General Chat

Morning all

Thank you for asking about my ankle. Yesterday morning I felt like I was en route to life in a mobo scooter, today - what ankle pain? :-S Slept right through too.

Funny weather here today, bright sunshine first thing, about 7 when the binboys were crashing about, then rain, sunshine, grey sky..... I'm stopping indoors mainly, having a cull.

How exciting for your neighbour Vera, finally having a painting studio and being outside will get good light.

Mel..... I suspect you must like ironing, do you take it in? ;-)

Anng, if only we just dealt with the manager of our local branch be it bank or chain store instead of endless phone 'menus' and hard to understand accents. Good that you finally got your card sorted.

I've just had a stroll down the garden and don't know how we missed the cucumber which was poking out of the plant - it's 10" long! As they say 'it could have had your eye out!

T%hats a nice surprize Anng and now you are £25 in credit how nice a little presdie just before you go away.

When I sat down to read the post the sun was out and I am just going round to do the chickens but not yet as its like at Vera's nad is bucketing down. Hope it stops soon and I can get out there.

When the rain stops Vera, walk don't run to the post box!!!! Hope it eases off soon.

I have had a problem with the internet this morning. There are two internet codes for Virgin with an extension for the second one. something went wrong and I was advised to turn the modem off and then on again. when I did that I lost all the internet. After a while just one has come back on. so I am ignoring the other for now. while I have one I don't want to lose that one.

I actually used the iron this morning, Just to iron a pair of cotton trousers. At least I have not forgotten how!!

Had a phone call from M&S couldn't (again) understand her so said, sorry I have hearing problems I can't hear you'. Which is what I said in my letter to them. Half an hour later I had a long email from then profusely Apologising both for not understanding and also for the problem we had when Lyn phoned them for me. And she has activated my card and explained how I can register with M&S bank, also giving me a direct line to ask for help. And put £25 on my card so that is good.

The rain didn't hold off for long. We've had one heavy shower and now it's just spitting. I must get something in the post so I'll have to try and run down to the postbox between showers.

OH managed to get a walk before it rained again and coming back he stopped to chat to a chap who moved in with his wife to the bungalow on the corner about 3 or 4 months ago. He's obviously having some work done and we've all been curious to know what it is. Now we do. Apparently his hobby is painting but he hasn't done much for a while as there isn't a spare room in the house where he can leave his equipment out. He said he just got fed up with having to spend time getting everything out and then having to clear everything away again each time he wanted to do a little bit of artwork so he is having a small studio built in the garden. I'll be interested to see what sort of paintings he does.

Oh heck, it's absolutely bucketing down again.

Morning Anng and Vera and all,

Quite bright here this morning but still that high wind and it keeps going gloomy and then the sun comes out again.

I have piles of ironing to do today so I think thats on the cards for today. These Fridays keep coming around quickly and its the day I udsually feed the plants, Feeding Friday.

Will email you all later with my latest project.

Stay safe and hope the boiler man can get the boiler sorted today for you Anng and your packing goes ok.

Hope Island ankle is not so painful today too and she can get out in the garden with hubby and finish the "Shed".

Good morning AnnG and all

Very gloomy here and apparently more rain on the way with thunder later. Some of my plants got flattened in the wind and heavy rain yesterday. I hope they are going to pick up again.

I hope your boiler man can get to you early AnnG.

Is your ankle any better Island?

I haven’t got any plans for today. It’ll be another “see how it goes” day.

Good morning all. Quite bright here at the moment after overnight rain. I think gardening is out so good job I did a lot at the beginning of the week.

Sorting out ready for packing today and waiting to see when Oliver is likely to be able to come to do the boiler.

Those Haflinger ponies are really pretty and dainty arn'nt they Ann. Always palamino or chesnut with a lovely long flaxen mane and tail. My pony was a red roan hence the name Little Red.

I came across some of the files I thought I had lost onthe pc this afternoon and have been trying to put them in some sort of order much of the time without success but I have found a lot of my makes that I thought were lost. I just hope tomorrow I can find them again.

Oh fitted two new drive belts to the big mower today and now its cutting much better the old ones were a bit slack so it was'nt cutting the long grass as it should. I sneaked a pic of him on it the other day when he was trying it out. Took it through the bedroom dirty window. Must go round and wash those.

