General Chat

I've sent them on AnnG. The Peacock is beautiful isn't he. These days if I get a cold or cough, it seems to affect me so I can't hang on like I used to either, so I know what you mean about toilets! It's good you have still felt well enough to enjoy your break. OH is glued to the tv sport too, so I'm glad I can escape in here! I bet Alnwick Gardens tomorrow will be good. OH and I went over a decade ago and it was so well kept.

It is 12 degrees here so a bit on the cool side. I have sent a few photos via Ann. Could you pass them on Ann please. Many thanks.
I don’t think daughter and SiL will catch the cough now, I guess it is just a left over from the cold which started over a week ago. It is aggravating rather than anything and inconvenient for the usual knock on effect from a cold if you are like me. Need to keep fairly near a loo or keep my legs crossed when I cough. At least it has not stopped me enjoying my break.
Today we drove to Craster, about five miles. Home of kipper baps and smoked kippers. From Craster we walked across NT cliff paths to where we had a good view of Duntisburgh castle on the hill. It is just ruins but impressive from a distance. It stayed dry but dull, quite good for a brisk walk. I think we walked about two miles No shops in Caster, just a smokery and a small coffee snack bar. We stopped at a nice hotel on the way back for a drink and to check out their menu for the future then drove back to our lodge for lunch. And SiL is a rugby and football fanatic so that had been on TV for three hours now.
Tomorrow we have booked to go to Al wick gardens, and afterwards hopefully the book shop.

Mandy, hope the pain soon passes. I see you say it is gallstones, I might have missed what has caused the flare up I assume it is. nothing to do with any medication or change in diet?

Vera I hope you have confiscated the secateurs and your garden is not too naked.

Mel hopefully your arm is ok now.
Hope any other aches and pains are recovered.

Its 20 degrees here now and pc is saying sunny. I can see that.

Ann I haveto do that with BIL he keeps mowing over things I tell him not to. Last year I have one white Bluebell come up where the snowdrops are and I always tell him not to mow where the snowdrops are till JUne when the leaves have completely died down. This year he went through the snowdrops when he should'nt and realised and came out and he had just missed the bluebell which has two stalks of flowers this year so I said I will put a marker on those when he mows the orchard. Last year he mowed the daffs before they had died down and I only had a couple of flowers on them this year when there hsould have been swathes but I did heard somewhere that others have not had many blooms on their daffs.

Oh well off back out to the weeding.

Arms not so achey today which is good.

Afternoon All,

It's 19 degrees here too and looks lovely and sunny out there. I was awake till after 4.00am so was up late and am like a zombie today. We had a nice puff pastry chicken and leek pie with four veg and a buttery sauce for lunch and OH is washing what's used every day and doesn't go in the dishwasher before he watches a footie semi final this afternoon. I heard a useful tip today. Not to throw away squeezed lemon halves, but put them in the dishwasher with the pots and they make it smell nice and the glasses sparkle.

Mel I've had 2 scam emails this weekend. You should see the number of Ninja Airfryers I might have won!! All reported as usual so they will be taken down. It's good your arm is improving now, but what a shame the Northern Diver has moved to the lake. Your BIL would have got some great photos with it being clear sunshine and no wind today. The trouble I find is that if you have a lot of stuff, you often can't find what you want and end up buying more! lol

Sorry to hear the pain is bad Mandy. Does it help at night if you raise your pillows? As you say, being careful what you eat and rest should hopefully make things better soon.

I had to chuckle at sounding like 40 a day AnnG, but it's no joke when you get one of those relentless coughs. I hope you have something to soothe it and hope that your daughter and SIL don't get it as well. Those peacocks are incredibly loud aren't they., but so beautiful.

Gwyn you reminded me of my first MIL as she had her box room full of belongings that belonged to her daughter's BIL from when he went home from Uni, so not even her own children's things! She'd had them for years and didn't like to upset anyone so had just hung onto them. My OH has asked me three times now what plants to leave in the front borders as he is digging some out as we are changing things around. I shan't dare look when he's done it as I bet he gets it wrong. Maybe I should push some sticks in next to the ones to save! That might work.

I'd better get on and do something now.

Gosh its hot out there I had to come in for a drink of water. It says its 19 degrees but feel much hotter.

Trouble with me is I have too many belongings and I know if I throw something out I shall just need that one thing that went.

I have had anpother scam call this morning who knew my name and the begining of my card number. I had just paid the leccy bill so be careful as they said they were from the bank. I rang the over 60's number and the lady said everything would be ok. Then as I was on th ephone BIL turned up he has been trying to take more photos of the Great Northan Diver but it seems to have gone fro the lake now. He even brought his friend down for him to take some pics of it the day before.

So much for my earlyning iv'e not got anything done yet so better go round to the girls and fill up the bird feeders for the wild birds too.

Nice to hear from you Gwyn and good luck with the clear out.

Mel, good to know that your arm is less painful today. There must be so much to do, when you have so much grounds to care for, so it's hard to have a rest day, especially at this time of the year.

