General Chat

good morning all, 18 degrees already but still very grey with cloud. I have several indoor jobs to do and of course lots in the garden. Another thing is my watch stopped while I was away and I need to go to town to get a new battery.

I don't mind washing up by hand when it is only me but it is difficult to stop myself putting it all in the dish washer until I realise that won't be a good solution. Wonder how the finance works out, electricity and water used in the dish washer versus heating water for the sink, or running off the cold water to get to the hot/boiling the kettle
I heard from the man who serviced it before, we are now having a problem working out when he can do it, he comes from the other side of Cheltenham (has other customers in this area) so it is a bit of a journey for him.

Vera glad you have got that trip out of the way, but wow what an expensive hospital visit. And now another journey. Is there no other way to get to Adenbrooks?

Ann, I never thought about the bleach in toilet paper being a potential problem.
Yes the falls talk was interesting, probably a lot of information that I already knew and quite an emphasis on exercises to improve strength and balance and a video to show how to get up if you fall. Interesting that she touched on something called message in a bottle (I googled and it is there to read) the 'bottle' is a small cylindrical container with a small booklet and form inside. The form is to note medical problems, medication etc. The bottle is kept in the fridge and there is a sticker to put on the fridge to show there is one inside. That would be accessed by paramedics should you have to call them, probably more apt for those who live on their own in conjunction with a key safe to allow entry.

Morning Mandy you popped in just before me.

Morning all,

O dear me what a day you had Vera and the cost of the taxi was high but he did wait for you which is good. Its always worth getting a good driver for a long trip and a worrying one.

Its 17 degrees here and not very bright but pc says mostly cloudy.

I couldn't have got a pick of the Ravens in the pothole bathing as you couldn't see them its so deep. I am going to have to get some of the cold tarmac from Staceys in Holsworthy to fill two big holes in the road, one in the garden and one up the top as my car dosn't like it if I go down them.

I chucked all the covers off last night as I was hot got up once for the bathroom and then I did manage to go back to sleep again instead of lying there till it was time to get up.

I wonder if Stu will come tonight????

Morning all,

Overcast here this morning and we should be in for a hot day so we're off to do our shopping a bit earlier .
Hope everyone had a good night's sleep with the warmwe night's, I had a decent night and we were a bit later going to bed as we watched England play .
Better have my cuppa and get moving , bbl

I missed you there as I only posted just now Vera. What a day you have had, and although the taxi driver was good offering to stay and take you back home afterwards what a cost!! At least those tests have been done now and I'm sure I wouldn't do well at memory tests as I could never remember lists of things even when I was young. Now you next have a long trip to Addenbrookes which isn't ideal. Yes a relaxing lunch out tomorrow sounds like a good idea.

Afternoon All,

We had a little rain in the early hours, but none since and mostly sunshine. It's a bit sticky today though.

You have got through a lot of jobs today AnnG. A nuisance about the dishwasher, but is it still under warranty as I thought you hadn't had it that long? Even when I lived on my own I still liked my dishwasher and would be lost without it now. I remember before I got one all the time I used to waste standing washing and drying everything. The kitchen looks so much tidier without any dishes littering it too as they go straight in the dishwasher. Even though a few things in daily use get washed by hand it's a lot less work and a lot less tea towels to wash.

The plants you got sound nice and I had an orange Alstromeria once in a border, but I think it was too shady for it. Yours sounds a pretty colour.

Was the talk on falls useful? When I spoke to a neighbour the other night, he told me since his stroke he now wears a watch that shows your BP, pulse etc, but if you fall and are unconscious it gets help for you and must be able to tell your location. I'd read about them in a newspaper ad recently and thought one would be good for OH when he goes walking down public footpaths as I would never know where to find him. We are ok if we don't pass out as we both have the app on our phones where you can quote a code for your location to get help.

I went to the shop and picked my toilet rolls up that were wrapped in brown paper so no name showing. I can never remember my email password to get the bar code up on my phone so printed the email off with it on before I set off. Well it came out so large it filled the A4 sheet and I told OH I would have to stand at the other end of the store for them to read it! It was ok though and they never said anything. I took a small trolley in with me and was glad as it was a big box. I even had to move the things in my car boot as the boot lid wouldn't shut. Other than get an easy lunch and clean the cooker hob I haven't done much today.

Since yesterday OH has tried the window people several times and pressed the number they will ring back on three times but no joy as yet.

It's a shame you didn't get a photo or video of the young Ravens bathing in the pothole Mel. It would have been good.

