General Chat

Morning to all ,hoping the weekend was kind to everyone,including our Mary whom i can hear her munching from here ,he he :-) bet it tasted good ,even if there was only one this season.
Sorry to hear that both Les' and Edith have gone back into winter mode.hmmmmm , wonder if one ,or the other have put the smit on me Mary,lol,gone very cold overnight here and there may be snow on the way ,so i went out back this morning and put a double fleece bag over my Nectarine tree to keep any frost ,or snow off the plant.
No work outside today ,it is drizzling ,but i suppose it's still early in the year ,and i have had a lovely mild ,sunny week ,very early in the year ,time to count my blessings remembering two years ago ,brrrrrrr. :-D.
Laddo is having his last dinner here before going home so we are doing him ,Steak ,and Kidney pudding ,with his roast potatoes ,red onion ,and his veg .
He has to get the married quarters gutted and cleaned down ,ready for the housing team come out to look it over ,not clean enough ,and they will send a team in to do it ,and charge for the service on top,which is only right ,it needs to be spot on for the new family moving in.
His new quarters will be ready on the 12th ,so a couple of days getting the house sorted with his gear ,and he is off to see the wife in Poland for two weeks.
Must get on and start the dinner ,but it looks like i will be having a lazy day so i will more than likely be back later,Fred. :-D <3

Snow storm overnight. Woke up to a white frosty world....no grass cutting here. April 1st.....and this is no joke!!

Enjoy your tom, Mary.....nothing like fresh!!

No other news today. Keep well and warm. Lesxx

Hooray, hooray, hooray. Enjoy Mary. Love Edith <3

I HAVE JUST PICKED MY ONE AND ONLY TOMATO...,, :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D

Love Mary xx <3 <3

Good morning all you happy campers ,from Chilly,wet and breezy Newcastle up here in the north of England .
Yep ,here we are at the start of the Easter break ,typical weather too ,the kids off school and ,so far ,stuck indoors because the lovely sunny warm weather has gone walkabout grrrrrrr :-(
I went into the greenhouse early this morning and put a few seeds in cups ,some cabbage ,Primo.& Ormskirk.an early and late variety,and i will be looking for some mid season ones when i go out next.
My tom's have just come through in the buckets ,and i will pull a few of the spares later on to repot for outside use.
Nice to hear that the stitches are out Les' it must be like a new dawn for you after all the agro with it .
I Take it that Ollie likes to knit too ,know what you mean ,Hissy is a pain in the butt when i am working in the chalet ,into everything and swiping my knees as i work at the bench ,and hiding in the shelving when i threaten her with a squirt of water ,little minx.
Don't think i could get away to help you in your garden much as i would love to Les. it ain't so much Liz stopping me ,she would be glad to see the back of me for a while ,lol,it's the furry one who is a real klingon ,i can't even go for a bath in peace ,she has to be where she can see me ,and makes one heck of a yowling if i shut a door on her so that she has to sit outside,even out on the patio ,she sits under my chair and growls if anyone comes too close ,talk about possesive.
Glad to hear you are getting round to ask for more help Mary,you need to keep yourself well with both of you to take more and more care of ,hope the appointments go well for hubby ,he must be felling very vunerable these days,after being active for so many years,yep ,this getting older is no fun at all.
Noticed that the clouds are blowing down from Scotland Edith ,so there may even be a flurry of snow on the way too ,my own fault for bragging about my growing being well in advance ,serves me right he he ,that will teach me.
I have even got one of those troughs set up with two rows of Pak Choi in ,i like them either for a stir fry or steamed as a mini cabbage,and they are so quick growing ,with the other three troughs in the back ,i can work it so that i have them usable for about four months at any one time .
I still have the four troughs out front too ,that i will use for stump rooted carrot as well ,so i am well sorted for this year ,once i find my Pear tree,to finish my fruit trees off.
I have a nice leg of Lamb out for the dinner today ,on the request of Sean,he says the lads out there were having to live on it [chicken] for every main meal and after the first two months were all spitting feathers .lol.so i am doing this Lamb rubbed in infused olive oil & garlic.wild onion, chopped ,and sprigs of Rosemary.
With all the usual trimmings of course including fresh made mint sauce.
Hope everyone manages a nice weekend and an even better week despite all that has to be done.
catch you all later ,Fred :-D <3 xxx

Hi everyone.. Our weather is cooling a little.. Daylight saving ends tomorrow and I am looking forward to it..Love it but get tired so am looking forward to a sleep in..

Next week its ,,Monday ..MRI on Johns knee,,could be some tissur damage from the fall he had..Wed. Off to the MND clinic run by the Professor in his clinic,,we were to go last dec. but the fall made us have to cancel it..thursday off to get new hearing aides for John,,He lost his while in the hospital.. :-| :-| so its a busy week,, Iam fine but am to tired to do anything yet about getting some help.. I now have to do a lot more for John than before but will get around to it soon..The lady that came thought I needed help to shower John but I manage that ok,,so will wait and see what comes of the visit.

