This topic contains 16,527 replies, has 252 voices, and was last updated by Bob23 1 year, 5 months ago.
Hi Jojo was it Ertha Kitt who sang Santa baby /:). I am glad you are feeling better pal . My back is just a wee niggle tonight thanks . I have had a really lazy day for a change . Ross toilet made a clunking noise and the plumber said it was air in the pipes .
Hope you manage to get some sleep . I will be going to bed in a minute .
Good night or day wherever you all are
Wee xx
Hello all,
I so enjoy reading all your posts, AO is so right, so interesting and always tempered with respect!
Amazon I hope you are enjoying the tennis and the games are exciting.
I have to comment on the “doctor bashing” (have done plenty of it myself whilst working with many of them over 40 years). I think they are no different to the rest of us, some brilliant and caring, others arrogant and rude and frightened of change! The trick is to find a good one. I don’t go to GP either unless absolutely essential, most Nurses think they know better anyway!
Smiffy your stone cottage sounds magical! It makes me think of Kate Winslet’s in the movie ‘Holiday’. Our country escape is Mud brick, which I love too, very rustic and homely. I would much prefer stone but unfortunately they are harder to find here in Aus. It must be magic having a cold Christmas. Sorry Purple, I hate the beach and hot weather at Xmas! Sometimes I think I was born in the wrong part of the world, even my arthritic knees are much better in the cold.
Weemam, I hope your back is much better by the time you read this. You will be glad to know I did find the Marigold Boullion and do like it very much, a change from the Miso on fast days. I think my husband will enjoy it too as he is very sensitive to caffeine and always trying to find alternative hot drinks. So right RT, the people on this thread are a font of knowledge! And no vested interests, flogging their products like WW.
Hoping to lose a bit more by the end of this week, this thread certainly keeps one honest!
Hi again
Nama, did you find the Marigold Bouillon at the supermarket? I googled it for a South Aus. retail outlet but apparently only available through two specialist health food places a long way on other side of town from me.
Regarding stone cottages, my daughter and family live in >100yo cottage and it’s a nightmare to keep warm in winter even with gas central heating but also takes a looooong time to heat up in the summer. They’re saving for double glazing!
Cheers all.
Nicky I got similar results on line so tried a large local Health Food Store. They had every variety! And cheaper than the on line ones I saw. I envy your daughter, old houses have so much character. The double glazing should help. We built a passive solar low energy house in Melb 26 yrs ago, before it was mainstream. We installed double glazing in the Clerestory windows as they are too high to cover, (they are opened after a hot day to let hot air out, pushed up by the cool air coming in thru lower windows) but obviously a good way for heat to escape in winter, hence double glazing. They cost double standard glass even then, but we think they have more than paid for themselves.
Thanks for the info Nama, will look out for it at our local HF store.
We too live in a passive solar house: long axis E-W with no/few windows on those ends and large windows with eaves which let in northern winter light onto slate floor but exclude summer sun. Our house ‘steps down’ the hill and we also have clerestory windows – have frightening quote for DG but plan on having it done. We open them once summer arrives. We live on a south-facing slope so house pretty cool for most of summer but definitely need jumpers in winter.
SAMM you are up early! Waking up the birds with your singing? 🙂
Take care all.
Nicky way back when built, there was a mob called the Energy Council of Victoria which provided a free service of advising you with your house plans. They went into all sorts of stuff, even to the width of your eaves. Sounds like we live in the same house! Also have slate floors right thru (planned low maint with boys!) and double brick minus windows facing west. We are on 1/3 acre, all we could afford in the burbs, and looked for a whole year to find the block with the right aspect. It’s a comfy house with no extremes of temp, no air con required and low heating bills. We figured if we were building from scratch it would make sense to do things like insulate the walls etc, and the extra costs have all cancelled out over the years.
Sorry folks if I am boring you all!
Hi SAMM, hope your day is better today. Sing like a magpie!
