'supporting each other through really tough times'

Popperwell

Morning All,
Some posts seem to have disappeared overnight...

Anyhow, it looks cold out there but the sky has some colour, no frost, no snow and seemingly no ice...calm before the storm?

Some Valentines stuff in Aldi's today amongst their specials if you have a loved one and the money...

Remember the space station astronaut who is tweeting and posting images of Earth and space, his fame and images are being followed by the media now and sometime today their is a chat(that can be listened to)between the stations commander and...the actor William Shatner(Capt Kirk of the original TV series Star Trek)

Whatever next...

I have an image taken by Commander Hadfield as my laptop screen picture...

https://twitter.com/Cmdr_Hadfield

Popperwell

Looks like the event is happening at 15.40pm our time on Nasa TV which is online...

sevenup01

Morning all. YEsterday was very busy and i am still so tired. Phoned my little brothers school and they seem to be in denial that his safety is at risk if he returns because the other children are not in the same classes as him! And he can always stay in the 'inclusion' room all day. So what about break times? Well, he can stay in then too! How is that healthy or suitable for a 14yr old? We will see what cambhs have to say on monday. Dad is furious and is doubtful that he will let brother return to the school so i have advised him to seek a meeting with the local authority, the school and cambhs to try and find him a new school that will support him and keep him safe.

I also took my 15yr old to visit a college open day yesterday. What a waste of time that was. I'm even more angry with them if that is possible. The college website clearly states that the beauty therapy courses are at a particular site and is full time. (Full time education is over 12 hours).
So we get to the college, wait our turn to discuss the course with the tutors and..... the course is one day a week 10am to 4pm. And its at a totally different site that is rather difficult to get to from our home and would take 1.5 hours in good traffic. Each way. I dread to think how long it would take in bad traffic. I put in a complaint before we left.

And the reason i feel so tired this morning? Cousin who lives with me decided to ring me for a chat (she had accidentally packed my 5yr olds undies!)after i had gone to bed and woke me up and then eldest daughter text me at half three in the morning to ask if i would please call her at midday and make sure she was awake.

Greyqueen could i please borrow nursie for a week? Im sure she could whip my little darlings into shape in no time at all. And do you think she will sort out the school for little brother please?

elizabunny

Morning everyone, a beautiful blue sky here this morning but freezingly cold yet again. I hear there is a possibility of significant snow for Sunday again, I don't think they know where yet.

On a more distasteful note, I was watching the birds on my feeder yesterday afternoon, when I noticed activity at the bottom of the feeder. At first I thought it was a squirrel because we have had those before but NO further peering revealed a rodent with a three letter name that I can not even bring myself to say. We are very close to fields and I know we are supposed to never be more than a few metres away from them, but to actually see one at the bottom of the garden shocked me. I have to own up to having never seen a real wild one except in a book or by a riverbank.

Anyway, I bravely ran out banging something and it shot back under the fence into a neighbours garden, only to reappear again from exactly the same spot when I went back inside. Cue send out the dog (poor thing) Anyway she went out and dutifully sent it packing back under the fence by exactly the same route. Said neighbour has a garden boasting an array of delightfully dilapidated outbuildings and is not about to enter any discussion with us about solving this situation. We don't want to go down the poison route as we have obviously got the dog and our little bunny and although bunny lives inside with us he does like the garden as well.

So before we turn to the Pro's DH is going to try and fit some trays under the bird feeders and possibly we will reduce the amount of feeders we put out. We are also going to replace the composting bins with the type that have rodent proof bases in them and generally remove access to any possible food source as best we can. DH said he is considering sinking some sturdy mesh into the ground alongside the fence to deter digging but we are not sure whether this will be of much use because it would probably find something to scramble on to given the extensive shrubbery and trees in the area.

Oh dear now I feel I have to be on rodent watch every time I look out of the window. I can honestly say, I cannot bear the thought of them, although they are a fact of life and God's creatures, but it just makes me cringe.

PS Sorry not wishing offend anyone with the pet version, that is a different matter and personal choice, which everyone has a right to.

boultdj

If the unmentechenable[sp?] rodent is coming through a hole in the fence put wire wool in it, it cut's the mouth of the little devil's.hth

[Deleted User]

ELIZABUNNY I understand how you feel about the rolands but where there is any source of food (bird, chicken,human etc.) there WILL be rolands!!!!! The only way to deal with them is to get the council to come and set traps, even then it really is only a matter of time until more move in to fill the vacant area. My neighbour feeds the wildlife constantly and will put out ALL and I do mean all table scraps so she will use chicken carcasses, meat bones, leftovers any cereal products, she even goes and collects stale stuff from all the ,local shops to feed her 'Little Friends!', she is the only person I know who feeds the squirrels and ferral pigeons. We HAVE to bait, and be very careful that the Lurcher doesn't get anywhere near it or the resulting corpus christies of deceased rolands. It's an ongoing saga I'm afraid, we shall never win this war, only stem the tide!!! Good Luck.

KIDCAT glad you had some time out yesterday, after the past few weeks you surely needed it. Don't be left out, contact a cousin, don't let your Mum take the decision to cut you out, that isn't fair on you, your Uncle or the rest of the family. I know it is so difficult when a parent is persistently obstructive and difficult, but for you, if you want to be involved in decisions - go round her, she'll live!!!! Look after you, with you in spirit!!!!

POPS well done you with the cooking, it's lovely to read that you are gaining confidence and trying new things, you'll have your own TV show before long, yes? Good on you!!!

Have a good day all, and stay warm if you can, Cheers Lyn xxx.

Popperwell

Thank You Lyn,
I'm sure she won't mind me saying, my friend Andrea(who posts here)at the "Free" music night on the town earlier in the week surprised me with a kind gesture much appreciated...she had a spare copy of a book by the food writer best known for her work during the war...Margurette Patten.

It has been well read ever since...:)

mardatha

Yea what Mrs L said - if there's a source of food then there will be rats. I had them when we had the hens, they were living in next door's compost heap and coming in at night to get any left over dropped hen food. The cat got rid of them.

[Deleted User]

Brilliant POPS, well done that ANDREA I have a large collection of wartime publications and have always found them really useful for REAL FOOD that is easily prepared and I've only found very few to be not palatable. Most, despite their simplicity are lovely recipes aren't they? Lyn x.

silvasava

KIDCAT - sending hugs & glad you and DH got some time to yourselves. Whatever happens in the future you know you were there when really needed & that's what counts.

I've been catching up (again!) & the 'rowlands' amused me. I can relate to your situation Mrs L - our neighbour also puts out food which encourages the little B's. My dear departed old Tommer used to present them to me (luckily dead!) usually in the early hours of the morning when he used to bring them up to the bedroom and re-enact the way he had caught them. Being woken up with a dead Roland being flung against the wardrobe doors while Tom is purring his head off at how clever he's been - Oh I do miss him though - he was such a character & so intellegent.