Good Morning Wednesday 5th August 2026

Now that’s canny housekeeping! 🤣🤣

When the North British hotel became the Balmoral it was actually called the New Balmoral so that the linen wouldn't all have to be replaced. It was marked NB.

Every day’s a school day PaddyAnn
For your edification and enjoyment:

Writers and mapmakers used North Britain to replace "Scotland" after the 1707 Acts of Union joined Scotland with England and Wales
Postal Addresses: Mail sent from England to Scotland sometimes used "N.B." instead of Scotland in the 1800s
Organisations: Companies like the North British Railway and the North British Distillery used the name for regional businesses. The famous North British Station Hotel in Edinburgh is now known as The Balmoral
(We started our honeymoon there , so I remember it well and as far as I’m concerned it will always be the NB clock)
The term fell out of favour by the 20th century as "Scotland" returned to standard use
You’re welcome!

“North Britain” ?Sounds like something Burnham would day .I live in Scotland if you mean Scotland why not say it?
It’s just as easy as the insulting North Britain….

good morning (I haven't yet had my lunch) from a sunny and hot poole in dorset. I had hoped it would be cooler today but it's 24/25 degrees!
i'm in my local tesco's cafe waiting for my friend. we meet up once a week after we've done our shopping and have coffee and a chat.
i bought some mcvitie's ginger biscuits in sainsburys on Friday as tesco don't sell them so she's buying the coffee!
after paying for my shopping I'll go home and put some washing on.
what an exciting life i'm leading!! hopefully I'll feel better when it gets cooler - the hot weather affects me quite badly.

Just popping in, to send best wishes to rosesandlilac.
Thinking of everyone else too.
Looking forward to heavy rain and thunderstorms this afternoon!

Good morning. Michael12 and all!

There I was in the kitchen this morning at about 6, ready for work at 7, merrily making a mug of PG Tips; the kettle was boiling away happily while I was adding milk, a tea bag and 2 saccharin to the mug.

For some reason I can't explain, I looked up, and guess what was clinging to the ceiling JUST INCHES ABOVE MY HEAD? My arch-enemy, Sid the Spid! I screamed so loud the cops in the Siberian mountains thought there was a vicious murder taking place!

I didn't walk out of the kitchen; I teleported in 0.0 seconds! Straight to the bedroom where I have my mini-kitchen and made a cuppa from there! Chief Miles O'Brien would have been very impressed with my velocity! Star Trek fans will know who I mean!

Sid the Spid, I REFUSE to let you stop me making a cuppa before a long work shift, so do all of us arachnophobics a favour and twiddle off!

See you all later!

Marydoll some things have to be experienced ….I remember my dad asking if I was nervous about giving birth.
The 23year old me told him it’s not like mums time …childbirth is painless nowadays!
That definately before a 30 odd hour Labour .
I would say he,ll listen to you next time ….probably not.

Then ask your DS to cancel his day and help you both out. If your DH has sedation he could be wobbly after the procedure and you will both end up on the floor. I think you fell over this week?
Broken hips for both of you would be disastrous.

The last time (many years ago), DH felt so ill on the way to the hospital, he tried to exit the car at traffic lights.
He was going to be sick, having had a severe reaction to the prep.
This is why a taxi will be a last resort.

He has been told he will be there for about about four hours, which is why I need to drive, or get one of my sons to help. I will go home and come back, I couldn't sit that long.

He will not listen, that the prep is nothing like it was twenty years ago. Despite me having had a colonoscopy in September and seeing that it wasn't too bad, I cannot convince him, it will not be as bad as he thinks.

I won't bore you with the details, but he is driving me crazy, with his bizarre misconceptions!!

Get a taxi Marydoll !
I used to have to get an often very poorly Paw to London to the Royal Free for his annual colonoscopies. In the earlier years we would get the train to London then a cab - a journey of often over 2 hours, not easy when you’ve been on the Moviprep. Latterly he was too infirm to attempt public transport even with Passenger Assistance and D and SIL used to pay for a door to door airport car-type taxi for both directions.

Good morning from Durham, it’s bright and breezy here and we had a couple of showers yesterday- enough to freshen things up- followed by a spectacular rainbow. Noisy outside with a neighbour having his drive jet-washed. I’m interested, if it’s a good job.
Got most of my tasks done yesterday, later I took Little Dog home to DD and returned via her local M&S Simply Food with a small bag of laundry.

No big plans for today - I’m sure I can entertain myself though.
There’s a long list of posters needing a bit of sympathy today, but thinking especially of Roses and MaryDoll.

Best wishes to all. X

Thanks HelterSkelter DS1 has said he will cancel his London business trip if necessary.
We are only fifteen minutes from the hospital, thank goodness.
I specifically requested this one, rather than the one I had mine done in, because it is so close to home.
When I explained my circumstances, the staff were very accomodating.

Marydoll if you are still feeling dodgy when your Dh goes for his colonoscopy, do get a cab.
DH had endless hospital visits and being able to have someone else drive and drop us off was so helpful. When I did the drives the stress of finding a parking space and getting DH from the car park to the hospital entrance in both very very hot weather and once in sub zero wind chill was detrimental to my health.
I also got an expensive parking ticket as well once in the hosp car park.

Currently an air conditioned taxi with our friendly cab company is worth the cost for my frequent hospital check ups.

