Anyone had to spend days alone without anyone to talk to?

[Hanna3]

Hi all, apart from here and a brief visit to church last night (to make it feel Christmassy and to just be with people) I've had day after day for weeks now with nobody at all to talk to. This time of year especially it's really depressing. Old friends that live far away are gradually losing contact with me - I ring them but they don't ring me. I understand they're busy with their live elsewhere but still it's hard when you're lonely. I'm going to a Christmas Eve service at the local church tomorrow night to at least be with people for a little while... but otherwise all day I'm alone, just me and the dog. Sometimes I strike up a conversation on BB but then the other person disappears and that's the end of that...

How are people meant to cope with prolonged periods of social isolation? I read, I watch DVDs, normally I'd go for long walks with the dog but thick smoke from bushfires and intense hot weather have stopped that. I go to a café alone sometimes. Any ideas/help?

[Hanna3]

Hi Grandy & everyone

Thank you for coming by. I am only on BB for brief periods now - I have some nice friends here now and life is fairly busy, but I come by when I can... it's incredibly cold isn't it - gosh the winds that came through with the storm late yesterday afternoon - and again today... I had a lovely walk with Sam in it this morning though, I love walking in the cold weather! - but when I stop and sit I feel it.

I see on your thread you have a new family member - Pepper - I think giving the poor dog a good home is a wonderful thing to do.. and more company for you... it's so sad when animals are abused. I am glad she has come to a caring home.

I'm sorry you are feeling lonely with your brother having left - but I'm glad he could visit, he sounds like a very special person.. I think we always feel sad after something good has ended... the price we pay for having them come and visit.. and I'm sure this dreary weather doesn't help your mood!

Sending warm hugs your way dear lady oxoxoxoxo

[Hanna3]

Hi Grandy,

How is your new dog Pepper going? Is she settling in and are you getting to know each other? It's been such cold weather - have you put her bed somewhere warm? Are you staying warm and snug in this cold blast? What are we going to do about the price hike for heating, cooking, hot water...

In the second op shop I go to... the more affordable one - I do like what the people there do... if they have a cup or side plate, they bundle them up with another saucer/cup/plate into a set, of cup and saucer and side plate - and you buy the three together - and they mix and match them so beautifully! They do the same with cushions - you have to buy two at a time, but they match them and they're amazingly clever - usually a plain one with a patterned one - I have two on one of my chairs, I never would have thought to match the patterned one they chose with the plain one - but it works beautifully!

I hope you are still enjoying your work at the store.

Sending hugs from us here oxoxoxoxoxo

[Ggrand]

Hello Dear Hanna, and everyone...🤗..

I changed the spelling of her name to Peppa....She is such a sweet little puppy...but so naughty...I tested them alone today because I needed to go to town....I came home to my cushion stuffing all over the lounge room floor😂...that’s okay though, it was an old one...I now know that cushions need to go away when I am not their....

They are all getting along okay, except my youngest dog is a bit scared of her..in time I’m sure she won’t be....well I hope so....I put her bed in my lounge room on the other side of the lounge that my fur babies beds are on,,,,but Peppa prefers the other lounge....I have 2 lounges in my lounge room....

Our shop has been doing that for a while now...but if a customer only wants one cushion we will sell it to them or offer the other one at a reduced price....We display most of our crockery in a coloured co-ordinated way...looks really nice...

It’s really freezing cold here...so I’ve stayed inside and under a quilt on my lounge, the way the utilities are going up...I think twice before putting any heating on...it’s really not fair the way prices are going up....I couldn’t believe that tomatoes are $11.99 per kilo....I suppose that some people like myself will have to go without some things to get by....

I hope you and Sam are keeping warm enough...I think you get colder temperatures that I do...so please do your best to keep warm...

I bought a packet of those dried soup vegetables..I never used them before, I remember my mum did...so I’m going to try making a chicken soup with them this afternoon....I think I have to wash them and soak them for a couple of hours first...will do that in a second...

Enjoy your day today....

