                               




                            

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Friday.

          

 

Oh well here we are at Friday again its been a funny sort of week for us not our usual days at all, Monday was normal Tuesday we picked our new carpet and  had a hospital appointment for me Stuart had his appointment at the hospital cancelled because of illness of Doctor and has now been rescheduled for February. Wednesday the weather was terrible so no visit to Perth shopping just a quick outing to pick up Ellen. Yesterday the man came to measure up for our carpet, I did manage to get all our cards written and in the evening we had Ellen's concert which was very good and we did enjoy it. I could not remember going last year so I looked back my journal and discovered I did  go but was unwell all evening with an upset tummy so it just shows at my age how important a journal is if you are trying to recall some event or another. Going to have a trip down our village this afternoon and will get my cards posted off this is really early for me but am really pleased as I did not have to rush like I normally do.
Its a bit brighter here today cold but nearly sunny after the last three days it's very welcome. That's about it for today so until next time.    Love  

                     

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Rainy Wednesday.

              

Good evening, had another really busy day, weather has been bad as I think it has been all over today. Have been busy typing all my labels for the  envelopes of our Christmas cards its a job I love doing every year which is just as well as the programme I use on the desktop does not save the project. This year I have done them in Word so hopefully they will be on my laptop next year I can just change the decoration.
We picked Ellen up from school today she is getting very excited as her Christmas concert at school is tomorrow night.  Looking forward to seeing her as she is a narrator.  Stuart and I will be out tomorrow night a great occasion for us as we don't go out much at night these days. Stuart is having a lot of bother with his shoulder again and has been in a lot of pain for the last few days am trying to get him to go see the Doctor but that is a hard job.  That's about it for today so until next time bye bye.

                                                                                  Love,
                                                                            Joan.

 

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What a day.

               

Good Afternoon, what a day it has been today heavy drizzle and dark all day. Yesterday was the very opposite cloudless blue skies very cold but lovely just the same. we did our usual trip to St Andrews and took some pictures to try out the new camera.  Living here in the wilds of Scotland we do not see many Celebes but yesterday while in St Andrews who should drive by but the very large Bobbie Coltain (Hagrid in the Harry Potter movies) it was Stuart that spotted the very large Lincoln American car just big enough for him. Did not get the chance to take a picture he was gone in a flash.
Today has been all go we had to go to Perth this morning to choose the new carpet to replace the one that had the flood on it then I had to go the the hospital to get new tubing on my  hearing aids so I can hear a dream again. Next off toTesco's the big one in Perth we usually just go to the normal size one its big enough for week to week but I was looking for one or two special items for Christmas.We had a bite to eat a chip butty naughty naughty but it went down a treat. We had that to sustain us during the shopping then home frozen and tired then remembered that I have an appointment at the surgery with the Hypertension clinic at 5-30 tonight so can't relax yet. I think that's about it for now looking forward to sitting down after tea and putting my feet up so to speak. Till next time. Love Joan.

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I am such a happy bunny I have managed to write this entry on my new laptop and I am really chuffed as I am not a whizz on the PC. I have also managed to work out how to read my emails from this PC so I am all set now I hope.

I have had a lovely birthday with lots of visitors gifts and cards I have had a lovely day altogether. It has been so busy am really feeling exausted now so am going to sit back with a DVD and a box of Ferrero Rocher mmmmmmmmm. Till next time. Love,

                                                   Joan.

 

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Just a very quick entry after a long trying day trying to get the laptop online to our wireless connection. It took all afternoon Stuart was on the phone so long in went flat and we got cut off twice, after a bit of fiddling with some extension leads and a old phone we got there in the end what a performance. Its a bit different from this one and I have not worked out how I can write my journal on it but at least it is working and it is lightening fast. Have now got a mouse attached to it and I like that better and am getting on much better than yesterday as the touch pad is so sensitive I just could not get anywhere with it. I have attached my old mouse to my desk top but now I remember why we replaced it will have to get a new one first chance I get.  Off to bed soon with the sore head, sorry if I have missed your journals the last day or so but its been very hard trying to link up by phone with all the funny accents from the call centres.  Till next time,   Love

                                                             

                                      

                                     

                         

 

 

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Rainy Tuesday.

