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suffolknan's latest comments
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15th Sep 2018suffolknan commented on:
MOVING HOME ALONE ......AND TO A NEW PART OF THE COUNTRYHi. Thank you for your responses and encouragement. I have made friends with a few people and we have group outings which I enjoy. I now have to move on for health problems but not too far so i hope to keep up with contacts. Can only live and be nice to everyone you meet so that they want to be friends! Getting older and coping with bodily change is difficult for me but I'm still out there trying!ViewDate:
20th Sep 2015suffolknan commented on:
MOVING HOME ALONE ......AND TO A NEW PART OF THE COUNTRYHi All I have taken the plunge and moved .... I have not logged onto Silversurfers since then and thank you for the encouraging comments made. After 6 months it is still a work in progress of course, but I am trying to keep positive and enjoy the adventure. Exploring unfamiliar countryside is good and even mastering the local ring road can be a hoot. I jumped straight in to joining groups (things in the local library and also U3A) and have made some friends to chat too. Progressing to exchanging contact details and meeting outside of the groups has yet to happen. I am concerned that I will slow down when winter comes and go into hibernation! The stuff with the kids/family is still painful. It is hard to throw off one's own experience of being/feeling very close to family and then finding they don't feel the same as time moves on. Next I am going to jump in and write my contact details on little slips of paper to give to people I have got to know. It may sound a bit formal but it might help me through the situation. I think I would be happy if someone gave me their phone and email. So here goes........ViewDate:
20th Apr 2015suffolknan commented on:
Where are all the new members disappearing to?Hi to Jaybee and Margie I have been away for a week and so not been posting. I returned to find that Goldfynche has finally given up trying. So few people seem to post. It is very hard to keep chatting on here and finding no-one live....but I usually come on in the evening so I don't think that helps. I am happy to talk about anything really and I usually go through the list of " unread topics" and reply where I can. I am new to forums and don't do any other online social network. I am 61 year old widow and I live in East Anglia.ViewDate:
20th Apr 2015suffolknan commented on:
Making a new home 'yours'On Sunday morning I took a short walk in Richmond Park with friends (West London). There was a swan nesting just a couple of foot from a coot nest and the area had a bit of fence around to hold away unwanted visitors. A few hundred yards away there were large numbers of deer and also vast quantities of joggers running about. The park experience is so different from living in a Suffolk village....but we have planes in common!ViewDate:
20th Apr 2015suffolknan commented on:
Pension changesI am very relieved that I have an occupational pension in my own right and also the widow's part of my husband's occupational pension, as this has enabled me to stop work at 60, which is great! I have some health problems and was really feeling the strain of working to the point where I felt that I just could not go on; my free time was spent recuperating rather than enjoying life. It was a real blow when the retirement age was changed from 60 to 63 a few years back. When they changed it again to 65+ I was devastated! I felt that I would be too frail to enjoy anything by the time I got to state retirement age. I was depressed and stressed on top of everything else. I don't have lots of spare cash, but at least I can enjoy life a bit more. My health is still not good, but it is not getting worse as fast as it was! I have a much better quality of life ....and someone who needed a job got the one I left! Way back in the late 1970s my dad worked in pensions in an insurance company and he said that as most men statistically die at 68 they had very little time to enjoy their free time or their pension. So he wanted to retire a couple of years early, which he did. Sadly he died at age 68 following a stroke! I don't want to stop people working on after 60 if they wish to; but I want us to have the choice. Also, I am a reasonably bright person, but even so I am very glad that I got my pensions before I had to make all the financial decisions. I chose reputable pension schemes to join back when I was functioning better than I am now. I am concerned for people who may find the new processes far too confusing.ViewDate:
20th Apr 2015suffolknan commented on:
New to this!Hello "Oldlady". I hope that you will continue to join in as our numbers are rather low! I have been away for a week and Mike has now left!ViewDate:
20th Apr 2015suffolknan commented on:
MEMORIESHi Margie, thanks for your message. I have just got back from a visit to Coventry. I loved the cathedral and although I am not religious I found it a very moving experience. Also enjoyed looking around the city and particularly visiting the art/local history gallery. Very friendly people and great to have good weather so I could just wander about.ViewDate:
20th Apr 2015suffolknan commented on:
What book are you currently reading?I have just finished The Sea by John Banville. An interesting book. My Book Club choice and not someone I'd heard of. Not so sure I am recommending it; I am just saying it was thought provoking.ViewDate:
20th Apr 2015suffolknan commented on:
Mobile PhonesHi I have been through a few mobiles and currently have a Samsung android. I had the same phone for a few years, initially just for emergencies, but as I used it more I wanted something I could swipe (because of problems hitting little buttons). My son-in-law gave me his "old" phone to try, which was great. I was ok with the iphone for a couple of years but was having vodafone issues when I moved and was also using the mobile more than the landline, so I decided to change and find a better tariff. In the end the best deal I found was with Tesco Mobile £10 pcm) and it came with a free phone. When comparing the 2 phones I decided I like the calendar on the Samsung better so handed the iphone to my daughter in law! We do quite a bit of equipment swapping as some of the family like to get all the updates quite soon after they come out. I don't use the many features very much - mostly I phone and text and use the planner, but I keep shopping lists too. Recently I have started taking brief notes at talks and meetings. I have had a few tuts and grumbles (even though I do it quietly) because some folk think it is rude and I am not paying attention... so I often issue an apology and say what I am doing. Useful for things to look up later e.g. plants, persons and other references. I also like the fact that I can switch on all sorts of things while I am out if I need to e.g. maps/directions. I am trying to cut down on stuff which I carry in my handbag, so the phone is good in that it also replaces my diary.ViewDate:
5th Apr 2015suffolknan commented on:
MOVING HOME ALONE ......AND TO A NEW PART OF THE COUNTRYHi and welcome Blackdog2. I am sorry to hear what you have gone through. "Lonely and Difficult" is something I can empathise with. I was widowed 8 years ago, but before my husband died he was a tetraplegic and I cared for him at home for 7 years. Caring is isolating and debillitating and most people have no idea about it. It was a difficult time for my family, not least because my children were only 17 and 19 when their father collapsed at work with no warning, following a brain haemhorrage. Everything changed for all of us and none of us are unscathed. Knowing lots of people round and about can be helpful; but isn't life lonely sometimes, even in a crowd! Got to have a bit of a moan sometimes and sometimes a laugh. I would love to have a wider social life but find that joining various groups such as U3A and a book circle at least gives me some shared activity and contact with a variety of people. I am not a natural chatterer in social situations but I am trying to be smiley and helpful as an ice-breaker. I am glad that I took the plunge into this forum as it is good to talk and it helps me in the evening, which is my low time. A couple of years ago I met a woman (in her 70s) who was living in sheltered accommodation and moving every 4/5 years to a different part of the country. She said that she enjoyed exploring a new area and seeing the sights and enjoyed being able to please herself about what she did. She also enjoyed "doing up" her new nest in the safe environment of a "sheltered" block of flats, where the boring maintenance and safety issues were taken care of. She did however say that she had learnt not to jump into the organised social life of the new place and to expect to make lots of great new friends as the factional nature of some communities could be caustic. Goldfynche has gone through tough times and is still enjoying himself - I am sure his children enjoy his devotion as much as he enjoys theirs. I have a bit of a bucket list and I am trying to be active. I think I am still a bit of a trial to my kids - but I am working on it. Whether I stay in Suffolk or go to Warwickshire is still open for consideration. I have exciting plans for Bank Holiday Monday.......I am cooking toad in the hole while my son and his family go off to Chippenham Park for an Easter Egg Hunt ( As they are vegetarians I don't cook meat at home very often). Got to enjoy the little things in life. ;-) Happy Easter!ViewDate:
5th Apr 2015suffolknan commented on:
Yay! Cracked it!I was chatting to some people at our book circle last week and we seemed to be in 2 distinct camps,. 1: those who had never even heard of NCIS and Big Bang Theory and 2: The other half, who were aware of, and liked, both and also liked "Black Books". Did you watch Easterwatch? I enjoyed it very much. I sat in the garden for a couple of hours this afternoon - now that really is something! It was still and pleasantly warm and it was lovely just to soak it all up. :-)ViewDate:
5th Apr 2015suffolknan commented on:
Where are all the new members disappearing to?Hello again. I guess the others must have found another place to chat - but I don't know where it is so have not been there! Sometimes just logging in takes some perseverance as I can go 5 or 10 mins with no response to my tapping! Today I read some messages before logging in and managed to lose "the thread" with Blackdog2. I am off now to try and find it again!ViewDate:
1st Apr 2015suffolknan commented on:
Making a new home 'yours'Several years ago there was a pig which used to change it's location in the garden of a local bungalow. It was on a bend in the road through a small village and my kids and I took delight in trying to spot it as we drove by. Gradually the trees grew and obscured the view. sad. I hope it is still in there! For the past year I have been passing a lovely old house in the village of Worlington which had an enormouse statue of a dragon/gryphon near its gate - about 12 foot high including the plinth! The house changed hands last month and the trees have been pruned and the statue disappeared from view. I hope it flew off with the old owners and has a lovely new home. The most interesting thing to see as you pass through my village is the local phone box - which is now a book exchange!ViewDate:
1st Apr 2015suffolknan commented on:
Partial solar eclipse tomorrow.I hope that the winds have ended with March! I was awakened at 4am this morning by the howling wind! So now April is here and hopefully some gentle showers and some good gardening weather.ViewDate:
1st Apr 2015suffolknan commented on:
Yay! Cracked it!Isn't it odd how the episodes jump about. Sometimes, as you said, a missed episode pops up, and I then think "Ooh, so that's what happened!" Yet to figure out why Ziva left! Not sure where Vance has gone this week either! Same with Big Bang Theory. Although Penny's change of hair-do helps me catch on quicker. I love reading the Lorre comments at the end - although sometimes they squidge up the screen and I can't read them!ViewDate:
30th Mar 2015suffolknan commented on:
Making a new home 'yours'It's great to know that daftness is common across the nation - we shout PIGGIES! regularly when passing the local free range pigs in fields. The lambs are appearing round here and we will be taking the grandchildren to the local deli/farm for lamb petting over Easter.ViewDate:
30th Mar 2015suffolknan commented on:
Partial solar eclipse tomorrow.I would love to see that! Saw something surprising yesterday during an incredible wind storm......my grandson's trampoline, which is one of those enormous things surrounded by netting, was somersaulting across the garden. It came to rest against the fence long enough for my son and I to grab it. I had quite a job to hold it while he anchored it with a wheelbarrow of hardcore which luckily was sitting nearby! I think the family thought I was mad as I went rushing downstairs shouting "the bouncy thing!" (I couldn't think of the word trampoline). What a coincidence that I happened to look out of the window at the precise moment that it took off!!ViewDate:
30th Mar 2015suffolknan commented on:
MEMORIESThe sweet shop museum sounds a great idea. I love a good museum. Last one I visited was the Polar Museum at The Scott Polar Research Institute in Cambridge. At the end of April I am booked on a coach trip to Bletchley ParkViewDate:
30th Mar 2015suffolknan commented on:
Yay! Cracked it!I like both of those too. Just started watching NCIS New Orleans and enjoying the cultural insights.ViewDate:
30th Mar 2015suffolknan commented on:
Hi from ScotlandI suppose going on a tram may be something for my "bucket list" - a virtual list that is - just an idea.ViewDate:
30th Mar 2015suffolknan commented on:
What are your favourite travel destinations and why?Some friends of mine recently told me in disgust that they are not able to sell up here in England and buy a motorhome to tour the USA. Apparently too old to stay for longer than a few weeks. Sad!ViewDate:
25th Mar 2015suffolknan commented on:
Making a new home 'yours'Today was a beautiful spring day down here. I drove to go swimming and went through the villages rather than on the main road, which was delightful. Lots of daffs and bunnies in the hedgerows and then as I drove into Newmarket a string of racehorses was crossing the road up to the heath for exercise. A lovely experience!ViewDate:
25th Mar 2015suffolknan commented on:
Yay! Cracked it!I surf the programme guide for what's on overnight and often find something interesting to record. I also record a lot of the Yesterday channel as I especially like history and science programmes.ViewDate:
25th Mar 2015suffolknan commented on:
Hi from ScotlandAh so you have never been on a tram! My mum always said she was too young for trams and I have continued this mad statement as a joke. I have a friend from Croydon who now lives in West Wickham who takes great delight in telling me every time she goes on a tram- just so I can enjoy insisting that she is deceiving herself. I love a silly joke and old ones are the best! The "young" Dimbleby's prove the age of that reminiscence. I last went to Greenwich to see the clock exhibition, which was very good.ViewDate:
24th Mar 2015suffolknan commented on:
Dementia diagnosisIt seems to me that they have moved away from the approach built around doing something because it is right. I think the right thing to do is to provide good health care services and this includes accurate and meaningful diagnosis. First comes the needs of the patient; that is what medicine is fundamentally there for! The diagnosing of someone's dementia should mean that they and their family can get the vital help and support which they will need. Secondly, the diagnosis of dementia should be reported so that the true numbers of folk affected are known by the organisational side of the NHS and can be accurately and correctly planned for. Ditto the government needs the figures for macro planning purposes. ( This of course applies to most medical conditions. ) Luckily we now have computers to help make these processes more effectual. If this works well then the GP would have well planned and delivered services to offer. Do GPs need cash incentives to formally diagnose? One hopes not. It is surely what they are there for. Is the cash ring-fenced to provide dementia services? Sounds like it should be. I don't mean to propose another level of management when everyone seems to be trying to save man-power in order to save money, but perhaps we should have someone who oversees decisions by comparing them to the actual aim of the move. Shame the people in charge of the money apparently don't do this. I know everyone ridicules social workers but.... head above the parapet - I was a residential social worker for the elderly . I was trained by a bunch of (mostly) great workers in the 1980-90s and each case was reviewed with the manager who said "What are the problems? How can we alleviate them?" We looked for answers proactively and did a lot of good work. As the years went on services were closed down and the questions became money -orientated as budgets were cut. There are still good people doing good work; but they will do even better given good resources. I hope that GPs are using their £55 per dementia sufferer to set up services in their area. Gotta be hopeful.ViewDate:
24th Mar 2015suffolknan commented on:
What are the chances of this happening.You have had a sad time Goldfynche. I know how that feels. All my bad memories seem to congregate in February and it is such a cold dark month that it is hard to resist the melancholy. I hope that you and your family are feeling the warmth and comfort.ViewDate:
24th Mar 2015suffolknan commented on:
MOVING HOME ALONE ......AND TO A NEW PART OF THE COUNTRYLast August I house-sat for my daughter and a skinny little cat was constantly crying and fighting on the outhouse roof. I told my daughter that I thought it was a siamese cross as it was so angular. Anyway, turns out it stayed around and cried so much they eventually fed it (much to the annoyance of Sammy, their own cat). They took it to the vet a couple of months ago but it had no chip so they have now formally adopted it. Sammy still looks at him with venom, but there has been no fighting. "Henry" is now a very large, cuddly, black and white cat with no similarity to a Siamese at all - in fact he is well rounded, sleek furred and very beautiful! I love a happy ending!ViewDate:
24th Mar 2015suffolknan commented on:
GreetingsThe jackdaws in my chimney are definitely nesting - 2 sets I think. My son refused to remove the old nests and seal the chimney last year, so here we go again. I hate to think the babies may fall down. On the other hand I would have been in a state watching him go up a ladder onto the roof!! No pleasing me really - anxiety is my daily hobby!ViewDate:
24th Mar 2015suffolknan commented on:
Which Forums do you visit?That sounds like a good idea. I need all the help I can get.ViewDate:
24th Mar 2015suffolknan commented on:
Making a new home 'yours'I print my killer sudoku from the Krazydad website and sit with pencil and rubber until figured it out! The paper on very difficult ones gets really thin and sometimes I have to rub it all out and return days later. Sad!ViewDate:
24th Mar 2015suffolknan commented on:
Hi from ScotlandI like using the tube when I am staying with my daughter in London - as long as it is a (relatively) quiet time. These days I find rushing along in crowds a real bore and I need to consult directions a lot when underground. I am turning into a "crazy old woman" (or so I am told) and sometimes disagree with whether the line I need is actually going east/west as I think I need North! When I was on the" Overground" last year going to Whitechapel for the London Hospital I really enjoyed getting a bird's eye view of bits of the east end which I haven't seen for years! I am looking forward to riding the DLR next summer and also going down the river to visit the Cutty Sark, which was under covers last time I was in Greenwich.ViewDate:
23rd Mar 2015ViewDate:
23rd Mar 2015suffolknan commented on:
Which Forums do you visit?This is my first foray into social media. Judging by the limited number of posts I guess a lot of folk visit then go elsewhere.ViewDate:
23rd Mar 2015suffolknan commented on:
Partial solar eclipse tomorrow.I have never seen such a thing. How amazing. Have you seen the northern lights?ViewDate:
23rd Mar 2015suffolknan commented on:
Making a new home 'yours'I like maths problems in theory e.g. killer sudoku takes up a lot of my time....but when I started this networking I didn't know such problems were part of the posting thing and I didn't even notice it for a few hours!ViewDate:
22nd Mar 2015suffolknan commented on:
Partial solar eclipse tomorrow.No mention of the eclipse at John's school. A missed opportunity I think.ViewDate:
22nd Mar 2015suffolknan commented on:
Making a new home 'yours'Your flat sounds really interesting and doing it up should be fun. I enjoy design and as I have been looking at property for sale and rent online recently I have started a notepad of interesting styles and colour schemes which I have seen. Also enjoying watching a few TV programmes e.g. Kevin Mcleod's (or is it McIntire?) Man Made Home and the Tiny House series. In 2008 I had to stop an upholstery course after just a few days - but I am looking forward to starting again. I have 2 plain red sofas in store, the arms of which my cat made a pretty fair attempt at destroying. I like the idea of mixing fabric, textures and colours to revamp them as soon as I have the space. Your ceiling art sounds like it would make a great impression - have you considered aiming a spot light at it?ViewDate:
21st Mar 2015suffolknan commented on:
Are you a Grandparent?How wonderful to be seeing your granddaughter after a year! I bet you have a great time!ViewDate:
20th Mar 2015suffolknan commented on:
MOVING HOME ALONE ......AND TO A NEW PART OF THE COUNTRYI have had cats for 45 years and am finding the current lack of one in the house quite sad. Lucy, my last cat was the sort of character that left you feeling deeply honoured by her attention. She had moved with me twice and lived amongst busy town traffic but sadly got run down last year just after I moved to a tiny village! I suppose she must have dropped her guard. I have had a dog and at least one cat since 1986 and they have always been good companions to each other. When Lucy's sibling Jack died she stayed even closer to my dog Ollie and whenever I got home they were always within a few feet of each other. Lucy always greeted Ollie with a nose touch when she entered the room. When he died she became very vocal. I know people say cats are solitary compared to dogs, but I have always thought that my cats regard themselves as pack leaders and behave accordingly.ViewDate:
20th Mar 2015suffolknan commented on:
Partial solar eclipse tomorrow.I had very misty sky here this am and saw nothing in person except on TV. Now the sky is cloudfree and beautifully blue. It will be interesting to see whether my grandson was told anything about it at school this morning.