General Chat

Got all the pics Anng and I must say your garden is a credit to you it looks really lovely. Wish my garden looked as good. I hav'nt touched the border this year and it really needs a lot of work done on it. My roses are flowering on the wall but so are the brimbles.

Well I think we had 93% rain today and not sun as the pc said and its still raining now. I meant to over my strawberry plants with some polythene to keep the rain off but I did'nt get a chance to get any on them. The rain always ruins them and they are just getting ripe now. I have had two pickings off of them already this year which is much better than last year.

I can't believe its Friday already and now its another weekend. Why does May and June go so quickly? Its only two weeks till Midsummer day, Di birthday.

Thank you AnnG; I've received all the photos. You have a lot of plants in bloom and they all look healthy. Your garden is looking lovely, better than mine and a great deal tidier and that's down to all your hard work out there, so well done you.

There were 6 of us at our lunch. There should have been 7 but one had a tooth problem and was at the dentists. There used to be 11 or 12 of us but the years have taken their toll and a couple have died and two now have quite severe dementia. However we had a very nice day. I'm not a great fan of battered fish and chips but we saw some being taken to another table and it looked so good that 4 of us chose it. It was very tasty with a nice, crisp batter and delicious chunky chips. Knowing we would be having cakes later I didn't have a dessert but a couple of them had cherry pie and custard and you could see that the pie had been hand made there. Afterwards we went back to the birthday girl's house and spent a couple of hours chatting and enjoying our cake.

OH seems to have picked up another puncture this afternoon so in the morning he will have to pump it up enough to get him to the tyre place and get yet another new tyre. That will be the 3rd time it has happened in recent months and new tyres don't come cheap so he isn't a happy bunny.

Someone will be pleased they have got a free scooter Mandy and you are doing others a good turn by putting stuff out for them to take.

Although showers were forecast the rain has mostly held off today. OH had planned tomorrow to start cleaning all the paving round the house but there's rain forecast again and, as he's going to have to get the car sorted first, I don't think he'll get any done. Sunday is supposed to be better weather but the machine makes a bit of noise and I don't like disturbing people on a Sunday.

I've got a couple of emails to answer so I'll get on with those next. Have a good night everyone.

Pleased you got them Mandy.

Thank you Ann I got them all ,your garden is looking really good, pretty roses and your Lavender is doing well, well everything is ,I love the poppy ,my yellow poppies are out and the orange ones but I'm waiting for the pinky red ones to open up.

The scooter has gone so thats good I didn't put anything else out as the sky has looked so black all day and this afternoon we had thunder and lightning, I had just got some cakes in the oven so I had my fingers crossed we didn't lose the electric .
I've made son and dil some coconut tarts and some Welsh cakes .

Hope you've enjoyed the birthday lunch Vera what did you have to eat .

Ann we've had our heating on too a few times lately, I've never known it to be so chilly like this in June ,I have to say today has felt a little warmer ,we did a few jobs in the garden this morning and I had a jacket on but the sun peeped through a few times not for long but when it did I had to take my jacket off .
We had some runner bean plants left over from the ones we planted a few weeks ago and they were just laying out in the pots so we filled a couple of tubs and used them up they might give us a few extra beans .

Hopefully you should be getting some garden photos. let me know if nothing arrives.

sun is out here at the mement. I nipped out and planted the courgette plant in my planter. Now going to have to watch for snails/slugs I suppose. Also potted on the Tithonia as I need to clear a space for it in the garden.

Forgot to post that last post and now it is thundering down so very hard. What happened about the 93% sunshine? :-(

Morning everyone,

Quite bright here this morning at the moment but there are grey clouds in the sky and pc says 14 degrees and sunny 93% so that will be nie if I can get out there today to do a bit more.

Yes go for it Mandy two scooters and a dogs bed will give you lots of room in the shed. Good luck.

Have a lovely friends birthday out Vera and enjoy the tea and cakes and chat afterwards. Hope the weathers good for it.

