General Chat

Evening All,

I've got a bit behind the posts with catching up with a few jobs. It sounds like you will soon be on your way AnnG now you've done most of your packing.

Mel OH discovered my favourite lightweight border fork I'd put in the greenhouse was minus one of the prongs, broken clean off and we have no idea how it happened as neither of us have used it to lever anything like plant roots or rocks. The missing prong isn't with it. I must look around the garden and see if I can find the prong as it may be a clue as to where and why it happened. You were lucky to find yours before you had a bonfire.

I went to a different garden centre yesterday. I have a slim glass vase on the bedroom windowsill with gravel in and three artificial flower heads in that I got many years ago. I know they aren't as nice as the real thing which I prefer, but they do look better these days than those we got free was it in soap powdwer? The old flowers had started to fall apart, not surprising after 15 years. I'd been looking for something to replace them and was expecting them to be expensive as the last ones were over £10. I found just a few were plastic (easy to wash) and I thought one little feathery bunch looked like hedgerow blossom and could be cut and placed apart in the vase. See what you think as I've sent a pic. They only cost £1.64!!

OH met up for a meal last night with the three ladies that worked for him before he retired.hey seemed to have tales of woe and spend too much time visiting the pharmacy like us too!

I'm amazed your reviews are done with you having a chance for input Vera! Our surgery just note our prescriptions with the date they do them and don't even contact us let alone discuss anything.

I have some of that lemon balm AnnG. It does smell lovely, but mine looks straggly now with long bent over stems. I lost the one I had in a pot and have a self set one growing at the edge of the path, so it's half covering the path now.

I wonder what thet percentage woould be for a centenarian??

All I've done today is pop to the shop and spray the front garden nasty weed. The nozzle fell off the first spray bottle and it went all over my hand so I had to go in and wash. I've left the bottle in the uti sink for now as the nozzle wouldn't push back on. There is so much of THAT weed that I've had back ache since and it was very hot although we have had a bit of breeze today.

Did the shop this morning and dropped off plums to aneighbour but one and Ad and Lorna. Tried to sew the netting back on the mower collection box but could'nt get the needle through the holes in the plastic even though I made them bigger.

aaron came down this afternoon and took the two tresstles I said he could have so another bit of junk out of the garden. He likes my leanto and said he will have to come down and see how its been put up. Cleaned out the girls nest box and there was so much mite in there I had to come in and wassh and strip of my shirt and bung it in the washing machine. Going to have a bonfire tonight and so is Aaron so theres going to be some smoke around later on.

I have rung BIL and told him I can't do the grass box and also told him I found the fork. I told him to look on the trailer before he empties it in future. It has a green handle so its hard to see among stuff with leaves on.

All packed then Anng when do you go. You'll probably get my card when you arrive home.

5 cards just arrived in the post, not opened of course, so your may well be among them. Now packed in my case

Good morning all second time this week I have gone back to sleep just before 6 and woken just after 8. I should have known as it was a sleep in two hour stretches last night. Had a lot if added all together but not sure that is the way to do it.
Nothing particularly planned today except packing.

Morning girls,

Nice mornig here in deepest Devon but pc tells me rain is coming!! Its 17 degrees and theres a warming trend over the next few days. pc also says partly sunny. I don't think they really know what going to happen and are just fobbing us off with alsorts.

Yes I found the fork. It was really bugging me as I knew I was the last one to use it. I went back round the wood where I have the bonfire outside the wall and I had moved some of the stuff I had cut off when I was last using it but this time I thought I knew I had had it on the top of the pile and I had put the leccy pruner in the car. Picked up more branches I had cut off the Goat Willow and there it was at the bottom of the pile. BIL had emptied the trailer and not seen it so I'm pleased I went and had another look as it would have been burnt otherwise and even though its all metal it would have been horrid.

As I looked up Aaron had come with the quad and trailer to pick up the small branches cut off the fir tree he had cut up. He came down and we chatted a while and I gave him cooking apples, and plums and a small trug of blackberries. He had brought down the old butlers sink he found under the tree he cut down and put it out the front for me where its safer he said. Then he brought out his big bottle of cidar and we had a nice glass of that outside on the patio andf a good natter.

