General Chat

Good to know you are both OK Gill and Frank.

It’s not your day is it AnnG? First your pane of glass and now your car. What a nuisance for you. It’s a big decision to give up driving. I’ve been thinking about that a lot recently. I drive very little now as OH is happy to do it all. He’s in good physical and mental shape but in a couple of weeks he’ll be 84 and won’t be able to go on driving for ever. The bus service is very poor for a town of this size. Most older people have to rely on friends and family but our friends and neighbours are all older people themselves and some are in poor health anyway and we have no family nearby. I guess it will have to be expensive taxis if we want to go out.

I did have a giggle at your OH and the beans Ann. It’s just the sort of thing mine would do. As I knew I would only want a few tomato plants I sowed ordinary salad toms and cherry toms in the same tray but I made a divider down the middle. He kept wanting to pot them up as they grew but I banned him from touching them. I just knew I would end up with them all muddled if I let him near them.

You’ve been busy today Mel. I should have hoovered as well but the weather was nice this morning so we gardened instead. All the lavender that hasn’t done well here has been dug out and a couple of troughs filled with half a dozen of the best plants, the four cherry tom plants I’m keeping are in their final pots, six scabious that I’ve kept in bloom indoors all winter are planted out, a couple of fuchsias in pots have been thrown out and the pots now each have an argyranthemum plant which I’ve grown from cuttings and 3 more have been planted in the garden and lots of tidying up jobs have been done. I was out there from 10 to 12.30 and OH stayed out I’ll 1 pm and then went back after his lunch just to finish off the job he had been doing.

We’ve had 2 or 3 showers this afternoon but the sun is out again now. I’m doing Chicken Chasseur tonight (cheating with a packet mix, lol) so I had better go and start preparing it.

I've never tried gorse Mel! :-D My word you have got lots done today. It's nice here again now so I might do something outside for a bit.

Hoovered through this morning with the plug in then the shopping arrived. Did the wipe down and then lunch which was a little late washed up and it started raining!!! Would you believe it just when I thought I would get up the border this afternoon. Still plenty to do down here anyway and I can always get indoors or the shed quickly then.

O I see Ann I did'nt know they were plants he put in. You will soon know when the runners start growing and the short beans don't. Happy picking. :-D YOu need to sow your peas and put dead gorse chopped up on the rows that'll keep the mice away.

Afternoon All,

No sunshine here and we've had one heavy shower an hour ago. The pigeons in the field at the back always sit at the tops of the bare hedge branches when it rains, must prefer showers to baths! :-)

The poor teacher this morning had trouble with the internet again, so we got a nice 10 minute break for a COT while she swapped some things and got back to us. Another cow but in pastel today. We are finishing it next week as she thought it was a bit advanced for beginners to do and needs to show us how to finish it off.

Good to hear from you Gill and that things are moving at your place at last! Hurrah!! :-D It will be good to get all the hedge and shredding done and taken away too and you will feel you are beginning to get somewhere. It's the way of these things to go in fits and starts and you can't arrange the next things till some things are done. Good to get the building work done over the summer so that plaster etc all dries out quickly. I think these days when roof work is done they cover with polythene so providing they get enough dry time to remove the chimney it should be ok.

Mel, they were plants G put in, not seeds, so it would be hard to tell I think now the seeds have rotted down and it would set them back removing soil to try and look.. We daren't plant in the soil in these parts as they disappear! Even peas planted in the greenhouse vanish, unless they are on my shelf that is suspended so nothing can climb up. I hope the big wipe is soon over. All I seem to use salt for these days is sore throats or gums as a mouthwash. I think OH sprinkles a bit on his turkey sandwiches at Christmas as well.

That was a nuisance the pane of glass breaking AnnG, but at least the one they were replacing didn't break getting it out. I shall be getting some of our sealed units replaced after our break. It's on the 'to do' list for the summer. The front and one side of the bungalow have some that need replacing, but we can't do the conservatory till we decide whether to extend across the back, convert the garage or have a garden room.

I hadn't heard anything about my wool felt session this week so had to ring, but now it is with my other courses and I can log on. It is just Thursday afternoon before my dentist appointment and we are making a beach mouse!

Oh the sun's shining now.

Thought I should run the car, I have not driven it since daughter went back because the day after they went home I had the op and didn't want to disturb the stitches so that was three weeks and now my back is starting to feel comfortable i thought I had better start it, don't know when they are coming back with the glass either this pm or tomorrow.... sometime. They will text me before they come. Car wouldn't start, just made a weird noise. opened and shut with key fob though.

Yes, hindsight is great, I should have tried it before but then it would have run down again because I was not sriving it. Not sure what to do now, ring the garage or leave it until the end of the month after my holiday. I hate cars, has to be the very worst part of being left on my own. Not sure I really need it but haven't really had time to test how much I will use it.

thank you for letting us know Frank you know we are worriers when we don't hear from people. :-)

Afternoon all, Just to let you know I am O.K.

