General Chat

I have just lost another long post. I just don't know why it does this. So I am going to have a coffee, and will come back to it later. xxxx

Hello, back again, OH is frantically picking gooseberries which means I will need to sort out what to do with them I think some will have to go into the freezer temporarily until I gear myself up to make some jam. They will only make a couple of pots but I still have to be in the mood.

Gill, no more bonfires so far. hopefully the strong winds will put them off.
Ooh Shoulder of lamb, I love lamb, new potatoes and mint sauce.
Those books will keep you busy then Gill. Nice of somebody to give them to you.

Ann, that is a worry about the possible new lockdown for your area but I think they were talking about certain parts of the town only weren't they. I bet it was connected to the BLM marches two weeks ago. I think they were trying to avoid calling it a lockdown but restricting certain estates to not go out of the area. I might be mistaken as it was only briefly on the news that I saw yesterday.
Just checked the D Mail and it looks as though one suggestion is that the whole of the city will continue the current lockdown for another two weeks (until 18th).

I am still chuckling at your opening sentence on your post Ann "Still in bed as the window cleaner is here." :-D :-D :-D
Our windows have just been done but I have come upstairs and only 30 minutes later a bird has already decorated the most awkward window to get at from indoors.

Missed you there Gill. Your astronomy books sound interesting. I find looking at the sky at night makes me feel how insignificant we are. I have some programmes about astronomy recorded. I think one is presented by Brian Cox who I like and the other is about the Hubble Telescope. I didn't water the mint pots in the end so will see if Mr Bee rushes out when I do it this morning! Lol.

Morning AnnG and Everyone,

Still in bed as the window cleaner is here! OH warned me to stay put as he was due and I didn't want to be in the shower with the window open!

No plans for today here either. I have some lamb mince defrosting so will add any odd bits of veg in the fridge with some frozen to make an easy one pan dish with extra helpings to freeze for another day. I might see if I can do a bit in the garden. I'm not sure whether to plant out the 2 patty pan squashes now. OH read an article in the Telegraph about seeds coming from China avoiding checks by beingyet labelled as something else. It even mentioned someone receiving seeds called earrings the same as these were.! :-( l've kept the article to read later.

I was thinking if they do lock the city down my hospital appointment could well be cancelled again. You can't really make any firm plans for things like holidays this year either can you, not that we want to yet! We still haven't had any confirmation about our transfer to next year that I did on line. I don't know whether to just get my credit card company involved to get our money back instead in case the agent goes bust!

I think the window cleaner has finished now so I'd better stir my stumps and get on. It looks a bit gloomy outside. I found a painting on a postcàrd competition last night and had to laugh when I dug out my old postcards. They must be really old as they were 7p for 11. Sadly they were a smaller size than today's cards so l sent off for some more.

Morning AnnG, morning all

Wet, wet, wet here today, so the garden is happy. With not going out the weather doesn't really bother me and OH cut the lawns the other day so there's no gardening to do, other than water the toms in the greenhouse.

I've got a shoulder of lamb slow cooking. OH was out yesterday so we didn't have a roast, there's to much meat for one person and OH doesn't like his meals heated up, so we're having a roast today instead.

What happened to the bee when you watered the plant Ann? I don't suppose it was very happy? Was it a leave cutter bee? I hope they don't close down the whole county so you can still go out and about a bit. Maybe it would be safer to cook your own meals, until you know for sure it's safe to go to the pub.

I've been given some books on Astrology and found some time yesterday to start reading them, they're very interesting. They tell you about all the people who found the Planets and how they did it. They even said the Earth was the centre of the universe not the sun at first, then realised they were wrong. One poor chap had to look at the same piece of sky for years to find a new planet, he eventually found it and so Pluto was born. I have a book on the Atmosphere to, so will be reading that once I've finished the Astrology one. I like those types of books and find them very interesting.

