General Chat

Good afternoon. Had a good long morning at the Quays. Money spent by all of us of course, lots to see (and buy) When we came to leave the multi storey the ticket machine wouldn't take the car number more than once. So we drove to the exit and daughter used the phone and they just opened the barrier. They think the car number must have been auto entered incorrectly. Just hope there are no repercussions from that.

I can just visualise you struggling to get those stockings on Ann. :-D
I think my geraniums will be taking a chance until I come back on the 20th.

Got caught up yesterday trying to find the link with a DNA match. :-S
It's all a bit of a mystery, so more work needed.

No frost here, but it was certainly nippy first thing. Lovely sunshine has warmed us a bit gradually.

I hope the blood tests give OH some answers Annx. The pain must be hard to cope with, when he is so busy.

Mandy, I do hope your son is not fined for something quite out of his control. He was bound to try to get back to work.

This year's agapanthus seeds are only now just starting to open. If anyone wants fresh ones, just say :-)

We looked out hoping to see the northern lights, but there was only the slightest hint of colour perhaps, certainly nothing like the lovely views online. There is too much light round us though.

Tea / meal this evening cooked by college students training to be chefs :-D
Before lockdown, they ran a restaurant and trainee waiters would serve us, but now it's run as a take-away service. We select our choices from the online menu earlier in the week, then pick up on a Friday. It's a very reasonable proce for a 3 course meal, so we sometimes buy a meal,which is always delicious.

Yes, he was lucky Mandy. It's all the jabs being done taking the nurses' time up. I think they must have to do it if it's really urgent though, but who knows with how things are. He said he never even felt it done today, so that was good. He said the nurse said they are getting a lot of people just not turn up and some of the appointments are half hour long ones, which isn't fair as they could do three 10 minute appointments in the same time.
So your geraniums are all snug in their winter quarters now! I have only grown gladioli once I think so don't know what you do with those in winter either. I hope the Agapanthus Gwyn sent grow ok. A FB friend sent some pictures a friend who lives in Hunstanton had sent her of the Northern Lights this morning. I was surprised how vivid the colours were. Will there be another chance tonight I wonder. I have never seen them.

I put those blooming stockings on this morning! What a job it was with my bad knees trying to bend them enough to reach and then trying to straighten my leg pulling them up! Even OH couldn't manage to help much. They feel a bit tight round the tops but otherwise they feel ok. I think the wraps I have seen that adjust with velchro might be better, but I'll see how things go.
Oh your poor son having to leave his car and walk. I don't think they should charge him as it wasn't his fault he couldn't leave the carpark. I suppose he will have to go back after work to fetch it now.

Son messaged to say he was stuck in Tesco's carpark absolutely gridlocked because of a burst water main further down the road, some people have sat there an hour and a half and still haven't moved ,so he left the car parked there and walked home at he has work ,he'll probably get a parking ticket now as you can only stay on the car park for three hours :-0

OH was very lucky to get that appointment then Ann ,let's hope he soon gets the results back so he can get treated .
Yes my plants looked very bedraggled but soon picked up and I had a lovely show of flowers ,this morning I got them all together in a tub and an old washing up bowl and they are all tucked away now for the winter ,pulled up my Gladioli bulbs and put them in a bucket I must see what I have to do with them as to cutting off the long leaves or leaving them to die off and then cut them ,I planted a few little mixed daffs in the troughs and picked all the toms off the tumbling toms which I had outside .
Tomorrow I'm going to sow some of Gwyn's Agapanthus seed in a big pot.

I looked out last night for the northern lights as there was lots of lovely photos on fb ,the sky did look a bit green at times and there was little flashes of colour at times .

Morning All,

No frost here but condensation on the front windows so I knew it was chilly. Lovely sunshine and dry now though, so the shower towels are on the line drying.

Mandy, I found that method with the geraniums worked well too when I did it, although they looked a bit bedraggled by Spring. Mine kept flowering so I just cut them off.

I'm getting confused which Ann Mel is talking about?

OH has managed to get an appointment for his blood tests this morning as mentioned in my post yesterday, but it was a lucky cancellation and they told him the next appointment available would be in November. He's quite sore from the pummeling and moving his leg about yesterday. He said he had really jumped when she found a particularly sore spot.