I've been looking online re the closing of landlines Vera and it seems they may put poles up for the cable if they can't dig a channel! I'm not sure I like that idea as we have no poles with wires in the close, not even for telphones. Our burglar alarm is wired in to our electricity so won't be affected, but some people have ones that plug into a telephone socket, as do some CCTV systems and they won't work once they replace with digital cables. We are supposed to get plenty of warning and advice from our providers so we'll just see what happens. I still think the neighbour might not be quite right. I see Openreach may need certain, form filled permissions for digging on private land first and the neighbour may have misunderstood a response that they couldn't do it without permission as not getting permission.

Well OH has been out most of today and it will be the same tomorrow, and hopefully he will be getting his windscreen replaced.

Hot and humid here too. One weather app says it is 23 and feels like 20 degrees and another says it is 24 and feels like 28 degrees. It certainly feels a lot hotter than 20..

It sounds as though you might have quite a few ravens round your area Mel. As AnnG says it’s good to know potholes have a use after all.

Shame about your dishwasher AnnG. Of course we can all manage if we have to but you get used to them and having had one for 40 years I would hate to be without one. I like the plants you bought, particularly the alstroemeria. I haven’t got any here but had some in our last house.

Well, this hospital we had to go to was tiny, smaller than our local health centre, although there is apparently 1 specialist inpatient ward for older people. Maybe that was in a separate building. Our taxi, a local chap we’ve used a few times before, turned up at 7.55 am. He said he does lots of trips to hospitals all over but has never been asked to go to this one before. There were delays on the roads and road closures but his excellent satnav bypassed it all and took us on a lovely country run. We arrived just after 9 am for our 10 am appointment and the receptionist said if she booked us in we would need to stay there even though we wouldn’t be seen before 10. She suggested getting a coffee in a nearby Tesco before booking in, which we did.

We got called in on time and a nice young chap explained that it was very much a niche clinic which was why we were called there. He was a specialist physio which puzzled me till he explained they are trying to determine whether the cyst on OH’s brain which we knew about was exerting any extra pressure and causing problems. Apparently it could cause problems with movement, co-ordination etc, bladder issues and memory problems, all of which can have other causes as well so it’s a real diagnostic puzzle. We saw 3 different specialists and I won’t go into all the tests but OH did struggle with some of the psychiatric tests for memory, though he sailed through everything else. Now the 3 specialists discuss all their findings and will send a joint letter with their conclusions but OH will also get an appointment for a lumbar puncture to measure the pressure in a part of his brain. That will be at Addenbrookes, so another long journey.

I forgot to say that our taxi driver offered to stay in the area the whole time we were there so we didn’t have to worry about finding someone to bring us home. He didn’t have a booking till an airport run late afternoon and his wife would deal with any local call outs as she has a taxi licence as well. We gulped hard when we got back and had to pay. We knew it would be very expensive because prices have gone up round here recently but the alternative was to drive ourselves and we would never have found our way round the myriad of country lanes and didn’t know what we would find out. If it had been bad news we could have been a bit shaken to drive home. So we are now £230 lighter!! A bit more actually as OH gave him a good tip as he had waited nearly 4 hours for us.

So that’s the story of our day. OH asked if I wanted to eat out tonight but I feel shattered so have suggested we just have an easy salad here and, if we’re in the mood, we will have lunch out tomorrow.

It has some practical use then Mel!!

I am not long in from the meeting but got side tracked and spent fifteen minutes in the garden cutting back large gone to seed poppies that I don't want all the seeds to reproduce. I now in two and a bit days have a brown wheelie bin a third full.

It is very sticky here and 21 degrees, no rain.

Someone talk to me I'm feeling lonely.

Just watching the ravens up the garden and wondered what they were doing? They are bathing in the pothole on my road!!

Its 17 here now and its raining quite hard and it feels colder than the 17 degrees so I better put a cardi on.

You have a nice lot done this morning Anng.

good morning all, up at 0630 to see daughter and siL off at 0730, so a load of washing done all croc kery washed and put away. It won't be a problem now with just me but was a bit of a hassle with 3 of us. so, as well as the washing I have almost finished the unpacking which I couldn't do with people here. and daughter made gooseberry crumble yesterday as I had loads of gooseberries in the freezer. So we had some last night, I have a portion for tonight and two portions have gone in the freezer.

It is a grey day here today but 17 degrees which feels warm to me.
I am out this afternoon to the U3a AGM and a talk on avoiding falls.

Morning all,

Wet and dreary here this morning with grey skies again. its 16 degrees and pc says temps to rise on Sunday again.