                              

Good Evening not very much good about it, rain cold and dark but it is November. I have been given a gift of a nice new camera for my birthday at the weekend coming  (65 oh dear) and we took a trip as usual to St Andrews to see what I could do with it. After our usual coffee and stroll round the book shops etc we headed down to the West Sands to see what there was, to take some shots. We had a walk and I took some general stuff and just as were getting back to the car I spotted the two girls on horseback coming towards us, just as I lifted the camera they about turned, if only they had come closer I think I would have managed  some great shots. It is taking me a wee while longer to take the pictures just now as it is a very different camera from my Nikon Coolpix this time I have gone to a Fuji. The light was really bad yesterday afternoon but I thought the photographs turned out not too bad for a first attempt. Today I had no chance not been out at all but hope for a better day later this week to get out and about again.
We have also taken delivery of a nice new laptop which is a lot faster than the desktop  I am using just now but we are not on the Internet yet, we have to wait for a disc from AOL, wonder how long that will take, so until then there is not a lot we can do but we have been trying to get our head around Widows Vista and no mouse really miss that but will get used to it not doubt. Must away now so until next time.
                                                 Love,

                                         

Tags: St Andrews. West Sands.

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Happy Anniversary

                        

Its a dreadful day here today after such a nice spell of weather yesterday and today are making up for it.
I would like to say Happy Diamond Anniversary to our Queen and Prince Philip it is a great milestone they have reached.
There is not a great deal I can remember about the wedding but I do remember a while later not sure how long, I was taken by  my Mum to Hollyrood Palace in Edinburgh to see "THE WEDDING DRESS" it was absolutely fabulous it was in a big glass case but you could get close up to see it. Whenever I see the Queen's wedding pictures I always think of that day with my dear Mum.
For those of you that have read Sunday's entry to my book journal or if you are interested in it, have a look at the comments from the last entry. That's it for today think we are going on line this afternoon to spend a lot of pennies, so till next time,

                                          Love
                                      Joan.

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My Thrifty Husband

                  

Good Afternoon, remember yesterday afternoon I was telling you that Stuart was painting in the Kitchen/Studio and he was going to put his painting in the bin because he did not like it, well being a very thrifty person and that watercolour paper is expensive he turned the page over to try a quick watercolour pencil painting and this is what he did..........It is a very pale painting and has not scanned very well but it will give you an idea of what can be done with this medium. Hope you have a good evening till next time. Love,

                                                Joan.

                         

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Good Afternoon, its nearly evening and getting dark but its only just turned 4 o'clock. Its been lovely here today sunny cold but great for the middle of November. We have had a great Autumn here in Scotland the best one I can remember. The leaves at out feet are dry and crinkly not all wet and horrible it makes such a difference.
Kath over on Simple rhymes asked if we could put a few Christmas graphics in our sidebar to make us all realize that Christmas is only 40 days away so I have done what she asked and will add more as I find more. Stuart is painting not the house unfortunately but he says its going straight in the bin I have not seen it yet so I won't pass comment yet.
That's about it for today so till next time. Love

                                         Joan.

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Well Done glasgow.

              

Good afternoon, I hope you are having a lovely day and the weather is better for you down in East Anglia. We have been reading that two our favourite bird reserves namely Cley and Titchwell were both flooded yesterday and we are so sorry to hear this, the sea wall there is only a large shingle bank and its not hard to see what would happen is a high sea. We have watched the tide pounding in on a nice afternoon there and thought at the time it would not take a great deal more water to cause flooding. I hope there has not been too much damage done but I do know it can be serious if too much salt water gets into the fresh water lagoons.
On a happier note I would like to say a bit well done to Glasgow for winning the right to hold the 2014 Commonwealth Games it will be a great occasion for all of us in Scotland I am sure, as many of the event are in different places around the country so a big big well done Glasgow.
That's it for today so till next time have fun.   Love
                                        Joan.

 

Winter is here.