Same here with the rain Vera but as you say, it saves watering. I gave mine a feed yesterday so don't mind s break from the watering can.

Annx, my ankle responded to paracetamol but will have some ibu at bedtime. I don't normally get ankle pain, I usually have collar bone to fingers (not all at once though) but I'm assuming my ankle is ra. If it isn't gone in three days I'll have a rethink. I just hope it isn't osteo.

It’s been raining since about 5 pm and every so often it comes down really heavily as it’s doing now. Oh well, at least we won’t need to water pots tonight :-)

Ha, ha..........well spotted Island.......you can see how long it takes me to send some of my posts! :-D Your veg are fantastic and I'm sending off for some of those beans next year! Good sized beans aren't they too. My runners were new seed and a stringless variety with red and white flowers. I thought it was because mine were getting too much sun. They are outside in a very sunny spot. Pity about your ankle and I hope it has eased a bit. Does it just strike anywhere or have favourite spots?

We aren't far from MK either and I have been a few times to look at the shops. OH has dropped me off sometimes before heading to a match. It was awful one year when we were travelling through by coach to go abroad as it is full of itraffic islands. All that braking, swaying and turning on a coach to negotiate them and there were a lot, made us both feel quite ill.

Afternoon all - Morning Annx LOL

I've just taken ages to read the posts - paracetamol makes me woozy, ra having a party in my right ankle which is a bit inconvenient for walking :-|

Vera, the French beans in my photo are climbers so they'll grow nicely up a cane wigwam and take about the same space as runners, maybe a little less. In my pic they are on the left side of our cane 'tunnel', runners on the right as you look at the pic.

Annx, my runners are the same as regards getting stringy too soon. I wondered if it was because I'd been sowing the previous years seed for too long and need to buy some new stock? Could be the weather of course. We're leaving them to grow on and pod as we like the 'inner' beans and they can get quite big.
Cues are slow but are coming on now, we've only had three to eat so far - I must remember to wear gloves when picking as I'm mildly allergic to those spikes on the leaves - more so with courgettes. Why do they need those scratchy spikes? they don't deter slugs!

Mandy, your bead jewellery is all very pretty, you must have a lot of patience - and good eyesight.

I meant to say in my email - spot the interloper in the colander with the French beans LOL How did that get there?

Yes Vera I actually like Milton Keynes, good shopping centre, cinema and theatre, get some good shows there, lots of places to walk, safe cycling paths away from traffic, lakes to walk round. A good place to bring up children. For visitors the road system is sometimes a mystery all on a grid system and was ok once we worked it out. We actually lived 40 minutes away in the 80s.

And yes, more expense, luckily we kept a fairly large amount in savings for things like this.

Ann he was not sure which was the initial cause apparently it could go either way., he has phoned to say the board will be available tomorrow and he will phone again tomorrow to say when he can come and fit it. I think the boiler is about ten years old.
Sad for you to read about your friend although she was a good age.

It is still raining, it has not stopped all afternoon. No need to water the pots today.

Morning All,

A good sleep last night and when I got up for the toilet at 6.00am this morning the sky looked beautiful in reds and blues! Shepherd's warning I suppose and the wind is getting up now. Soon it will be Mel's drizzly rain that's pelting down since reaching us I expect. I've watered the wall pots and the greenhouse and that's me done outside for today.

Some sad news in the paper today as Anthea, an old farming friend from the 80s, has passed away aged 93! She let first OH and I 'test drive' the Dutch Dog Cart we built using her daughter's Arab Horse. It was nerve wracking as he'd only just been broken to driving and she took me through the village and all the traffic!! Then she bought her own modern carriage in varnished wood and after a few years I scraped and sanded it all down and revarnished and painted it for her. She was so delighted I suspect it looked better than new after I'd done it. As well as the farm she helped at the local Disabled Riding Group and would take her little Hafflinger pony along for them to use. I'll see if I can dig out a pic.

It sounds like the pump failing has caused excess current and the circuit board failure as well AnnG. It will be good to have it working properly and fully serviced ready for winter though. Is it a very old boiler? That's good getting a holiday booked for next year already Something to look forward to.

Mandy I bet Lacey is loving her stay with the things you find to do/make! I could do with a little helper with the watering bless her! :-D Yes, I was flabbergasted when I first saw a picture of one of our parcels outside! It proves they delivered them I suppose, but then there's nothing to stop them taking them away after the photo is there!