Gosh Vera you have been busy and I hope everything goes off ok for oh with his hosp appointment. Yes better take some sandwiches and a flask of coffee if there's no cafe'. Hope it all goes ok.

More problems to come home to Anng with the dishwasher not working now at all. Hope you find someone to fix it for you. I've never had one so don't miss one. Your plants sound nice. I had alstroemeria once and it was just getting going and doing well when I got the rabbits and they ate it all off and it didn't come back. Makes a lovely cut flower too last a long while in water.

I've lost this post three times whilst writing so its going now. Luckily I had copied and pasted a lot of it.

Before We went away my dishwasher had started to play up, washing half the stuff and not all of it. Since we got back here it is not working at all. With just me that it ok but a full meal of a chicken slow cook and potatoes and caulu for three followed by gooseberry crumble is a lot of washing up. I did it on my own as it is a bit cramped for one to was and one to wipe. It didn’t take long and SiL offered but it was soon done. Typical though. Have to find somebody to look at it now.

I bought a lively deep pink almost purple ostiospernum, a pretty pink Hebe, a large matigold, a yellow alstroemeria and one more I can’t remember but it is yellow.

Good evening all

I’m glad you’re safely back and getting settled in again AnnG. Your garden will soon be looking good once more. What plants did you get at the garden centre?

Oh Mandy, do be careful on those steps. You don’t want to jolt your back and side again just as it’s beginning to get a little bit better. Poor Max. It’s horrid for you to see him having a fit but it sounds as though the medication is helping him.

That magpie is very bold Annx. It sounds as though he or she has a young one that isn’t completely independent yet. Given half an opportunity magpies will thieve anything. I had to smile at the name of your toilet rolls. I’ll tell OH that one as I know it will make him laugh. You shouldn’t lose your internet when they put in the digital cabling. Do Openreach need permission to dig up a private road? You would think so but as we don’t have a choice about going digital with our phones then surely Openreach has to be allowed to do it. Or have I misunderstood what you were saying?

Have you been busy with all your garden tasks today Mel? I wish I had your energy.

I did get all my jobs done yesterday but I was shattered by the evening when we went to a club meeting. I had my blood tests in the morning. I didn’t feel anything more than a slight prick but by the afternoon the middle part of my arm was black and blue with a swelling in the crook of my elbow. I went by bus and when I came back I went one stop past the usual one and walked the rest of the way to the pharmacy for my meds. My phone told me I had walked just over 3 miles from the bus station to the surgery and back and then to the pharmacy and back. In the afternoon I did a little bit in the garden and cooked us an early dinner before we went to our meeting.

The talk was really interesting. We had a married couple of beekeepers talking about the life of bees and we all came away feeling we had learnt stuff that we never knew. They took it in turns to talk about different aspects of bees and accompanied it with a really good slide show. They had some jars of honey for sale but just mentioned it casually at the end and didn’t push the sales at all. I can’t bear honey, even the smell makes me nauseous, but OH loves it so I let him buy a jar.

Today I have been very busy and really have met myself coming back. I decided I would have to get some h/w done. I started off OK but then decided to clean the bathroom and my en-suite. I only intended to clean and disinfect the loos and clean the basins but I got carried away and ended up doing a thorough deep clean in both rooms. By the time I got to the last job which was washing the floors my back was breaking. Oh well, it’s another major job out of the way for a while.

Tomorrow we have to go to Saffron Walden hospital for OH to have some tests. Taxi is picking us at 8 am and we are unlikely to be back before mid-afternoon. I’ve googled and the place doesn’t have a café. I can’t eat breakfast too early in the morning and it could be late when we get home so I’m going to have to take a sandwich with us. I’m sure that when we’re ready to come home reception will be able to give us the name of a taxi firm or there may be a phone connected directly to a taxi company as there is at our hospital. I just hope there’s a company prepared to drive outside the locality.

I’ve got a bit of online banking to do so I had better get on with that next. It feels as though it might be a hot sticky night so I may be putting the fan on again tonight. Sleep well everyone.

Gosh I bet that was a jolt Mandy I don't really trust myself on steps now not even the small set I have for the kitchen windows. Poor Max you feel so helpless when these thing happen but the medicine seems to work ok for him. I hope you have a good supply. I had a cat once that had fits and she was only young too. She's the one I stayed up till 4.15am when she had her kittens.

These birds are really cheeky my three Ravens are now 5 and I caught the parent teaching the young one to knock on the front door the other day. I see them around the garden feeding the young but when they come down here they do such large poos and I now have some on my car windscreen. Must remember to fill my washer bottle up too if I can get the lid off, if not I shall have to wait till Stu comes.