I've had my laptop upside down and given it a shake in case debris is affecting the No6 on the keyboard and was amazed how many bits fell out. Fingers crossed it will have disldged something causing the problem.

Have you tried green fried tomatoes Mel? I kept meaning to but don't have any toms this year.

AnnG I hope it is sunny where you are as it will be nice at the docks if so and you managed to go.

I feel peckish, as I didn't eat much yesterday and OH won't be back till late lunch time ,as he he going from the docs to a school to have a chat with someone, so I might have some porridge soon. Has anyone tried doing those overnight oats? I haven't as yet as cold oats, even with fruit, don't appeal somehow?

Morning all ,

Very frosty here shed roof is white ,so glad I got the Geraniums in the greenhouse yesterday ,today I want to get them out of the pots and all stored together in a tub with just a little soil on the roots they stored well like that last year and although they looked like very poor plants when it came to planting them its the best year I've had with them loads of flowers ,I just store them in the shed on the bench so they get just a little light and don't water until the spring .

Morning Ann and all,

Been a frost here too and at the mo its 3 degrees but the suns shining so that has to be good. I got up and the window was all moisty so I knew we'd had a frost plus it was blimmin cold out there last night.

I had'nt shut the little greenhouise up so I expect all the toms are ruined but I dar'nt go down there if the decking is frosty or wet it so slippery.

Good morning all, a bright morning but 0 degrees at 0730, and there is a very light frost on roof tops. Winter is certainly on its way. Oh and geraniums are still out there too. Not sure I will bring them in, always a bit of a trial to look after in the conservatory but I will have a think about it.

We visited the large independent garden centre for coffee and a long lol round. They have Edinburgh wool there so managed to buy two waistcoats in different colours which look good with trousers. Then bought some things for presents.
After lunch at home we spent the afternoon with daughter crawling around on the floor trying to get the spare TV in my office going. It looks as though it doesn’t support ITV any more as it doesn’t have HDbut she managed to get BBC on it again which is something.mthen while searching for info on my zvirgin contract there flashed up an offer to change the contract and pay about £20;a month less as they have deleted a few sports programmes from my contract as they have not been watched. So that was good.
Tomorrow hope to go to Gloucester docs.

Evening All,

Yes we had some thngs to sort out yesterday. I had an almost sleepless night and then OH had a migraine so went to bed after lunch. In the afternoon we had a horrendous downpour and you could see the rain running down next door's roof and then spilling out of the gutter. Our drive was a big puddle outside the door and under the car. Luckily the rain had stopped by the time we went for our flu and covid jabs in the evening. We had the lovely nurse who did all my other vaccinations in the past few months and even OH, who hates needles, barely noticed her do his. She told us she had done 45 people in 5 hours! No sore or hot arms, just a slight ache lifting them today.

Today OH managed to get an appointment with a doctor this afternoon, who spent half an hour with him, listening and examining him. She thinks there are two issues as his hip is swollen and thinks something else is causing the pain across his abdomen and back. He couldn't tell me more, as he spotted someone who could let him in the school where he was ringing from and had to go! So much for the Physician associate who wrote 'no further action!'

This morning I decided to go to the Factory Shop and the usual shop after my shower, as OH had arranged an online chat with someone at another school as someone had recommended him to her. He is quite loud, so it's hard to concentrate and I couldn't hoover or do anything noisy, so a trip in the sunshine to give the car a run was a good alternative. Well the flooded fields are back again after yesterday's rain. Goodness know how much worse it will get with the hundreds of houses they plan to build. had a good browse and they are stocking up on things to keep warm now winter is nearly here, heaters, lots of throws, extra warm nighties and tops and even things with crystals in to put on your windowsill to soak up moisture! All I ended up buying was some fat balls for the birds, but I had a long chat with a lady who has hedgehogs in her garden. Lunch was an easy salad and jacket potato with reduced fat cottage cheese.

I now have another tech problem to sort as I can't watch youtube unless I disable my adblocker. I had a quick look at how to do it for a particular site, but it seems to be for a different browser, so that's something else for me to sort out. In the past you could just click on the symbol for it to switch it off while you watched something, but not anymore. OH is out tomorrow at 11.30am so I am thawing a meal I made with lamb mince in it to have with rice when he gets back.