Evening all,

Phew it's been a hot day ,we were going shopping but decided we'd go early tomorrow instead.
It's been a day of odd jobs but you can't really see what you've done ,I think we're now going to sit out in the garden as its so nice .

Anng it should cheer you up if your in the incredibly rare group you could be really valuable even an antique :-D infact priceless :-D

Mel it will turn up when your not looking for it ,you've had it in your hand and laid it down somewhere ,at least as its big you've not put it in the fridge :-D :-0

That made me laugh Anng. :-D

BIL came and mowed and I strimmed round the back lawn and out the edge of the back field round the end of the bungalow and then started on the sides of the road as the weeds were getting tall. BIL ran the mower up and down both side and picked a lot of it up. I started to sweep it but got hungry so came in for some lunch. BIL asked me where the ffffour pronged fork was and I said I had had it in the weekl when I cut some stuff down outside the wall. Do you think we could find it? no. After lunch I thought I had had it on the trailer so walked round the chickens and into the little wood and to the place I am going to have a bonfire thinking if the trailer was tipped there perhaps it was under all the stuff I'd cut off. Sorted through it but still no sign of it. After lunch I went up and had another look, still no fork..... so I picked a bucket load of plums and a small trug of blackberries. I even called at Aarons to see if he had used it to pick up some of the small stuff from where he cut the dead tree down but he had'nt. I suppose it will turn up somewhere but at the mo goodness knows where its hiding. I have even asked the fairies if they have borrowed it can I have it back please.

I came in for a COT and when I have finished it I am going to go and have another sweep of the road.

not sure if this is meant tp cheer me up!!

If you were born between 1930 and 1946, you belong to an incredibly rare group: only 1% of your generation is still alive today.

Well, I walked down to Irene's to take back three books, I chnged the bed. Actually I had a thought when about to strip the bed. The top sheet has been more off than on this week so I cheated and just washed the fitted sheet and pillowcase., then I half packed, putting tea shirts and tops folded into plastic bags so tomorrow just got trousers to pack. all the small bit were packed yesterday.
And after lunch I spent about 40 minutes in the garden cutting back some overgrown stuff and ivy. A lot of that was lemon balm that smells nice but is rampant in this garen and goes leggy and horrible as it gets older.

Anyway that was a good time in the garden but couldn't manage any more as it is very hot out there now (22 degrees).

Morning Anng and all,

Grey skies here this morning 15 degrees and rain starting in 1 .5 hours. I thought it was supposed to be a nice day today. Perhaps I was just hoping it would be as the BBQ is tonight and the sleep over in tents.

The new tyres arrived the day before yesterday so they are in the garage. They were so heavy and coming out of the box I opened the rest of it and rolled them to the garage.

Yes Annx are you pleased with the new work thats been done and the result?

good morning all 14 degreessemi bright. Not much to do today except finish sorting stuff for son's. probably pack tomorrow. Can't take a lot of clothes as there is nowhere to put anything so most of it stays in the case.

Ann it all depends on the post, nothing anyone can do really to make sure anything is delivered on time. sometimes the old days were better!!!
Hopefully you will finally get straight today. Are you pleased with it now it is finished?

Afternoon Eveyone,

It's very windy here and my hair is due a cut so I soon looked like a scarecrow when we went for a breakfast bap earlier at a garden centre. You can pick three items to go with it so we both had egg and mushroom, then I added tomato and OH added beans and we did a swap of half of those between us. We had a quick look at The Works, and called at the shop on the way back as OH said the painter was coming at 11.00am to put the ensuite door back on and put the light fitting and fan pull cord back up. I was convinced it was later around 1.00pm, but he still didn't arrive then so I texted him at 3.00pm and he said he'd come at 5.00pm, which he did. Apparently things he needed for today's work got delivered to his home address instead of the customer's so it put them all behind.

