I Need A Drink But...

[MichaelJH]

... An Expert Says Wear A Mask...

[Milkfairy Heart Star]

Excellent thanks for the your pictorial humour.

Perhaps the virtual bar need reopening?

[Smarticus in reply to Milkfairy]

where do you put the umbrella, can we have a straw each? so many questions...

[Milkfairy Heart Star in reply to Smarticus]

Very good point! ☂️

Questions questions questions.....

[Koassilator]

Suck it & see. It's the last straw innit 😜

[Becksagogo]

When were you in Cyprus? My Dad was stationed in Cyprus from 1958 ish to 1962. He would have been RSM at the time! I'm sure he would never have played such dastardly tricks though.....

[Bagrat]

Ha. As the only nursing sister (and the only officer(!)) on one "how to use your respirator and 2 way radio course" at RAF Rheindahlen, I was a bit of a challenge I think. I was told I needn't do the gas chamber exercise if I didn't want to, and at tea break while queuing quite happily at tea urn was firmly escorted away to have coffee with OC RAF regiment who was as overjoyed as I was (not).

[Bagrat]

We were always in trouble as most of the care assistants on the wards were married to " other ranks" such a strange description, and meeting at theirs for a coffee was, excuse the play on words, a military operation, to avoid detection!!

[Patsy10]

Hubby was out there in 1976 on UN Peacekeeping, enjoyed the sun but not so much the tour of 'duty'.

[Becksagogo in reply to Patsy10]

We loved it. Best years of our lives. We spent a lot of time with the boys in the Parachute Regiment band who taught us to swim. Troudos Mountains were also wonderful and Ladies Mile Beach.

[Patsy10 in reply to Becksagogo]

Hubby used to parachute onto Ladies Mile Beach!

[Patsy10]

This pic. made us smile. My hubby did a ten mile charity run in full NBC Suit (with the canister in) in the days when he was a serious runner. He's still very fit with his replacement heart but no longer runs.

[Handel]

😂 xx

[Handel]

😂

[Stuart2441]

That made me smile. Many a time walking past the chamber and seeing many a face streaming with tears hanging on to the mesh fencing gasping for air. Had 23 years of it and funnily enough......still miss it. Stay safe 🌈

[Sunnie2day]

Might I second Milkfairy's excellent suggestion to reopen the virtual pop-up bar - tomorrow night is the 75th anniversary of one huge Britain wide celebration and decorating the bar in bunting and other 1945 'The War Is Ended!' memorobilia would be almost as good as getting out on the pavements to commemorate. Wouldn't hurt to have the jukebox dedicated to Vera Lynn, Glenn Miller, and other war era great music makers...

[Milkfairy Heart Star in reply to Sunnie2day]

I'll drink to that and raise a toast to my father who was an air gunner in a Lancaster bomber at the age of 20 years.

I have both my father's and his father's medals.

[Sunnie2day in reply to Milkfairy]

Bit late of me to reply but I raised a glass, I definitely did. (Internet playing up and it looks as though it's going to be a while before it's fixed) but I

[Lezzers in reply to Sunnie2day]

Ah, I wondered why you wasn't at the bbq. Hope you're keeping well x

[Sunnie2day in reply to Lezzers]

We'll manage - we like to say we're not completely reliant on the Internet but we are. This is the second time we've had a problem and while the first time was in our equipment, this time it's the line feeding our little corner of town, there are about 8 homes having trouble and the different providers are all saying it's the main trunk. (Whatever that means).

And we are prepared this time - jigsaws, books, box sets, word docs for copy-paste when the 'Net pops back for an hour or so, lol! My biggest worry was getting the order number copied to a piece of paper for the Click&Collect scheduled for yesterday morning. Yay, shopping all here!

I hope you and your husband are keeping well!

[Milkfairy Heart Star in reply to Sunnie2day]

Hello Sunnie

Glad to see you back with us.

Technology is great when it works😊

[Sunnie2day in reply to Milkfairy]

Yes - when it works and right now mine is so temperamental I'm not sure posts or anything else gets through! Hope floats for a fix this week.

[080311 in reply to Sunnie2day]

Hi Sunnie,

I was wondering where you were, will keep my fingers crossed it gets sorted. We had a problem last year drove me nuts, it took 3 visits from the engineer. Until it goes down you don’t realise how much we depend on it now more the ever, keeping in touch and shopping. Even Dr appointment GP via video that was a bit strange! It was for John he as had a couple of problems, trying to get the camera pointed at the right bit was a bit stressful😂 hope you and yours are doing ok.