Snap Nama and Nicky!
When we renovated our post war house a few years ago, we utilised the very large scenic north facing windows and fabulous towering gums. It is solar passive. We designed in cross breezes in every area in the house and I have 2 weather stations, so I know exactly when I need to open up or close the house down. We built the new eaves just the right size to bathe us in sun in the winter and shade in summer. Effectively 3 storey, so the bottom is cool in summer, with roof windows, that have blinds on long winders, that open to draw the cool up and take the heat out. No windows on the western side and retractable awnings on the east. Ceiling fans in every room are used to balance temperature differentials when necessary. It is painted in special solar paint that reflects most heat despite being a dark colour. My son worked on its development.
With the kids gone, we even get to change bedrooms seasonally. Upstairs for winter, downstairs in summer. The tall gums create shade and breezes.
And our neighbours, with brand new modern houses, installed air con!!! Crazy.
P 🙂
Purple, you can type very fast! You would need such a house in Sydney too. We lived in Pennant Hills for a year in an old house that was freezing in winter but wonderful (12in thick walls) in summer. The heat and humidity nearly killed me in Sydney. Your house sounds wonderful. All our Northern friends with their boilers have different challenges!
Very interesting to read about the design of your SH houses.
Here, in England at least, housebuilders are not interested in sustainability or the comfort of future residents. And government doesn’t care to impose requirements on new build that eat into developer profits. Unless you are lucky enough to build your own house, and few can, climate mitigation measures (be that heating or cooling) are not really a priority…
Morning all.
Goodness me, I go out for the day and come back to what seems like a 100 posts 🙂
I’ve skimmed through and will catch up later.
Hi to everyone, the tennis was good and I’m looking forward to another day of the same.
I didn’t eat all day then had wine, pizza, wine and ice cream.
Tonight I’ll be going to the South American restaurant that do the best Margarita’s ever 😉
Zero noodles, I went to Boots.com, ordered them on-line and selected collect from branch of my choice. They were £1.99, but I paid with my points. Amazon is a better deal if you want to buy them in bulk. They’ve recued me on a couple of days when I was struggling, but I doubt that I’ll buy any more.
My back is still causing a few problems but much improved and I have another appointment with my osteopath tomorrow. The seats at the O2 Arena are not the best for a dodgy back but I was surprised to find that I was OK last night and it feels good this morning.
Santa Baby by Eartha Kitt is my all time favourite popular Christmas song as opposed to Christmas Carol 😛
I must go as I’m sitting here in my dressing gown and the painter will be here soon.
Have a great day/evening everyone, and I’ll have to catch up on all the news tomorrow.
Yep. That’s the problem Happy. We designed the changes to our house (OH is a solar energy scientist). We got rid of the tacked on outhouses on the northern side, reused the lovely old windows that can fling open in any direction and put a steep metal roof on to alleviate holes in the tiles from falling gum branches. Next door they pulled down all the trees and built 3 ‘ticky tacky boxes’. All pass the environmental rules but somehow have garages where living spaces should be and all have aircon. Who would have thought that pulling down trees and concreting everywhere would make the houses hot? Every clinate has its own environmental issues. P
Good evening all! Well am feeling chuffed. It was a fast day today and I was at a conference so of course platters of pastries and a delightful lunch. I grabbed a coffee with almond milk both at the morning tea and lunch and went outside, made calls and enjoyed the sunshine. Arrived home late and made an egg recipe from the fast diet book no two, a glass of beet root juice and all is well. Am not even tempted to have a piece of my sons chocolate which greeted me when I opened the fridge,
Ciao for now
‘Morning all
What an interesting discussion on houses and heating. We are lucky in that our cottage is small, double glazed, and the wood burner is going 24/7 all through the winter. The thick stone walls keep it warm in the winter and cool in summer. OH’s cousin has a lot of land and his tree management means we are fortunate in having a good supply of wood.