I'm glad the Verbascum arrived ok Mel and I hope you get some plants from them. I can't believe George will be 16 either! I still think of them as young boys and remember the Reindeer that pooped that you got them one Christmas. I managed to mess up my PC by downloading a 'free' version of office on it. I have a student version I downloaded from a disc that I use, but it isn't supported now and there's a delay while it 'configures' when I use it. All went well with the download but when I looked at my excel worksheets on a stick the headings and instructions were all in German!! I looked at what I had downloaded and there were so many files with letters after like it-it or nl-nl and if you clicked on each there were great lists of more files. A bit of googling told me they were different languages and I managed to uninstall them all but it took ages. There was no option to pick a language when I did the download, so I'll make do without it!

I also posted your card on Tuesday AnnG so like Mandy hope it might arrive before you go to your son's. It sounds like it will be best to pack a bit of everything like you say with things you can layer on top if needs be. The sedums were a good idea as they will stand the heat better and not need watering as much. Does Skinny still visit you? We had a new cat in the garden this afternoon. A ginger tabby and white.

Mandy you certainly have the knack for growing cucumbers! I used to find the white flowered beans had less flowers bitten off than the red ones if that's what is happening to yours. When they grew a lot of rape seed oil on the farms round here, the black little beetles used to bite the flowers off our beans when they started flowering. The farmers are growing less of it now though so I might try some beans again next year. We had a whistling kettle in the caravan years ago and my first MIL had one too. She also use those fancy knitted teacosies on her teapots. I seem to remember knitting a black and orange one myself.

I'm off to bed now as I'm shattered after starting cleaning the ensuite and putting some things back at last. I'll finish doing the shower tomorrow. I managed to do a wash as it stayed dry here today.

I sat this morning having my coffee and there was a whistling noise outside and It made me think of the whistling kettles that were put on the hob to boil ,you had to take off the little stopper thingy to stop the whistling and then I thought oh and we had electric kettles that didn't click off like the kettles we have now ,if you put the kettle on and forgot about it you would come into a kitchen full of steam ,it was like a fog and you just had to hope the kettle hadn't boiled dry , funny how one whistle can bring on a memory.

OK Mandy not arrived yet but the post is all over the place. Don't worry though, I knew when son picked this week that I would have cards waiting for me when I get home. So,ething to look forward to.

Afternoon all,

Nice sunny day and 22 degrees so just comfortable for a few jobs in the garden
Mel our beans are Scarlet Emperor, I shall get some lime and try that on them ,I think its the worst year we've had on the other hand the cucumbers have gone crazy ,picked four more bringing the number to 52 lol
Goodness George's 16th doesn't seem that long ago you use to say the little boys next door .
Anng I posted your birthday card on Tuesday second class bit early but you mentioned going away so I thought you might get it before you go .

That should have been back door inside and out.

I have just clean the kitchen and diner windows and the back inside and out. Em's been for 2 dozen eggs and we had a natter. Its their BBQ tomorrow night for George's 16th birthday and he's having friends over to camp in the field. I hope its not going to be raining for them. I have that mizzle todayhat makes everything wet.

Mandy try giving your beans a spray each day. If you have any give them a drink of lime in water, garden lime not lime juice if you have any!!! Do you know what the variety is? I have grown Benchmaster this year.

I used to find strimming the most exhausing thing I did I am so pleased I don't need to do it now.

I have just planted the three Sedums that I bought yesterday in pots so that makes that area look better.

Morning girls,

Bit grey here this morning and its 16 degrees and pc is telling me rain in 2 or so hours time.

You are always saying that you wish you had my energy but you get a lot more done than I do Vera as it takes me so long to walk around. I only go at a snails pace and have to keep stopping to get my breath. When I do something in the garen it hardly shows.

Hips playing up today must have been yesterdays bit of strimming I shall have to try to swing from my waste if I an find it!!

Good morning all 15 degrees here but it seemed to be a fairly cool night and I slept well. I have to start to sort out stuff to pack today. It looks like being hot when I am at son's, That happened in 2021 when I was there over my birthday but I hope it doesn't get as hot this year as it did then. (40), although they are well stocked with fans of carying sizes. difficult (as usual) to know what to pack as I have not been told if they have made any plans, I suspect not, life is a little more chaotic there than daughter's or here. So a bit of everything I think.
Other than that nothing planned.
Well judging by the jobs that you got done Vera you seem to have found some energy yesterday so I hope you got some sleep last night.