Pauline

[Sunnie2day in reply to 080311]

Much better now - Open Reach got us up and running smoothly again about two hours ago, yay!

I email with my cardiologist and GP. Owing to my voice going (Essential Tremor), I really don't like thinking about needing a video call - torture for me and the medics! Still, if I ever have to do it I've got it worked out - laptop on boxes so I'm looking up (not down - why put double chins on display, lol!) and an emailed set of snaps if absolutely essential to a diagnosis/treatment.

I'd laugh but some of the stories I'm hearing aren't funny - someone sent a snap of a clearly broken ankle (no bones sticking out but obviously broken, not 'just' sprained) to the GP and apparently she went a bit Delta Rocket on the patient - 'Get to A&E or I'm sending an ambulance!'.

[080311 in reply to Sunnie2day]

So pleased your up and running again, when ours got fixed felt like doing a jig! I had to send 2 lots of photos to the surgery before and after! Have another video appointment this Friday with GP, it’s stressful trying to hold the iPad and get John to turn his arm and get it on the camera it’s his stroke side so that tends to do it’s own thing😂 hope your family in USA are ok, nephew who’s the doctor sounds exhausted. Saw a photo of his poor face after a shift with his PPE on looked battered and bruised!

Keep well stay safe Pauline

[Sunnie2day in reply to 080311]

This must be especially hard for your husband! Bad enough trying to recover from a stroke but to have to contort to get something on camera must seem a double whammy for him. How are you doing?

Daughter and her family in Southern California say they're being even more careful than they were before - two neighbours have died, and another is on a vent now, not expected to make it.

I'm not sure what more they can do but she tells me her husband is the only one leaving the property now (they own a restaurant and have been doing 'meals on wheels' and other deliveries) - and he's not coming in the house or contact with the family any longer, he's staying in the granny-flat they added on hoping I'd move there (obviously I didn't ).

My son (Alabama, manages a big box 'fresh department' - butcher, deli, bakery, and produce) has his staff who meet the public on full PPE (company supplied, they're not taking any chances of lawsuits) and his backstage staff in masks, gloves, and plastic aprons. He says the infection and death toll in his area is low - but he's been staying at a friend's granny flat to avoid accidentally bringing anything into his wife and two boys.

'Interesting times', eh?!

[080311 in reply to Sunnie2day]

Interesting times as you say! We are fine, keeping going, have sorted deliveries out medication and food so no problems on that front,

Son in Perth Australia sent a Hello Fresh box of food last week! John said it felt like a Red Cross parcel! Nice thought but we aren’t going hungry! Perth have had very few cases and have had no new ones in the past 3 days. Granddaughters back in school though Craig is still working from home.

Other son on the south coast is working from home my daughter-in-law works on QVC so she as gone back to the studio, he as asthma as does his daughter so am a bit nervous if she brings anything in from London. She works in front of camera and they have made sure they are self distancing but still makes me nervous.

Take good care

[Sunnie2day in reply to 080311]

I know what you mean about your DIL going back to the studio making you feel nervous, I feel the same about my family members going out. Nice about the food parcel, though - anything new and different you wouldn't ordinarily buy for yourself but now have a chance to try?

[080311 in reply to Sunnie2day]

There was sausage and mash as one of the meals, the sausage was honey and mustard and the mash was sweet potato there was a sticky onion gravy, never had any of them before sausages were fantastic so was the potatoes but it was the onions made with red onions balsamic vinegar and stock that was just lovely. Every meal comes with everything you need sachets of vinegar and red wine stock, including a recipe card. He sent three meals plus a soup with bread, soup comes ready made was roasted red pepper and lentils it had chic peas in and was just lovely, I make lots of lentil soup but never anything like this, John even mopped the soup bowl with a piece of bread never does that with the one a make! The potions were for 2 but there was so much did another meal so ended up with 6 meals. He also sent a pasta dish and steak and mushroom pie, the pastry came ready rolled. It was quite exciting opening the box, it’s comes really well wrapped frozen packs keeping everything fresh.

[Sunnie2day in reply to 080311]

Everything sounds delicious! I've thought about those Fresh boxes but wanted to hear a real review first - thank-you for writing yours and I'll probably be ordering now, thank-you again!

[080311 in reply to Sunnie2day]

Your welcome