General Chat

How annoying Anng will you be able to find someone else? What about you little club people? Could one of thos edo it for you?

Vera sorry you're not comfortable again today. Perhaps after today and when you have some food inside you you will feel more like yourself. I hate feeling under the weather as I keep thinking of all the things I could be doing.

Treated myself to some plants this morning. 3 from the shop, a million bells, Nemisia in pale lilac and yellow and a rock plant Phlox. Travelled on the way home stopped at the crossroads and Jules had some little begonias out onther table so I had a six pack from her as the shops were 50p dearer and 6 cabbage plants which I am going to try in a tub out ofthe way of the rabbits and if they don't do any good the chickens will have them. Also she had Gladioli in pots, I am hoping its the Acidanthera one. They were 50p each. So have some nice things to pot up now.

Glad you like the fox pictureds. Not that clear but were taken through my shed window.

Great photos of the fox Mel, it looked comfortable there. And interesting to see the bee nest.

Oh dear Vera, hopefully as the iodine works its way completely out of your system you will start to feel better. This horrid weather doesn't help I am sure. May is usually a nice month but it has not been that good so far and this lot is horrible. only consolation is it is warmer 13 degrees here, I had a sweater on and have had to change into a Tee shirt.
Just having a panic as Our neighbour has had the dates of her holiday changed (she is going with friends) and now she is away the same time as me so I am having to find somebody to look after the house and water the plants while I am away. Luckily it is only a week so only really 6 days.

Good afternoon everyone

How are you all on this wet and windy day? I still feel like something the cat has dragged in and something has really upset my “works”, possibly the contrast dye I had to take which was full of iodine. I am making myself do things or I will just sit in a chair and mope which won’t really make me feel any better. I did eat a small dinner last night but haven’t fancied anything since. OH is just getting lunch and is making me a banana sandwich as I can’t fancy anything else.

We ventured out this morning in all the wind and rain. I needed to pick up my meds and we wanted to pick up our framed picture of granddaughter and take a few more bits to the charity shop. OH said he would go for me but I wanted to get some air and thought I might feel a bit better doing something. OH insisted on coming and doing the driving as I was still a bit shaky. We got drowned! Instead of taking a new umbrella that daughter had bought me I took an old one that I knew was broken but had forgotten. Why did I keep it? It blew inside out, a spoke snapped and I couldn’t close it down. OH forced it shut and it went in the nearest bin.

Lovely pictures of the fox Mel and the bee nest. You have reminded me that I need to check our bee box. Last year three quarters of the holes were filled and, as far as I could tell, there were leaf cutter and red mason bees in there.

I hope Frank is OK and his ribs are healing. I think he said he was going to Devon on 17th May, which is the first day two families can meet indoors.

Mandy, that’s a lovely bag. I can’t imagine why you were disappointed with it. It’s a shame about your washing machine but it’s handy that your son is so good at fixing things. I’ve got a load of towels in the machine at the moment and I know how annoyed I would be if it broke down on me now.

OH is calling me to have my sandwich so I’ll post this and come back later.

Morning Anng and all,

Yes oh is usually right with the weather and it started raining last nightabout 10pm. I had lit the bonfire hoping to get rid of the rubbish I had swept up and thought "thats torn it" thinking the fire would go out. Its rained most of the night and the fire is still smouldering again this mroning and its still raining.

Spanish Grand Prix tomorrow hope its not raining for them.

Hoping Vera is more like herself this morning and that hse had a reasonable nights sleep. Makes you feel so much better if you cna get a few ZZZZ's in.I went to bed about 12.30am last night and got up tweice in the night for the loo and then woke at 8am and lay for a while as oh was already up.

Yes not long before Frank wends his way down here. I think he said the 14th May????

Love to those who hav'nt posted recently. <3

Good morning all. definitely not a gardening day today it is raining hard and has been for quite a while judging by the puddles on the patio. Not what we want for holidays at all, our weather is not good so far this year. Even Adam Frost on Gardeners' world said his garden was a good three weeks behind.

Annx I have not seen anything about a black fungus, but then I deliberately don't read everything about the virus. Oh Long Covid is horrible, it is similar to ME isn't it? In fact I believe they have always said that ME can be caused by a virus. I hope they are doing research into that.
It would be good if you heard from Fritz I often wonder how that lovely grandson of Jane's is doing.