Good morning, bright, no sun and windy. I have quite a few posts to read and reply to, will do that later. Don't have any plans for the day so far :-) :-)

Evening All,

What a day, windy, sunny, rainy the lot!

We had our last delivered sunday lunch today, but they are still doing them to chick and collect or it might be takeaway, but OH will check during the week. The one thing we don't fancy is having to go inside the pub to collect once they open and have people inside and possibly queuing.

Lovely photos Mandy and your veg are doing well. Those Tumbling Tom are full of flower and plenty of toms too, but the others are doing well as are your cues with all the flowers. I have picked 8 mini cues off ours now, the best they have ever done! The 'Maxproofed' flowers are pretty too and I love the light coloured fuschia to the left with small flowers that hang so nicely. That little bag is so lovely, and looks much prettier than I could have imagined especially in that rainbow wool! Max has made a big dog hasn't he and is very handsome. :-D Yes, William saw my ladybirds on FB and sent me a pic of his which he has done in black and gold paint this time and it looked very nice!

We have the hardy dwarf Tom Thumb, Lady Thumb and Son of Thumb fuschias, I say dwarf, but like most things they have turned out quite big now! I have tried the golden leafed Genii a couple of times and they grow really well but have no or few flowers on them in our garden. even when planted in different positions.

What a shame about your meal Frank. You don't seem to get many good takeaway meals lately. I wonder what is the matter with your lawn and whether some pest is eating the roots? No doubt Barry will have some ideas. I imagine the long hot spell won't have helped even with you watering as it was drying out again so quickly.

Sorry you had another migraine Vera and hope you are a lot better now.

I watched a small bumble type bee fly into one of my mint pots with a big piece of leaf on it's back this morning. It wriggled it's way into a hole in the soil, still with the leaf on it's back. I must look up leaf cutter bees to see if it is one. It's going to get a shock when I water the pots tonight!! :-0

I watched the wool felting webinar this afternoon and she made a pretty little beehive with bumblebees hanging from it on clear thread which was nice.

There is talk of locking down again here because of the surge in cases the past few weeks. I don't know whether they would include the county as well, but the centre of the outbreak in the city is where it didn't surprise us. I don't know any details but they have closed a supermarket and a place that makes sandwiches.

I think it will be another early night for us. OH has done some notes but we have lazed around otherwise. I think we are still getting over the effects of the heat.

Evening all

Dull and wet here today and the wind is getting stronger, not so warm either, I put the heating on for half an hour before to take the chill off the air.

What a to do with your OH's blood Ann, I bet he's glad it's all over now. I smiled at your comment about pregnancy and then his about needing to have a lie down after surgery LOL :-D :-D :-D Love the pics you sent, we used to have the bottle brush plant, but were allergic to it so had to throw it away, such a shame as they're a lovely colour. I don't know the name of the plant, I've always called it a bottle brush, as it looks just like one LOL. My toms are half the size of yours and only have flowers on them at the moment, I think it's because we planted them later this year. Hopefully they'll still produce tomatoes and ripen up before we lose all the sun.

Nice to see Ros taking it easy Frank and having a sleep, it'll do her good. What a shame Asha isn't at the hairdresser anymore, I hope you find out where she went. Our grass went funny with the dry weather, but has come back nice since all the rain, I'm sure your's will be the same after a few rain showers.

All the explanations about P's and Q's and none of them about please and thank you which is what I thought it meant. Quite an interesting read though, thanks.

We have a plastic bag inside the wheelie bin Mandy, so the slugs and snails went in there, OH had picked them up in kitchen roll so they were wrapped up nice and warm LOL At least there's a few less to attack my plants now. OH doesn't want to make it regular thing, but did pick up two more off the grass near the patio last night. Love the pics, the bag is very pretty and isn't Max big, I remember him being so tiny and now look at him, such a handsome dog. Your doing well with your toms and cues and some veg on the way once Colin has finished making the troughs. I love your fuchsia's, I moved one of ours yesterday as it looked a bit out of place, it looks so much better nestled amongst some other pots further down the border now. That's the fun of having pots I can change the look of the border when ever I like, it makes up for all the watering that needs doing which takes forever.