    

                             

Thank you Donna for this design.

As you will have seen on the news at tea time high winds have been battering the north of Scotland today, we have not been too bad just enough to blow leaves and dustbins about but very cold in the wind. Tonight Stuart is watching football which is taking place in Aberdeen and it has been snowing it has been forecast but it came as a surprise just the same. Many Years ago when we were first married Stuart had to work in Aberdeen for six months and he said its the coldest place in the world.
Have not been too great these past few weeks as I am still struggling to come off my HRT, if I had know it was going to be as bad as this I would never have started taking it in the first place. If I get one good night a week I am doing well I ended up the other night doing a crossword puzzle in the kitchen at three o'clock  I am totally fed up with the whole thing. When I was at the clinic three weeks ago the doctor said I could go back on if I wanted to but I know in about six months she will be asking me to stop again and I will have to go through it all again it takes a long time to stop as it has to be done bit by bit. I have been trying since the beginning of this year and stopped altogether in July but am still not feeling better I am at the end of my tether. Sorry to be ranting like this but I am so fed up just now I don't know what to do or to try .
On to cheerier things I managed to get from Amazon the last Tomb Raider game made for my old Playstation 1 so that will keep me occupied in the winter months and we have bought a new word game (Scrabble Blast)  which is good fun so we are sorted if the weather keeps us in as lot.
That's about it for just now so until next time. Love
                                              Joan.

Plumber painter what a week.

                     

Thank you Donna for this lovely graphic.

Good Afternoon I hope you are all having a lovely day. Everything seems to have settled down again here thank goodness. What a busy week it has been for us its just seemed to be one thing after another. You all know my tale of woe from last summer about the burst radiator well the story continues.
Monday morning (both of us suffering a bit after the flu jabs by the way) the phone rang at about quarter to eight Stuart ran down I did not hear it as per usual " Hi Stuart its a fine morning so I will be along to do the painting of the outside of your house today. We had arranged to have this done and Tom the painter said he would phone and let us know when we did not expect the phone call to be at the ungodly hour. We had planned our usual Monday so after he arrived we set off and had a nice day out. By the time we got back he was all finished and the house looks nice again no flaky paint under the roof.

Tuesday morning yes you nearly got it right only this time it was somebody at the door at 8 o'clock both of us sound asleep it was the plumber with the new radiator. Again he was supposed to phone to let us know but did not so here was a very sleepy Stuart in his dressing gown at the door trying to see out of half shut eyes who was disturbing us today. The plumber must have taken fright at this sight and said he would come back in half an hour which he did by which time we were both up and about sort of.
By Wednesday morning I did not know what to expect but all seemed well just Lisa phoning at 8-30 to OK our picking up Ellen from school at 3pm.
The radiator that was fitted is about six inches lower that the old one as it is not so deep so we will need to redecorate the top hall and as our lounge is open plan that means the lounge need done too and we also have to have a new carpet. Oh well what can you do, we were thinking of decorating the lounge etc but we were still at the thinking stage now it will have to be done.
Today by the day not the date is the forth anniversary of me stopping smoking and to say I am pleased with myself is an understatement. I worked it out by my reckoning I have saved in the region of £6200 at the very least and that off a pension is just not on.  I don't know what has happened to it all I know of some of the things I have bought for myself and Stuart and I always have the money at the back of my purse now something I never had when I smoked so it is nice to be able to buy things and not think about it within reason, mind you the plumbers bill not in yet its old fashioned enough up here we get a bill by post.
Its another lovely afternoon here mild and sunny no heating on which at this time of year is totally unheard of in this neck of the woods.
Well I think that's all my news for this week. Have a great weekend and I hope the voting on Strictly Come Dancing is a bit fairer than last week.
                                         Love
                                           Joan.

 

Tags: Stopping Smoking.

Water water everywhere and flu jab.

 

 

 

 

            

All our graphic artists have been so creative for Halloween I thought I would start early using them.

