General Chat

Hi all. A BIG THANKS for asking after Ros. The arm is BLACK from the wrist to the elbow, and very tender to touch. She can't drive for two weeks. We will be reliant on Martine/Carolyn and Tracy for anything we need
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I'm not in a good place at the moment, lots of aches and lack of sleep.

Look after yourselves. xxxx

There's always something needs doing Anng. We now have that fine rain in the air that makes everything damp but its still muggy.

Sending love to Jane and Frank and hope Ros is doing ok now after a few days rest. <3 <3 <3 <3

Good morning Mandy and Mel and everyone. still sunny and hot here and we have had no rain at all so far so the first lot looks as though it missed us. OH is cleaning off the barbecue and sorting that out. Not sure what I am doing must be something needing attention! BBL :-D

Morning Mandy and all,

Cloudy this morning but very muggy. The thunder rumbled around for a while yesterday after it stopped raining and it did cool dowwn outside which was nice but when you came in it seemed hot. We had the little fan on just the 12 inch one so I think today is the time to get the big ones out.

Had another funny dream about Di having four young children and her hubby was a game keeper with a beard and nothing like Tim her hubby. She had this rose growing in her garden that had long point buds in pale pink. I wanted one so I knocked on the door. It was my dads birthday and I wanted one to give him. She was out and I was told to come back later when she would be in after work. When I went back in her garden were men selling antiques displayed on tables that were burning un nderneath. I spoke to them and had a look at what they were offering but nothing I was interested in so went to the cottage again to pic up the rose. I told her she should sell them and make herself some money and she replied that she did and they sold them for her in the co-op. Then I woke up.

Morning all,

Just started to rain here but it's very muggy ,we might be in for some thunder and lightning so hopefully that will clear the air a bit , I didn't sleep to bad woke a couple of times but soon went off again .

Gill you did well mending the lock that's a few pennies saved you must have felt chuffed with yourself.

Don't know what we'll be doing today as rain has stopped us doing any outside jobs might just have a lazy day after the heat .

Nice to see you Jane hope this heat isn't to much for you <3

Well done Gill for fixing the lock. I have just been outside and it is quite pleasant but still hot and is 28 degrees.

Not over keen on rocket Ann but I will eat it if it is on the plate.


Well the crumble was very nice Oh said it could not have been better. The gooseberries are lovely. A bit sharp for me but he likes them like that. Just enough left for tomorrow.

It's cooled down a lot here now, so I sat outside to have my drink and cool down a bit, with a bit of luck it'll be cool enough to sleep. I have a fan in our bedroom which I've left switched on all day, so it's a bit cooler in there now the sun has gone around the back.

I don't blame you for licking the chocolate off the plate, who wouldn't LOL :-D :-D :-D, I'm with you Ann, bread and butter, no thanks. I can't see how they go together at all.

Yes, I was quite chuffed with myself for working out what the problem was, we thought it was the lock but it tuned out to be the bit with the spring on that turns the metal bar which holds the two handles together and the fella give us that part for free, in fact he gave us two, so we ended up paying for a lock we didn't need in the end. I couldn't be bothered to take the new lock off again, so we've kept the old lock, which is only about six months old, as a spare and the second spring part.

I can see us going back into total lockdown if people aren't going to be sensible, which isn't fair on those of us who are abiding by the rules. They'll regret it if they catch the virus.

Now I have five minutes to myself I'm going to catch up with a few programmes on the planner, it's starting to fill up again. OH is watering the garden.

I hope everyone sleeps well tonight and it's not to hot for you all.

It sounds as if Lacey had some nice gifts there and a lovely birthday tea too.Yes we had tinned cream with fruit for Sunday tea too! I decided to get a couple of tins in as they don't need fridge room. My first in laws had bread and butter with theirs which never appealed to me at all. I can be uncouth as well Gill as I have licked a plate to get a bit of chocolate off! :-D

I like rocket and will have it on a sandwich or in a salad, but when I grow it it gets little holes in the leaves. I know Jane doesn't like it from having meals out with her. :-)

Well done on fixing your lock Gill. It makes you feel chuffed when you can manage to do something like that doesn't it. With door and both windows open it is showing 28 degrees here so it won't be a comfortable night. Just a top sheet again I think.

