addicted

Actually Jean I ,think I may well prefer that to being located in Cambridgeshire . I like Norwich as a city. One of the things I don't like about where we live is the awful shopping facilities, I sometimes have to drive a round trip of about 25 miles to get a preferred mascara! When you have lived all your life in areas where you can buy practically anything within a few minutes it comes hard. However offset against that is the fact that we bought a decent sized house for about a third of what our old house cost so it's very much swings and roundabouts. Carole

Totally agree about living close to where your boat is berthed. We retired 18 years ago and moved from North London to a village just outside Ely where our boat was moored on the river Gt. Ouse thinking it would be great not to have to do a long journey each time we wanted to go to it, especially as retirement meant we would be going more often. However unfortunately our marina changed hands and went from being idyllic to anything but! This prompted our moving the boat to the Broads. Far from finding the 1hr 45mins journey a nuisance we actually found we had re-captured that going away feeling which we hadn't even realised we had lost. Do I regret the house move? A bit, but the benefits make it worth staying, The medical care is infinitely superior to that we would receive where we used to live and as one gets older that is very important, Yes, I 'd prefer to live closer to our family and yes I will always be a London girl at heart but on the whole I think it worked out very well. Carole

Greatly relieved to know that there is nothing amiss with Gracie thanks so much for the update. My best wishes to her and her family along with everyone else's. Carole

could someone kindly explain to me how a post expressing concern for the wellbeing of Gracie managed to morph into a discussion about the merits (or not) of washing powder? Priceless!! Regards, Carole

Yes you are quite right in that a lot seems to have changed for the better in recent times it needed to! Frankly I never had the slightest intention of ever posting again it was only my concern for Gracie plus her persistent attempts to rope me back in that overrode that sentiment. Events of a year ago caused the disappearance of (in my opinion) several valued members and the forum remains poorer for their loss I believe, and my anger at that remains. It could all have been handled so much better. It is to be hoped that lessons have been learned and should, God forbid ,a similar situation arise again it will be dealt with more appropriately. regards, Carole

Sadly the forum lost it's ethos. Last Summer it was a real pleasure to be a part of the fun that was the forum, then it seemed to get hijacked by people always ready to see insult where none was intended and responding with aggression, treating differing opinions with contempt and responding with gratuitous sarcasm etc. all of which served to totally spoil what was a thoroughly enjoyable outlet. The effect was that people like myself (I haven't posted in almost a year) and Gracie felt uncomfortable making contributions. Fortunately, some of those responsible for this shift have it seems moved on thus it may be possible to recapture that which was lost as a lot of the "good guys" have stayed with it happily. Let's wait and see. regards, Carole

Has anyone heard if there is something amiss with Gracie? I had a pm from her a couple of weeks ago which I didn't answer for a few days as I was in hospital having a hip replacement op' and as I haven't had a response to my reply I m getting rather concerned for her wellbeing. regards, Carole

They did this recently in our local Tesco and nobody moved a muscle I was astonished too Strange lot these fens people Carole

I bet Simon Cowell is gutted he doesn't have a finger in that particular pie! The man knows his trade and must realise that The X Factor is not in the same league. Carole

We frequently travel to London on the A1 and coming home late at night as a rule we often find whole sections of the A1 closed with very poor detour signs taking us on wild goose chases through small villages up and down tiny country lanes in the back of beyond. The signs dry up leaving us to find our way, it puts miles on the journey and considerable time as well and late at night In the total blackness that is the norm in these places is really not much fun either. Carole

Do hope the wedding goes well and you have a brilliant time. Enjoy the holiday. Carole

There's nothing that compares, I love to see the gradual improvement each of the entrants makes which is I think a testament to the genuine hard work they put in. You can't compare X factor it's not in the same class. It's a pity most of this years celebs' are so obscure, it makes for better viewing when they are really familiar figures I think, but it's still great for all that, Some of the costumes are great, so exquisite and beautifully designed. There are not many programmes that have captured the public in this way. That says it all I think. they must be doing something right. Carole

# What's a hashtag? Carole

Sorry senior moment Carole

I never take out an insurance on an appliance, it seems to me just a price hike in disguise. If the appliance breaks down in what seems to me to be an unreasonably short time I make a huge fuss and get it repaired gratis, as I did with my 2 years old washing machine a few months back that needed a new drum. New Drum!!! I yelled Don't be ridiculous! They saw my point and fitted the new one free of charge. I usually get very long service from all my appliances fortunately. Carole

Whatever you're on I 'll take a ton please. Carole

I've never been tempted to watch a single minute of this animated dross. I don't think it is at all funny to set up people who believe in themselves as objects of ridicule. Carole

That just has to be a rhetorical question. Speaking for myself it's my winter antidote! (sorry about all the syllables) Carole

Wow! Jean your phone certainly made a better fist of it than mine by the time i thought of using the tablet instead it had faded.. Where were you when you took this? . It's pretty much as it was over Brundall Bay where we were Carole

I couldn't remember if we had seen 10s this early before, but I think they were earned. I just get the impression this new judge is rather showcasing her own knowledge. and I've really not taken to her at all and her presence is I think causing Darcey to be a bit OTT. Carole

What a very pretty name! Congrats' and very best wishes, Carole

My phone totally failed to to it justice as well, it was really spectacular wasn't it? Carole

I thought in light of all the lightweight stuff we've been bogged down with recently it was high time for a little gravitas, Now folks What do we think of the new judge on Strictly? It's a thumbs very firmly down for me. I 'm afraid she badly flunked the "how to win friends and influence people"course by a mile.Darcey has gone into "She's not eclipsing me"mode which is a pity. I was never a fan of Debbie McGee, but she totally won me over in the canal boat programme she did earlier this year and I'm rooting for her now. Carole

We're on the boat in Brundall SBD it's downright weird and I can't help thinking we're going to get a right old downpour any minute. Apparently aircraft are getting strong smells of burning causing a lot of concern and there is strange activity in the atmosphere over the Sahara which is affecting us. Carole

Tony gets really irritated with the weather girl on Look East I forget her name, but it's not Julie Reinger it's the one with the curly hair . She continually punctuates her delivery with "errs"and "ums" It irritates the hell out of him and he counts them up during the broadcast and announces how many there were at the end with a tone of total disgust! Carole