Good Afternoon, as the song says 'Woke up this morning feeling fine', that did not last long at all. Had a lovely hot shower made my porridge did my hair came upstairs got dressed and then walked from our bedroom into the room where our wardrobe is to find the shoes I wanted to wear today without anything on my feet and felt a wet patch in the hall carpet did not think anything of it for a second or to till I walked back to our room and bent down to feel how wet it was, it was soaking wet. I lifted the carpet back and even the floorboards were wet. I called on Stuart to have a look see and we spotted the radiator was leaking not from the pipe at the bottom but from a blister at the top.  I ran and got a dish to catch the drips, we did not really have time for all this as we had appointments for our flu jabs at 9-30. We had been up early as we hate to rush about in the morning its a good job too with all this happening. I then  had the bright idea to bleed the radiator at the top thinking that would take away some of the water. I had already turned the darned thing off so  I thought in my infinite wisdom would do the trick for now. Well as we were bleeding it started to spray out from the blister as well as dripping, great what were we going to do and still get for our flu jabs? After a few minutes the spraying seemed to ease off a bit we had towels over the offending blister so the water would not spray all over the hallway. Once it settled down I brought another larger dish from the kitchen and put it under the now steady drip. The spraying had almost stopped.  We thought it would be safe to quickly go and get our flu jabs. For once we were taken on time one for Stu and two jabs for me as I had not had the pneumonia one before. That done back we came in time to empty the dish.  Every time we need a plumber it is always out of hours for some reason or another so here we are again Saturday rates again the last time it was the same only it was the night before we were going on holiday its a good job we have a goodplumber. So as you can see we have had an eventful day what we thought would just be a quick visit to the doctors then out for coffee turned out into a nightmare.  We have now lifted the carpet cleaned up all the backing that came off it and the floor is drying up thankfully. I have been wanting a new carpet for some time so this is my chance once we get this all sorted out. So here we are waiting patiently for the plumber and emptying the large dish every hour and I just wanted a quiet day.                              Love
                                            Joan.

                 

Thank you Donna for the lovley graphic.

Good Afternoon,lovely day here again after the thick fog and cold of yesterday. It was still a bit nippy this morning as I walked round for a paper for Stuart. The pictures I have posted are some I took on holiday they are an attempt at being arty they did come out well and I was pleased with some of them it made a change to take things like stones and shells close to. Nothing much going on this week its Ellen's half term so the family are on holiday so we have not seen them this week but we will back to normal next week.With the weather being so nice we have been trying to bet out and about as much as possible as you never know when its going to break and winter will be here, it can start here a lot earlier than in the south of the country.  We had a warning light in the car yesterday on our way to Perth that we had not seen before only having had the new car a short time it was an orange snowflake it turn out (after a quick read of the car manual) that it was a outside temperature warning light telling us was below 3 degrees so it was cold and that was at 10-15am so it must have been very cold earlier on. I think that enough rambling about the weather oh well they say we are obsessed by it.
I noticed this morning AOL has given us a nice new home page great for me as I have not had one for ages I always have to look for it every morning when I switch on yet Stuart's side of the computer is fine,strange that.
Stuart and I are going for our flu injections this Saturday morning so am really looking forward to that ha ha. Our surgery only does them on a Saturday morning they allocate three or four Saturdays and do all the injections then. I have not been involved in this practice before as I will only be 65 this winter and have always had mine done privately but according to Stuart it all runs smoothly, well it does for him but you know what happens when I go to the surgery it like a day trip. What will happen on Saturday I don't know probably Stuart will get taken and I will still be there when everybody else has gone home will let you know what happens this time.
Think that's about it today nothing else to say about my exciting life ha ha.                     Love
                                             Joan.

 

                   

Thank you again Donna for today's graphic.

Good Morning, its a pleasant day here in Perthshire not as cold as yesterday and no overnight frost. Stuart has gone on a field trip today with his art class so I have the day to myself so I thought I would update my books journal now that the chores are done will all I intend to do today. My back is on the mend I think which is good news for me as it can get difficult the  loo being upstairs and me being such a frequent visitor but it does keep me fit normally.
Don't know what we will be doing over the weekend as we usually stay home as we like the quiet of midweek to do our travels. 
I have been really disgusted at ITV for all the cheating that's been going on over voting and competitions on their channels I do think the police should look into it, 8 million pounds is a lot of  phone calls to have been missed.
Think that's about it for today will go and make a pot of coffee and sit with  my new book. Have a great weekend.      Here's the link if you want to read the latest of my reading thoughts.                                  http://journals.aol.co.uk/jaymact1/joans-musings-book-journal./                  
                                              Joan.

