General Chat

Meant to say the mother and daughter brought a tear to my eye too and even oh was wiping his eyes.

You'll like Alexa Frank. She will tell you the time and all sorts of questions and if you say Alexa Goodnight she will answer you.

One lot of wshing on the line and dry as the sun has come out and there's a nice blow. Tidied the kitchen a bit and going to clean it all this afternoon ready for tomorrows onslaught.

Good morning to you all,

Not a bad morning here, cloudy but not windy, I think it will be warm enough to sit outside with my book later.

Just had my MATE Alan on the phone, for best part of an hour. Chewing the fat as they say. His and my children are very close in ages. Between school outings and plays we got to know them. I have been friends with all the brothers over the years, unfortunately he is the last one still with us. We keep in touch from time to time, si t's nice.

For whatever reason, I have been getting very emotional. An act on BGT on Saturday got me started. It was a young girl of 14 singing with her mother who was 47 and dying with CANCER. The flood gates just opened, and a lot of things, I start remembering from being evacuated and the war, start me off. Gawd knows what I will be like on FRIDAY EVENING with the houses around us celebrating VE DAY. Bud and Estelle, with have their record player going full blast with all the OLD WORLD WAR SONGS, playing. I will walk round to the green outside their house with a fold up chair. and sit a have a wonderful SING SONG. Wth whoever takes/makes the effort to join us. Lets hope the rain holds off.

I am going to see if I can find out, how to set up my ALEXA that Ros has bought for an early Anniversary present.

Please stay safe, ny dear friends. Speak again later. xxxx

Good morning to you all,

Not a bad morning here, cloudy but not windy, I think it will be warm enough to sit outside with my book later.

Just had my MATE Alan on the phone, for best part of an hour. Chewing the fat as they say. His and my children are very close in ages. Between school outings and plays we got to know them. I have been friends with all the brothers over the years, unfortunately he is the last one still with us. We keep in touch from time to time, si t's nice.

For whatever reason, I have been getting very emotional. An act on BGT on Saturday got me started. It was a young girl of 14 singing with her mother who was 47 and dying with CANCER. The flood gates just opened, and a lot of things, I start remembering from being evacuated and the war, start me off. Gawd knows what I will be like on FRIDAY EVENING with the houses around us celebrating VE DAY. Bud and Estelle, with have their record player going full blast with all the OLD WORLD WAR SONGS, playing. I will walk round to the green outside their house with a fold up chair. and sit a have a wonderful SING SONG. Wth whoever takes/makes the effort to join us. Lets hope the rain holds off.

I am going to see if I can find out, how to set up my ALEXA that Ros has bought for an early Anniversary present.

Please stay safe, ny dear friends. Speak again later. xxxx

Morning AnnG and all,

Grey and miserable here but dry and a bit windy.

Oh is up the garden sorting out where the bricks have fallen away from the lawn at the west side of our road. He did'nt put any drainage holes in those when he built it and used the old victoria bricks from the melon house outside the wall which was in the secret garden and at that time he owned that. Some of them had crumbled and I think frost had got into some of them after all that rain we had and maybe lorries coming down had hit some of them so he is thinking of putting boards long and cementing it instead of replacin g the bricks. He said it would be stronger.

I have washing to do and clear the kitchen ready for tomorrow order to be wiped down before being put away. Its a job I did'nt miss last week when we did'nt have an order so this weeks will be bigger than the last one.

Morning AnnG morning all,

Nice and bright here this morning but a bit on the chilly side when I hung my washing out.

Ann the Gypsy tart is very sweet but if you want a nice slimming sweet have you tried sugar free jelly with a Muller light yogurt mixed in it sets like a milk jelly .
Make the jelly up to about three quarters of a pint and mix in the yogurt, you can use any flavour yogurt I use the vanilla one in a strawberry jelly but you could use any of the fruit ones .

Better get hoovered up Max's hair comes out so much it goes across the tiles in here like tumble weed.