Yes Anng little and often with the weeds not too much at a time. I have just potted up another Iris Rose Queen I shall have to see if I can get some small pieces well rooted and send some out to you lot if you would like one. It has to have a damp place to grow. BIL took my huge plant out of the pond for me because it had that parrots feather weed in it and I wanted that out of the pond. One I had potted a while ago has one pink flower on it now so its on the patio. What plants did you buy Anng?

Yes every time I go out into the garden I pull up a handful of eeeds. I will have to get the eeed killer spray out for weeds that have grown in the gravel at the front.

We went to the garden centre and I got five larger plants for some containers which was good just got to plant them now.

We also had a hunt in the garage for a second rechargeable drill that we knew T had. Found it and dsughter will take that one home as no use to me.

Mandy poor Max I wonder if the change in temperature is a trigger for his fits. Good the medicine works well though.

It is always a shock to step down two steps when expecting one. You take care with using steps.

Afternoon All,

Phew it's quite warm at 23 degrees now according to the PC and the car was so hot when we went out this morning. Things cropped up workwise for OH this morning so he has a busy day, so we nipped to the garden centre that does breakfast baps first thing and had a tuna salad for lunch as he won't get chance to eat much later on with online meetings. They have extended the furniture into the space where The Works was at the garden centre and I overheard someone saying how they miss it already. I sprayed more of the nasty weed on the front when we came back and was pleased to see my earlier efforts are showing shrivelling up results which is good.

I then popped to the shop and did check before I went, but it's sod's law when I got home that an email had come to say my parcel at the shop was ready to collect. OH said we'll get it tomorrow and I said it was a big pack of my bamboo toilet rolls I have as I'm not supposed to use any that have been bleached. Well he started laughing then and said he hoped the name of them wasn't splashed across the side of the box, which is 'Bumboo'.

Mandy Mr Magpie hasn't been coming in as we've kept the door shut. We've been having our lunch in the conservatory and have seen him turn up in the garden and he sits on the fence watching us and making a lot of noise. I think he's swearing at us or trying to scare us away!! Update: OH has just come and told me he had come in since we'd moved out of the conservatory and a young one was on the patio squawking! He has realised there may be food in polythene bags and had pulled one one the floor that had bin bags inside it.

Oh what a shame poor Max has had another fit, but at least the medication seems to be working quite quickly. It must be upsetting to see, but it's good he's his old self again now. He's such a lovely dog. That would be a nasty shock coming down the steps with a jolt and getting a bruise. It's lucky you didn't twist your back and you mustn't set that back now it's improved.

It's good you are home and no doubt washing etc AnnG. I suspected your garden would have grown some weeds as your weather is often the same as ours, but a bit of weeding or tying up done each day will soon have your garden in order again. We are watering a neighbours beans over the fence again while she is on holiday from next week.

I wonder if Mel is treasure hunting in the garage today?

Afternoon all,

It's really much warmer today with not a lot of breeze ,I did a bit in the front garden this morning before it got to hot ,cut the grass ,did a bit of dead heading of the white rose but its a losing battle really as it has so many fliwers on it ,pulled a few weeds up but didn't do to much as I didn't want to aggravate my back which at the moment is much better , I then did a bit of dead heading in the back garden .
I have a big bruise on the front of my left leg ,I climbed up the step ladder in the shed to get something and when I stepped down I thought I was only on the bottom step but I wasn't I was on the second step so I had further to put my foot than I thought and i wondered where the heck i was going I must have banged my leg on the step ladder .

Yesterday as we were just finishing our meal Max had another fit ,I quickly gave him the two tubes of medication and it seemed to help him ,he wasn't so long settling after ,it usually takes an hour for him to settle but this time it took half an hour , it really upsets me and I feel all on edge after , today he's bouncing about like nothing happened bless him.

You'll gradually get your garden sorted Anng ,little bit at a time and watch your back .

Oh Ann hope you don't lose your Internet, let's hope the land owner gives permission so it doesn't drag on.
Any more visits from the old magpie ,maybe he taken the hint now and won't be back .

Mel I wonder if you'll find any treasures when you have a sort out in the garage ,hope you have a good padlock on the garage once the mowers are in there .

Just made a cuppa so I'll drink that then I might sit out in the shade for a while.

No help in the garden not needed and she has her own big garden to go back to. They are going to take me round to the garden centre, that is all the help I need really. The garden will have to wait another couple of days. I have sorted out the tomatoes and pulled a few weeds out the front as I went past, It will get done I am sure.