                      

Than you Donna for todays graphic its perfect.

Good Morning, it has been very cold this morning the temperature was just 2 degrees  outside this morning that about 35F so very cold indeed. When I went out about 11am slept late this morning for some reason and not up till after nine o'clock the birdbath was still frozen that's the first time this autumn and the grass was white earlier on.  Think the reason I am sleeping long is the pain killers I am taking for my sore back make me a bit of a sleepyhead in the morning but it was nice to lie in.  
Stuart has had a busy morning he decided to clean out my store cupboard for me and oh the things you find that forgot you had bought is quite wonderful things get put to the back of the cupboard and forgotten about so now all is in order (Stuart's) so I will know where everything is!
We are hoping to get out into the garden to potter this afternoon once it has become a bit warmer with the lovely sunshine we have. This has been a great Autumn of us here in Scotland bright sunshine and dry we are so used to damp weather at this time its lovely to see the dry leaves at your feet and hear them as you walk along.
I bought a little fancy birdhouse on Monday in St Andrews its just ornamental but I think I will wait till spring before I put it outside as I would not like it to get ruined over the winter.
Think that's about all my news for today catch you later AOL allowing, it has been a terrible week with journals and if I have not visited you I am sure you know the reason why.  Love
                                          Joan.
                                            

 

                     Good Afternoon,   I hope you are having a peaceful Sunday. I thought I would take the chance to put the last of our holiday photographs in while Stuart is watching the golf from Wentworth on the telly.
Am afraid to say  I am still suffering badly with my back it seems to be getting worse feels like its getting ready to go into a spasm then I will be in for it just hope it goes away before that. The last time it went into a spasm I was still working and it was very bad  it choose the right time for me as it was a week before Christmas so I had Christmas off for the first time in many years and I really enjoyed it sore back and all.
The photos today are of our last day of our break, it was the most perfect day weather and scenery wise it just could not have been better the sun shone all day long and it was very warm too.
We had a great break and it set us up for the winter ahead.
That's about it for today hope you have a good evening. Love,     Joan.

More Holiday Pictures.

                     Hi, I have downloaded more of our holiday photographs for you this morning.The Wednesday of our week away was much better after all the rain and wind we had on the Tuesday. We saw our first ever White tailed Eagles on this day a family party two adults and one juvenile it was quite spectacular to watch them. We have looked for these eagles on numerous  occasions but we were lucky this time.
Going out to the garden to plant some Polyanthus plants this afternoon. Our next door neighbour and  I bought 72 Polyianthus and 72 Pansies between us so that will make a nice display in the  mild spells this winter and springtime I hope. 

                              

Hoping you all have a lovely afternoon and the sun is shining.

                                                     Love,

                                                Joan.

                 

Good afternoon, not nearly so nice here today been raining all morning but it is the first rain we have had for some time so it will freshen things up in the garden.
We had a lovely meal out with the family on Saturday for our Wedding Anniversary lots of good food and company. The weather has certainly warmed up since we married as I can remember it being very cold on the 6th October 1962. Oh that does look like so long ago when you write the date down like that.
We had our usual run to St Andrews yesterday and the town was buzzing again as all the students are back and being St Andrews there are still a lot of visitors about.
Thanks to the Daily Mail I managed to collect all 8 of the free DVD's they were giving away over the last week or so this time it was Barbara Taylor Bradford's 'Woman of Substance' series.  Have now got the complete set. I remember reading all the books years ago and enjoying them so much. I don't think I have seen all the TV movies of same so am looking forward to watching them while Stu has the football or the likes on. I am fortunate to have kept our original DVD player in the kitchen I kept it when we upgraded to a DVD recorder so I can watch all those types of films as Stuart really does not like mushy things very much.