I see Bournemouth has been declared a major incident now with traffic gridlock. Where is people's sense!

Pity it's to hot to sit outside Mandy, but it sounds like Lacey is going to have a lovely birthday tea party. She did well for presents didn't she? I've never heard of girls Lego, it was just plain old Lego when I was a child. I spent hours playing with it though and thought it was great, I'm sure she'll have hours of fun with her's to.

Nice to see you on here Jane, I hope you're not so tired now and Thomas has come home. It's forecast for thunder storms tomorrow with plenty of heavy rain, so I'm sure he'll back to shelter from that weather if he's not home yet.

I'm the same as Mandy, Ann, I used to have tinned fruit and cream on a Sunday to. It sounds like your OH enjoyed his meal if he mopped up the gravy, I must admit I do that sometimes, so we can be uncouth together LOL ;-) ;-) ;-)

Funny the things your think about now with all the crowd, going to toilet would be impossible to do social distancing. I saw the photo's and thought it was rediculas how many people there were all together to.

I've just fixed our back door lock, I'm quite chuffed with myself now. I tried to lock it before bed last night but it wasn't having it, so went to bed with it unlocked. It was something to do with the spring inside the door handle, there's a bit of metal at the bottom that the bolt thing goes through to enable the handle to be lifted up to lock the door, with that being broken it wouldn't grip the bolt, so the door wouldn't lock. It's all fixed now, so that's good. I did cheat a bit though when I fix it as I watched OH take it apart, so I just reversed what he did adding the new part and another new lock.

Going to sort something out to eat now. Hope everyone can sleep okay tonight with all this heat, it's hotter now than ever, I think I'll be thankful of some cooler weather that's been promised tomorrow.

Hello to Jane.

I have been asleep this afternoon. Oh wen t aftr lunch and I just could'nt keep my eyes open so I joined him. I was woken by thunder and that was about 5pm and I got up and the rain started and it teemed down for a while. It has taken the temp. down though.

<3 <3 <3 Happy Birthday to Lacey <3 <3 <3
the little scones and cakes sound just the ticket and I hope we get some pics of them and the cake. Sound like she had good pressies too. She'll enjoy those for a while to come and won't forget her tea party.

Is'nt coriander an annual? I hate it and Rocket too as Ann said they both taste like soap to me and I hate the smell of rocket. We used to grow both when we had the veg barrow out the front yeaars ago and it was my pet hate picking the rocket. I must admit to not liking peppers either. When I get a ready meal with peppers in I have to pass them all over to oh as he loves them. I used to have green peppers in a salad but they give me indigestion.

My two tom plants are Gardeners Delight which has always been a favorite of mine since I was first married and started to grow my own back in 1969. In the early 70's I shared an allotment with dad and had a nice patch in the corner and used to grow G D toms on that outside. I think thats why Monty did them outside so people without a greenhouse could have a go at growing a variety that would take our English weather. I remember a few years ago we had a terrible blight that wiped out all my tom plants outside and they had lovely toms on them too. I have never grown them outside without cover since only in one of those plastic tom houses and then the last ones got blight in that. My tow are in my shed by the door which is'nt ideal for them as they get a bit leggy but I may bring them out and see what happens.

I am sitting here with the fan on me as its still hot but must venture out to corn the chickens. The suns gone now and we have grey cloudy skys.

Happy Birthday Lacey <3 The tea party sounds as though it will be a grand affair :-D

Pleased that Lacey had a nice time with her presents. Hope she enjoys her tea as well.

Yes Mandy the bees love the lavender, they like the pots of it in the back garden as well although they are not as dense as that bush.

Our meal tonight is barbecued chicken (OH doing that) with salad. so quite easy for me.