Better go as its shower time..Have a lovely weekend all..will gwet back soon..

Love Mary xx <3

Mary, specialists for you John....or you? Keep well and get all the help you can, squeaky wheel and all that.

Fred d'ya think Liz would let you come over here for a couple of weeks and get my garden planted? probably not eh! My doctor has said no gardening at the moment, no wall washing, no house painting....am knitting tho!! LOL

All my stitches are out and yesterday I had my first real shower, no waterproof cling film etc, since Jan 19th.....it was wonderful. I don't have to see my doc until next week....what a journey!!

And knitting? Well much like sewing, I have a four legged helper who likes to be a busy boy. I have to fight every inch of the way to keep the yarn to myself, the tape measure etc. Yesterday I thought I had finished the front of the little doll sweater and then I saw that I had lost two stitches at some point. Now Ollie told me he didn't have those stitches...LOL but I ripped the blasted thing off the needles and gave it to him to play with anyway. Now today I am starting a new one....oh! well. It keeps me out of mischief.

A local restaurant has a pasta night on the last friday of the month. All you can eat of about a dozen different pastas for $13.95....and that's where we are off to at 6 pm. No cooking, lots of funky pasta dishes, a glass of red.....ah!

Have a good weekend everyone. Lesxx

Morning everyone, It's back to white again :-P After lovely warm days we now have a cold few days coming. Snow is about 2 inches deep so it's back to cleaning off the car and shovelling the walks to get to said car.
Oh. well it is Canada we live in and so cannot expect spring until May, but this early spring spurt has been very enjoyable :-)
Fred, for sure you will be way ahead of me now with planting, guess I will have to find a green house to rent :-D
Sorry to hear you are on the run again Mary, do take care and get all the help you can.Do they have a volunteer driving service there?? It is a big help here as we have many miles between our centres for medical care.
How's things on the coast Les? I see your weather is as mixed up as ours
wondering what the summer can possibly hold for us?
Time to get out and clean off my car as I have shopping to do to-day so will see you again soon. Edith <3

Hi Too all ,from Newcastle upon tyne where the old git has had a good day in his garden ,working ,and resting.
We have the grandson sorted as regards his new motor ,and good news about his married quarters too two results in less than a week.
While we were in Lyneham late last week getting Sean's house opened up a letter arrived ,from the housing office at High Wycombe ,with the offer of a house at Brize where he now takes up his new post.
Sean phoned them as soon as he got home ,and was told to fill the forms in ,that came with the letter and fax them through.
We did that this morning ,so our grandson now has a new house ,only a couple of minutes walk from the camp gates.
We were out yesterday too ,and got him a lovely Toyota Celicia in immaculate condition ,inside and out with only 87.000 miles on the clock,so he is well pleased.
Hope your new hospital appointments go well for you Mary and you are getting all the home help you are needing :-).
Hope you are winning re the wound too Les' it's time you had some satisfaction.
I have had a canny day ,resting in the sunlight on the patio ,trowel in one hand ,cuppa in the other ,putting some seeds in ,calabrese ,brussel .and pak Choi . and the two little containers with the cucumber in ,sings a little ditti .catch me if you can Edith ,lol.
Off now for tea ,a nice little salad with a slice of my own corned beef ,and a slice of wholemeal ,belting.
Catch you all later peoples ,Fred. :-D <3 xxx

Hi everyone..Sorry havent been in but am back on the doc and specilist rounds again..Back later when I get home..

Love to all..

Maryxxx <3

Morning to all ,nice and sunny here today ,again ,lol, i will be getting spoiled if i stay here much longer.
Sean had to go on camp yesterday to do some paperwork ,re the house inspection and repairs ,so we had a run through to Westbury to pay my respects to My uncle Ray who died in Jan' and in a way wished i hadn't ,because that bitch of a wife who bled him dry for years ,hasn't even been up to the cemetary to place flowers on the grave :-| which is less than a half mile from the house.
When i get home i will get in touch with a mason and get a small granite flower pot made with his name and dates on ,then when i come down next time i will take it to West Wycombe Church yard in Bucks ,and put it in the granite plinth of his fathers grave,along with the rest of the family,at least ,that way ,when family go to his dads grave ,they can lay flowers for Ray as well.
It works out well for me anyway ,because i can also pay my respects to my grand dad ,dad ,uncle .aunt and the others in Wycombe cemetary.
I hope Sean has some luck with the possibility of the house at Brize later today ,when he phones again ,poor lad tried earlier but had no reply.
Off for now to see what i can do for the dinner,catch you all later,Fred. :-Dxxx