Have put in some of our holday pictures for you they are a bit atmospheric as the day was absolutely lashing raing and heavy cloud but we did enjoy the run to Durness and Balnakiel Beach as it was many many years since we visited this part of Scotland. I think the weater shows just how wild it can be even in September. The rest of the holiday was much brighter but that will be another time.

                                                        Love   Joan. 

Tags: Balnakiel Bay, Durness.

                          Good Evening, not at  best this week as I have done my back a mischief working on the spring pots in the garden. We change the pots over and put the ones out of season away behind the shed during the summer them change them over at this time the only thing is they are very heavy hence the bad back and just to make matters worse I am still trying to quit HRT I am on day 95 and it is still not any better. I would have thought that I would have been through the worst by now I have found quitting HRT worse than stopping smoking.
We have had a very busy week trying to get the garden ready for the winter. Today we were at an Art Exhibition in a local town the paintings were lovely there are so many talented artists about you really would not believe it.

                            

I would like at this point to wish my dear hubby  Happy 45th Wedding Anniversary  tomorrow 6th  October. It does not seem possible all those years as it has all gone in so quickly. We are being taken out to lunch by Richard Lisa and Ellen so we are looking forward to a nice day with the family.
That's it for today have a great weekend. Love Joan. 

Home again.

Good afternoon, hope you are all having a lovely Sunday. Weather here is nice just come in from a walk with Stuart, had to cut is a bit short because of a sore hip or should I say hips as we both suffer the same thing its so annoying having to stop every now and again to let the pain subside.
Well that's us back from our short holiday we had a great time the weather for the most was good with the exception of Tuesday when the rain just kept on and on most of the day. Will tell all when I get the pictures sorted out, have had a quick look and am very disappointed must get this camera thing sorted soon as I  did take some great shots but the camera has just not been up to the job asked of it maybe I expect too much.
Only had one small mishap  we were standing a reception one morning and the thermos flask fell out of the picnic bag and of course smashed into a thousand  pieces. Never mind said we will just nip down to the village and get a new one. Stuart ran me down in the car and I bought a new one all tartan very nice. When I went back into  the hotel the manager offered to fill it in the kitchen for me to save me having to go back up to our room to boil the little kettle twice. Great, that saved a bit of time as it was marching on and we were going for a big run in the car to Durness (that's as far as the road goes in the north west corner of Scotland).
When we stopped for our lunch I discovered a big puddle in the back of the car, would you believe it the new flask was leaking like a sieve. I wrapped it up in a towel as we needed the hot water for later as there is not a lot of Cafe Costa's or Starbucks in the Highlands. Next morning I took it back it then cost me another £3-50 for another flask as I did not want to chance the same tartan one again. £9-99 for a small Thermos ridiculous I saw the same type only the next size up (the same as the one I broke) for £7-50 in Tesco.s on the way home when I nipped in for milk and bread. So that's my mishap, the rest of the holiday was uneventful tranquil and very enjoyable on lovely quiet roads lovely elderly people in the hotel on a bus tour so all in all a great time was had.
Will post the pictures later in the week after I try to do something with them.  Have a nice day.

                                                 Love

                                                         Joan

Good Evening, Had this all written in note book already and lost it all so here goes again. Yet again its Rugby Football on the telly if its not rugby this week its football this is the forth night this week  I you do get a bit fed up with it all as it takes up the whole evening. Stuart is goo about things and we do have more than one telly but I like to sit together of an evening with a coffee and watch something together. There is a film we fancy tomorrow night it a remake of The Manchurian Candidate which have not seen we enjoyed the original with Frank Sinatra and Lawrence Harvey so we will see how it works out in modern times with Denzel Washington et. al.
Have been feeling much calmer today after all the hassles of yesterday. Spent the afternoon clearing a lot of bits and pieces of the hard drive and running a cleaning program from McAfee so hopefully it will all help the running of my PC till we get a new one.
I am planning to put in some photos I took on Wednesday with my old Nikon camera just as well as things turned out. There has been a footpath been getting build all the way found Loch Leven for walkers and mountain bikes and it is nearly finished, It has turned out very well very dry underfoot and should stay dry for the winter too even doing part of the walk is very pleasant but it will be about 14 miles all the way round when it is finished. They are now at the tricky bit Vane Farm the RSPB reserve that I have visited and shown you pictures of in the past is on the shoreline and you cannot walk through a bird reserve so the path has to come inland away from the loch side for about a mile or so.  The whole thing should be done early next year. Our Lochside  park has also had a facelift with a new adventure playground walkways and special doggy areas and some nice sculptures carved from wood.
Am now going to try to put this into my journal and hope I don't mess it up this time and also download some pictures I took on Wednesday.  Hope you all have a pleasant weekend.       Love
                                                Joan.