AnnG, It's lovely that you are spending time with family in a beautiful part of the country, but sorry to hear about your cough. There are some nasty lingering ones about this year. I'm not usually troubled by them, but one a few months back took ages to go. It was not too bad, when I kept quiet, but if I talked a fair bit, eg. on the phone, it would start up again... a message to me there somewhere ;-)
I know what you mean about peacocks, as we went to a barbeque yesterday evening in aid of a charity. It was held at a large house in the country, which had peacocks roaming free in the grounds and we could hear them calling at times. In fact, as we were getting in the car to leave, one was screeching up in the treetops above us... They can be quite vocal !

Sorry to read of your pain, Mandy. It seems that you know how to manage it, so I hope that by being careful, you soon feel better. I know you like to keep busy, so it can't be easy for you to not be active.

Vera and Ann, I hope you are well today and that both your respective Mr Crewcuts are not too over active with their efforts to help.

After rather a dismal day for much of the time yesterday, the sun is shining again, which always makes me more willing to get on with things. A particular cupboard is the target today. I wonder what unexpected things we will find there.?The porch cupboard last weekend produced some unexpected finds hidden in it's depths,which resulted in a serious 'cull', which meant bags have gone for charity, and some items are ready to go to son and elder daughter, as the coats and footwear were left here and forgotten, so they can go back and we will have more room for our belongings.

Morning all,
Nice bright morning here so nice to see the sun after the day we had yesterday it was so cold .
Still have the pain between my shoulder blades ,I just have to rest and not stretch up or stoop down and be very careful what I eat ,this is the most pain I have had ,it usually takes a week to ease up .

Good morning all, a lot cooler today and complete cloud cover. It is supposed to be a dry day but not as nice as yesterday. I slept ok, didn’t cough but when I coughed this morning I sound like a forty a day person.
All I can hear is the peacock on our balcony rail calling. There are at least two males and five females here but really there only seems to be one who comes so close.

We had two pied wagtails outside yesterday as well.

Morning all,

Beautiful morning plenty of the old yellow stuff and a clear blue sky pc says mostly sunny and 16 degrees.

Slept well although it took me a while to drop off and arm is not so achey this morning.

Don't think BIL will come today but he has'nt cut the orchard now for about three weeks at least. I need to do more strimming so perhaps I can get some of that done today.

Hope you all had a good nights sleep and now feel ready for the day.

Mandy how's the gall stones today? Are you still in pain, I hope you feel better soon.

Yes Mel, I was very tired but put it down to my upset tummy episode. I just checked online and there is a patient leaflet there that says being very tired is a common side effect. Our surgery never gave me any leaflet at all, so I wonder if others were given one? It says you should read it before having Spikevax and tells you how to report side effects etc.

Vera you are catching up in the garden now with the help of Mr Crewcut! OH is just as bad if I ask him to prune anything. I might just as well say hack it down. I need to declutter some of my clothes, as I can hardly move the coathangers in the wardrobes or find what I want in there. I still have a few VHS tapes. I ditched the Fred Astaire tapdancing ones a while back, but three left are one of OH giving a talk about Thomas Hardy, one of me in an end of year tap dance at a nightschool show. The last is of me as one of the ten finalists in a National Driver of the Year Competition between Dept Social Security and Dept of Health at Rover Cars twenty years ago! I didn't win, but we stayed at Studley Castle overnight where it was partly held and which was the Rover HQ then. Some time later we went to London to be presented with certificates by the then Minister of Transport, Sir Michael Partridge.It seems a lifetime ago now.

I'm off to bed too and need to be up early to put the washer on and go out to do more weeding!

Good evening all

It has been a nice warm day, cloudy this morning and sunny this afternoon. I managed to get some jobs done in the garden; I planted up some of my geranium cuttings in a couple of the troughs up the side of the house, did a bit of weeding and lifted loads of daffodil bulbs from two very big pots. The leaves hadn't completely died back but I need the pots so I've spread the bulbs on trays in the mini greenhouse till they are completely dried out and I can store them till the autumn. Then I allowed Mr Crewcut into the garden with his electric trimmer thing. We had 3 large shrubs that needed some off the height and quite a bit off the depth as they were taking over the beds and a wooden bench was almost hidden in one of them. Let's just say that you can now hardly see the shrub behind the bench. 1 of the others is perfect as I caught him before he started on that and made sure he knew how much to trim it back. The other is somewhat smaller than I would have liked. but I'm sure they will all grow again.

I don't think I've seen a wagtail since we moved here but a couple of days ago I saw a pied wagtail down the bottom of the road and today there has been one bobbing about in our garden all day. That was lovely to see.

This afternoon I decided to start on a bit of decluttering of my bedroom. My clothes are all downstairs in OH's room and I've already done those but nearly all the book shelves are in my room. I hate getting rid of books but some just had to go. A low cabinet at the end of the shelves was full of VHS videos that were donkey's years old. Lots were recordings we had made of concerts and plays on television etc and there were about a dozen with episodes of The Cold War which were on TV a long, long while ago. I think they will have to be taken to the tip but there are also quite a few commercial recordings of musicals and films. I will take those to a charity shop as some people do still have a VHS player.

