General Chat

Sent an email Last pics not too good.

I have had a lovely morning picking blackberries and walked right up the top to see if the bramley up there had any apples I could reach and picked about seven nice big ones. Saw Val (Em's mum) and went and had a natter over the hedge, its only about two and a half foot high so comfortable to talk over. Walked back across the front of the potting sheds and found more big blackberries so I exspect its B & A crumble for tonights sweet.

I was very careful not to scratch myself on the Brimles Anng.

Time for a pill before I get the lunch.

Afternoon All,

Very dull here and might even rain. I had a reasonable night, but shouldn't have taken a COT to bed as I had to get up twice! I never learn.

Adblocker has been a lifesaver for us! I don't know if it was to do with the data breach at talktalk a few years ago, or if it's because of looking at some adverts that popped up that led to more, but OH in particular, reached a point with so many adverts piling in when he switched his laptop on, his emails couldn't load!! We both have an adblocker loaded now. DM is annoying though as they won't let you access to even put your numbers in to get points for vouchers. I haven't had DM since the pandemic started, when they never sent me free delivery vouchers they promised, despite me emailing a reminder and them supposedly sending more that I never got. I have lost the value of all the points I already had because of it too. :-S

Mel we can't believe how quickly this year has gone either!! We seemed to get more done the previous year, but lost the wherewithal this year. :-S

I just read the local planning applications and again they are knocking perfectly good bungalows down to build yet more houses, this time in the next village. Two nice bungalows to be replaced by 3 houses for families with playrooms for children etc. What happens when these families are older themselves? Will they want to live in blocks of flats if they can't manage stairs? Even bungalows that remain are often having lofts converted to turn them into houses. :-S

Oh OH's online meeting has ended so I better get lunch!

Morning Vera, Anng and all,

Grey morning here too and chilly with it and a pinch and a punch and all that silly stuff.

Once again don't know where August went. The months seem to have whizzed by for me this year.

Someone has started banging next door. I think they are putting new fence poles up.

S;ept quite well but could'nt really go back to sleep after getting up for the loo and then oh came back to bed and turned the telly on with no sound but I could see sort of changing lights which I hate.

Good morning Vera and everyone. Yes grey cloud all over this morning so far, no surprise cloud was forecast. 12 degrees but dry so far. wouldn't mind a shower, we have had no rain for well over a week, which sounds good except we have had very little sun as well. The apples (which this year are many) are just dropping off the tree and still very small, I have to keep picking them up off the lawn. Still thinking of places like New Orleans it could be very much worse.

Good morning

Another grey, slightly chilly day. Yesterday was a bit hectic so I haven’t read through all the posts yet but will do that later. I had a reasonable night but was awake well before 6 am and now I am tiptoeing around so that I don’t wake OH..

I think it will be a day of doing a bit of this and a bit of that. I hope you all have a good day. Bbl

Island, It was any scratch or wound in the garden that could get infected but the thing about brambles was that the woman got a bramble scratch and doctors didn't think about the likelihood of sepsis, it was the hospital that jumped as soon as they saw that not only the injured finger had swollen up nut the finger next to it. the bramble had apparently had some dort of fungus on it which would have spread and not only caused sepsis but also the infection itself would have spread to her whole hand and she could have lost the hand. As it was she had to have the tip of a finger plus the nail removed :-( :-( to save the hand by the infection being cleaned out.

I do hate it when you get that Adblocker request. Strangely (and I am not complaining, I have not had any ads at all on my Mail on line for ages, not sure why. I didn't think I had given any permition for anything to do with the ads on there, I can only think it is luck.

I didn't see you there Island. I find honey and lemon juice are good for stopping the tickle and loosening a cough, but I can't have cough mixture anyway. I mix a small glass to take to bed with me and sip as needed if I get one. Yes, some plain yoghurt would do the trick as you say, but I'm thinking Cherry or Blueberry flavour that is all I have at the moment wouldn't! lol. :-S The courgette and cucumber leaves and stems do that to me as well. Also conifer hedge clippings.

When did Mandy say the scarecrow competition is? Was it over the Bank Holiday?

Sorry AnnG, I didn't comment as I knew the risk. I was surprised the woman left it so long and that the doctor didn't act more quickly.

Got my car booked in for a service and MOT. I'd read that there is a backlog of MOTs due to the extensions given to MOT's last year so there could be a lot of MOTs due soon. I mentioned the new wiper blades it needs and the warning light about the tyre pressures not going out, despite the pressures being ok. I hadn't realised that any warning lights are now included in the MOT. I don't know, the more gadgetry they put on cars the more they can make you put your hand in your pocket. A car with a faulty warning light for low tyre pressure is no different to a car with no warning light for it after all. I'm hoping with the limited driving that the wheel discs haven't corroded and need replacing, as deep pockets would be needed for those to be replaced! Still a car needs to be safe and it should be good for winter afterwards.

I'm glad the new series of Vera has started and I enjoyed the first one.

Evening all

Anng, I tried looking at the link but a big 'we see you're using an ad blocker' window covered it so couldn't read. Was it just about bramble thorns? Ours are thorn-less but I do wear gloves when handling courgette and cucumber leaves as the make my skin itch like crazy.

Annx, would generous blob of plain yoghurt calm your spicy curry?
I picked green toms from four plants today as the stems were looking a bit blighty and pulled up the plants. I'll cook them up tomorrow.

The climbing French beans have slowed down to just the right amount for two every few days. They're top of the list for next year, I've also spotted climbing haricot and borlotti beans which will be on my order too. Less runners though as the pods haven't been good.

Mel, I used to like it when the decs came down as it always looked like we'd had a spring clean LOL We just put the cards up now and some lights. We gave our tree and a load of 'pretties' to a young family to enjoy.

