Chitchat thread #24

[Florence Fennel]

Good Morning All Grey and drizzling here. I used to go home for dinner as my schools were in walking distance. Busy day for you Snoop, good luck with it all. Have a good day

[Nicos]

greenishfing

Strangely, I recall at junior school we had to hand in half a crown on a Monday for the week’s lunches…and a thruppeny bit for snacks.
Even back then I recall thinking how handy it was having one coin to cover 5 lunches. I guess the teacher had explained that as part of ‘practical numeracy’ skills.
The half crown only just fitted inside my clenched fist! And what a lovely shape the 3d bit was….a thistle on the back too.


And no Rary- that’s not an example of how old you seem to think I am

[bramble]

Good morning all, it's bright and breezy here.

Snoop, that sounds like quite a stressful day, sometimes we put too much on oursel⁶ves.
I think an automatic sounds like a great idea.

We never had school lunches, our day was shorter, so we just brought a packed lunch from home.

The only money we brought to the school was a sixpence every monday morning...it was three pence for dancing, two pence for elocution and a penny for the foreign missions.
Have a good day all.

[Bren In Pots]

Morning

Its a dull day here no rain till this evening though.

In primary school, I mostly walked home for dinner, except on snow days. I can't remember seeing any snacks just milk with a straw.

Snoop hope your day goes ok.

[greenishfing]

Nicos, didn't some have a portcullis on them?

[mothhawk]

Afternoon all, and a very grey dull one it is.

I remember the thrupenny bit having a portcullis on the reverse, and some had thrift, (the earlier ones I think, when the government was encouraging thrift after WWI), but I don't remember a thistle.

We don't appreciate how well we did in those schooldays, with a two course meal for sixpence every weekday, and often seconds for those who wanted. I hated Fridays, which was always fish, usually in parsley sauce, and I hated it. And of course, you had to eat it, no sending it back and waiting for pud. I think that's why I still am very conservative about seafood now.

[greenishfing]

Oddly, I don't remember any picky or overweight kids at junior school. I think in general we were always hungry and pretty indiscriminate eaters, although there was a bit of surrepticious "swapsies." Food was simply fuel. I remember when I first saw a modern school dinner separated out into little compartments on a plastic tray, I thought it looked totally unappetising.

[rary]

Good afternoon, a wet day here again, Nicos that thought never entered my head, what I did wonder about though was what is half a crown, if we can make it to the coffee morning this week I will ask some of the older folk if they know . Was at the doctors with OH this morning, she now has painkillers, antibiotics and steroids to take and told to phone on Wednesday to make an appointment for an x-ray, hopefully these painkillers work as I feel so helpless when she's in pain and I cant do anything, and to make matters worse, the painkillers she has been subscribed are the same ones that I am supposed to take when my back gets sore, though I have found the best thing for me to do is either work through the pain or go for a walk, if I had a half crown??? every time OH has told me to take a painkillers I think I would be rich, well I think thats what she means when she says "go and take a tablet"🤔 Snoop I hope Mr. Snoop finds a car that he likes, an automatic make driving so much easier and I think safer, I have been toying with the idea of getting a chargeable hybrid but still not sure if it would be worth it at my age Providing OH is ok I am going out to he greenhouse for a wee while, so have a good day and be happy remember to pass on the smiles

[greenishfing]

Mr GF had a letter last week for an x-ray on the 4th. This morning I was going to ring up and cancel it as he is not fit enough to attend. Something was not quite right about the letter though. Yes, it is for the 4th .... but the 4th isn't a Thursday. 💡💡💡 ..... It's for the 4th of December. I'm glad that my brain decided to work before I rang up.

I've just been changing 2 lightbulbs. I actually found a brand new box of 4 of the sort that I wanted, sort of twist in mini spots I'd tucked the receipt inside the box. Evidently I had bought them when they were on a half price offer .... in 2022. There are so many different fittings for lights now, rather than just basic bayonet, but at least bulbs generally last much longer.

Rary, I must admit I prefer a manual car. I'm not sure why. The last automatic I had was a Ford Granada which was vastly underpowered. I hated it. Mind you I'm not overly fond of the manual car that we have now. It is ideal for our needs but just lacks umph! I can only compare it to when I learned to ride a horse. To begin they decided which horse suited me, a complete beginner. The first time they let me pick my own horse, I picked one that I thought looked like a proper horse. The experience was so different I hope the new tablets help Mrs Rary.