The only drawback is it can be messy, and creates an awful lot of dust! We do use the central heating occasionally, but being oil, it’s quite expensive. It all sounds very quaint, and we do have wonderful views, but there is a lot to be said for modern houses with stringent building regulations geared towards energy efficiency and high insulation requirements. Our house here in Wales is only seven years old and SO easy to heat (when it’s working!) and to keep clean. Modern ticky tacky boxes have a lot going for them!
Jojo, Amazon and Wee – glad your backs are improving, and hope yours is feeling better to Purple. Back pain is so miserable.
I love Ertha Kitt’s Santa Baby. Kylie and Madonna have both done more recent versions but I don’t think you can beat the original. I’d love to hear your choir singing it Jojo.
Emel – well done on a great fast day – you’ve every reason to feel chuffed.
I’m off to order some Zero noodles on Amazon. The new flue is due to arrive this morning so hopefully the plumber will be back later to fit it. At least we can still use the CH in the meantime.
Have a good one all.
Smiffy x
Ps – I think you should bring the words of Santa Baby to York Jojo, and we can do a rendition amongst the Christmas Market stalls! Lol!
Hi jojo, hi Smiffy,
Choir mistress, eh? Not sure whether I should be flattered 🙂 or offended 🙁
What are my qualifications for the post? Let me guess.
Former teacher/actor with good presentation skills.
Loves music, has high musicality but can’t play a note and singing is unpredicatable. So maybe conduct.
Would look good on a rostrum. That way everyone could at least see all 5ft 1in of me. (Note: bars around rostrum, please. I don’t fancy stepping backwards or sideways in my eagerness, landing up in a heap on the floor swearing like a trooper very loudly and being marched off by the Old Bill, for alleged breach of the the peace.)
Talking of conducting, I’m approaching the end of Clara by Janice Galloway, a fictionalised but obviously meticulously researched biog of Clara Wieck (brilliant pianist who also composed) who became Frau Schumann. It seems her hubby Robert had a very peculiar and much criticised conducting technique, which often consisted of him totally ignoring the orchestra and going off into his own little world. Poor chap was mentally ill, probably bi-polar and possibly with other problems.
I’ve often wondered. Should we be grateful that in the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries, relatively little was understood about mental illness? Quite a few composers certainly had what would now be called behavioural issues, but had they been treated would they have been capable of creating such wonderful music?
Same probably goes for a lot of creative artists. The painter Oskar Kokoschka used to sit around in various Viennese cafes with an inflateable woman, modelled on Alma Mahler, a lady who had a nice line in choosing talented husbands and lovers, including Gustav Mahler, but dumped poor old Oskar. Didn’t seem to do him too much harm, though. He lived to be nearly 94 and did some great paintings. Amazing what you learn when you study the history of art. 🙂
Well what a diverse range of topics this week, from solar panels, Christmas carols to the challenges of past artists. Thank you jojo for your visualisation ideas. I like the concept of the marbles in the glass jar. Your weight loss is incredible and inspires me as I have to lose 40 kilos to reach my healthy BMI – do not even want to contemplate what that is in pounds….the metric system is less confronting!!
I cannot remember who suggested almond milk in coffee but it was fine. I use almond milk for smoothies but had not considered it for coffee so thank you!
I struggle drinking water but in summer it is fine. It was 37 today and 38 tomorrow so water is on the menu…
Keep cool south Australians and for those in the east I suspect you will be getting our weather over the week-end!
Emel I think that’s what is so great about this thread! It’s more of a forum, where anyone can get up and talk! The “Speakers Corner” of 5:2!! And there are such interesting people on here.
Thanks but you can keep the heat in SA! No need to share!
Hermaj, weren’t they thinking of Carol singing in York? The won’t be a rostrum for you there… Maybe you had better get some very high heels, or a Megaphone to keep them in order!