Afternoon all,

Are we all wilting away ,it's to hot to sit out even in the shade so we're in with fans going and plenty of squash with ice cubes ,i had to laugh as i put three ice cubes in Max's water bowl and he stood barking at them as if to say there's some bits in my bowl ,i got one out and he played about with it until it melted .

Thanks for Lacey's birthday wishes ,it was lovely watching her open her presents ,she had girls lego lots of colouring pencils and books ,clothes ,new sandals some fluffy animal thing that all clips together i forget what she said it was called ,we got her some Twisty Petz they are beaded animals that twist into a bracelet or necklace ,some clothes some other little bits and pieces and some money .
They have made some tiny little scones and cupcakes ,some little tiny pots of jelly topped with angel delight and they have little sandwiches to make too.
I think son made the cake and they didn't say what it was as she was listening so we'll see that on any photo they send .

So OH is sleeping off his lunch Ann , you saying about the fruit and cream reminded me of having fruit and tinned cream on a sunday when i was small ,mum used to add a little sugar to the cream which made it quite crunchy .

Gosh Mel all hose bees you were brave getting all those snaps of them i think i would have scarpered inside .
I wonder were they will settle and make there home have you checked all round they might not have moved far .

AnnG that's a beautiful Lavender you have in the garden i bet that's full of bees .
Pretty flowers too from your OH and some nice pots full of herbs ,mum use to have lots of Parsley in pots ,Curly parsley don't know if you could get the flat leaf then ,she use to make a lovely Omelette with Parsley in.

Oh Vera were you worried when you got lost i think i would have been at least you found your way again ,i hope you took a bottle of water with you and i hope the headache soon eases .

Oh Gill that poor lady having a loud sneeze like that ,i bet everyone scarpers when she sneezes near them with all the virus worries .
My toms are Money Makers too ,they were seeds from last year , i can see quite a few toms forming now ,some a little bigger than a marble .

Goodness it nearly four o'clock where has the day gone ,easy meal for us tonight Tuna salad and new potatoes .

Gill yes it is Gardners delight that Monty Don is growing. I think this year OH is growing Shirley and Tumbling Tom and maybe Alicante as well, Not sure I may correct that later.

Vera annoying or rather frustrating to get lost on a housing estate, I bet you thought you were never going to find a way out. Hope you didn't develop a migraine.

Glad you liked the lavender Mel, Ann and gill Itthink remarked on it. It was already growing when we moved here 28 years ago so I really don't know what it is, it was very straggly and OH has taken it in hand over the years. It sends up offshoots so we have some in tubs as well.

I Like parsley in potato salad with chives, In fact I have just been making potato salad and chopped parsley and chives into it. I like Rosemary with lamb and on roast potatoes, mint of course with new potatoes and Basil with tomatoes, coriander with anything a bit spicy. and bay leaves in bolognese.

It is 31 degrees here now and I have just been in the kitchen cooking goodeberry crumble for later. Boy it was hot in there. It looks ok. For some reason (mainly because OH never liked crumble when he was younger but always has it now when we are out, if it is offered) I have never made crumble so fingers crossed.

:-D <3 HAPPY BIRTHDAY LACEY <3 :-D. I hope she got her tea party with a nice cake and lots of cards and gifts! It will have been nice to see her open her presents Mandy. We will all want to know what she had!

Oh I didn't see you there when I posted AnnG. I'm not too keen on parsley although I do have parsley sauce with fish sometimes. I was getting tarragon and dill mixed up as it is tarragon I like with chicken and dill with fish. I do love oregano and basil but have never tried to grow those. Perhaps I should next year. I think it is just seeing the bits of herb that puts OH off but he doesn't even notice in a risotto. As a child when he had parsley sauce he apparently told his mother that his meal had grass in it!!