I'm going to go plant a container of cress now to grow on the windowsill. Has anybody here experimented with "microgreens" of any kind?

[Nicos]

Nicos, didn't some have a portcullis on them?

Yes…you are absolutely correct…as is MH!

As she says the flower was the older post war one ( I had a bit of a goooogle) but that and the portcullis were both in circulation..it’s just that the flower caught my eye . Indeed it was apparently a thrift flower - not a thistle.
The things you learn/ are reminded about on here…… great innit?


Talking about the Thrift plant….has anyone got any in their garden?…I’d never heard of them before, but I’m sure I’ve seen them in flower…somewhere…

https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/1597/a...ritima/details

[Nicos]

Te he GF….Sounds like you enjoy speed!

I used to work with horses as a hobby for years and finally took my teaching exams ( BHSAI) .
When , on holiday, we used to hire ponies to go beach riding or forest treks and they asked everyone what their riding experiences were, I somehow was always given horses -of all sizes - which were vastly under exercised and called names like Satan or Dragon…. ( I think, in reality , I should have been payed to ride them) te he..they were fun rides though
Apparently I had what was described as a ‘Velcro bum’ even on the ones which tried to rodeo me off.

[greenishfing]

Nicos, sadly, I was not a natural on a horse. Horseriding was yet another quite shortlived hobby. I did manage to canter before I gave lessons up, but the minute we started cantering, I would lose my stirrups.

I eventually decided that most of the things I really enjoyed were done either in or on water. Swimming, snorkelling, sailing, and windsurfing. I even satisfied my "need for speed" when I discovered that with only my weight in it, I could get our RIB to plane and fly over the waves.

[Nicos]

Gosh - that sounds equally exciting GF!

I am best at doing things on me bum… horse riding, cycling,archaeology , fossil hunting, reading and even gardening these days… I was even great at skiing…on me bum

Water sort of scares me- probably because I absolutely hate being cold and wet and get very seasick, but that does sound exciting!

[greenishfing]

Good morning all.

Not the best night's sleep, but never mind. The heating is on and I'm back in bed with a mug of coffee.

More rain forecast today. I've got a supermarket shop due between 10am and 11am and the District nurse is due today at some point.

Nicos, it sounds as if my level of expertise at skiing was similar to yours ... another short lived hobby. I was never scared of water though. Before I could swim I would happily spend all day in the sea in Cornwall on holiday. From about age 7, I would quite happily wade into the sea and jump on my bodyboard and surf back to the beach. (Autocorrect was insisting that I jumped on my bodyguard) I know what you mean about cold and wet though as I took windsurfing lessons just outside Sheffield one chilly Spring. It was a matter of putting a wetsuit on and then getting in a hot shower. Whenever the cold got in another quick hot shower. The first time that I managed to windsurf across the lake I was so proud of myself. Unfortunately I couldn't get back under my own steam. The instructor, with the dinghy, had to tow me in

My favourite indoor sport was snooker. I was a member of a snooker club with a nice bar in my 20s. The company that I worked at did a deal with the club and we got reduced price membership.

The central heating has now done it's job so I'll open the curtains and see if Mr GF wakes up.

[Nicos]

Mornin n’alln’all
Looks like we have the reasonable weather for a change! A patchy grey and blue sky and a slight breeze. It’s certainly warmed up- we are forecast 18C tomorrow!

Snooker GF?… wow…I’ve only played it a couple of times and was utter rubbish… but give me a dart board….

I’m nipping out later for a quick grory hop. Don’t need much but just want to get the basics stocked up again. No doubt something will accidentally jump into my trolly though

Another pottering day ahead. I seem to get more done when I wind myself up ( like a windup car) and set off about the house and garden doing small jobs as and when I spot them. Jobs which are easy to ignore normally.

Has anyone got plans for bonfire night? I usually make a hotpot served with picked red cabbage. It’s something from my childhood memories.

Right , well, I best get a wiggle on- there’s tea/ coffee and toast for anyone fancying some…

Enjoy your day peeps, and let’s share those smiles…