Jojo, am not suggesting you qualify, but in Melbourne we have a group of homeless people who sing together known as the Choir of Hard Knocks. It has been a wonderful initiative and there have been so many benefits for the participants. We saw them perform a few years ago and it was so moving. Our old Rocker Jimmy Barnes has been sort of a patron to them, he made a surprise appearance on the night, it was magic!
Good afternoon all .
Jojo I can see you in my mind with the red high heels and the little dog toto from Wizard of Oz lol .
I am not bored in the least listening about all of your lovely homes .
We live in a typical semi-detached here . I love my house and my neighbours .
My back isn’t bad enough that it is affecting my sleep but there is a wee niggle there so I am still taking it easy . I normally would just jump into the car and do what I have to do BUT although in my mind I don’t feel old I am being reminded ( in a nice way ) every day that I am .
When I was in the loo earlier a wee shock went up my back so I am still in my PJ’s . This is so unusual for me but actually it is quite nice 🙂 I want to see Dad on Thurs so I am doing as I am told :).
In Scotland our houses are cold in Summer and in winter lol But we have good gas central heating .
I have my PJ’s,dressing gown and pink bed socks on at the moment . I will just die if I get visitors lol. 🙂
I hope you are all comfortable wherever you are xx
Wee xx
Changing the subject completely, I just had a most unusual experience! On fast days I don’t eat till about 5.30pm but have redbush tea without milk and at least two large coffees (not mega strong, made in a little French press) with a little (counted) milk. I never get an adverse caffeine reaction by having coffee on an empty stomach. I’m not fasting today so I’ve had breakfast at 10.30am (three, yes three weetabix with milk) and my usual tea and one coffee. About an hour ago I got a huge case of caffeine jitters! Everything was shaking inside and out and heart racing! Horrible 🙁 I was pretty hungry but as I said before, this has never happened on a fast day when there’s no buffer between me and caffeine. Lunch has put me right but it was a nasty experience. Now I’m unsure about having my second cup of coffee… I love coffee 🙁
Lizzypb
Awww Lizzy I wonder what caused that ? is it your usual brand?
I have been drinking decaffeinated for years now . When I went to our DIL 50th birthday do ( I don’t drink alcohol) I just asked for Cola not realizing it had caffeine in it . I had 3 and I felt like you did . It is a horrible feeling . I am glad that something to eat sorted you out pal (((((((Lizzy))))))
Wee xx
Thanks for the hug, Weemam 🙂 I’ve realised what caused my reaction. I had a headache all night and half the morning. I finally got fed up and took two paracetamol but I didn’t notice they were the type with caffeine! I don’t normally use them but my son had bought them. At the same time I had my usual morning coffee. So I got a double dose! After the jitters wore off, I was wired!!! I’m fine now.
Lizzypb
Well!! if that is the case then you deserve new.fresh ones pal ..
I have never gone to my TDEE (always been scared to go over 1200 Usually a lot less ‘but the last 2 days I have gone to 1400 not eaten anything fancy , Still below my TDEE ) just a wee bit more of what I normally eat . so we will see how things go 🙂 .
Enjoy the trousers pal 🙂 xx
Haha – the Fastrackers Quartet – I’m sure we’d do well. In my am-dram days, many many years ago, I played principal boy and girl in (not the same!) panto, though you would never believe it to hear me sing now!
I will definitely look up your choir Jojo. I love Christmas concerts. A few of my neighbours/friends belong to the WI and every Christmas they join up with other local WIs to form a choir, for a concert at Cheltenham Town Hall. They always have a well known guest – last year it was Leslie Garrett, who was delightful, and was definitely ‘one of the girls’. The year before it was Aled Jones, who is also doing it this year but who keeps his distance and doesn’t rehearse with them until the last minute. Obviously feels a bit overwhelmed by 60 middle aged women!
I think Ertha Kitt was great, not only very non-PC but also dared to be sexy at a time when sexy female singers just wasn’t done. Now, most are are barely dressed and verge on the pornographic, and are frankly so two-a-penny that they are just -yawn yawn – boring. Am I showing my age?