Good morning all, sunny here so far, hope it stays that way, so much more cheery. Not sure what we are doing except I know we are not going out!! BBL :-D

Maybe it was just one of your meatballs that was dodgy Mandy and Colin's were all ok? It's good you seem to be getting over it now. I suppose there's always a risk from animals like birds or cats walking on things in the garden that we touch or pets with what they find and lick and then lick us! I suppose we only need to touch our mouths after to catch something. It's hard to avoid everything.

You have me there Mandy as I only stuck the evap milk in the freezer for 10 minutes, too impatient I know. I thought it seemed quite thick after arm ache with the mixer, but probably not as thick as if it had chilled right down overnight like you say. Unusual for me, it was the full fat one as that was all I could get. I might try again, but tend to agree with Vera that it was still a bit sweet for me, even though I put less sugar in.

I hope you were ok after your big breakfast Mel.........I would have postponed the big breakfast a day I think!

Me and my beading friends are attempting to have a Zoom meeting next Friday so that will be interesting!

Oh dear Mandy that was a shame but better safe than sorry.

AnnG they were Aldi meat balls I had them in the freezer

Don't mention the jacket potato I cut into it and put a tiny tiny bit of butter in when I noticed the butter I had in the butter dish was swilling about in some water ,Colin took the butter dish from the dishwasher and I told him to check nothing was wet as it went in a quick wash that doesn't dry every thing and the butter dish had some water in the bottom ,I'm to blame too as I chopped a piece of butter off the block and put it in the dish ,so my potato went in the bin I didn't dare chance having any ,luckily I hadn't put any in Colins potato.
I ended up with a small dish of cornflakes and banana with no milk .

Rain has stopped now but it did tip down for a while.

Mandy, maybe just eat the potato, not the skin which will be kinder to your tum.

I think it does sound a bit like food poisoning though, were they home made meat balls or shop bought? Could have been a problem with just the one you had on the other hand you can go back 48 hours from when you were ill, maybe you had something different from Colin then.
Anyway good it sounds as if you are on the mend hope you continue to feel better.

Afternoon all,

Mel i was sick Thursday night ,friday i felt so tired all day and slept most of the afternoon ,yesterday i did feel a bit better but then today i have been on the loo three times ,i don't feel as tired and have done a few jobs but goodness knows where i picked this up as we haven't been out .
We had meatballs thursday for our meal which Colin had and he's been ok so i just don't know .
I hope your tummy's better now so you can enjoy your big breakfast this week.
Love all the garden photo's thanks for letting us see your lovely flowers .

Ann when you did your Gypsy tart did you put the can of milk in the fridge over night to get really chilled ? it whisks up so much thicker if you do that and should help it to set rather than be runny ,it also needs to be the full fat one as i don't think the half fat one will work as well .

Jane it must have been nice to escape into the countryside for a drive everywhere must be looking nice and green with all the leaves on the tree's coming out now.
Our runners are coming through i think today i could see about seven poking through the ground ,Colin gave them a little water this morning but i now looked up and can see its just started to rain here now.

Gill i hope the headache soon eases for you ,it does sound as if the meds are helping you get a better nights sleep ,sitting out in the air might help your headache .and i think the air outside seems much fresher with less traffic about .

AnnG thats good its this week your garden rubbish is getting collected and good they will let you put a bag with any extra out too .
I noticed that some tips are beginning to open again but haven't heard any thing about ours opening up yet .

I'm going to try a jacket potato tonight ,my tummy feels so empty .

I think I must have caught Mandy's funny tummy as I only just made it to the bathroom this morning. I am not going on water all day though as Imissed my big breakfast last week with the bad tooth ache so I have had it today. It may have been the sandwich spread we had at lunchtime and the fact I only had a granary roll with the spread and ham and pringles then in th eafternoon we had an apple strudle with our drink and in the evening two granary rolls with steak and onions in them. Then there was the wine too and water so maybe a funny combination.

It took us both all morning to sort out what else we wanted to put on the shopping list for Tuesday.

I feel very tired this afternoon and could quite easily join oh on the bed to watch the back of my eyelids BUT I have sausage rolls to make for tea and I may make some cakes too.

Afternoon All
It has been a cloudy day today and not one bit of sun. The runner beans are in :-D :-D
My favourite veg.I could eat them every day.

Mel I loved the pics of the garden and the lovely Wiseria on that wonderful wall.