Oh dear Vera, I am so sorry that you had such a rough time. I wonder why everything seemed to conspire against you with this procedure this time. At least it is done now and hopefully you will be picking up again once you have some nice food inside you. Just follow your body's instincts and only do as much as you feel like doing, don't push yourself. <3

Mel it sounded funny when you said you had been sweeping the road...... instant picture in my head of somebody with one of those road sweeper trolleys and a brush out sweeping a main road.
At least your OH has progressed with fixing it. He was right about the weather.

Yes my tum gets in the way of clipping my toe nails too. Don't seem to lose it either even when trying to.

Annx with the hot tub, if you wear a bathing suit it won't matter if it is not private, just like a swimming pool. Do try and use it if you can (get your moneys worth), it could help your knee.

Frank hope your ribs are healing a bit more now. did I remember that you have a trip to Devon to look forward to?

I hope Gill is ok and that Sandra is now sorted out.

I am growing a packet of mixed sunflowers so not sure what they are going to be like. The seedlings have a redish tinge so think they may be those flame coloured ones. I still have some seed for the giant ones so may give those a go to see if any come up.

Oh did get the three barings out of the mower deck but I don't think he has that arm thing off which he has been battling with all week.

My tum gets in the way too Ann so you're not alone but I find it easier if I sit on my pc chair and put my foot on the chair at the table and it is my jewelry cutter I use on my little toe.

I think your bag is lovely Mandy and I love the fabric and style. Yes they do have hot tubs since a bout three years ago. They aren't very private though as the shrubs they put round them hadn't grown much last time we went, unless they have shot up since. I bet the warm water would help but I'm not sure I could get in now!! lol. I remember Jane's photo of her in the tub and her looking very relaxed. It was good she managed to enjoy that last break. I've emailed Fitz to ask how the family is now, but he did used to not look at his emails very often so I'm not expecting a reply any time soon. :-D

Thank you Mel. I did spend ages doing the grass and It took a while to cover the paper properly. You are having a really good spruce up with sweeping the drive now. I bet it looks nice. Did your OH manage to get the part off the mower? He's right about the weather tomorrow. OH started looking for a match to go to but soon changed his mind when he saw the forecast. It sounds awful. He's watching a match on the telly instead.

Are those of you with sunflowers growing the really tall ones?

Oh Vera you have been through the mill this time ,it's good you got it done so you haven't got to go through it all again ,rest up and i hope you can get a good nights sleep so you feel better tomorrow .

Ann sounds as if you're getting some things sorted to take away with you ,have you got a nice hot tub with this cabin ,i'm sure it will help your knees being in the lovely warm water ,do you remember Jane got in the hot tub didn't she when they went away it was a lovely photo of her and Janice with a glass of wine .

O poor Vera it sounds like you had a really rough time yesterday. I hope you feel better tomorrow and try and get some good sleep in. <3

Been sweeping the road this afternoon and only one little bit of it. It was covered in moss which had died with this dry weather we have been having.

Oh said I shan't be out there tomorrow as we are having 40 mile an hour winds and rain all day.

Ann I think your picture is very good and you can see they are dandilions in the field. You get grass so well in your paintings and pastils.

Oven is going off.

Oh you poor thing Vera and thank goodness you were just ok to go ahead with it and not have to go through it again. Rest up and relax till you feel better now and I hope you enjoy your dinner.

Yes I've been watching the figures and have seen it is certainly a lot lower than here AnnG which is reassuring. I'm glad we are going before the spreading Indian variant gets a grip (the Black Fungus you can get with it sounds awful) and only a few weeks ago we were prepared to lose money and not go if the figures hadn't fallen dramatically. I don't think I've said before, but a colleague of OH's, who was fit and in her 50s who got Covid before Christmas, but didn't need hospital, has long covid now. On a good day she can drive a short way or walk a short distance, but on a bad day can hardly get out of bed. Her life may never be the same again because she got it. I just hope people won't take it into these areas over the summer by not sticking to the rules.