Hugs Dear Hanna, Sam and everyone..

Grandy..

[Hanna3]

Hi Grandy,

I think Peppa is a much nicer name, I do like that! She's only a youngster at 12 months, so she's bound to get into some mischief with things like your cushion!!!! - and she must be a bit anxious in a new place I would think.. it sounds like you are managing very well with her and all your fur family!

It was freezing all day today, my muscles keep cramping up with the cold, does this happen to you? It's worse when I walk in a cold breeze with Sam! Ouch. These fibros are refrigerators!

It's nice you also group the cushions and cups etc.. they only do that in the cheaper Op Shop here, the other expensive one doesn't do it at all... they are not friendly there - the staff in the cheaper one are all lovely - there was one very nice new lady at the unfriendly op shop - I felt sorry for her, she seemed nervous - none of us have seen her since - the other women there are mostly unpleasant, we think they gave her a bad time... it's such a shame.

I wanted to frame some photos for home, and I wanted silver frames, they're so expensive - so I went to the cheaper op shop, they have all sizes of frames in boxes there - I found some lovely ones for a couple of dollars each - and have put them on the side table - it's nice.

I had another Woolies soup for dinner - they are so much nicer than the canned ones. I bought a couple of big woven baskets at the reject shop to hold all Sam's things, and anything around the house I want to quickly tidy - they're so useful and they look nice.

I hope you are keeping warm with your furs and the quilt Grandy... big hugs from us here oxoxoxoxo

[demonblaster]

Hey Hannah 🐕 Grandy 👩‍❤️‍👩 Pawsy 🐾& all ☺

Hannah I'm reading back a few pages sporadically to catch up.

I heard you say and respect your choice not to talk much about your eyesight poor lady. Just wanted if ok to tell you my heart goes out to you and anyone with failing sight 💗

I'm impressed how you've been pacing yourself by the sounds decluttering. It can be quite a load and hard to get around to. A bonus when parts are done isn't it. Good jobby.

Your tea candles sound lovely, I know our dear Grandy would love the sound of those also being a candle lover. Nice aromas release good endorphins I've heard which sounds right because if it's pleasant it makes us feel good. And nice smells can spark good memories too.

Visiting an ill friend where my love 😍 use to live is an older type fibro and yes it was noticeable how much cooler. We're in I think double brick which makes it warmer and apparently cooler in summer which I think is the case.

Think you mentioned you didnt enjoy your music group? recently. That's a shame I know you were liking your lessons if you still do them.

Sounds like you're working out and through the bit stuffy group at the doggy park and if I understood you also go to another where you're making some friends. Good for you.

Ouch your poor muscles, that sounds painful. Do you think some gentle movement at times and before standing could help. Possibly wrapping yourself snuggly in a warm woollen blanky could be a help too.

If you're which you are anyway a good girl I can extremely quickly whip you up a very warm knitted blanky. I've made some for a few of our darlings here. You'd be surprised how comfy and impressive virtual blankys are 😄 might take a while because the speed I knit has melted the needles. Seriously hard to work with bent ones.

Ok dear Hannah go gently won't you with those poor muscles. Actually just thinking would long Johns or those thermal type under garments be useful maybe to keep the muscles warm.

Take care darl ☺

⚘🐕🤗🌞 some sun to warm up your place

[Paw Prints]

Hello Hanna, wave to Deebi, Grandy & everyone,

It really sounds like you are turning your place from a house to a home... it's great hearing about the changes you are making there... especially doing it all on a budget... I'm enjoying following your progress with it.

You poor thing... the muscle cramps must be horrible... especially as you love your walks... Deebi had a good idea about trying thermal underwear...

Stay warm

Paws

[Hanna3]

Hi Paws, Grandy, Deebi, mmMekitty, everyone

Gosh I haven't been able to get here for a while! I wonder how cold it is where you are Paws, it's been freezing here, yesterday especially... windy and often raining a bit... not much sunshine. What a cold winter, and heaven help our power bills...