Gill I would take it easy if I were you and give it time for the change in your meds to adjust.At least you are sleeping better which is a good thing. Hayfever can cause headaches and tirdness too.I think a lot of us are taking the Hayfever tabs now.Even James has started which is unusual.I think it is still the tree pollen .Yestreday when we were driving in the country lanes we had the windows open and my throat started itching and James got a really stuffy nose.

Vera do have a go on Zoom for the Quiz with the family.It is such good fun. Hannah is organising another quiz for all of us again next Saturday at 5pm.

Nice Brunch today AnnG :-D. Its making me salivate LOL I dont know why I am suddenly havng trouble with eating and reflux .I just hope it is nothing 'bad'. I have my appointment a week on Tuesday with the new Consultant so will be able ot discuss all my concerns.

Your lunch sounded lovely too Ann :-D I agree about very pretty villages in this county.The nicer ones seem to be more towards Leicestershire.I love the old ironstone coloured cottages.I think it is Ironstone.I am not sure I wouls want to live in some of the tiny villages though as they are quite isolated and a fair way from SHOPS. Not that tht would matter at the moment LOL I did notice the larger villages had a good local store.

Need to check the slow cooker and see if the Brisket is ready.I was up early this morning and had it on by 8.30.I then went back to bed with my Breakfast
:-D

Thanks Ann. That is pretty much exactly what I do so I guess it must vary a bit from region to region.

Hope everyone’s OK. In a rush so might bbl.

Afternoon All,

More rain here last night and first thing this morning. It is dry now but the morning sun has gone so we had lunch in the conservatory. Easy today a nice chicken, ham and leek pie between us with crunchy roast pots, brussels and carrots. OH could hardly manage his so maybe he won't want much to eat later. :-)

That was a shame about the grasses Gill, but we have to keep an eye on some pots as the rain seems to fall at an angle and misses them. You probably have some others that may need splitting so you can replace them. It does sound like your doubled meds might be affecting you but it may settle in a few days once your body gets used to the higher dose. I'm glad you've reminded me to take a hayfever tablet!

Ouch Mel, that cramp in the calf is agony! It can stay sore for a few hours too sometimes. It does sound like the strimmer may be what has triggered shoulder pain. Just bending with one foot up the slope of the flower bed yesterday and hauling the heavy rocks around has made my knees and back sore today. At least with it raining I shan't be tempted to do any more out there today. Your garden photos were lovely and the wisteria is quite big isn't it! I used to have an iris like yours and when you smelt it close up it smelled of germolene of all things!. Your OH keeps your huge lawns nice and trim. I never received your clay leaf photos.......did you send any? Your son was quite small when he was born like my sister, but didn't he quickly put weight on! My mum would have been 93 yesterday.

AnnG I bet you will be relieved to get rid of some garden rubbish at last! OH says our tip is opening next week, but I bet there will be large queues to begin with, so we won't be going for at least week or two. We still have old dining chairs to take that are in the way and lots of other rubbish we are sorting out. I wish I had someone cook me a brunch like that. My best chance would be beans on toast! lol.

Jane, OH always says there are such pretty villages in Northants and it would look prettier still with the tree blossom out. At my old house it would have been me and first OH banging, hammering and drilling! We never started before 8.30am though, unlike the dog next door barking. All the other noise here is lawnmowers!

Back to more sorting and shredding now.

Vera.... This is what our son had to say about Tesco slots when I asked him (He takes a while to reply!).

I think the slots will be different by area as each is serviced from a local centre. But I think the process for booking is the same.

I can’t say for certain but I’ve found that going in too early doesn’t work. The slots seem to show as unavailable even after 12 (they don’t list by hour, just one line saying all gone). To make it work I go on about 11.57. Entering the groceries section I get put in a virtual queue. When I get through to the ordering part, about 12.05 usually, then mostly there are slots. No idea why it works but it mostly does!

I think sometimes people drop slots and odd ones open up, but that is fairly rare as far as I can tel :-) :-)

I've got a bit of a headache again, I'm wondering if it might be the double dose of my meds that's causing it. Having said that I suffer from Hayfever, so does OH and he's cut the lawns so it's probably that. At least I'm sleeping better now which is good.