Well I better get on as I hav'nt done anything but wash this morning so far. I need to get the washing machine going too so I have another pile of ironing to do as if its not big enough now.

Anng we have a two scooters to go out and I might put the dogs bed out that we had for Bonnie our first dog ,it's one of those hard plastic ones ,I don't put to much out at a time because if it rains I have to haul it all back in .

Morning Vera / Anng ,morning all,

Enjoy your lunch and tea and cakes today Vera sounds as if you'll have a nice rest from sorting cupboards .

Very overcast here and we should have showers through the day so not sure if we'll get any outside jobs done .
I think I might do some more baking for the family .

Has anyone been watching The Hidden Treasures of the National Trust on bbc 2 at nine o'clock i only noticed it in the tele book today and its the last one tonight but it sounds good ,it caught my eye as its from Qxburgh Hall in Norfolk where a rats nest holds clothing fragments centuries old .

good morning all. wet but 11 degrees here. No gardening, unless there is a dry gap when I can get out to plant the courgette. As it is already flowering I don't want to wait too long.
Enjoy your lunch and tea and cakes afterwards Vera. That is such a nice tradition that you have.
I slept well last night, only got up once to ease my leg and visit the loo. slept from 11 to 0400, lay awake for a while and the next I knew it was 0715.

Ann, that is a nuisance about the wall not being fiished. Has the neighbour said anything about the reason? Maybe the builder or his family are unwell. Hope he returns soon.
And the other neighbour should know better that they should not be painting your fence without mentioning it.

I am lucky with my neighbours, except I do worry about Mac next door, he is friendly but very independent. I don't know how old he is but am guessing about 86/7. Very unsteady on his feet but still walks to local Tesco with his shopping trolley and the day before yesterday he was out the front in shorts (never seen him in shorts before) weeding the garden. He is scots and I have trouble understanding him but I think he said he was doing it to fill the brown bin. He does have a man come to cut the lawns. His wife was 85 when she died and not many days before that she was painting the fence round their garden. She always did it and it has not been done since she died. (about 2018/19). She was older than Mac.

Well done Mandy for finding homes for those things. What is next?

Good morning

Another grey, wet and chilly morning. I slept a bit better last night and we were both up early today. I’ve tidied up a bit but I’m not doing much this morning as I’m out at 12 pm for lunch. Then it will be back to the birthday girl’s house for tea and cakes. I doubt if I’ll be back before 5 so an easy day for me

Evening All,

It was nice this morning as OH walked home after leaving his car for service at the garage. It was pouring with rain later when I took him to pick it up and it is quite chilly now so the heating is getting a 10 minute blast.

By the mid 70s we were on flextime too AnnG. Before that we could pick between two starting and finishing times. With flextime we could finish at 3.30pm if we wished as long as there were enough staff left to cover the phone calls. I used to save up my flextime hours to have a day off, usually to add to a weekend! I'm sorry your leg is still giving you trouble, typical you had a hair appointment to go to, but good that Cynth gave you a lift one way. I expect your visitors will look forward to their next visit when everything has grown and it is full of flowers. It's good the meeting went well and I must look up the Mexican Sunflowers.

That's good your freebies have started to go Mandy! It doen't take people long to notice and spread the word to others, so I bet more will go. Hardly anyone walks by in our close or I might suggest OH putting some of his old books out on a table! lol That would put the wind up him!

Mel I am the same as Vera and found a wheat bag I got for OH didn't stay warm enough or for long enough for me. I've never thought to try the heat patches on my knee before Vera, so if I'm at home all day tomorrow I might try one. I use them on my back and they are brilliant for that. You must be pleased to have your kitchen cupboards clean and shipshape now. I have been looking online for some storage ideas to make better use of mine, although getting rid of things I don't use and never will anymore would be a good start! I have some beautiful glass trifle dishes on a stalk like a wine glass and they have thin, delicate wavy rims that curve outwards. We never use them for fear of breaking them and OH won't get near them as he knows he is clumsy. (like the neighbour with a COT in Hyacinth Bucket!) lol. We don't have any local family left to visit, so it's pointless keeping some things. Do you remember Jane and all the teasets she inherited from her mum that were in the garage? I bet those have all gone now since Chris downsized.

