Hi Evelyn, yes hubby is very good with some things, l must say my idea of decorating the tree etc is much more tasteful. To me multi coloured  flashing lights is trashy and old fashioned. It makes him happy so all good. I stay in the kitchen diner away from the flashing. Wow 7ft is very tall we have 2 trees which we alternate each year, sometimes a 5ft white one other times the taller green one. We will probably share the prep and cooking of the meals. All presents are wrapped except an extra one for our youngest son. Yes me too, we have a gas fire in the lounge but l dont like it, it is easy l agree . I guess l am old fashioned in liking open fires. CH we have is ok but very drying of the air, that said the house is a lot warmer with one heater in every room except the loo. Oh no, but golly 35 years for that to last is amazing. The average 3 to 10 years according to my dentist. L had a temp done l hit it off in less than a week, the permanent one l have now is about 3 years old l think. Was very wary about chewing on it with hard foods, l still steer nuts to my natural teeth though lol. . I was offered a tooth to be literally stuck in my gap the other side, they last 5 years and then they re glue them back in. l didnt want a plate as they damage other teeth  with friction. Not made up my mind yet.  Fingers crossed they can fix it for you Hun xx

3. We have a family advent calendar and do secret Santa which is always the favourite thing with the kids. And the kids still get a little and I mean little present from Santa, even at 23 and 20 they love it.

Also, this year we're doing them a treasure hunt for want of a better expression and there will be clues for them to find answers around the house and garden. They'll have to work out the answer from all the clues, we haven't made it easy for them. They love this type of thing so it should be fun. Their prize is a city break on Eurostar to Amsterdam. It's a big treat and we figured they'll be finishing uni shortly and moving on with their lives so this will be a nice end plus they get on like a house on fire.

Anyway I hope Christmas is a special one for you this year. Enjoy and be merry xxx

2. I love the idea of the advent calendar for Granny. What a brilliant way to keep her involved and so thoughtful. Was it a clear day for the Cairngorm Funicular trip?

I'm all wrapped for xmas and just have some baking and making to do then I need to start on Cameron's birthday on New Year's Eve. We went to Germany a couple of weeks ago and I had a morning to myself so I cracked on with present buying and planning. And we had our xmas party outside on our deck on Saturday night which was great but now I can relax and get on with the things I want to do.

Morning Evelyn

Sorry for the late reply. Time has got away from me with xmas and working.

I love the sound of your line dancing class. I wish we had something like that here. It sounds very social as well which is good.

You asked if Gregor is good around the house - he is when he has a list of jobs otherwise he 'looks after' the kitchen, meaning wipes the worktops and hob, and hoovers. He does cook dinner when I'm working and has now realised what a pain it is thinking of what to cook every night to suit the family. I graded his house-husband skills last year as a 4 but would say he's a 5 now, it's slow progress. He's not allowed to clean bathrooms or toilets though. He'll say he's cleaned the kitchen and hoovered and then I ask has he dusted, did he do this and that in the kitchen, hoovered upstairs and there is a sheepish look meaning no. Hence the list lol!

Morning Evelyn, well we are home, the weather brightened up on the last day we were there. The main reason we went over there is because our favourite bar was having a fiesta but it was cancelled due to the weather being so bad. Never mind, we had a good catch up with friends over there.
Back to reality now, Peter is at the gym but when he comes home we are going shopping to get things we have forgotten to get before we went to Spain. We will get the fresh stuff on Tuesday or Wednesday. I am having my hair cut and coloured Monday morning and I’m meeting one my friend’s for a coffee and a catch up in the afternoon. I’m having my nails done on Wednesday then on to Tara’s to start our Christmas celebrations. It will all be a bit of a rush but we’ll get there. I’m so glad that I did the majority of our shopping, decorations and presents before we went away.
Enjoy your weekend Evelyn xx

I've never had the gel polish. It wasn't around when I used to look after my nails. Oh it is a pain trying to do the right hand if you're not left handed. I've had to look up Sistaco as I've never heard of the powder before. Mind you, I'm always behind the times lol. I like the sound of the bulbs in the container. Good idea for a gift. I normally but hyacinths in the spring, they remind me of when I was a little girl. I'm finding FL to be a pain, when I have festive critters, my friends have the elf critters and vice versa. I will still always water friends gardens but it doesn't help trying to light the lights and I also feel bad if my set up is no good for friends to find what they are looking for. I'm happy that I've managed to get some white lights. I think after nearly 17 years I'm improving, lol x

Hi Evelyn, my back is better, thank you, although it will probably be aching when I finish work on Sunday. It was great. Emma rang me earlier when she was still at work to see if there was anything else I needed before the 20% ended today. I couldn't think of anything, but I expect I will in bed tonight. We also have to just buy fresh food items now. I've got a couple of presents to wrap, then that will be it for this year.  Did you manage to get to M&S before it closed? I cut my nails short now, I find they get in the way and I often break one, so don't bother now. Also wore nail vanish when I was younger. Sounds as though Thomas kept you busy today. He'll sleep well tonight. Hope you manage to complete your tree. I haven't got the patience to attempt one, lol x

Only parents are allowed to hold the babies. I’d be so frightened to touch her when she’s this small. She’s got a lot of fight in her and keeps the nurses on their toes as she likes to pull out her feeding tube last. Last night she pulled it out and slapped her mum in the face with it 😂

I retired from nursing at the end of June last year. I worked in the operating theatres doing anaesthetics and loved my job but it got so stressful. I had special class status so took early retirement, thinking I’ll offer to do a couple of nights a week but my manager said see me nearer the time, so I thought well I offered and my pension is enough to live off, I’m going. I do miss some of the staff but meet up with them. My work friends were so supportive when my daughter was taken to theatre for her emergency caesarean section. They performed her operation in main theatres because my daughter was vented on ITU. Seeing Cordelia brought out in her incubator with a guard of honour with the theatre staff nearly broke me. My colleague who came across from maternity theatres to help with the operation messaged me the next day saying he could see the pain in my face when he hugged me. I thought

Hi Evelyn, thank you for that. I'm not sure whether I'll try them or not, I know if I read one or two I won't be able to walk away and I'm not sure I'm up for yet another huge series. And Number 31 is a biiiig series! I really enjoyed Game of Thrones but I'm not sure I'd be able to read the books, the show didn't leave much to the imagination and I dread to think what I could work up in my own head!! I'm also reading another series that I'm really, really enjoying (it's... gritty and sexy!). It's by Stacia Kane and it's called the Downside Ghosts, the first one is Unholy Ghosts and is one I'd definitely say take a peek at. Do you know/have you heard of time slips? I find the whole thing fascinating and am trying to find stories involving time slips.

I've found three, read them all, enjoyed them but two weren't really time slips, more telling two stories from two different times at the same time! Anyway, if you've come across anything involving time slips, I'd be really interested please 🙏  We're all readers, except for Luke! And I tried everything but it's just not his thing. I managed to get him interested in Terry Brookes' books but he really only reads if I nag and nag him or if he's that bored. I can't imagine it. There was a time when I'd be reading three books at a time - one at work, one at home and one in the car. Now I have trouble remembering the plot of the book I finished a week ago 🤣🤣 Make sure you study the reviews when choosing your new Kindle, they've made "improvements" to certain models that aren't necessarily improvements!! xx