Tags: Loch Leven Castle, Mary Queen of Scots.

Thank you Donna.

Good evening, what a week we have had retired ha relaxing ha. Tuesday this week we decided to go and look at cameras, I have had my little Nikon coolpix for three years and it has been great but we really fancied a Digi SLR. 
Off we went on Tuesday morning all bright eyed and bushy tailed up to Perth to see what was what. We went to Jessops and after looking at the camera Stuart had looked at on the Internet we decided that was the one it was a Fugi ...can't remember the no. but it was all singing and dancing.  We did our shopping picked up Ellen from school and came home. With Ellen being here we did not touch our parcel till Wednesday morning. We start putting it all together and in  afternoon we set off for the Loch to take some pictures. We had a lovely walk and returned home full of beans. Now to load the PC with the software, simple its says just put the disc in and off it will go and will start when it is all done. NO NO  When we plugged in the camera nothing happened AOL was telling us to upgrade Fugi was telling us to register but nobody would download the camera. With my old camera you just plug it in and it starts not bother at all. Break for tea. After feeding we came up here again and were still trying at bedtime. On reading the book we found eventually that our PC does not have enough memory to download this camera so after trying everything we knew we headed for bed.  Thursday morning we tried to use Picasso that's the program we use for my Nikon and is a very simple one to use but again that would not work. (That's not coffee I'm slurping its a nice little Whisky and  American ginger)  So after all that we are needing a new PC we are going away on holiday next week so what to do not really ready for purchasing a new PC but have a camera that is no use to us. I then thought what about phoning Jessops and asking why we were not told that the PC had to have 512 MB and we only have half of that. To our great surprise we were told to bring it back and a full refund would be given. I must say we were both very pleased  with this offer they even took back the memory card so I cannot praise Jessops enough. Alls well that ends well . Now we are trying to make up our mind what kind on laptop to buy and by doing things this way it gives us time to make up our minds and not rush out and just buy one .  I hope this has made sense as it is such a long story. Stuart and I are shattered after all the bother we have been in this week. Hope the Highlands brings us some much needed peace and tranquillity next week. So with my tale of woe complete I will say goodnight and God Bless.   Love ,

                                             Joan.

Have updated my Books Journal.

http://journals.aol.co.uk/jaymact1/joans-musings-book-journal./

Good Afternoon, the rain that was forecast for us arrived overnight and it has been really heavy all morning, just had a quick look out of the window and it seems to be clearing up a bit we can but hope.
Feeling a bit sad today with the announcement that Colin Mcrae and is little son and two other people were killed in a helicopter crash yesterday he was a great rally driver and we watched him in many rallies and cheered him on to be World Champion my thoughts are with his family.
J. is for Joan so you would think it would be a lucky letter of the alphabet for me but oh no just the opposite. I was playing Bookworm last night and was going well with my best solo score ever and a burning J came down in the right hand corner and I just could not get rid of it so that's me back to zero again and I was at the two and a quarter million mark so to say I was annoyed puts it mildly

I have discovered a great site if anyone is trying to improve their typing skills it is good fun and nice and easy or difficult whatever you wish the link is

http://www.jonmiles.co.uk/fingerjig.php

if you have six minutes to spare give it a try I found it good for praticing my typing and trying to improve as you get a score at the end of each section and then again at the end go on you know you will enjoy it.
Lots of sport on the telly today as per usual these days so will have a potter on the pooter for a while and them try to do something constructive for a change like sorting my wardrobe which is of great need of a tidy. Hope you all have a peaceful Sunday. J-land is very very quiet today think everybody must be napping after Sunday lunch.  Love
                            Joan.

