General Chat

ArgyllGran, forgot to say, hope your baking turned out well and lots come to the coffee morning.

Morning everyone

Well looking a little brighter but still windy. Our good weather expected mid week but...we shall see.

Oh my Joan, 20 trees crikey what a lot of work for the boys!!But if it means you have a lot less leaves to sweep up, then thats good for you.

My potato plants now have flowers on them, although want to leave them for as long as possible to get the biggest tatties.These are Red Roosters, good for jackets.

Yesterday between the mist, we managed to move 4 tubs and plant up a trough and 2 other tubs so all outside now. Cant wait until everything blooms!

When we were away in Oban, the pilows in the hotel were duck and goose feather and were so soft and comfy that when we returned I ordered a pack of 2 pillows.
But I find your head molds into the pillow and they are so not comfy. Im getting a stick neck and a sore head even though they were very expensive.

The hotel ones were the softest pillow I have have slept on and got the best night sleep.

Any one have duck and goose feather pillows and do you find them comfy?

Florence in the hebrides

Hi ArgyllGran.
We have a LOT of trees, lol & most I grew myself from gathering seeds so a mixture of Sycamores, Ash, Rowans, Hawthortns, Beech, 1 silver Birch, & a couple of Christmas trees.
At the back of the house there are at least another 30 various kinds but not all are being removed, really just want to take out the ones that are too big for where they are situated.

We planted them many years ago & boy once established they just took off which was a real surprise as we were led to believe that many types of trees won't / don't / or are very slow to grow in this cold & windy area !!!!

When we first moved to this house there were just 6 trees growing in & around the place, all Sycamores, we got rid of 3 of them years ago as they were enormous, 2 others were cut down about 6 years ago but they refuse to die, I'm constantly pulling out new growth but despite me removing it & drowning them in seriously strong killer. The top cut is black & looks dead but obviously it's not.

They were not too close to the house so not seeing any difference re light but the garden is now swathed in sunshine all day long which can only help the flowering plants.

I should see a difference when the leaves fall, looking forward to not having to spend so much time sweeping them up come Autumn.

Joan.

Twenty trees, Joan! My goodness, that's a forest!
Your friend has certainly been working hard.
Are you getting a lot more light in the house now - or were the trees far enough away not to make much difference?

Cool and cloudy here, with a slight breeze and occasional light showers.
Really quite a pleasant day, though not sunny.
Too cool and breezy for the midges, thank goodness!

I'm just about to do some baking for our village coffee morning tomorrow.

Hi, goodness Florence your experience with the Premier Inns sound stressful, not what you want when on a break / holiday.

Our family friend was here once again to remove some trees, I felt sorry for him working in the heat but he was very laid back about it & just got on with it all, so far he as removed or reduced 20 trees at the top of the front garden, 5 left in that area then he will be having a go at the back of the house.

daughter managed to cut the grass at the back of the house, took some effort as the grass was a bit long.
I have been outside this morning & raked up the twiggy bits that were lying around, looks better for doing that, pulled up some weeds from the gravel whilst on my way round found a wee

Going to have some dinner now then put my feet up for a wee while.
Hope all is well with you all.

Joan.

Morning all

No such heat up here. Yesterday we went to town and it wasnt cold about 15 degrees but was sooo windy no worth doing me hair lol.

Its grey and overcast today as well so another day of chores indoors I guess, looks like rain too.

Thankfully no bbqs around here and so far no midges hurray for that.

Working on ne of my family trees today and have found a new relative but trying to see where they fit in is a different matter!

happy Sunday all

Florence in the hebrides

It’s hard not to step forward when you see someone struggling Linda.

I hope I survive the hot weather, Monday & Tuesday are going to be unmanageable.
The heat has also brought out two things - wasps and bbq’s, which in our small gardens are not fun for the neighbours. One was lit half an hour ago so we had to run round and close our windows as the wood smoke was beginning to come into the house.

I hoped that those of you in the south survived the heat yesterday It was hot here, but not too bad. I took Esme to Lightwater Valley, it was the birthday of one of the other group of special needs children who have season passes , so he had invited all of the others to a party lunch. It is nice because whenever we go one of t.he group will usually be there. Yesterday Esme’s close friend from school was there, she is in a wheelchair full time and can’t lift her feet, so getting her on rides is really difficult. It was OK when she was younger, but she is very heavy now. If my daughter is there, she will help the girls mum to lift her, but I said that I couldn’t do that. Her mum was struggling on her own and managed most of the time,but on one ride, she was struggling to get her off, so I helped lift the girls legs. It was like moving logs and I twinged my back, so it is very sore now. I should have known better, but I had to step forward. It is difficult because obviously you want the girl to enjoy her day, but really her mum should bring a carer to help, if only so she doesn’t damage her own back.