Maw, I will swap as much of our rain as you want, for some of your sunshine.

Good morning Michael and all GN's on a sunny, breezy morning in North Yorkshire. We had quite a grey day yesterday, and a bit cooler too,but no rain sadly, and dont think we will get any today either.

I am slowly getting going today, after a horrible day yesterday. My head was painful, migraine, so I really struggled , couldnt bend down, do anything much at all , and felt nauseous, My head itched so much but hurt a lot if I tried to scratch it! Still not great, but need to catch up with jobs, and plod along. Too sunny to go to the market, even with sunglasses on, right now. Not making any plans, just do what I can. Sounds like a lawnmower going on outside, but cannot imagine anyone needing to use one at the moment!

I was thinking about RosesandLilac yesterday and hoping that all went well and she is now starting her recovery. The worry of the operation is added to, when you hear of delays etc ., so to have actually got it over with is at least a relief mentally. Hope that it is a bit cooler where she is too, so that will help too.

Wishing you all a successful day and fingers crossed for some rain

Good morning from a cooler, overcast but still very dry N Surrey.
Nothing on the cards today except a possible visit from the district nurse. I must also decide whether to change energy supplier from OVO to Octopus. Today I will look into the different tariffs. Why can't we just have one supplier and one tariff like in the distant past. I hate this constant annual dance with energy and insurances. At least water and council tax is standard. Expensive of course, but no need to change.

I hope everyone has as good a day as possible.

Good Morning from a dull Co Armagh, I see rain on the window , but also the clouds to the east are thinning , might not rain much , sigh !
Nothing planned today , there’s lots to do , but the get up a go is missing
Mislaid my spectacles! Now I wear them most of the day , but have to take them off for serious reading ! I’ve an eye test on Monday, might ask if the reading bit on my bifocals can be enlarged slightly, need new because current lot have a tiny chip
Hoping Rosesis getting plenty of pain relief 💐

MawsRosie

(Tomorrow we have an engineer from Severn Trent coming to check for a leak.)

It never rains but it pours - sadly Dragonfly this summer - it doesn’t.

Actually I take it back - it is raining, chucking it down” -,ooops! It stopped again.
I take your point Marydoll and think it is very selfish of you to keep all the rain to yourselves.
Rather like an oven which bakes unevenly so you have to keep turning your pie or cake round, wouldn’t it be good if the British Isles could be rotated for a few weeks- North Britain is more than welcome to our heatwaves!

The drive is definitely damp but the cloud has cleared and another sunny day is likely - and this is not the promised heatwave! Certainly the rain has made no impression on the beige carpet where the lawn used to be.

Am off shortly to a functional physio course designed to keep the elderly upright and moving. Feel I really need this and will take it seriously as my greatest fear is a disabling fall which changes my life completely.

Thinking of Roses and all our friends finding life difficult.

MawsRosie

(Tomorrow we have an engineer from Severn Trent coming to check for a leak.)

It never rains but it pours - sadly Dragonfly this summer - it doesn’t.

I beg to differ, Mawh, 😉 Our back garden is sodden. We haven't had to water it for weeks and it is still lush.

(Tomorrow we have an engineer from Severn Trent coming to check for a leak.)

It never rains but it pours - sadly Dragonfly this summer - it doesn’t.

Good morning to a damp Leicestershire.
We have had rain!

Nothing much planned for today so may pop to Waitrose although we have Ocado delivery this afternoon.
Our cleaner managed to break the flush on our downstairs toilet last week.
The plumber rushed round and stopped the water flow but had t a clue how to mend it.
As the cloakroom is only 3 years old we rang the fitters and they will sort it.

Tomorrow we have an engineer from Severn Trent coming to check for a leak.
It never rains but it pours.

Thinking of Rosesandlilac.
Wishing everyone the best day possible.

Good morning everyone from south Manchester where it’s definitely cooler. We have white cloud cover, only 19°C and maybe showers later.

I’ve my yoga class at the library this morning followed by lunch in the Lounge below with my neighbour friend and a friend also widowed in January. A sad little group of bereaved people but I’m sure we will enjoy seeing the friend who is driving over to see us. He and his partner were neighbours of ours who were residents in Málaga - until he and his partner were over here on a holiday 4 years ago and she suffered two major strokes within a week. It was a shock to us all as she was always so sensible and active.

After that I’ve been invited over for a roast lamb dinner at teatime with our daughter and son in law before going to watch L’il Miss have her swim lesson - so all in all a very busy day!

I hope R&L operation went well yesterday.

Good morning from a breezy northwest coast. I’m so pleased my seventeen year old car passed its MOT yesterday and it was a busy day as DD, DS, nephew and niece arrived to stay. DGD couldn’t make it as she had car trouble. DD and I prepared the meal of lasagne and salad followed by Eton mess, always easy.

We had a lovely evening of laughter and reminiscences of the family growing up, my late DH, MIL etc. it was a very late night.
Nephew left early as he broke his journey here from the south before driving up to the western isles.
I’m tired today, but there is a plan for a walk in the sand dunes and DD and niece will go out this evening.

I loved your ceramic cat from yesterday LadyLeftFieldLover and I’m glad RosesandLilac’ op’ is over. Special thoughts to her today.🌺