HOUSEHOLD TIPS NOT FOUND IN WOMAN'S WEEKLY

[Stanley]

I was talking to Susan and Mick about the beneficial effects of having projects in hand, she understands because of her knitting.
So today's tip is that ongoing projects with clear and attainable conclusions are an essential factor in life. It could be me with an engine, Susan with a complicated Fair Isle pattern or a mother and father rearing children. They give focus to our lives and alleviate any chance of boredom!

[Stanley]

Be very careful when taking advice from daughters on household matters.....

[Marilyn]

How did she lead you astray?

[Stanley]

I've posted the whole matter, was it on What attracted?

[Stanley]

I've had a look and I can't find it. What happened was that I made a watermark on the polished table with my fish and chips and Susan said that when she was a silver service waitress at Stirk House they used to get rid of such marks by firing some methylated spirits on it so I poured some on and set fire to it.... We stood there awestruck as the table burned....With hindsight I used a bit too much, I should have put some on a rag and wiped it on. But it shifted the stain, I just need to sand it lightly with flour paper and re-polish it.

[Marilyn]

It wasn’t a water mark then, it was Fish and Chip wrapper?

[Tizer]

That must have been like a scene out a Mr Bean episode!

[plaques]

Fish and chips placed directly on the table is a bit unusual. More often the culprit is a cold beer can straight out of the fridge. That lifts the polish more than something warm. Put a coaster under it.
Not my problem being TT but I have to an eye on visitors.

[Stanley]

Polystyrene container not paper. I know a watermark when I see one Maz thank you!
You're right Tiz, the video is hilarious!
Later, I've just played the video again, priceless!

[Stanley]

A further refinement to my regular sink cleaning. When bleach and detergent are in pot but before adding boiling water brush inside and outside of pot with sink brush and leave it in the pot. Increases exposure of brush and outside of pot to the bleach. (I know, its compulsive behaviour but it does mean a clean sink!)

[Whyperion]

I dont really like Sink Brushes anymore, unless one can find a bamboo/ecucalyptus/hemp fibre made one the plastic of the present scourers/nylon brushes/ foam scotch pads all put bits of unwanted into the water and eco-system. Ok cruise ships might be a bigger polluter but changes to affordable greener methods would be better.

[Stanley]

If you have a swelling that is hot and angry or a small wound festering carbolic soap and sugar poultice is a cure. It will draw anything! Old fashioned but try it the next time you have the need. I'll bet honey would work even better than sugar but never tried it.

[Stanley]

If you get stung by a bee, most other insects or nettles alkali will neutralise the sting, hence the old dock leaf treatment. However a wasp's venom is alkaline and so vinegar is the neutraliser.

[Marilyn]

Have you been beaming down on me via satellite?
I just went out to check the letter box, and a very ardent bee wanted to be my friend...I kept dodging out of the way...but it pestered me all the way back to the front door. Didn’t get me though.

[Stanley]

You can run Maz but you can't hide. (ESP is cheaper than satellites...)

[PanBiker]

I just went out to check the letter box, and a very ardent bee wanted to be my friend...I kept dodging out of the way...but it pestered me all the way back to the front door. Didn’t get me though.

The bee would probably be reacting to the clothing you had on or your aroma, hence the following. Bees do not have a hidden agenda to "get" anyone unless they are feeling threatened so your survival was a foregone conclusion I reckon.

[Marilyn]

Well....I had just eaten a Vegemite Sandwich (not my usual lunch, but hastily grabbed because I was deep in Ancestry, hungry, but wanted the quickest fix.) then I heard the post man drive by.
Do bees like Vegemite ?
I often skip lunch entirely when I am absorbed...

[PanBiker]

No idea Maz, ask the next one that takes in interest in you.

[Stanley]

Big Harry once told me that most insects are attracted by the CO2 we breathe out, don't know if it applies to Bees as well.
Today's tip, never give up looking for friends if you lose them. I lost one 20 years ago and put out enquiries in all sorts of places, she mailed me this morning. Her email had been hijacked and she lost her address book. Nice!

[Wendyf]

I too found an old friend yesterday! Our 45th wedding anniversary is approaching and I decided to try and track down the friend who was my bridesmaid. We went our different ways but kept in touch by Xmas card until the end of the 1980s, she married, adopted a little girl and moved to Cornwall. I thought I had lost her last address and after a failed attempt to find her on facebook set about using my family history skills to track her family down. I didn't get anywhere, then after a fruitless search of cupboards throughout the house for old address books i looked in my current one and there she was.... under a different surname to the one I remembered! I think she married twice....
More internet searches and all I found was a possible daughter on Facebook and a 2002 address in Truro on an electoral roll for someone with the right name. Zoopla told me that the house hadnt sold since 2001. This was about 4pm yesterday and it seemed all I could do would be to write to that address, then I decided to see if St Columb Major ( the last known address in my book) had a community Facebook page. It did, I posted an appeal for anyone who might have known the family, and within 30 minutes i was in contact with the daughter and by 9.00pm was exchanging emails with my long lost bridesmaid.

[Stanley]

What a lovely story Wendy and well done for persevering. I wasn't quite as proactive but I did send out a lot of enquiries. I have to write a catch up email now.

[Marilyn]

I am not good with catching up with anyone who loses contact. There has to be a reason...and I just put it down to being forgettable! It does leave me questioning relationships...but I have never been great at human relationships anyway.
Two years ago, a couple of old friends tracked me down and knocked on the front door. They stayed 7 hours...we chatted non stop, over several cups of tea, and had a wonderful catch-up. A great day! They left and I have never heard from them again! I have sent emails/text messages and have never had a response. I find it all quite confusing.
It was lovely to catch up...we hugged each other as they left - then NOTHING.

[Marilyn]

Stanley...I think a classic example of what I am saying is the meal we had at our holiday rental cottage in Foulridge , with Nolic and his wife ( have never heard from then again) and “Belle” and her husband ( have never heard from them again) and yourself of course. I don’t know...I don’t truly understand. A mystery of life I think...

[Wendyf]

I think you are right Maz, there are reasons why we lose touch over the years, sometimes just distance or having nothing in common as we grow older. It is still nice to catch up though, and I enjoy making connections with long lost friends. Facebook may have its faults but it is a great way of keeping in touch.

[Marilyn]

I met “Moh” and her husband Fred. A beautiful couple. Moh and I kept in touch until a few weeks before her death. They were both really special people.
I am not on Facebook. It is not for me.