I hope you had a better nights sleep last night Jane, it's gone nice and cool here so I hope it's the same for you, so you can have a decent nights sleep. It sounds like you, Vera and I are behind everyone else with the toms, but I'm sure they'll all taste delicious in the end. :-) :-)

Thanks for letting us know about the Harbinger tomatoes Vera, I'll keep an eye out for them. I've never heard of them before. Your drive out sounded lovely and what a nice way to describe your county "Gentle"

Not another bonfire AnnG, that was early, you must be getting fed up of it now. Let's hope it doesn't happen again. Is it one of your neighbours?

Going to take another look at OH's tree now, I've managed to find quite a few people for him, so I hope my good luck keeps going.

Good afternoon Frank. funny weather here. one minute blue sky and sun the next tipping it down with rain. But always very windy, not cold though 17 degrees.
Not really done much today, prepped the veg for this evenings roast chicken dinner. Read the Mail on line then spent a while trying to get rid of a survey pop up. It seems to have disappeared at the moment but OH has read up on how to get rid of it so if it happens again he can try that.

Afternoon to you all,

Very overcast and windy here, I expect the rain will be with us soon.

My Indian last night was not to my liking, far to spicy and hot. Most went in the bin. Ros enjoyed her Tika so that's something.

I just don't know whats wrong with the lawns. We normally have beautiful, lush green lawns. I can only think this dry spell has been the trouble, even though I have been watering it. Time will tell. !!!! lol lol

Ros has done all the veg for dinner tonight, it only leaves me to make the Yorkshire and CHEESE SAUCE. (Sorry Jane) but we like in on our Cauli. xx

I expect it's nice for Colin to get a her and nails in his and again Mandy. Does he miss not being at work, full time. ??

Would you believe that in the short time I have been on here, the SKY in a lovely clear BLUE with NO CLOUDS, anywhere. How strange is that. ??

I trust you are all well, and not getting into any trouble (as if you would) lol lol I'm going to get a coffee and back to my book. Love to you all. xxxx

Morning Mandy and Anng and all,

Same weather here Anng bright with sun and very windy. It blew the blueberry plant ove yesterday and ripped all the fleece I put round it and knocked off some of the fruit. I've only just got up so I hav'nt looked to see if it has torn it of in the night.

I have a little pink and mauve fuchsia that a friend gave me thats hardy. I must put it in the tub out the front with the clematis in.

Good morning all sunny with cloud and very windy here so quite fresh. Although it wasn't fresh at 0730 when we had to get up and shut all the windows again because of another bonfire. :-( :-( :-(

Morning all,

Really windy here this morning but lovely and fresh out after all the heat , not a lot happening here today at the moment but I'm sure I'll find some thing that needs doing .Colin is going to cut his wood for the planters and he wants to make some new wooden caps for the fence posts ,one has gone missing over the churchyard some where and there are one or two rotten ones so that will keep him busy.

Vera I have no idea what the fuchsia is called we've had them for a few years now but I do remember they came from Roys, we like them as they flower away the whole summer.

Time for a coffee now before I find a job to do .

Good evening all

Well, my long walk in the hot sun did set off a migraine so I was fit for nothing for the rest of Thursday and all yesterday. It wasn't helped by it being impossible to sleep in the extreme heat. All yesterday it was about 28 degs and very humid. It suddenly cooled down about 6 this morning and we had heavy rain for a while. The rest of the day has been a mixture of short, sharp showers and sunshine but it is definitely cooler.

We had to go into town briefly this morning. It was only a 10 minute errand so we whizzed in and out again but as we got in the car OH asked me if I would like to go for a little drive. He drove all round the lanes and villages for about an hour and a half and it was lovely. I remarked on how pretty some of our Suffolk villages are and he said "Yes, it's a very gentle county" and, for once, he had hit on exactly the right word for it - gentle.