Vera there is nothing worse than getting lost on a hot day. Before my knees gave me problems we used to walk a lot, doing walks printed each week in the local paper and on holiday. My OH is a big fan of the 'circular walk' and hates coming back the way you have gone. One year we stayed at Boscastle as he is a fan of Thomas Hardy and wanted to see the church where he was a parson. Well this walk started with some lovely views but we were soon climbing steep lanes and crossing rutted fields to try and find the way. By the time we got back my knees were like jelly and I thought my hips would never recover. I got straight into a bath which fortunately worked wonders, but I was certainly wary when he suggested circular walks after that. I hope you aren't getting one of your migraines as I used to find I would get them with too much sun. :-D <3. Yes I quite enjoyed the sausages in the end and I love an onion gravy. OH enjoyed his as he fetched bread to mop up his gravy that was left........how uncouth!! lol. :-)

Mel that was such a lot of bees in the swarm. I would have scarped indoors quickly so you did well to get those photos!. Had they all gone by this morning?

Gill it will be interesting to see how your tomatoes turn out. Mine are Gardener's Delight apart from the new one I can't remember the name of just now.

OH has flaked out on the bed after washing up what doesn't go in the dishwasher and has gone very quiet so I bet he's asleep!

Did you see the pictures of all those people that had flocked to beaches yesterday? I would hate those crowds anyway and where did they all go to the toilet??

I think Monty Don has done the Gardeners Delight Vera, he's showing people who've never done tomatoes before, what to do, step by step. What a lovely idea, especially for children to have a go at. The moneymaker tomatoes are delicious, we normally buy those every year and put them in pots in the greenhouse, we have had, what I think is called, tomato blight, could be called something else, with them a few times but the tomatoes are still edible and taste lovely. We only have the flowers at the moment to, but with all this sun it won't be long before the toms start showing. We're having to keep an eye on the watering though with it being so hot. That's the last thing you needed, getting lost in this heat, I hope you've cooled down now your home and you don't end up with a migraine. 30 degrees in the shade, boy that's hot. I've just been outside and the air is so hot it was like sitting in an oven, so I've come back in doors where it's cooler.

There's someone around here who keep sneezing and the noise she makes I'm surprised she's got a nose left LOL. Talk about dramatic, the whole street can hear her. I'm sure people don't need to sneeze that loud. This morning she sounded like a donkey. It must be awful for her to be that bad though. I assume it's hayfever that's causing the sneezing as she was like it yesterday as well.

What lovely flowers your OH bought you AnnG and your garden is lovely, the lavender is massive and looks so pretty. You've got plenty of herbs to keep you going to.

Thinking of Jane today and hoping she's not so tired and the heat isn't to much for her. I hope Thomas has come home now, I know how much she worries when he goes missing for a while.

Going to get a drink now, I'm so thirsty today, it must be the heat.

Morning everyone

Found it difficult to sleep again because of the heat but I did manage a bit more than the night before. I don’ t think it’s going to get much cooler till Saturday. The temperature in the utility is showing as 30 degs and the gauge is in the shade.

OH went for his walk at about 8 am but I didn’t go till about 10 am. and it was really hot. I decided to go down a footpath I hadn’t been before and it took me a long way out of my way into a housing estate where I got lost. By the time I found my way home I was hot and exhausted but at least I got plenty of exercise ;-)

Did you enjoy your sausage lunch Ann? We’ll have a snack in an hour or so then I have some cod loin defrosting for tonight. I found a pack of 5 large tomatoes at the bottom of a freezer drawer so I’ve taken those out too and will make some sort of sauce to go on our fish.

You’ll have a nice surprise when you find out what your tomatoes are Gill. I’ve planted in pots 4 Gardener’s Delight and 4 Moneymaker plants. That was all that was left when I went to buy seeds just before lockdown. Mine are getting flowers but no sign of tomatoes setting yet.

Sorry, had more to say but the letters are starting to wave a bit in front of my eyes so I need to stop now.

Afternoon all

<3 <3 <3 HAPPY BIRTHDAY LACEY <3 <3 <3

Hope she has a lovely day with her family Mandy.

Very hot here today with hardly any breeze, I've woken up with a headache as I got to hot. Our bedroom is South facing, so it's boiling in there now. Luckily the living room is in the North, so not to bad. Still very warm in here though.