Hermaj – your theory about musical/artistic genius bordering on the insane is really interesting. Add Tchaikovsky, Van Gough and Gauguin to name but a few – plus some of our best known deceased comedians. One of our neighbours is a highly respected church and cathedral organist, and also conducts the choir mentioned above. Whilst I don’t doubt his sanity, he is certainly eccentric!
Since I started this just after lunch, a few more posts have appeared – poor Lizzie, that must have been so frightening. I don’t drink much coffee, and what I do drink I like quite weak, and your experience has certainly put me off anything stronger.
Jojo, I just love deep blue and silver. Your place is going to look gorgeous.
I’ve spent a very happy afternoon painting. Not pictures, but up cycling a huge baroque style mirror and lamp base. Purists will be horrified, but they looked out of place in this modern house, which is done in a lot of cream, beige, taupe and white, and rather than get rid of them I have painted them white. Has anyone used Annie Sloan paint? Wonderful stuff – no prep required and you can paint it on absolutely anything. I’ve also painted a couple of old small tables, bedroom stool and another gilt framed oval mirror, and have been very pleased with the results. OH now jokes that anything that stays still long enough gets painted white!
I also did a good 3 mile walk this morning, so feel I deserve the glass of wine which is now in my hand!
Have a good evening/morning all.
Smiffy x
WOW so many more posts than last night 😀
Nicky well done on your loss, proud of you 😀
Wee, Jojo and (I think it’s) Amazon I hope your back issues are all recovered too.
Had a mixed up night last night … all the family over for take away dinner. I feel/felt as if I was stuffed like a turkey last night, too greasy for me as I was up in the middle of the night IYKWIM.
Smiffy that was a good long walk for sure, well done you 😛
Nama I love the fact that we can all discuss any topic openly and fully without any rancour but with respect to each other. Heading for 38C in Adelaide so that means another 1 to 2 higher here.
I love the heat, was born in the UK and as a child enjoyed some white Christmases. It is a different, crisp cold than what we experience here in winter. It’s hard to explain exactly how it is but it’s a very crisp sort of feel.
Have a happy day/night all … I’m off to work soon so will try to catch up more tonight 🙂
😆 Wee that really made me LOL … okay here I’ve just checked and the expected temperature is 39oC today which is 1oC higher than Adelaide is expecting. RT down in the Mount will probably be a couple of degrees cooler, perhaps even more as that is often the case but not always.
Just before I got in the shower this morning I thought I’d check on how much “damage” I’ve done so far this week and was surprised (pleasantly I might add) to see the scales on the same weight as last Friday’s weigh in and this was after a couple of glasses of water and a coffee (no milk OR sweetener of any kind I might add 😛 ). So if I restrain myself today again, with only a sliver of cheesecake tonight, I might just have a teensy weensy loss this week. Fingers, toes and eyes crossed that is 😀 😆
Yes Aussie it will be a warm one for sure and like you I love it I cant get enough of it Nama hmm people say well you know Melbourne’s weather 4 seasons in one day 😯 and I am not a fan of the cold.. well done to all of you who have continued on with the the downward trend and happy fast day Thursday to all who are on that program as well I am taking the day off so its a gourmet opportunity waiting to happen…
A quick reminder ABC TV Catalyst tonight 8pm the low carb debate for my Aussie Friends.
Have a happy day All
Peace
RT
Not the slightest bit insulted, jojo, just intrigued.
I guess I should make it clear that although I’m eloquent – as you so kindly put it – in writing, I’m very, very shy and inclined to be silent and tongue-tied when it comes to speaking. Which is why I’m a translator – working in writing – and not an interpreter, who has to translate verbally.