The builder doing the front wall and the wall at the side of our drive should have finished yesterday, but hasn't and didn't turn up today, so goodness knows when he will be back to finish it. It would be the wall that is alongside our driveway that he's left till last. In the meantime my car remains on the gravel blocked in by OH's car.

Our neighbour who grew the creeper and painted our fence has now also painted our concrete fence posts including the tops of them in a dazzling white that means they don't match the rest of our concrete fence posts and stick out like a sore thumb. He could be in trouble doing it all without asking, but having seen some of how they behave with others in the past, they are best ignored I think.

I'm late to bed tonight! OH got home at 8.30pm and went a while ago. Sleep tight everyone.

Vera yes I used my stick coming back from the hairdressers.. I think, although still sore, there is some improvement. Yes I was talking about heat pads with one of the ladies this afternoon. As you say I am not sure how to keep one in place. Perhaps I will get one and try it during the day when I can try to keep it in place. Trouble is my pain moves. Today was more in my ankle. Friend brought me a courgette plant so that is nice. And she also brought some Tithonus (Mexican sunflowers)which I grew last year.

Dry so far today but cold and windy and not much sign of the sun. We went to our usual Thursday coffee meet but there were only 5 of us today. After lunch I did a bit of deadheading and tidying up outside and was glad I had a jacket on. Then I came in and cleaned the last 3 kitchen cupboards so they are all done at last. It’s nice having a big kitchen but that means I have lots of cupboards, so of course I manage to fill them with a lot of stuff I don’t really need. Next job is to clean the fridge and freezer. Freezer is easy but my fridge is a pain to take to bits and reassemble. Then it’ll be the utility with more cupboards!

Both Ann’s, I hope your legs are getting less painful. Did you use your stick to walk back from the hairdresser AnnG? Have either of you tried heat pads on the most painful bits? The trouble with them is that you’d need close fitting leggings or similar to put them on a knee as older people shouldn’t put them direct on their skin. I find wheat bags move too much and cool down too quickly. Mel must lie very still if she can keep them in place.

Mandy, that’s good you have got rid of some of your bits and pieces and they can be useful to someone else. I’m jealous of your shops. Ours are all gradually closing and reopening as coffee shops or charity shops. Another shop has closed this week and is going to be another charity shop.

I’m off to another friend’s birthday lunch tomorrow. The birthday girl has chosen the pub down the road from the little hamlet where we used to live. It’s only about 6 miles away but it’s like another world there. One of the ladies is picking 3 of us up. Our good friend M will be with us so OH will take her husband V off for a meal somewhere.

Time is getting on so I shall go and make us a cup of tea and then decide what veg to have with tonight’s fish.

meeting went well, lots of chat some of which was gardening talk, and some that was not. It was dry enough for them to wander round the garden which is what they like. They all liked the new bits of the garden. It started raining at 3.30pm and is still raining so that is good for the garden

Thats good Mandy and have you put anything else out now?

Just going to have some lunch now as I did'nt realise what the time was. I was cleaning the mealworms and washing things up but I have lost my riddle.

Still dry and sunny here ,got our tablets from boots and went into Bon Marche and bought two tops ,then into QD where I bought two cake containers a garden seive and some greenhouse shading and the butchers for pork and bacon sausages which Jake said were lovely .
We came back past the school but didn't see dil but she must have seen us as son messaged asking if we had enjoyed our walk out as dil had seen us go past the school .
Just had knock at the door it was a neighbour asking if she could take the little ride in car ,so that's gone .

I just tried 4 times to order my Jointace and could'nt change my number but on the last time I managed it. They don't make it easy. :-(

I meant to say enjoy your meeting with friends today Anng. Hope its a good one and it stays dry for you. Any of your pics are nice whether the garden is behind or not.