                          

Good Afternoon, Autumn has arrived today for us on this side of the border is was a very cold morning it's a little better now, but still chilly to say the least. On the weather forecast last night  there is snow forecast for Sunday in the mountains that's a bit early so I hope 'Heather the Weather' (that's our weather girl's name on Scottish news) has made a mistake.
I was watching the news this morning before we went out and it was so distressing watching all the people queuing to get their life savings from the Northern Rock Building Society. I noticed how many in the queue we elderly it must be very distressing for them I hope all will be well and their money will be safe. We are told to save for our old age and this is what happens it is a worry. It did make me think of that old film we all love 'Its a Wonderful Life' when there was all that panic about the home and loan running out of money and I was imagining a teller today asking how much they really needed today. I don't think I would like to have been that teller.
I thought Strictly Come Dancing started again tonight but I must have gotten it wrong as I don't see it advertised maybe next week. Sorry Stuart R. know you hate it and come to think of it sorry my Stuart he hates it too so that will be more hours of PC time for them.
With the rugby world cup I am having plenty of time up here too hence two entries in two days as long as I can think up things to muse about we will be ok. Bookworm and Luxor will be getting worn out too but maybe I'll be able to improve my scores. That's me for today Bye for now, hope you have a pleasant Saturday evening.   Love
                                                       Joan.

Tags: Bookworm

                                               

 Thank you again Donna for this design.

       Good Afternoon, Not too bad a day here a bit nippy but the sun is out so no complaints.
Stuart was at his art class this morning so I after I did a bit of hoovering etc I sat down to watch a DVD another one of my free bee from the the Daily Mail. Today it was The Shell Seekers by Rosamunde Pilcher. I read the book it must be twenty years ago,   I am sure I saw this film on the telly too it starred Angela Landsbury as Penelope and Patricia Hodge as Olivia. It only took 102 minutes to tell the story but I remember it is a big read wish they would not condense thing so much. Its strange you read many many books in your lifetime but there are just a few that stand out and this for me is one of them, it is such a moving story and as usual much better than the film. If any of you ladies especially that have not read this book do give it a go as it is one of those stories. The author lives only a few miles away from me not that I have ever met her but I know she does all here writing up here in Scotland.
Well I think that's about the extent of my musings today so I will be off now. Have a good weekend.
                                        Love
                                              Joan.

   

Tags: The Shell Seekers, Rosamunde Pilcher.

Where has The Week gone.

                   

Thank you Donna for this design.

Good Afternoon, its a bit cooler today but still dry and sunny in part. Been having a busy week as usual. Monday we took the bus to Edinburgh with the bus passes of course and had a wander round the National Gallery. There are some lovely paintings there to see and some lovely pieces of furniture too.  It was a sunny hot day as you can see from the photographs.                                                                I notice the amount of journals that put up TGIF but I do notice that it never any of us that are retired that is because time just goes past so quickly a week is gone in the blink of an eye.
Have put in one or two pictures of our garden that has done well this summer despite the rain.
We have booked to go up to Ullapool for a few days from the 24th of this month looking forward to that as we have not been to our beloved highlands for 18 months and we do get withdrawal symptoms if we are away from the mountains for too long,  am hoping for some nice autumn colour. I did take wonderful pictures there a few years ago but one time the PC crashed we lost them all so I am hoping to replace them. That will not happen again as I now have all my pictures on disc. We had a great morning on Tuesday looking at them all on the big telly what a difference that made sitting in our comfy chairs looking at all the places we have been in the last few years, but still annoyed we lost a lot of photographs so be warned and download.
I think that's about it for today but must mention didn't Scotland do well in the football last night beating France  Well done lads form a none football supporter.                              
                                           Love
                                          Joan.

Tags: National Gallery of Scotland.