Hello all, Just finished watching all 3 of the Queen series from Britain.
A great history and it brought back a lot of memories for me. She is a very dedicated lady. Enjoyed hearing from her children and grands.
Our weather has cooled a bit but still above normal for this time of year.
Will surely be able to plant soon and perhaps catch up to Fred :-)
Had pulled pork on a bun for supper tonight with a green salad mmmmgood. Have enough for a couple more meals too. :-)
Time to finish off the day so bye for now. Edith <3

Trying for the third time to add on this thread ,but if it dosn't go this time i will give up ,and sit in the garden.
we got back from Brize last evening ,doing as little shopping on the way home ,a change of plan from the beef ,because Sean was gagging for some pork ,lol
He hasn't had any for over six months ,it being all beef and chicken out there,so we got him a leg roast ,a packet of stuffing ,and i made him a lovely dinner today,wow you should have seen his face as he took his first mouthfull of stuffing and Pork ,it was worth the trip down ,just for that. :-).
He has a letter too ,off the housing officer to say he has been offered a house over there as well ,so he is going to ring them first thing Monday to see if it is still there.
The camp village has changed a lot in three years ,even a new Aldi and coop so he won't be short of supplies,and looking on google ,the house is about right on fields on one side and the camp on the other ,a five minute walk to work ,and no transport needed .
Been a lovely day here ,and i have been bored to tears ,he he ,no garden to work on ,just a lawn ,no genes ,because it's been playing up,and to cap it all ,i forgot my shorts ,no sun on the knobbly knees this trip :-(
Going to post this on now ,before i lose it ,lol,back shortly, Fred :-D xxx

Good morning to all ,Fred is in Lyneham after a good trip down yesterday,and is off in an hour to pick up the grandson ,who is on his flight from Akroteri to Brize Norton in oxfordshire.
He arrived in Cyprus yesterday after leaving afghanistan,having finished his 6 month tour.
Not best pleased with him mind you ,being awakened at 4am by him sending me an sms saying good morning grrrrrrr,that will cost him dear ,in the form of a biiiiiiig mac on camp before we leave to come back here ,lol.
I expect we will have to wait here for a couple of days while he does all his paperwork ,along with his de brief ,and gets his sky and broad band back on line ,as well as getting the heating repaired
There is no accomodation left at Brize ,so now he is staying here being taken back and forth to Brize by a coach for each shift ,which will save him having to use his car for work.
Once he gets sorted ,he will be going up to Newcastle with us to buy his new motor it being a lot cheaper to get one up there rather than being ripped off in the south of the country ,cars being over a £1000 cheaper up north.
Nice and sunny here this morning so it should be a nicer trip to Brize this time ,the last being in the winter last year ,with snow everywhere and none gritted country roads ,not a nice way to travel.
Well peoples ,time to get my bum in gear and get ready to go, :-D ,catch you all later Fred. :-) <3

Well still snowing here. Snow and melt, snow and melt.....the forecast says this will continue for ar least another week. Hm! maybe will have snow for Easter....grr!

Still going to the hospital every day for a dressing change etc. and still have two stitches left in where it does not want to seem to heal. But my doc seems to think that we are getting ther and has today taken me off antibiotics....yippee!!

And ya know kiddies that is all I have to say. I am doing nothing, I am sick of the TV and sick of reading but hey!!! soon we will be back to the usual grind.
More later. Lesxx

Morning all, Well, we have now broken a record temp for this time of year the warmest since 1946. The snow is gone and the trees are budding so it is a bit weird.
A cousin in Arizona had 14 inches of snow in her driveway so she is not impressed :-) Seems the old world has gone topsy turvy.
Neighbour and I went out and collected some pussy willows on Sunday the earliest for either of us in 50 yrs.
All our bulbs are poking through so will have early daffs and tulips as well.
Hope Les and all are well.
Out to enjoy my morning coffee on the balcony so bye for now.
Edith
<3

