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General => The Stay Safe Board => Topic started by: Caw1 on Tuesday 30 December 25 11:09 GMT (UK)
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Morning everyone..
Where are you all??
Hope I’m not stepping on your toes LM…
I’m sure everyone’s busy gearing up for New Years Eve ready to party 🎉🎉🥳🥂.
Looks like we’re in for some wintery weather 🥶🥶 so wrap up warm and stay safe!
Wishing everyone a very Happy, healthy New Year.
Caroline
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Just returned from a Big Shop to take us over the New Year and found lots of customers buying bulk packs of beer, etc. There were large piles of Q S Choc tubs, so others may well have decided that the reduced size of the chocolates and the large amount of paper wrapping around them made it not worth while to buy them this year. Actually it makes more sense to buy the "Refill Packs" instead, then you don't have to ask yourself what to do with those oddly shaped tubs when they are empty. ::)
Wishing you all a very happy and healthy New Year. :-* Can we hope that 2026 will bring peace around the world? :-\
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Gillg - I agree re QS.. my daughter bought a box.. tubs so much smaller and what have they done to the wrappers they look like glorified coloured grease proof paper!
My OH loves a chocolate orange..😳😳 the size has reduced dramatically and I notice from the ingredients it’s now called flavoured chocolate!
Let’s hope 2026 is a more peaceful one.
Caroline
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We can but hope Gillg, sadly there's always trouble somewhere.
It's been quite a bright morning although we had a short shower that I suspect had some little white pellets in it. :-\ Anyway, I've been out gardening after that. Yes, sounds mad but I wanted to rescue my geraniums from the garden and the big pots so I could put them somewhere they might stand a chance of surviving. It's forecast to get really cold from tomorrow so it was now or never. Wrapped up in several layers, I wasn't feeling cold, came in when it started raining.
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My goodness Roobarb you are brave going out in this weather!
The furthest we get is fetching logs from the back shed up the garden and chucking things on the compost heap!
The only geraniums I have are in a big pot outside the front door, they’re sheltered there as they’re under the overhand that runs along the front of the house.. it hard to believe but there are still flowering! I’m sure though after this coming cold snap they won’t be!
I was surprised to see that some of the spring bulbs are already about 3-4inches above ground..
my cyclamen in the little brick surround where the wisteria is have been flowering since I put them in around late Oct time…
The blue tits have been examining the two boxes we’ve got but not seen any established in them yet.
Caroline
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I had some lunch then as the rain was short lived I went out again, geraniums all rescued now. :)
Yes, some of mine were still in flower, I had to prune them down which was a shame but I suspect that the weather would have seen them off anyway. My garden waste bin is nearly half full, it's a long time till they'll be emptying it again.
It's looking a bit grey out now but I don't know whether that's just the light fading, it still gets dark so early despite it apparently being a minute later a day.
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Hello folks, no toes trodden on, please don't worry, had a busy day yesterday.
Because I only drive locally I took my husband by bus to hospital to have both cataracts done, it took us 2.5 hours and we were so cold, he was supposed to gave a general anesthetic, not his idea at all, then got talked into having a sedative, I wasn't allowed to stay with him so left at 2pm to get the bus back so that I was home when his transport arrived, he arrived slightly unsteady but had a good night's sleep and is better today, he is concerned that one eye is misty but it is early days.
On the 4 bedded ward the radiators were not on, really didn't understand that when it was so cold a day, he was given the flimsiest of blankets, so he covered himself with his jacket he travelled in but the radiator still stayed cold, fortunately he didn't go into one of his spasms when he gets cold, even I was cold and I had my coat on.
Take care, keep warm
LM
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Happy New Year everyone.
Was surprised to see some of my Daffodils are already in bud, the first sign of Spring, it can’t come soon enough, just hope it is not such a wet one as this year.🤞
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Happy New Year to everyone from me too.
LM, I'm glad to hear your husband got through his cataracts op. Like you say, it is early days so hopefully the misty eye will clear soon. Sorry to hear the ward was so cold .. not what you would hope for when going into hospital. :-\
I can see outside in my street that my neighbours' cars are frosted over. Oh, I really dislike this cold weather.
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Bright sunny morning but oh, the frost, hope it warms up later, not venturing far, not sure I will stay up to see new year in, usually we just go outside, last year I was out on my own.
Happy new year to one and all.
LM
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RTL - so very god to see your post on here it has been quite a while… I hope that things have been better for you and your family…
A chilly day to be sure but no snow!