Oh that's good you were able to get your washing out Mandy. Heck, if you had a cloud like that it would have poured! It's been dry all day here. What a shame about your bag. It sounds as if it will still be ok though. That's what happens to me with beading when I think I know what I'm doing. I think I will take a pad, paintbox and 3 paintbrushes with me and a beading kit I haven't started yet. I might take a Perfalock jigsaw I haven't done too. I've never had one before, but it says you can pick it up or move it and it stays together. There's a big table there and I thought it would be easy to drag and move it to one end when I'm not doing it. I'm looking forward to driving about and taking photos of somewhere other than our garden! lol.

I have just about left zombie land and returned to the real world but it has been a terrible couple of days and I still feel a long way short of 100%. I won’t bore you with all the details but the scan nearly didn’t go ahead because of other problems I had that might have made it a bit dangerous so they tucked me up in bed in a little room, dimmed the lights and left me with a nurse to check me over every 10 minutes or so. Eventually the radiologist said I was at the upper limits of what they considered safe so she was prepared to go for it if I was. I couldn’t face putting it off and having to go through all that prep for a third time so it was done. Now I have to wait a couple of weeks to hear the result.from my consultant.

I thought I would want to have a really nice dinner when we got home but I didn’t feel hungry at all. I knew I would have to have something so had some porridge and then about 8 o’clock last night I had a bowl of soup. I also slept from 4 pm to 6.30 pm which is unknown for me. I haven’t had much today but feel I can eat a dinner tonight. I’ve prepared it and OH is cooking it now.

I haven’t yet read all the posts but will do shortly. I have however seen my emails with the pictures. I love the bag and pencil case Mandy. Your work always looks so professional. I also really like the dandelion picture Ann and I think it only needs a touch more yellow on the flowers.

Talking of emails, early this morning I received 17 emails and 16 texts from dpd, telling me they were delivering to me between 12 noon and 1 pm. I think whoever was sending the messages must have had a very shaky finger. The delivery was 20 low growing hebes to replace some lavender that just does not like our garden. It’s to edge one side of a semi circular path round the bird bath. Good job it’s supposed to be getting warmer next week as we have plenty to do in the garden now.

I am so tired that I can’t stop yawning. I think I’ll be in bed soon after I’ve eaten.

That picture Ann has a cloud just like we've just had here and it poured with rain ,I love how you've got the fence going away into the distance ,will you take your paints with you when you go away and some beading too.

I can get down to cut my nails ,I usually give my feet a good soak in a bowl with some salt in the water it gives you the feeling that you get when you've had a nice paddle in the sea :-D
I cut Colin's nails he use to go to the chiropodist but when she put the price up I said this is silly I can do them and you can give me the money :-D not had a penny so far :-D

Ann i did get the washing out it had just about finished the cycle just didn't spin so well.

I made a little bag but I'm not so happy with this one I forgot to do the finishing stitching round the top before I did the sides so I did them after but there ill remember next time .

I responded to your pic would have been lovely if the oils were a bit stronger but then they wouldn't be pastels.

I thought I was a worrier but I think you beat me Annx. It does appear that if you are fully vaccinated and you unfortunately catch covid19 then it is rare that you end up in hospital. However, if you by some misfortune did, I am sure that you would cope and there would be somebody to help you. I think you may be heading south west and the instance of covid is low there. We have the same probem re food, we have no idea if there are pubs with outside tables so we may well end up eating in. As daughter is going to Hampshire first to attend the registry office ceremony of her son's wedding (only 6 allowed, then coming back to pick me up before travelling on down south the next day we have deided to pay a visit the the local supermarket there when we get there. I expect daughter and her OH will do the shopping as they go to the supermarket. Yes we will take sanitizer as well but I think these places will be well cleaned.
Don't stress too much about the virus and going away or you won't enjoy the break at all.

That's a shame Mandy. Will your washing have to stay in the machine till the part comes now? I think it's silly that there's no way to open the door on machines these days when they go wrong. Even if they had an extra switch at the back to release the door where children couldn't reach it would be helpful. Oh another bag, I look forward to seeing it!

Yes I always do a list of what to take too, but as Mandy says, I need to note all the extras this year and I will be wiping handles etc as soon as we get there! For one thing, apart from F&C where we usually go and can eat outside, I doubt we will want to eat out like we usually do, so I need to take more food. There's a little used shop about 2 miles away that sells a bit of everything where we get newspapers and I'm tempted to get what we need from there to save going to supermarkets or bothering with trying to get a delivery. I'm hoping to try some of the duck eggs they sell! Do any of you know what they are like? OH has just been through our 'stores' and organised them better which is good as I have been able to grab a few things that are getting near their dates that we can take with us. I just hope everything will fit in the car! lol.