Well,here are again,another Sunday into the year ,and another Mothers day here in Blighty,and i has been full of busy again ,the missus's specialdinner well under way ,with a nice fresh Chicken ,roast tatties in a tin with roast red onion ,parsnips ,carrot and even a few kilties to add in the last 15 minutes.
The missus is getting spoilt today ,even the washing up being done by Mwah ,lol,hows that for crawling ;-).
Yep a real bummer about Mr D ,a lovely ,very special cat ,but i do have some nice pics of him to remember him by :-\ .
Seems in a lot of cases ,this Colon Cancer is being brought on by people eating fruit at the wrong time of day ,eaten after a meal everything from apples to Strawberrys can't get into the bowel for other food ,there by clogging the stomach and fermenting there ,it seems you need to eat your fruit on an empty tummy giving the acids in it a chance to clear out the system.
Oooops says Fred got it wrong again ,and is sat here chewing an apple well before dinner ,he he .
Had aa belting day yesterday Edith .all the old pottery urns off the front patio have gone ,smashed up and lining the new plastic urns and tubs for drainage ,and the new urns are full of Azalias ,,the new tubs full of Heathers ,Begonias ,primula and other summer plants.
The lawns have been fed and watered ,so i am now having a lazy day ,and am planning the trip down to Lyneham ,to open up the grandsons house as he [yippee] is due home on the 23rd of this month.
He is now staying at Lyneham ,and not moving to Brize seeing as the camp has run out of quarters ,and they are laying busses to move the shifts back and forward ,so it will be cheaper for Sean to pay the bus fares rather than take his car when he goes to work.
Makes it easier for us to visit too ,saving us nearly an hour in travel time ,and to top it all ,the nearest town is way above in all respects to the one in Brize Norton ,which was very humdrum, i found .
That's it for today ,off now to have a good laze he he ,catch you all later ,Fred :-D <3 xxx.

Hello all, Well Les, We have summer temps here. to-day +15 and +22 to +25 on Sunday. The snow is going very fast and most roads and roofs are dry.
Have been chuckling at the folks who head for Mexico at this time of year, they like to leave in the snow and come back to none, Haaa this year they may have to work it backwards!!!!!!!
Saw the post about Mr D, sad day indeed.
Fred, I am now very very jealous, up until yesterday I couldn't get out on the balcony much less plant anything. Now I will have to try and get caught up to you :-D :-D. Must go and check to see if the bulbs we put in last fall are poking their noses out yet. With this warm sun they should be.
Les, have a friend who is a similar spot to what you are, and this morning she said she has had a rip roaring temper tantrum once a week just to get through the boredom. This from a very laid back person, she has 2 more weeks in the wrist cast so more tantrums to come I guess. :-)
Hope your weather takes a turn for the better real soon.
Enjoy the week-end all. Edith <3

Not much going on here as I have been "prone" re: docs orders. Have had most of the stitches out but have a couple left in a bad area.

I don't know if everyone looks at Facebook but our JA has lost Mr. Darcy. He is now in kitty heaven, very sad as he was a lovely boy.

It has snowed on and off all week. Wednesday we had about 4 blizzzards blow thru dumping wet snow that vanished in the rain that followed. I guess it is Ok as I would not be allowed to dig etc. right now anyway.

The cucumber salsa was amazing so here it is, enough for 2/4. You can alater quanitiy to suit:
Half an english long cuke, roughly peeled and finely diced. Chuck in a bowl. One largish tomatillo finely diced, into bowl.
4 medium spring onions finely sliced, into bowl.
2 large cloves of garlic, minced, into bowl.
handful of fresh cilantro (corriander to you Fred) chopped, leave out lower stems, into bowl.
Then add a good glug of quality olive oil and the juice of one fat lime or 2 small. Stir an enjoy.

Today I may try a little knitting, a sweater for the dolly. I am now basically bored but hopefully by Monday will be able to be more active.
Have a good weekend'
Lesxx

Morning to everyone ,hoping all are doing well out there .
Had a good day here anyway ,noting that the rain was due back today i got the back lawn fed ,put my first tattie barrel back in place complete with tatties ,cleared the spent compost to one side and put 'tother barrel back too ,then started moving the old compost into the back garden.
The growing pots on the narrow side of the garden are now fed ,the old compost being used to top them up .ditto to the Asparagus buckets,then onto the greenhouse ,all pots put into place ready for the tomato seeds ,and the benches cleared off ,and one cucumber bucket filled and put into place.
The other bucket for the second cucumber i can't find anywhere ,a complete mystery that one ,knowing me and my memory it's probably in the shed with one of the greenhouse tools in , i will have to have a look later on. :-).
I have fed the nectarine ,and put it back under the window next to the apple tree ,having watered and fed it .
I have a few new urns still to put the holes in before use ,and next week i will start to change the front patio around ,two new Azaliea being brought ready to go in [the big one is going into the front garden ,replacing the Willow in the round bed in the lawn.
Finished off last evening painting the brickwork inside the new canopy and painting the step,before i retired indoors to watch Master Chef [the final] being a bit miffed that Tom ,one of the finalists ,blew his chances by adding Strawberries to an otherwise beutiful own recipe that i feel sure would have won him the title .What ever ,the three of the finalists were told by some of the chef's whose kitchens they used in the series ,that there were jobs waiting for all three of them so their futures are assured.
I went outside this morning and put a second coat of paint on the front step ,so ,out there is finished apart from sealing the wood of the canopy to the brickwork , a nice looking job all told..
Off now to do a bit of work indoors ,then a laze for an hour before going out for some supplies.
Take care all .Fred :-D <3 xxx