Unlike my brother who regularly sends me pictures and yesterdays one had the snow about a third of the way up their back patio doors.. and they have a step down to a decking and then a further six steps to the garden!
They do live in Ontario though so to be expected!
I’m sure we won’t be getting that much 🤞even down south…. Unlike 1962/3’s winter which I remember well as I’m sure everyone else does too.
We will just be venturing up the lane to our friends who live behind us for dinner and see the New Year in.
Best wishes to everyone for the New Year
Caroline
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It will be a struggle for us to stay up and see the New Year in, I feel. I remember as a child that my father, a dark-haired man, would set out just before midnight to bring the New Year in for our neighbours, carrying with him a lump of coal and some cake. This was called "First footing". Every year he would bring Warmth and Food to them in this shape. We lived in north Lancashire, so perhaps this was a northern custom. Dark-haired men were, I suppose, thought to be safer than fair-haired Vikings.
On New Year's Day, or in the days following it, there would be a knock at the door and there would stand some children, probably the same ones who had sung carols at our door before Christmas, dressed in scruffy clothes and aprons. They were the Mummers, who did not say a word, but made a humming sound all the time they were in the house. They brought with them cleaning cloths and dusted round the furniture, apparently cleaning out the old year. Of course they wanted some kind of payment, either cash or sweets. Does anyone else remember the Mummers? Viktoria, I'm sure you do! :)
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That was interesting, my mother was 0art Scottish and they had parties and I suspect first footers.
I don't remember the mummers, what a cute idea.
LM
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Thanks Caroline. I won't say too much apart from my Grandson is still having treatment and seems to be doing well. People say children are resilient but I didn't really believe it at first but he has shown a strength throughout that has amazed me. Hopefully, near the end of 2026 he will get to ring the bell. :D
As for me I have such terrible insomnia now and there seems to be no help for it. I told them again when I went for my annual review but I felt it was just brushed off as before. They are more interested in things like cholesterol and blood pressure.
One day, a few months ago, I tripped on the stairs, I was practically sleepwalking. I injured my hand. They said at the hospital it would be better in 4-6 weeks but it is not.
I haven't been on here as much as I would like because I am at the stage now where it is hard to think at times.
I'm celebrating New Year early with sister in law this afternoon but may be asleep when New Year comes. The fireworks will probably wake me up though, I expect. I usually wake properly between 2 & 3 am. I have a 12 hour shift on New Year's Day. I'm to be picked up and taken home. I prefer the bus even though that would take longer. I find bus journeys very relaxing.
I hope to get my sleep issues sorted out in just over a year and a half when I can retire at almost 67. If I can't it won't matter anyway by then.
God only knows how I will get through the next year and a half - I have a very active job.
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Hello All
Lovely to see the sun and I wish all a good year ahead.
Oh Roobarb
I do hope you have not had a brush with silver iodide? Don't breathe that in and I'd go back inside straight away if it fell here, close the windows, until after the rain and moisture has fully cleared which usually follows.
People who genuinely care about our Welfare and the Environment have been saying it should be stopped, but the authorities are saying the opposite that this is only a low toxin.
I am not convinced of low toxicity and as for the scientist who says it is an irritant and people will cough it out, so he felt it was okay, I am not sure about that either.
They are part of the government experiments to make it rain. Another experiment is to change the atmosphere in order to dim the sun, rather than cut down pollution, plant more hedgerows and more trees.
Silver iodide (AgI) is a bright yellow inorganic compound, important for its photosensitive properties and its crystal structure, which closely resembles ice, ...
It's been quite a bright morning although we had a short shower that I suspect had some little white pellets in it. :-\ Anyway, I've been out gardening after that. Yes, sounds mad but I wanted to rescue my geraniums from the garden and the big pots so I could put them somewhere they might stand a chance of surviving. It's forecast to get really cold from tomorrow so it was now or never. Wrapped up in several layers, I wasn't feeling cold, came in when it started raining.
Has anyone wondered why the sky has been dull, full of cloud and lots of rain, in the months leading up to x-mas?
Mark
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No Mark , please reveal,
Have had some beautiful but cold days and between throughly miserable depressing days, today is very bright but very cold.
Just popped to the top shops, didn't want much, the traffic warden is out, saw a young woman get a ticket, she didn't seem bothered at all, I double checked with the warden how long I was allowed, 1 hour, that isn't lone outside a parade of shops but the supermarket does have a car park which allows longer.
Happy and healthy New year all.
LM.
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This is the first time I have heard of silver iodide. I'm now wondering if we had some of that on Tyneside last Saturday morning 27th? ???