Vera I envy you being able to get some fresh fish. Our farm shop doesn't sell fish sadly. There's not many fish that I like, but Asda don't seem to have much choice with online shopping and the quality isn't as good. I bet the alcohol helps your OH get off to sleep with his mouth ulcers, but does he realise it can cause them as well? We went to a dentistry talk about 5 years ago and they told us not to even use mouthwashes with alcohol in them. It was hard to find the alcohol free mouthwashes then but more manufacturers do them now.

Our cues are doing well, but I can't seem to give them enough water in the greenhouse, despite them being in a big tub. They haven't recovered too well since they last flopped so I'm not sure how many more cues there will be. The toms have done well but the skins are a bit tough despite copious watering. As for the runners, they have done the worst, not growing very big before they get stringy and they are supposed to be stringless.

I have had to cancel my next appointment at the hospital as they had changed it the other day and it clashed with a course. It's a pity they can't rebook it at the same time, but I have to wait and hope the new appointment they give me won't clash with something else. They have changed to telephone appointments for outpatients now. I was due an xray with the surgeon that retired.....they can't do that over the phone can they?

Well it doesn't look as if we will get rain after all and the wind has dropped again.

Vera those beans should grow ok in a half barrel. Put some gravel in the bottom and some good compost and feed them well. I have my long beans in a hal;f barrel type thing and I add to the compost each years. Mines a half of one of those BIG orange juice container that people use as water butts but oh cut it up for me to use for my beans.

I have just taken some pics of the things I have been playing with as they are all finished now.

Oh poor you AnnG. What a nuisance you still need repairs to your boiler , yet more expense. When we had to have a complete new boiler recently I wondered what we would have done if we couldn't afford it, but I suppose people in that position have to pay on credit and incur interest charges. You can't really plan for a sudden breakdown. That's nice that you can have a week with your son. OH's sister lived at MK for years and years and I always thought it was a much maligned place. People always seem to joke about MK but it has loads of green open spaces and lakes and lovely walks away from traffic.

It's not raining here yet Mel but there's a lot of grey cloud now and the breeze has really got up again. This morning it was sunny and very warm and I managed to get nearly 3 hours in the garden, more than I have done for a long while. My legs were like jelly when I came in and my back is aching a bit but I am feeling very pleased with myself. I just pulled weeds up when I saw them as the garden is very full and there isn't a lot of bare earth for weeds to flourish. I deadheaded everything in sight. The agapanthus is starting to go over now as well. We have several clumps of geraniums around the garden and I went over all of them with the shears . With luck they might come up with another flush of blooms. I also swept around the paths and patio a bit just to make them look a bit tidier. I didn't get the mollis cut back but if it is not too wet I'll try and do that tomorrow and I also need to clean out the bird bath.

This afternoon I have been catching up with replying to emails and doing a bit of paperwork.

Just had a look at your pictures Island. I bet you are pleased with your shed. That veg looks really good. Do the climbing French beans need a lot of space? I was wondering whether I would be able to grow them in a half barrel with some canes or a wigwam for them to climb up.

There was another load of letters in yesterday's paper about people not being able to get through to their surgeries on the phone or not able to get appointments. I understand it can be a bit of a pain getting through to our doctors on the phone but they have an online form and they respond very quickly. If those that can would use the online form it would leave the phone free for people who can't go online. We've just had another example of how good our surgery is. OH used to have tablets for his back and neck pain on repeat but he didn't use them very much so the surgery said to ring up if he needs them. He's been using his last few for his neck so yesterday afternoon he filled in the online form and was told he would hear by 6.30 pm Monday. In fact one of the receptionists rang this morning to say that the doctor didn't feel he needed to see him again yet so he had written a prescription which had been electronically sent to our local chemist and OH has now gone out to collect it. I really feel our surgery has done us proud in the difficult circumstances of the last year or two.

Think I'll go and put the kettle on now as I'm ready for a cuppa and I'm sure OH would like one when he gets back from the pharmacy.

Finished them completely.

Same here so I have made a couple of cards and a book mark.

Its pelting down here so no gardening today thats for sure.

It is an estimate rather than the bill Mel but includes all parts and the service.