By the time I had done all that sorting out it was getting late and I was tired and didn't feel like cooking or eating much so we just had poached eggs on toast.

Annx, it's good you are getting sorted out with what you want in your ensuite. It sounds as though your bathroom shop is quite helpful. I had to smile at you telling OH we had visited the Space Station. The nearest I am getting to space is from inside the planetarium.

I hope Mel's achey arm, AnnG's cough and Mandy's gallstone problem are all improving and you all get a good night's sleep. I'm going to aim for an early night myself.

My arm ached so much this morning I could hardly pull my trousers on. I don't lay on that side either and it did'nt hurt at all when the nurse did it I was waiting for a pain but nothing and she said "all done" .

Felt really tired this afternoon when BIL had gone so threw myself on the bed and slept till 6.18pm. Don't know what time I went in there but I think I must have needed it. Maybe the injection is the cause?

Afternoon All,

It's 17 degrees here and sunny. We were up early and OH started weeding the borders on the front for half an hour. He'd filled the garden bin by then so that's ready for collection now. He's gone to a match at Finedon where Reverend Richard Coles lives not far from where Jane lived.

I heard that chap on our front again this morning and opened the blind and waved through the glass to him to move his car. He looked a bit shocked to see me, but I doubt he will take any notice.

I then went to the bathroom place we used in the past with some measurements and a scale drawing of the ensuite plus photos. The man seemed amazed and said he wished everybody did the same. I sorted a few improvements out and have decided all the tiles can go and to have sealed plastic boards that willl just need a wipe, no grout to clean, and have a guarantee to outlive me! Their office walls are done in them and looked really good. They can start in September so I just need to run things past OH and see what we want in the bathroom now as they said a shower would just fit. Then we can go ahead.

Oh Mandy what a shame you have trouble wth the gallstones again. As you say it's one thing after another at times. I was listing my ailments to OH the other night and it was depressing so I stopped when I started on my second hand! OH is the same too. I hope the pain soon eases for you. Thank you for mentioning The Great Sewing Bee. I was going to say about it, as I spotted an advert for it yesterday. I do enjoy it and love Esme, she misses nothing!

AnnG that must have been a nice ride to Newton on the sea, but a shame it was foggy. I seem to reember passing by Hexham when we visited Hadrian's wall once. It sounds nice. I hope the cough hasn't worsened and that you are managing to get a good night's rest despite it.

It's good BIL has got the mower going now Mel, especially if it is the only one, and he can get on with the mowing with it being dry. You have plenty to keep him busy. Oops, I see rain has stopped play now! So you have a very achey arm like I did! I was surprised it was worse than the other times, but it does improve each day.

Now its started to rain but at least BIL got the grass cut within the wall. Iv'e just tied up my little Clematis to one of the poles of the leanto over the patio and I was going to go and cut down some brimbles sticking out of the box hedge but that will have to wait now.

When I fed the chickens this morning and went in the run closing the gate behind me there was a clunk and when I looked round the bit that is on the gate to slide the bolt in had fallen off. I shouted to BIL but he just started the mower so did'nt hear me. I searched for bigger screws and found a couple after going through every drawer on the tool chest then BIL said he would do it later. He has done it before he left. Everything seems to be going wrong at the momenet.

Mandy I meant to put that up the other day when I saw it advertised. Poor you having gall stones problems again I hope you feel better soon.

BIL has just got the mower going, he had to push it over to the workshop again this morning so its put him all behind but I can hear it going now so thats good.

I am about to put the washing on the line and then go up the shop for my paper and scripts.

Morning Mel ,morning all,

Very cloudy here and cold I just hung some washing out and my hands are quite cold .
Gall stones are playing up now ,got that pain between my shoulder blades ,it's just one thing after another .

Anng we've had fog here the last couple of mornings but it's usually cleared by mid morning, hope the cough doesn't get to bad .

Ann I keep meaning to say the sewing bee starts on Tuesday thought I'd just remind you incase you've not seen it advertised.

BIL is here to mow.

Morning all from a person with a very achey arm,

Suns sining at the moment but we are suppose toget rain today and BIL is coming to mow the lawns. I have to pick up all the stuff I strimmed off yesterday but it will be nothing too strenuous today.

Slept from 12am to 5.50am for the loo then slept till 8am and lay for a bit.

Newton by the sea, except the sea in in a sea fret (fog).
Cold is still with me, ok when out and about but hard to breath indoors and now coughing.
Had lunch in Hexham nice quaint place, lots of interesting shops.
Just waiting for Tesco.

Sorry you didn’t all get the photos. The group email obviously didn’t work with the IPad. Glad they got there in the end.
Glad you have a holiday booked Vera, something to look forward to.

You all seem to have been busy one way and another. Hope the aches are easing a bit now.