I'm not enjoying my cough and croak, it's a bit dry and tight so tips for loosening would be good please.

I read that Ann. Thank you for posting.

It is quite worrying how quickly the situation worsened, especially as the scratch seemed insignificant.
Most years I go blackberry picking, so will be extra careful in future.

Any break in the skin makes us open to infection, so I am quick to clean and cover any injury.

I put a link up earlier, nobody has commented I thought it was important enough for anyone working in the garden to check out. Maybe not?

Afternoon Everyone,

A good sleep here too and I got off to sleep quickly for a change! :-)

Island those faces remind me of the Easter Island statues! :-D Glad you were able to slither from your bed ok today and that you are a bit better. Oh yes I'd forgotten about the agony of coughing with rib pain!

I see you have Ros's birthday in hand Frank and it will be nice for her to get something Spanish that catches her eye. We are eating up some of the older things in the freezer this time.......some home made 'bit too spicy' chicken meals I froze a while ago we can have for tomorrow. There is some veg in them, but I'll add more stock to 'cool them down', together with roasted peppers, onion and courgette and have them with some wholewheat rice or cauli rice.

We keep our very thin 3.5 tog duvet all year round like you Mel. I do use a top sheet though so that makes it a bit warmer. We never leave heating on overnight, but, if it gets very cold, I have a mock fur throw I put on top. It is getting very autumnal now and I said to OH today how the trees in the back field are changing colour. Very unusual these days we saw a Kestrel hovering while we had lunch.

Just had a pause and picked a basinful of toms and a courgette, shortened some of the leaves on the toms, then grabbed the secateurs and filled 2 big humpers with more prunings from the bottlebrush and Viburnum. OH came out to empty them for me and filled another humper with high up bits that were harder for me to reach. Then it started that fine rain so we came in.

OH had found a match to go to tonight but has decided to stay in now it's rainy and watch one on tv instead.

I think I have spotted another online painting course for me that starts next month so will check it out. It's a different teacher, but is improvers watercolour so at least it would keep me practising and I may learn some new things. :-)

February is supposed to be the coldest month of the year.

I don't mind Feb as my birthday is right in the middle and then its March and its getting near spring. Thats the way I look at it anyway.

I do love it when Frank posts.

Good you feel a bit better today Island and sorry about the C word. I do love Christmas though with all the lights up and running and the cosy feel. I hate it when the decs have to come down even though we only put things in the kitchen as thats where I am most of the time even in the evenings watching the telly.

Have to finish off the wipe down as he came just before lunch time so I only did the fridge and freezer stuff and got lunch as I was hungry and oh has to eat at regular times anyway.

Good Morning to all,

Fine drizzle here also this morning.It's BIN DAY today. Our Green Bin was filthy so after it was emptied I got the hose out and gave it a good clean inside and out. It's now on it's side drying out.

Ros had gone our for the usual Tuesday shop with Caroline. We have so much food in the fridge, that I told Ros not to BUY any food. We must get what we have, eaten, as I hate to see food wasted.

Looking forward to the weekend,and a nice break in Spain from next Tuesday. I will get Ros to have a good look around while we are there, to see if she likes anything, that I can buy for her B'Day. I've got her card, which I must pack. I expect we will stay the night at Jans , and drive back on the 19th , her Birthday.

I trust you are al well, I can see you have been very busy posting on here yesterday and this morning. Take care, I will pop back later. I'm going in the conservatory now with my book, for a quiet read for an hour or so. xxxx

Morning Ann and Mel and all

The C word already Mel? :-0
I quite like January, it always feels more promising - then comes February to spoil it LOL
Our light weight duvet is only a double so it's easy to slip out from under if it's hot. The winter weight is a king size so it hangs well down at the sides.

The sun is making an appearance! :-D

What a lot of cards Anng and hand made too.
Do you think all those lovely lavender scents made you sleep well?

Vera, I'm glad your OH was able to have his blood test and that his result is favourable. This bottle shortage is a shambles, especially when they have been booked to tie in with a consultation. I can't re-book until I have a date for my next consultation as bloods have to be done no more than a week ahead. There must be a lot of patients in the same position which will be chaotic.

Sorry to go on but, my pain has reduced to a smaller area so getting out of bed was easy today. The down side is, because I'd been stifling coughs etc I had a 'croak' last night and have now lost my voice! Aaarrrgh!!
I've realised that those knitted faces reminded me of something so I'm about to look through an old work photo album...... look out for email :-)

Gardeners, as a precaution check this out.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-9940783/How-scratch-bramble-cost-woman-hand.html

Morning Anng and all,

We have that very very fine mizzle this morning so I shan'nt be up the border today but perhaps it will give me a chance to finish the last project I started.

Enjoy your coffee and chat this morning Anng.

I wonder how its going with Gill's bathroom this week?

Slept like a log last night just up once for the loo but we did have a nice bottle of red wine with dinner last night.

Good morning all, another grey 13 degrees morning here.

Mel, don't wish our lives away, they are short enough as it is. It is three months yet until Christmas so you have plenty of time to think of something for your OH.

In some ways the past year since this time last year has gone quickly. (We drove back from our diamond wedding celebrations last year on 30 August), but this year since the end of January has not passed quickly for me.

However, even if three months to go that time will probably go as quickly as ever as I have 80 cards to make and presents to buy for the family. And that, at the moment will be the next time I see daughter when they pick me up on 19th December for three weeks up with them in Cumbria. (hoping the snow stays away).

This morning I am going just round the corner to a friend's for coffee.

I actually slept very well last night for almost 8 hours (with one break at 0515.

Hope all the aches have eased this morning. :-) :-)