At first, I thought it was raining but then noticed it was more like sleet but it seemed softer than sleet and not as icy sharp. Then we did get some proper rain after that.
That doesn't sound good if the government might be experimenting with toxins. If so, you would hope they would be more transparent about it - such as when and where.
We have bright sunshine here now but I still feel like I am living in the Artic.
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I don't think it was silver iodide, although I've never heard of it either. I was just avoiding the 'S' word - sleet! :D
I'm a bit puzzled about why the government would want to make it rain, it's done nothing but rain here lately! I'm assuming that the cloud and rain is due to one thing - it's winter!
Same weather as you today RTL, a hard frost overnight but at least we don't have that freezing wind coming off the sea today.
Good to see you posting again RTL, I hope your grandson continues to improve. I'm sorry to hear you're sleeping so badly, it's difficult to function properly when you haven't slept, I can't imagine how you manage to get through the days at work. The government doesn't seem to take account when they're raising the pension age, of people who are doing jobs like yours.
Very best wishes for the new year.
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Re my earlier description of the New Year mummers, I have since read that this particular form of mummers is actually native to Lancashire and they usually sweep the hearth or the floor. Yes, it was indeed Lancashire where we were living, though from memory they didn't just sweep the hearth, but also did a perfunctory bit of dusting, too. The striking thing about them was that they never said a word, just hummed this "mmmmmm" sound the whole time.
So different from the noisy mummers and their plays that you see in other parts of the country.
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There was an article about it in the Guardian this year 2025
Search summary for Guardian article ...
22 Apr 2025 — Blocking sunlight could temporarily slow the climate crisis but the technologies remain highly controversial.
The article is beyond a paywall
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/apr/22/uk-scientists-outdoor-geoengineering-experiments
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There was a large public Petition around June 2025 that the public were opposed to Solar and Geo Engineering
UK Parliamentary Petition
Make all forms of 'geo-engineering' affecting the environment illegal
160,632 signatures
https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/701963
The government response is now in the above link
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Just found this, that previously in 2024 the UK Government appear to be denying cloud seeding operations ...
https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2024-11-26/HL2905/
Sorry Roobarb if my hasty response caused any anxiety.
I do care about people and the environment.
Mark
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Thanks Mark, it didn't cause me any anxiety. I know that cloud seeding goes on in the world, although I seem to remember it caused quite a catastrophe, but I don't believe it goes on in the UK.
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Hi Roobarb,
Thanks for your kind words re my Grandson, I hope that this coming year will bring an end to his treatment and he can move on to a fully normal life again.
Re raising the retirement age I agree and think the government have a one size fits all mentality about it. They seem to completely overlook that some jobs will naturally take more of a toll physically.
I mentioned to SiL about the silver iodine this afternoon and she hadn't heard of it either. I can believe they might be experimenting for global warming and/or for the benefit of countries who have droughts. As for us in the North East I think we have more than our fair share of the rain already. ;)
Well, all the best for 2026 everyone.
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Hello R
I can't have that precious Green furry Roobarb with a smiley face getting hurt, hope you are keeping well or feeling much better. Hope your garden looks to your satisfaction now.
I have changed the protectors, the sheet and duvet, pillow protectors & slips on my bed and using the reasonably good days to mostly dry them outside, finishing them on the airer inside.
It takes 3 washes (over 3 days) with only one Tall airer inside.
Bottom sheet and towels tomorrow.
I didn't like this machine because there is no temp between 60 & 90 deg C.
Keep well everyone.
Best wishes Mark
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I'm fine thanks Mark. Looking forward to the spring bulbs flowering in my garden, amazing that Gillg has them in bud already but she's a long way further south of of course.
Well done on getting all the bedding changed, a nice fresh start to the New Year. :)
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Well in our area if Manchester there were The First Footers, the first people to come to your door and wish you A Happy New Year, they did not come in though .
My Mum used to tell me to stand at the front door on New Years Eve,in the day time, to look for a man with as many noses as there were days in the year—- I expected him to have 365 noses and there was a man who I later realised had a very sad skin condition, but no it was ‘t him——-well as it was December 30 th ,every one had as many noses as days in the year —- :-\
It got me from “ under her feet! “ ie in the way and hampering the big clean.
Well fireworks going off ,very big bangs, so :-
A Very Happy and Healthy New Year, to everyone , with hopes and prayers for peace in the current war zones .
Thanks for your great kindness throughout the year folks, it is greatly appreciated.
Viktoria.
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