Good morning all. already 15 degrees here at 0745. Managed an hour in the garden yesterday but had to come in at 1100 as it was too hot outside.
Linda, I too will be in the Lake district from next Wednesday. I have checked the forecast and I only saw 18 degrees as the highest temp. Except for a couple of spikes over 20. I don't mind if we don't get the hottest temps as it means it is more pleasant for getting out and about. Staying with daughter we will be staying away fro touristy places.

Sylvia, great to see you back on here but sorry that you now have a health problem. I hope it is one that can be sorted for you. Sorry too to hear about your other half's problems, there is always a worry with falls and it is good that his hip was easily fixed. You must be pleased that you made the move when you did, it would be so much more of a worry if you ere still in your house. At least there are people around for you both. <3

Lovely to see you back, Sylvia - we were worried about you, and with good reason, it seems.

It must be a huge relief to you to be living where you and your husband are, with such good care all around, so that any problems are quickly picked up on and dealt with.


Have a good break, Linda.
Looking at the Accuweather site for the next 10 days, apparently 24 degrees is the warmest it will be in our area, for a couple of days in the middle of next week.
That's OK! Nice and warm, but not too hot.

Happy potting, Florence!

Morning all

Oh dear Sylvia, what an awful time you have had lately. I hope there is nothing too serious wrong with your heart and yes, you will have to slow down.

Your OH must be difficult to handle at times but at least he has help at hand and its not all on your shoulders to deal with.

Sun is peeking through but still windy and its now raining....

We so need to finish off potting up plants else they will start to die in the little tubs they are in.

keep hearing about a heatwave but def not up here!

Bin day for glass and Tesco coming later so always something happening here.

Linda, enjoy the lake District and hope you get good weather.

Florence in the hebrides

It is lovely to see you posting Sylvia. I am sorry that you have been having such a hard time. I hope that both you and your husband will pick up soon. It is good that you are in a facility where you have help on hand.

Are you all looking forward to the hot weather? We are going to the Lake District on Monday and it is only going to be 22 degrees and sunny, cooler than if we stay at home. That will be fine though as we will be doing touristy things.

What a time you have been having.

Hope you get sorted.

Hello

I'm popping in again.

The last few months have been hard ............

In March I was sent in an ambulance to the hospital, suspected heart problem.

Almost 3 weeks later, I was released with the diagnosis of congestive heart failure, and medications to take, plus "wait for the cardiologist to contact you".

I have another appointment next week to have a Holter apparatus attached ........... it's basically a 24 hour ECG test.

I have to try to slow down, and take things slightly more easily until they've sorted everything out.

Meanwhile, OH was slowly getting worse and worse, continually falling asleep and then waking up and still being in the dream. Finally he fell in his room on May 10, and broke his hip ........ wasn't wearing the padded hip protector underwear as he was supposed to do.

He was taken to hospital, and operated on 2 days later ........ luckily it was only the ball top of his femur that had broken, so it was replaced with a metal ball, and he was released back here about a week later. They do like to release hip patients as soon as possible so they can start getting physiotherapy.

Strangely, his mood was very different than before the fall ........ he was more cheerful, didn't sleep as much, even looked brighter eyed, etc. Then he began to get restless, trying to undo the brake on his wheelchair ............... luckily it had an alarm that sounded when he made the wrong move.

That happened about a week after he'd got back ............. he got up out of the chair and promptly fell again, but the nurse and care aides were soon there. He was darn lucky!!! No damage done, not even a bruise. But he is restless, he "knows better than them".

Also his teeth are falling out!

I'm going to try to keep coming back to this site!

I'll also have to try to catch up with you all.

I've missed being on here!

We like Premier Inns too. Not too happy thst so many are taking their restaurants out as you often don’t want to be trundling around looking for somewhere to eat, especially with dietary issues.

Fingers crossed that the one we are booked in for a funeral is OK.

Well after yesterdays gale this mornings mist, it has cleared up enough to allow us to go outside and pot up the bedding plants.

need a change of scenery after ironing for nearly 2 hours, then emptied the whole bathroom, decluttered and jiffed. Floor mopped and now drying off.