Good idea to get your geraniums in before the frost Mandy. I was sad I lost mine last year as they'd made good sized plants and filled a pot on their own. Oh 'Bumblebee' sounds an interesting one to make! How did the gammon recipe turn out?

Mel that's good Stuart will be able to fix your grill cheaply for you. As Mandy says it is nice to have someone cook a meal for you and I expect he appreciates it too.

That can't have been a nice journey for your daughter and husband with all the rain AnnG. It's good they are with you for three days and hopefully the journey back should be better by then. It's been a long time since OH and I went toDorset, but I remember us visiting Thomas Hardy's cottage as he is one of OH's favourite authors. We visited the Swannery while we were there too. I expect there are many Swans there this time of the year with all of this year's youngsters.

It must have been lovely to see all those photos of your little great grand daughter Vera. I can't believe she is 14 months now and on her feet if a little unsteady. Where did that time go! I hope you get your tablets ok tomorrow. Just don't be tempted to overdo it with your back.

That was a good turn out at the coffee morning Vera. Nice to see so many of them and have a good chat and catchup. Be careful with that back if it has been a bit easier. Hope you get another good nights sleep.

Mandy how's the Bee coming along? I have a little greenhouse full of green tomatoes as I did'nt get htem in till late. The one plant I bought (a Shirley) Has loads on it so I think I may be making green tomato chutney. The one Sungold plant never fails and I have had lots from that which are ripe and they are still ripening.

Yes I hope Ann and G are ok and am wondering if G got an appointment as I think Ann said he was going early to see if he could get one. Hope he was successful as her can't go on like that in pain all the time.

I bought a bit of braising steak while I was out so I can make a nice meat pie and some bacon offcuts for a leak and backon pudding. It was nice to look in a proper butchers again or at least look at the meat you were buying instead f having it chosen for you at a certain weight. I bought just enough for what I wanted.

I'm having beef stew and dumpling mealk for ne tonight with extra veg.

8 degrees here at the moment.

Evening all,

It's been a colder day here ,we've had sunshine and showers most of the day.
We went shopping and when we came back I got my Geraniums in the greenhouse and a few of the cuttings I had in pots as frost was mentioned for the next couple of nights and I don't want to lose them as they all flowered so well this year .

Hope Ann and OH are OK and just busy as I don't think she posted yesterday.

Mel your doing well with your things on ebay , sounds as if Stuart enjoyed the meal you made ,always nice when somebody else cooks I think you enjoy it much better than when you've cooked it yourself ,good he's sorted your element out for your cooker .

Vera glad your back is gradually beginning to feel a little better ,you did have a full coffee meet today ,nice to have a chat and a laugh with friends .

I expect Anng has been busy too with her daughter and sil there helping with a few jobs before she goes away .

Afternoon all

Dull with a few showers earlier. Now it’s getting colder by the minute. It’s going to be a chilly night. Like Mel, I slept well last night. At least I got about 5 hours which is a fairly good night for me and I feel a bit better generally.

This morning we went to our Thursday coffee meet and nearly had a “full house”, 10 of us. We were all so busy chatting that it was 1.30 before we left. This afternoon I’ve tried to catch up on several little jobs that have been left while I have felt unwell. Knowing how cold it is supposed to get tonight I have picked the rest of the tomatoes and spread them along the conservatory sills to ripen up. I can’t believe how many tomatoes we have had over the last 6 weeks. It has certainly been a good year for toms. I’ve also brought into the conservatory a couple of small agapanthus. One I’ve grown from a bit that had broken off another plant and the other one was given to me. Neither has bloomed yet but maybe next year. I still have some ironing to do but my back is aching now so it can wait another day or two.

I’ve got a couple of emails and a birthday card to write so I’d better get on with those next. Have a good evening ladies and stay warm.

Been to Holsworthy to post the parcels just got back. I bought some more of the Bon Mamon fruit fools two packs of strawberry ones treated myself and some peppermint creams in another shop.

Put some things on Ebay this morning and got a bid on one already.

Where is everyone?