Smiffy, the three mad geniuses you name were definitely on my list. However, I have my own theory about dear old Vincent (still love the Don McClean song). Having spent a few summer evenings in Arles where he and Gauguin hung out for a while, I reckon it was the bloody mozzies that drove him insane, as the little perishers did me.
To be a bit more serious, have you seen the series of late paintings of crows flying over fields in the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam? They get progressively weirder and bleaker as if charting his descent into madness?
Wee’s comment made me 😆 too!
My 38Cs have been chucked out as they got too big. I’m not sure whether to be happy or sad about it……………..
I came home early from the tennis this evening as my back was so stiff and sore. The seats at the O2 aren’t sitting for sitting in for a whole day, let alone two.
I had a packet of crisps today, can’t remember the last time I had any, and it took me ages to eat them. I realised it was because I wasn’t shovelling them in three at a time like there’s no tomorrow!
I also had a 3 course meal, avoiding anything that had pastry, tortillas or the like, but I did succumb to a slice of cheesecake, and a margarita or three!
B2B fasting starts again tomorrow.
I have a living Christmas tree in a pot in the garden, which will be lugged up the back stairs in due course. I have white twinkling lights and silver and gold baubly stuff with one Father Christmas in post Victorian red, and I buy one or two new decorations every year.
I’m looking forward to Christmas at home this year 🙂
I’m going to make a cuppa and read back over what I’ve missed these past 2 days.
Hi all
Herm, we were in Arles in May 2012, adored the area and plan to go back some time, rent a cottage and stay about a month. Hope there’s not too many mozzies. They LOVE me 🙁
As it was Gauguin who owned a sword, was good with it and not impressed with the OTT sunflower decorations Vincent had prepared for him, I think he did the dirty work on the ear. “Starry, starry night…” P
Jojo, I spent a few days in Bath at the end of May.
I would recommend the round Bath bus sightseeing tour. The ticket included a trip round town which takes a couple of hours if my memory serves me correctly, and a shorter tour that goes out of town and into the countryside. We did the city tour the afternoon of our arrival and the other one the next morning. I always go on the bus tour and sit on the upper deck as the view from there gives a different perspective to the buildings than at pavement level. The stop is outside Bath Abbey which is a must, as are the Roman Baths next door.
We visited the Fashion Museum which is in the Assembly rooms. We walked to no 1 Royal Crescent, which gives a great insight to the way people lived in Georgian times. We then walked round the Crescent and down into Victoria park which is very nice. We also visited the small but fascinating Postal Museum, the Holburne Museum (which is free) and one or two little galleries we came across on our travels.
We did spend a lot of time just wandering round the streets gazing up at the buildings as it is such a beautiful place. There are a few vegetarian restaurants too!
Visitbath.co.uk is a very useful website.
Hi Nama,
I seem to recall that certain parts of York have cobbled streets which don’t take kindly to very high heels. I think they’ll have to sit me in a barrow and push me round, clutching a collecting tin, which I’ll sit there rattling while doing my daft old biddy impersonation and grinning innanely.
Purple, what a lovely plan. I’d love to spend a month in Arles or anywhere along that coast. With a bit of luck the mozzies might not have got going by May, but don’t quote me on it. The Mistral, reputed to send people bonkers, will certainly blow at some point, probably alternating with the Vent d’Est, the warm easterly wind.
I was lucky enough to spend six months working as an au pair in a hillside village overlooking the bay of Saint-Tropez. The job wasn’t great, the young parents of the two little boys were learning to run a hotel and rarely got home before midnight, which mean sometimes I’d have the kids 24/7 for weeks on end.
But I feel privileged to have lived in such a beautiful place, where looking out over the blue Mediterranean was just part of everyday life. And that’s where my French improved dramatically. Singing along to Radio Monte Carlo also did wonders for my accent.
Thanks for the reminders of Bath, Amazon. I especially love 1 Park Crescent and the Costume Museum.
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Michael Mosley gives an update for 2019, current research in the field and announces a tour starting in February.
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