OH stripped bed and remade and then hoovered the whole house.

So nearly caught up!

Hope everyone else looking in having a good day

Florence in the hebrides

We like staying in Premier Inns, but the standard does vary. The newer ones are good and they have the restaurant in the building. The food is fine, but not Michelin standard. I don’t like the older ones where the food is in a restaurant next door, thankfully, they are phasing them out. The one we stayed at in London a couple of weeks ago was a bit frayed around the edges, but we coped

The weather doesn’t get any better, it is still chilly. It does look as if it is going to be warmer next week for half term. That is good as we are all going to the Lake District for four days.

Morning all

Not such a nice day here after yesterdays glorious sunshine.

After taking daughter to the airport we popped into the garden centre for some more plants and had hoped to pot them out today. But its windy and wet so maybe a day indoors to catch up on some housework.

After 2 weeks without cleaning, this house is sooo dusty!! So plenty to do indoors.

Whilst away we stayed in 4 Premier Inns, 2 in the same place but different dates.

the main town one was very good and if the disabled parking bay was taken, they let us park behind 3 posts in a spare bit of the car park. I think it was maybe for staff but they let us park there everyday so couldnt fault them.

the food in their restaurant was ok and breakfast was a help yourself affair.

Moved on to a coastal premier Inn and this one was slightly below standard but in all was ok.

The last one was in deepest kent and was not ok.

Out of the ark bathroom door which we struggled to slide back as was so heavy. Bedside lamps didnt work. Noisy slamming of the door to the upstairs which woke us at early hours of the morning when people were leaving.

maintenance man only attends to jobs on a Wednesday!!!

This one didnt have their own restauarant so had to go the pub next door.

Disabled friendly.....certainly not as the eating was up 2 flights of stairs which I could not climb. So we sat downstairs on our own. The waiter was less than friendly muttering he couldnt change the building!

Def would not stay there again and will be doing a review.

This was a "duty" trip and not a holiday so wont be repeating it anytime soon.

Living out of a suitcase for 2 weeks and making obligatory visits just because was at times very stressy particularly when you have to take your own tea, coffee etc and lunch!! It was the same when I last visited my mother.

Her reply was. "well i dont know what coffee etc you like." In reality she didnt want to part with her money and spend some of it on me...So that particular visit, I had to go to Sainburys and spend £150 on me to buy food for the week I spent with her.

So visiting my father was much the same!

Anyway trip over and everyone happy that we made time for all.

So now better crack on with getting this house in order before any visitors should knock on my door!

Hope everyone looking in today is well and ok

Florence in the hebrides

Good morning, nice & sunny here today, the wind has abated & the temperature is up a bit, looks like it rained at some point through the night,going on the wet flagstones & gravel, I have already been outside to work, just to rake up & sweep all the small twigs that were lying around lol.

Yesterday our usual lovely family friend came over to cut down some trees, he cut down 6 & reduce 2, with the help of the eldest daughter & her 3 children all the branches & truncks were lifted into the trailer all of which were taken to the friends house to be used on his wood burner, 4 trips in all.

They were here all day.arriving around 10-00 am until near 8-00 pm.
Lot's more trees still to come down or be reduced but could take a while yet, just happy to get them done.

As the trees are still low in leaves we could see there were no nest in the ones taken down though 1 of the nest boxes is in use so that tree has been left for now..
The Blue Tits that are in the box carried on as normal even with all the noise & activity that was going on, & I have seen them this morning so thankful for that.

Less trees should mean less leaves to sweep up come the Autumn, I hope so, lol.

Joan.

It is good to see you back Florence, I hope that you have managed to catch up on everything.
I still have all my hanging baskets and wall baskets in the greenhouse because it has been too cold overnight to put them out. Hopefully it is going to be warmer this week so I can get them into the garden

I had to take my granddaughter into Harrogate yesterday afternoon for her volunteering duty, so I spent a couple of hours trying to buy summer dresses but it was a very frustrating experience. I am very long waisted, so I can’t have anything with a waist because it is high up around my ribs. Just about everything else was floor length, there were very few midi dresses or knee length ones.As I am tall, the few shorter shift types which I found were far too short. I did find one which I bought, but it wasn’t really what I wanted

Today I am off to Lightwater Valley with Esme. It is a special day featuring Bluey- some sort of cartoon dog apparently.