Well half a success so far. Conservatory door is done, window was started, got the old glass out, cracked the new glass so have had to put the old back in to see if they can get another piece of the right glass. Bet they will be popular with thei boss. Nice polite couple of lads doing it both fully masked and I saw them wipe their feet as they entered the conservatory. Have to go and clean the cloakroom now they have disappeared to see about the glass as one of them needed the loo.

Must remember to not touch that door for a couple of hours until it has all set. don't want that falling out.

Yes, hope Island is managing to catch up with the gardening.

Morning Anng and all,

Nice bright sunny morning here too Anng blue sky with only a couple of very thin white wispy clouds. Not as much wind as yesterday either.

Oh is out on the mower or he was he's just come past the bungalow.

Big wipe down day today and I think its going to be a long one as I spent quite a lot so its going to take me ages to wipe it all down.
My subs are Savoy cabbage instead of spring greens, farm stores tomatoes instead of cherry toms and a sea salt grinder instead of Maldon salt flakes. So the last one will be going back as they sent fine sea salt last week instead of my Maldon Salt Flakes. There's only so much salt you can use in a week and as we both don't eat that much salt or put it in veg cooking I see no point in having it in the cupboard if I am not going to use it. The chickens won't mind a savoy cabbage instead of their spring greens.

Well I better get ready for lift off so to speak.

Thinking of Island and hope she's feeling better and getting lots done in the garden weather permitting.

Good morning all. good to see Gill on here. Hope all goes to plan Gill and you will soon be able to move on to the next stage of your alterations. Good to be busy but do take some time to relax.

Bright here and so far dry and so far also the awful wind seems to have dropped. I am glad about that as I am having the misted glass replaced in the conservatory this morning.

Nothing else planned so I shall see what I will do.

WE knew you would be busy Gill. Hope the work goes well for this week and you can start getting straight and some heat in that place.

Ann I would get G to dig those seeds back up and sort them out. French bean seed are a lot different to runners or you are going to be in a right mess. I sowed my runners today but in plugs so Ican put them where I want them. I also sowed Salad Bowl lettuce. and beetroots in plugs. I am going to have a go at everything in big pots and tubs etc this year. We'll see how it goes......

Hi everyone, I've finally got five minutes to myself so thought I'd show my face, so to speak :-D :-D

Been really busy over the past week or so and have finally got a start date for the removal of the chimney which is happening on Thursday if the weather isn't to bad, so we've been moving everything out of the kitchen into the spare bedroom and putting the unpacked boxes (yes I still have them laying around lol) into the loft. There's still more boxes to move so we're going to be busy for the next couple of days as well, but we're getting there.

OH cut up some more of the garden rubbish and added it to the hedge rubbish in the hope it'll be shredded all together. That's also booked in and will be done on Friday, so quite a busy week ahead of us. The builder will take a few days and go into next week but once the chimney's out and the coal fire and surround in the living room we can start thinking about having a boiler and radiators put in. We'll need the bathroom extended into the hallway first as we want a rad where the original door frame is and don't want to get the plumber back in just for one radiator. We were hoping to have a staircase put into the living room to the loft but need building regs for that which will slow everything down so for now we're thinking of having the loft opening moved so the bathroom can be done without the original loft opening in the bathroom ceiling. So lots to think about and do. I'm starting to get excited now, but wish the weather could of held out a bit long, it's very wet and windy and with the chimney stack needing to come out it may delay the builder. I guess we'll find out in a few days.

I'm going to get myself a drink now then have an early night, I'm absolutely shattered. I've been tired most of the day but didn't want to nap in the day incase I didn't sleep tonight, but now I can hardly keep my eyes open. I'm sorry I haven't caught up with all the posts, so hope everyone is okay. Love the pics you've all sent <3

Evening All,

I was up at 8.00am and woke OH as I thought it was window cleaner day and he unlocks the side gate. 'No' he mumbled, 'it's next week'. I thought I'd go and do some more planting as I was wide awake and he soon followed me to do the same. I asked him where the French beans to plant were that were at the side of the greenhouse. OH you said there were 2 packs of runner beans and I planted them yesterday. I actually said to just plant the runners, which were nowhere near the French bean plants, and which I would plant in a tub today. I asked where he had put them all and which was which. Well he had put some in the tub and some in the ground as I wanted to compare how they did, but said he had mixed them up and had no idea which was which!! :-S :-S Now we have dwarf French beans mixed with tall runners!! Why can't he follow the simplest instruction! :-( I then placed pots of shrubs/plants on the garden where I wanted them and he got all those planted while I planted up more outside tubs/pots and the 3 tomato plants. Our backs and knees had had enough by then and it started to spit with rain so we went in. Oh my, the wind got up and the rain really lashed down. It's been storms then sun all day so I hope the plants will be alright. There are still things to be planted and some won't be big enough to go in till after our break.