I'm up to the kitchen, which is grey everywhere except a bit of white tiles at the back of the benches...it's very drab. I'm scrounging the Op Shops for a couple of useful items in reds/oranges/yellows/blues/white to vreak up the gloom of the grey. I like kitchens to be easy to clean, so I don't like much on the benchtops, only things being used... I have a tray with breakfast things, tea and coffee and sugar and electric jug. I have a lovely bright pot I found on the other bench, otherwide these are bare as I like them. I have 3 shelves opposite and I found three lovely bright red and white pots to sit on the top - the rest is my chinaware. I love that everything I use is easy to reach..

One op shop here just pretty much sells homewares and furniture, it's a wonder to browse through it, I think I could spend hours... lots of people browse for the fun of it... some of the chinaware is amazing.. it's so old or unusual everyone including the staff have trouble working out what things are, or what they were used for.. Other pieces are just exquisite - some expensive old cups and saucers of such lovely china.. I have to stay practical and only buy what I can definitely use! But it's fun to browse and it's warm inside which draws people in!

Am catching up with a friend tomorrow at a cafe for a cuppa and we thought we'd browse the op shops together for a bit of amusement on another cold day...

How are you and Woofa travelling Paws, have you heard from your relatives in the city? What's happening to where the dam was? What are things like in the town where you live?

I could go mad buying teapots here but I mustn't! I am enjoying my different teas though, my other friend here has a special storage box designed to store different teas, it's terrific and I have seen them for sale on Ebay, not expensive at all if you want a small one, they sit on your kitchen benchtop.

Chatted with an old friend back in Coastal Town today, she said it's cold but sunny there, the nights are very cold. I've had an email from another friend who moved from there to New Zealand, it's good to hear from her too.

Sending hugs oxoxoxoxo

[Paw Prints]

Hello Hanna,

It has been freezing here the last few days after a surprisingly mild patch(if out of the icy wind)... lots of hail & sleet on Sunday, followed by bucket loads of rain... the nearby creek has minor flooding... last week it was running dry apart from a few waterholes.

Woofa has been in his PJs hogging the heating... he seems to have reverted to daylight savings time as he has been nagging to be fed about an hour early at every meal time...

I've gone back to wearing my mask in shops as there is so much lurgy about here ... both my sisters & their extended families have all been down with it... I'm supposed to attend my great nieces birthday next month... I'm really umming & ahhing about going.

Where the dam was is still just an expanse of clay with nothing growing...

Some years back my younger sister went through a period of visiting second hand/antique/op shops pretty much every weekend... I went with her a few times... it was fun just browsing... there is a place near here that I took a friend to as an outing when she last visited... it is very large & we were surprised to realise just how long we actually spent just browsing through it...

Stay warm

Hugs

Paws

[Hanna3]

Hi Paws and everyone

I've been out on this freezing night checking the powerboard, as my cheap Kmart toaster tripped the kitchen power... phew I managed to fix it or I would have lost everything in the fridge..

Sam has been poorly, awful yesterday, saw the vet today, his back molars are flared up and infected again, he's had an injection of a long acting antibiotic and is finally fast asleep after a dreadful day and night...still figuring out how I am going to afford another GA and dental extraction for him poor guy.

I was talking with my young and pleasant GP the other day about the cost of running a medical practice.. she has stopped bulk billing for anyone who is not on a pension or unemployment... she didn't want to... but she said what I have heard and read, that the remuneration from the government is so bad she can no longer manage to afford to not bill customers who are not welfare recipients.. it isn't how she wanted her practice to be... but she is unable to keep going otherwise.

As we said, it is a gradual loss of our free health care system by stealth... from the govt.

So I am going to have a pot of tea and figure out the cost of surgery for my dog and a new toaster.... oh joy.

I hope you and everyone are keeping warm in this very chilly weather! hugs.

[Hanna3]

Well after being very sick, little Sam is now recovering slowly and I have to get to the vet tomorrow and book in his surgery and pay the bill for the visit and antibiotics...

Lovely sunshine here this afternoon and he looked very happy to be out in it!