Thank you, ladies, for all the lovely photos. I haven't got any tomatoes set either Jane so you're not alone in being behind. Ann, I just love the ladybirds. Mandy, do you know the name of the fuschia with the delicate pink/lavender flowers? Oh, I am in love with Max.

On the subject of tomatoes, if you ever see the seeds on sale try Harbinger. They are just a bit bigger than Moneymaker and are an old English variety and the flavour is wonderful. I had a packet as a freebie 3 or 4 years ago and have been trying to find them again ever since. I've now found out that Kings Seeds do them and they are not a million miles from here so I will try to get some next year.

I have read all the posts bit by bit but I won't comment on them all as I can't look at a screen for long at the moment. I hope everyone has a good night now it's a bit less sticky.

Evening All
Thanks for all the lovely pics Ann and Mandy. We have no toms yet and seem way behind you.

Thank goodness it has finally cooled down.I had a dreadful hot and sticky night last night and am exhausted now so it is off to bed for me.

Ann i love the Bottle Brush plant i saw a small one of those when we went to get the compost a couple of weeks ago when i looked at the price i wasn't as keen it was £35 but they look so pretty .

Mel the Fuchias are hardy ,i had one main plant of each colour and the others are cuttings from them .
If you wonder why the wire is round the gardens it's for you know who who likes to find stones and at one time he would have a pull at the plants too so hence the wire but he is getting better if he eyes the plants up i just say what are you doing and his nose goes up in the air as if to say i'm not touching them .
The doggie sign says " Home is where someone runs to greet you .

Lovely pics Ann and Mandy.

Max looks good and the flowers are beautiful but what does the sign on the trellis say please? Fuchias are great. Do you plants them each year or are they hardy ones?

Ann my bottle brush is out up in the border but its getting so big now I need oh to cut it back after flowering.

I'm still waiting for a picture of you with longer hair Ann. We don't buy them for Sam as Em pays me for them when she pays for her eggs. Its just that they can't get them from Tesco where they have the delivery from.

Wrote this ages ago and oh talked to me and I went and did something else!! :-S

Its been nice and cool here with quite a strong wind ,just a couple of showers through the day but we did sit out this afternoon and watched the black clouds that kept blocking the sun out .

That was a to do with the blood taking :-D not many can say they are on first name terms with their surgeon though and private treatment with out a bill at the end :-D
Lovely photo's Ann the lady birds have come up well when i see them i thought of William because he had some to i seem to remember .
Yes we thought we could have a couple of veg troughs ,i thought it would give Colin some thing to do , i might have a couple of tall planters made too so you know who cant get to the plants .

AnnG that couldn't have been very pleasant having the smoky smell in the bedroom it seems to get into every thing and takes a while to go .
Your hair appointment is the same day as ours ,ours is 1-30 .

Gill not sure what veg we will have a go with yet depends whats about when Colin has made them .
Sounds as if you got rid of a lot of snails and slugs hope you put them in some thing or they will crawling around in your wheelie bin :-D

Wonder whats up with your lawn Frank ,did Barry cut to soon after green thumb ?
Hope you've enjoyed your Indian meal ,bet your watching the football now ,colin has it on as it's Norwich playing .

Mel i bet little Sam looks forward to getting his Gingerbread men each week ,nice to spoil them isn't it .

Well now i will send some photo's ,sorry they will be one at a time only you know i have no idea how to send them together so sorry about that .

Afternoon Annx and Frank.

Frank, we were informed that our hair cuts etc have gone up roughly 10% Which is perfectly OK as they can't have so many appointments and have to do all the cleaning between customers.

Yes the smoke was very unpleasant, it smelled acrid so not sure what they were burning.
That was a bit of a game with the blood letting!!!! At least he didn't faint!

It has been very showery this afternoon and OH has stayed in, of course there is some sport on TV now so that is better for him.