I think the weather was affecting the teacher's internet connection today and we 'lost' her a few times. It's cows this week for the pen and wash as well as the pastel class. We used mostly pen today to do 'pointillism' (a dot picture) and the same picture using lines.

It's good you are healing nicely now AnnG and are rid of those stitches so should be more comfortable.

Vera my OH calls my unmentionables shipping forecast signals when he pegs them out and says they must be visible for miles........cheeky bounder! :-) We daren't put our bins out for collection tomorrow yet as it's still windy. I hope you feel a better still tomorrow.

Mel, I haven't been able to get lamb shanks for the past 4 orders now. I think they have stopped doing them online. I had 6 subs yesterday, but they were ok. I bet Robbie was glad of those worms under the mat! I didn't know it was the male that did all the feeding. It's a shame about the broken eggs. Do they look pecked or are they just clumsy leaving the nestbox?

It's a good job OH wasn't planting your beans Mandy! lol. :-D It sounds like you have been busy too and got HW done as well.

I hope we hear from Gill soon. Hopefully she's been getting lots done in the garden or sorting the furniture for Sandra's flat.

It rained overnight but we haven’t had more than a few spots today. It’s been reasonably warm with sunny spells and grey clouds but the wind has been so strong. My weather app calls it a fresh breeze. Fresh breeze, my foot! More like a force 9 gale. I had to bring several pots back in to the conservatory because they kept being blown over and a couple of plants ended up with broken stems. No gardening for me today but I did get lots of washing dry. I made sure it was all very firmly pegged – I didn’t fancy my unmentionables ending up in a neighbour’s garden.

Speaking of neighbours, our next door neighbour has just brought round our Monday treat. Today we have salted caramel shortcake. He is very good and always sticks on a label listing all the ingredients. Today the label also says DANGER TO FILLINGS.

I’m glad you are healing well now AnnG. Hopefully your visit to the surgery on Thursday will be your last for a long while. It’s good of your neighbour to take you. It sounds as though you have had a really stormy day and so have you Mel. At least we just got the wind and avoided most of the rain.

Nothing else much happening. I still don’t feel 100% but I am quite a bit better than I have been for the last few days so I might do a bit of h/w tomorrow. I can’t say I’m keen but one or two of the floors look as though they could do with a vac. The trouble with h/w is that it’s so boring and it seems such a waste of time as you know as soon as you clean something, someone will make it dirty again. In our house that someone is called OH!

Thats because you sent the rain and hail down here. I got stuck in my shed for an hour and a half. Going to make a drink now as oh has just appeared indoors. He was in his shed/workshop too.

Its good your neighbour took you today and can take you on Thursday too.

Mel no my neighbour was able to take me today, just as well as I would have got soaked. Luckily she can take me on Thursday as well.

Lucky baby blob then all those worms. Of course since I decided to give up on the garden the sun has been shining.

We too have showers heavy ones at that and the winds blowing a hooley.

Baby Bob got inthe shed this morning and kept flying at the glass so I had to open the window the other end to the door. I came out and he followed me out the door!! I lifted up the rubber mat from outside and he had a load of worms under it so I came away and left him to it.

Mandy its the male Robin that feeds the fledgling while mum lays more eggs so he really has his work cut out as he has to feed her on the nest as well as the babes.

I have done one lot of wahsing today put a few bits away inspected my seedlings and got lunch O and fed the chickens and bantams. One whole egg and two broken ones this morning but over the weekend I have had two bantam eggs. They are so old I am surprised one of them still lays.

Not sure whether to go up the border or stay down here safe in my shed. I have seeds I can be sowing so I may do that and if the wind drops go up the border.

Glad the nurse said your back is healing well Anng and it will soon be better now. Did you come home on the bus?

And now lightening and thunder.

No more gardening for me today it is absolutely lashing down and blowing a gale, not cold 13 degrees but the sky is absolutely black, awful weather for May.

Afternoon all,

Funny old day here lovely and sunny one minute and then down comes the rain but only for a couple of minutes and then its sunny again.
I have given the downstairs a good dust and hoover ,we're waiting for a parcel to come so I've been in while Colin has got a few jobs done dodging the showers.

Mel lovely photos of the baby robins ,they've had mum feeding them all those meal worms that's why they look so healthy :-D

AnnG thats good your healing well and sounds as if you've had the same weather as us .

We have planted out the runners ,dwarf beans and peas ,the tomatoes look ok but the cucumber plants are a bit slow ,didn't help with the greenhouse going over the otherday and things sliding off the shelf onto them.
I might see if I can get the Geraniums out this afternoon if it stays dry long enough .