Mornings all,

Bright and sunny at the mo but how long will it last? its 9 degrees and pc is saying light rain.

Slept well as I hope you all did. Had a lovely evening with Stuart yesterday. He took down all the details of my cooker and found the element for my grill which has conked out on the outside bit but still work on the inner bit. It said it was the cheapest so he ordered it and it came to £14.49 so I gave him the money now we just have to wait for it to arrive and he wil fit it for me. If I had called Derek Hart out from Hosworthy that would have been £40 before we start on parts and labour.

He thougherly enjoyed his dinner said it was a super cottage pie with proper gravy and I had made a pineapple upside down cake which we had for dessert and he went home with two chunks of that for James and Abbey or whoever wants it.

Thank you for letting me know that the seeds arrived. Good luck with them growing!
Strange how it takes mail much longer to get to some areas.
They were all posted together at the nearest town's Post Office on Saturday morning and Mandy's arrived early Monday morning. :-S

Getting ready for school, but hopefully BBL.

Good morning all, damp out there but not raining at the moment 7 degrees so not very warm.

Yes thank you, they arrived here at lunch time. Apparently it rained all the way until around Birmingham with some torrential rain.

I am so used to wandering around early mornings that it seems strange to have to be quiet so as not to disturb anyone.

It has been a funny old day Vera we've had drizzle and then the sun got out and it was lovely so out went the bedding on thd line ,we sat having our lunch and as it was sunny we closed the blind all of a sudden it went so dark and guess what yes it was tipping it down much to heavy to go out and get it all in so later I had to get it in and spin it all again ,it's still in the basket.

Glad you all like the gnomes ,now doing one called Bumblebee :-)

Hope your daughter and sil arrived safely Anng .

Good afternoon ladies

It's been a funny old can't-make-its-mind-up sort of day. Grey one minute, sunny the next, spits and spots of rain that aren't amounting to much and a mild temperature that feels cold when the sun disappears again. I think lots of areas are going to be cold tomorrow and the next couple of days with overnight frosts. Not looking forward to that and, if the frosts are bad, we may lose some plants. We're behind with the garden this year and I haven't taken any geranium cuttings or lifted the plants I've got so they will have to take their chance. I will put some fleece over my agapanthus which are in several large pots and came with us from our old house 11 years ago. I will be really upset if I lost any of those.

Another great little gnome Mandy. You are getting a big family of them together.

Sounds as though you have had a frustrating day Mel. I hope it's improved now. Enjoy your dinner with Stuart.

I hope your daughter and sil arrived safely AnnG. It will be nice for you to spend time with them again. It's always good to have the company of family. Truth be told I'm just a tiny bit jealous as, due to their cirumstances at the moment, I rarely see my son and daughter. Still, we're close in spirit and we chat on the phone and text each other.

One nice surprise today was a long text from grandson's partner with a dozen pictures of our little great granddaughter. She's 14 months now and just starting to walk, or rather stagger, 4 or 5 steps and she can say Mama and Dadda.

The photos made me smile and cheered me up as I am having another bad day. My back is improving all the time but I still have a few medical issues and hardly slept at all last night so I'm imitating a zombie at the moment. It just seems to have been one of those days as well. I think I've said before that our little Close has to put our dustbins on the rec. at the end of the road. This morning there were 6 bins down there, 5 had been emptied, guess which one hadn't :-| OH went online and let the council know but no-one is going to come out to empty 1 bin so it will be another 2 weeks before it gets emptied.

Then we went into town to pick up my script. There was such a kerfuffle when I needed 2 months supply in August because of being away when the second month was due that I had a feeling that I wasn't going to get the right items. The pain killers that I order when I need them were there but not all the items that come on an automatic system each month. The pharmacy are supposed to tell patients on repeat when they have had 6 monthly prescriptions and then we ring the pharmacist at the main GP surgery and ask for it to be reissued. The pharmacy hadn't told me I'd had 6 so we had to go dashing to the surgery (round the one way system for the second time) as I am almost out of one of the pills. The surgery pharmacist is putting it through urgently and hopefully I'll get my tabs on Friday. I'm going to keep my own note of what scripts I've had when and not rely anymore on the pharmacy where I pick them up.