The grasses hadn't been watered for a long time AnnG, with them being down the side where we can't see them, we'd forgotten to water them and being in pots on a concrete base they couldn't get any rain water from the ground, plus they were pot bound, a couple of them we couldn't get out of the pots to throw them away. All the grass's, apart from one were white, with no signs of any green, not even small shoots. The one with signs of life has now been moved into the border and had a good drink. We find the roots go through the bottom of the pot slightly and into the ground so it should be okay. The other's were past helping. At least I got three pots I can now use for other plants that need re-potting once I can get hold of the compost to do the job.

The clouds have gone here and the sun is out, the lawns look lovely and I've just turned the water feature on, so it's nice and peaceful and calm. I'm going to have a drink outside and get some fresh air, I've taken a Hayfever tablet so I'll be okay.

I just let my coffee go cold Gill Drank it now though.

A mostly cloudy day today although we had a flash of sun earlier on so OH did some tidying up in the garden. Our brown bin collection is back this coming week so we will be able to get rid of the full bin and some of the esxtra stuff in the shed. We are allowed to put a strong bag of garden rubbish next to the brown bin as well.

We had brunch instead of breakfast this morning, two fried eggs, fried bread and bacon and very nice it was too, especially as I didn't cook it.
It strangely feels like a normal Sunday today here. Just prepared the veg for Sunday roast tonight, broccoli, sugar snap peas roast and steamed carrots, roast parsnips and potatoes, courgette may creep in there if I remember to do it later and roast chicken. And strawberries and ice cream to follow

Mel, take it easy today then strimmers are very heavy and can easily hurt your shoulder and upper arm.

gill it will probably take a while to adjust to the new meds so don't overdo things. Hopefully in the long run you will feel better.
I wonder why the grasses died they are usually hard to kill. Did they rot? Are you sure they were dead and not just dormant?

Mandy I hope you are feeling better today. But how strange to pick up a tummy bug when not going our or seeing anyone, normally we blame the children for tose.

Jane hope you are OK as well, what a shame you have been having trouble with reflux, is it one of the meds causing it? Hope you manage to eat ok today.t

Morning Mel, Morning all

A little cloudy here today but the sun is just managing to get through. OH's cut the lawns this morning and is now watering the pots.

I spoke with the doctor on the phone the other day, much safer than having a face to face appointment and she's decided to double my meds, I've not been sleeping very well, but since the increase in my meds I've finally had a couple of good nights sleep. I was so groggy yesterday and had a headache, so I decided to stay away from the screen so my headache wouldn't turn into a migraine, I didn't fancy a migraine lasting a few days. Luckily it stayed as a headache but didn't go until it was time for bed. Thankfully I'm okay today, still feeling a bit sleepy, but I'm sure I'll get used to the meds soon.

The headlight bulb went yesterday, so OH had to put a new one in. I managed to do a bit of housework and then we both moved a few pots around in the garden. The little garden I did down the side needed attention as the grasses had died, so they went in the bin and we hunted around the back garden for replacements plants, it looks nicer down the side now but still needs one or two more plants to fill the gaps. I'm sure we'll find some in the garden at some point, but that'll be a job for another day.

Sorry to hear you had a bad tum yesterday Mandy, I hope it feels better today.

Love all the pictures of your garden Mel, the Wisteria is massive, I love Wisteria. Sorry to hear your shoulders ache, you can rest up today if it's raining and let mother nature water your beautiful plants.

I see Ros is in demand with her sewing Frank, lets hope the sewing machine doesn't play up again. Did you find out what the problem was in the end?

I've never heard of Gipsy tart before Ann, it sounds quite nice.

I know how you feel about all the knocking and banging next door Jane, we went through exactly the same thing with our neighbour. I hope it's finished soon so you can enjoy some peace and quiet. Your trip out with James sounded nice and relaxing.

Has anyone tried Sandwich spread in mash potato it's delicious, my mum used to do it when I was a child. I forgot all about it until Sandwich spread was mentioned on here. Mum used to make it with lamb chops and baked beans.

Going to drink my cuppa now, I made it a while ago so I hope it's not cold.