I think that one of the things I was thinking about in the night was if one of us got Covid while we were away. One might be in hospital down there and the other would have to come home. It would be a small risk with being vaccinated though and we won't be mixing with anyone else.

AnnG I am finding now I'm older that some toenails are getting brittle and snap off as I cut them. I put cream on my heels which tend to get dry now too! Mum had bunions but at least I don't have those :-)

I have washed the bedding and it's drying. We did the bean tub and have put the poles up and next to it for the extra beans. OH has put a few alpines and small Hebes in where I have placed them and I have planted a purple Osti in my purple pot. I have also potted up some more lettuce plants that I grow in the greenhouse.

It's great when you get on well isn't it Mel. The wirecutters sound a bit drastic, but I admit I have wondered about my beading wire cutters! What ido you like about the supersonic nail clippers? It's reaching over too much tummy I have trouble with.

I hope Vera is ok now.

I've sent the pic of the dandelions!

It was a beautiful morning and I have been outside without a coat on but now we have had lunch it is clouding over a bit and moving quite fast. I hope it dos'nt rain as I got on so well this morningand wanted to carry on this afternoon having a tidy around the shed and bantam house.

Oh bought a supersonic pair of nail clippers and they are very good. Much better than anything we've had before. I have to cut my little toenail on my right foot with wire cutters its so thick. My nan had nails like that too.

Mandy back is not too bad, still sore but hopefully healing inder the dressings. first an iodine dressing then a waterproof one on top.

You are very talented with the needlework, I find the youtube tutorials very hard to follow as I can never catch what they are saying, especially if they are American.

Not raining here but the sun has disappeared and there are black clouds and it is very cold outside. It was nice while I was in town.
AnnX my feet feel better for having the nails filed and cut, I have heavy duty clippers but it is difficult to get down there to cut them, they are horrible nails, very thick and mishappen.I was going every 8 weeks until last October but he said I probably don't need to go as often so to just give him a ring when I want an appointment. Looking at his appointmen book it was ccrammed full so he is doing OK. £25 for 10/15 minutes. But he can only do one every half hour now.

I always make a list when I go away and in fact have one on the go for two weeks time.

Afternoon all

Nice dry morning but there's now lots of black louds about ,we got the runners out and we were hoping yo get the dwarf beans and peas out but I just looked up and its now raining so I might do some more sewing iveseen a nice little bag I could do.
AnnG3 you asked if I used a pattern for the tote bag, no not really just watched a tutorial on you tube.
Oh tipping down now .

Hope Vera is ok day after her scan yesterday .

Ann you'll have to start a list for all the extra bits and pieces you will need to take with you on holiday, I think I would definitely take antibacterial sprays even though I'm sure they will have clean every where at least you know you can give it a once over yourself.

Are you walking on air now AnnG after your appointment, how is the back today after having the stitches out yesterday.

Son had a look at the washer, he has cleaned the filter but it no better so he thinks it's a sensor so has ordered one on line for us ,he'll soon fit it once its here, he only had to come just inside the back door and we kept out side while he looked at it plus he tested this morning and was OK.

Mel I have some sunflowers through too I thought the children might like some .

I have cleaned out the big girls and the bantams this morning and cut down some brimbles and docks down past the bantams. Its where I grow my beans in a big tub.

Loads of sunflowers up for oh. Don't know where he is going to put them all and the rabbits eat them and the deer.

Just going to get lunch.

Morning All,

Sunny here! I had a restless night and was awake from 4.00am thinking about the holiday and how it will work this year.......so much extra to take with us, more food, sanitiser etc.

That was a nice thing to see from your window Mel, a nice stag having breakfast.

Careful AnnG, if you start biting bullets you will need the dentist! :-D I bet your feet will feel nice after you've been to the chiropodist. I've never been to one yet, but don't think I could put nail varnish on my toes now.......it would be all over my toes!

I've changed the bed and the washer's on. Next we are filling the tub and planting the runners in it. There are too many for the tub, so we'll plant some in the ground next to it so we can compare how they do.