Yes AnnG, it'll be a nice surprise when the toms arrive, the problem is if I really like them and want to buy some next year, because I don't know the name of them I can't do it. I might ask mum to ask her friend what they're called, as she is the one who gave them to her. I didn't think about them being cherry toms, so that'll be another surprise, finding out what size they are.
I did smile when you said about the younger ones having their Primark fix, you are so right, I'm still going to wait for a while longer to see what happens though. I don't have a need to go to the shops anyway and to be honest, I'm not one for clothes shopping, I can never find anything that fits, so it put me off years ago. I'd like to learn to make clothes for myself, then I can make items that actually fit. ;-)

Your lunch sounds nice Ann, I hope you've cooled down enough to enjoy it. Fruit and cream ummm.....nice. :-) :-)

Gosh Mel, all those bees, you're braver than me, I'd of run a mile to get away from them. Lovely photo's though. I love the smell of roses, but I don't like all the thorns. I think you can buy thornless roses nowadays, so I might treat myself to one or two next year.

I did well with OH's tree last night and managed to find a few more people. Hopefully I'll have the same luck today. It's far to hot to go outside, even sitting on the bench, which is in the shade, so I'll wait a few hours until it cools down a bit. They reckon we're in for more thunder storms tomorrow, I hope it doesn't knock Sky off again and my set top box.

Morning Mel and All,

Yes wall to wall sunshine again but it is a bit hot and sticky already here as there's no breeze.

We've got sausage, onions and mash today with peas and carrots. I am cooking it now before it gets any hotter as I thought I could just reheat it at lunch time but OH wants it as soon as it is cooked so it looks like a really early lunch! I don't usually eat sausages, only occasionally, but it will be a treat for OH.

It looks like this Sunday will be the last for a delivered lunch as they will be getting ready to re-open then. They will still carry on with click and collect though so we could always do that.

Phew I am hot with being in the kitchen so will go and splash my face with some cold water next. I have put some tinned fruit and cream in the fridge to chill to have later today.

Good morning all. hot again this morning 27 degrees already phew. Hot last night so we just had a sheet over us and both slept through to about 0545.

OH has watered the garden and is now fiddling with a small water feature that we have in the conservatory. Only problem is, he cleanes it in the kitchen sink and doesn't warn me. I said last time it was scratching th sink so put something under it. Had he? Of course not. Anyway sorted that.

Jane, great to see you and I am sure the heat will contribute to already existing tiredness. Hope you have somewhere in the shade that you can doze.
Gosh James does work long hours. does he really have to or is it self imposed. Self discipline is a requirement of working from home or else he will be taken advantage of.

Annxyes I do have a lot of herbs, I don't use them all in cooking although do use parsley, mint, chives, sage, basil (couldn't find any of that), coriander, Rosemary, Bay and Thyme (not all at once). I also like the smell of them in the garden if you brush against them. Is it the smell or taste your OH doesn't like? My one dislike is Tarragon.

Mel wow the bees!!! nice to see them though, wonder where they flew off to>

Mandy All I saw from Frank was the short post he put up telling Mel to read her email so Mel knows more than us. I guess he doesn't like to know we miss him when he doesn't post. But that is only natural, he is one of our 'team' so we are concerned about them.
It is hit and miss with supermarket herbs, I have planted basil and kept it for several months so worth a try. Keep it on a cool window sill rather than in the garden, it does seem to last longer that way.

Gill So you won't know until they are ripe if your tomatoes are full sized or cherry. It will be a nice surprise I hope.
I think it is up to us as individuals how fast the lockdown is lifted. If we all take it easy it will hopefully be fine but we do need to get out a bit for the sake of our mental health. I think it should be slow regarding going to main shops, let the very young ones have their Primark fix then the rest of us can visit shops when it quietens down. Nothing is seemingly going to stop people flocking to beaches but hopefully they are not in too much danger if the virus doesn't like sun or salt water.

Annx we have to wait until our hairdresser approaches us with an appointment so it will be up to her what time it is, we both have the owner do our hair and she only works 3 days a week so we shall see.