General Chat

Gosh that bill was a bit steep Vera. Did they forget to take the vouvhers off as Anng suggested?

Suns out again now.

Oh has has the zero mower woeking but it had an ait leak on the fuel pipe and stopped up the garden so he left it there last night on the lawn. Today I see the mowing deck has been put underneath it. He lifts the mower with the digger and pulls it over the deck. There is no way we could lift it in position. He seems to have a way of doing most things if something is hard but I suppose its his firefighter training comeing out now and then.

That is a bit of a jump for the paper bill Vera. somebody has not deducted the vouchers I guess. Bet it gave you a shock when you saw it.

Yes I do have an immersion but I can use the dishwasher for crockery and don't use a lot of hot water if not doing a hand wash or doing cleaning thet needs hot water. for these few days I can wash in cold water as the weather is not cold anything that needs hot water I can use the kettle. and, as I said I have the shower. good job it is not winter. I am sure there may be a solution that I need to learn as I know T could fix it on the odd occasions it has happened before.

Its so heavy here and the suns gone in and the sky if grey.

I hoovered the kitchen and diner this morning and did one wash and cleaned the bantams out this afternoon. I am going to hoover the hall and the bedroom next but at the moment I am very hot so am sitting down for a bit.

You have been busy AnnG. You seem to have done more than me. What a good job you’ve got an electric shower. You might get away with just boiling a few kettles or do you have a separate immersion heater you can use for hot water?

I got 2 loads of washing on the line and then put a load of towels in. I give them a longer, hotter wash so they haven’t quite finished yet. After that I had a shower but didn’t feel like using the hairdryer so my hair’s still damp.

I’ve also been on the phone sorting out our paper bill. We have a daily paper delivered from a tiny little kiosk in town. We have a subscription to the paper and they send us vouchers every 3 months which we just hand over to the kiosk, so all we have to pay them for is the weekly local paper and a delivery charge. They bill us at the end of each month and the bill averages £12. The July bill came today - £88 :-S

I’m still hoping to get out the garden and also go for a walk this afternoon but it’s looking very grey out there. I hope it doesn’t rain again.

Hoovered lounge/dining room and conservatory and dusted lounge and dining room. Cleaned bathroom (but it was a quick clean then did almost two hours in the garden, weeded a bit more where the wild flowers were. That one part is proving quite hard to clear they were deep rooting plants. then I cleared the place where I wanted to put in the four plants I bought last week and planted them.
Now having a sit down and a COC.
I have no hot water, actually didn't use any yesterday so it maybe I have not had any for a couple of days. so I had to phone the plumber/heating engineer. Luckily with the phone on speaker and his fairly loud voice I could hear him. He can't come today as he has got his two boys (he is separated) and they are young so can't be left. He will hopefully call round tomorrow, if not it will be Wednesday after they go back to their Mum. Luckily my shower is electric. and dishwasher and washing machine are cold fill.

Morning Anng Vera and all,

YOu were two early birds this morning while I had a lie in.

Skies are grey here too but the sun keeps trying to peep out and then gets frightened and pops back in again. Oh is out cleaning the filter on my pond and I am having my first COC of the day.

Nearly had cramp in my leg this morning in bed when I streatched but lifted my foot up and my knee and it went thank goodness.

I too have washing to do today and many other household jobs but who cares I shall do just what I wnat. :-D

Morning AnnG and all

It’s a similar sort of day here, overcast and about 13 degrees. It might brighten up later. I’ve got a load of washing to do but after that I want to get into the garden too so I hope it stays dry. Enjoy your tea and chat this afternoon AnnG.

OH has a painful neck at the moment and can barely move his head so he is not very happy. Over the last couple of days he has taken down lights and fan from the en-suite ceiling, put on a couple of coats of paint and then put lights etc back so he had his neck at an awkward angle. He has always done everything himself but last night I got him to agree to get decorators in when we want these jobs done in the future. I’ve been nagging at that for the last 5 years but he finds it hard to accept he can’t do as much now he is older. Whether he’ll stick to his word when his neck feels better remains to be seen ;-)

I kept waking during the night but got back to sleep fairly quickly each time so it was a generally better night. I got up at 6.30 as I was wide awake by then. Better go and start the day by putting a load of washing in.

good morning all, very grey here so far and 12 degrees, looks like we are quickly going into autumn although I sincerely hope not, two weeks of summer is not enough to set us up for winter,
Hoping it will stay dry so I can do some more in the garden this morning. Have a friend coming this afternoon for tea/coffee and chat.

Mandy the bracelets and rings are lovely. You are a clever girl. I still have the little angel you made me.

Your sausage rolls look very appetising Mel! They won't last long and I don't waste an egg on them either!

I don't know how it happened, but I ended up with just 1 big loaf for OH instead of 2 and none for me instead of 2 small ones!! I know I had to re-order the missing loaves as our Asda doesn't seem able to get Warburton's bread any more, but it looks like my own subs didn't go through?? It looks like we'll have to get some from the farm shop near the weekend when we get some eggs. I should have double checked the order. I could do with your breadmaker now Vera!

Yes we haven't had any post since last Thursday Vera so I think you are right about the posties being short due to being pinged. My new car insurance people are sending me a fob to attatch to my car keys in case they get lost, but that hasn't arrived yet either.

What a wonderful selection of jewellery you have made Mandy and in different patterns too. You may already know this, but when you sew the thread ends in, a blob of clear nail varnish will secure them and stop any knots unravelling.

AnnG you have been busy in the garden. I only grew the thornless Blackberry and Loganberry when I moved here. I gave up with the blackberry though as it was quite tasteless. The Loganberry was loaded each year and very tasty though. The Blackbirds loved them as much as us!! Some local areas are only getting a monthly garden bin collection now due to the number of staff isolating, so we aught to get ours filled ready for the next collection. I'll see if I can do some pruning and cutting back tomorrow.

ou will have two emails from me and one has the invisable sausage rolls I made the other one has the visable ones on it!

I'm late on parade today. I was up early but just seem to have been busy all day.

I had an appalling night yesterday and when I did my bp this morning it was sky high. I started to wonder if there was a connection so checked the NHS site and apparently not getting enough sleep is one of the risk factors. Not sure what I can do about it though. Perhaps OH had better knock me on the head with a hammer at bedtime ;-)

This morning I made a nice wholemeal loaf in the breadmaker. It smells and looks good but I'll cut it in half later and put half in the freezer, as it's inclined to go a bit stale before we can eat it all up. After a bit of general tidying I went for a walk. I didn't feel much like it but I am trying to make myself get some exercise every day although if I haven't slept and my head is aching I find I am really dragging my feet round. I also prepared and cooked our dinner which we usually have about 2 pm on Sundays. We had brisket of beef pot roasted in a mixture of stock and red wine, potatoes roasted with a bit of garlic, roast parsnips, yorkshire pud, cauliflower and broccoli, followed by strawberries and cream. Then I paid online for the blinds that were fitted on Thursday and made a couple of telephone calls and that's been my day.

I've noticed a lot of cabbage white butterflies in our garden this weekend as well. They seem to be all over the lavender. I haven't got any brassicas to worry about but you must be frustrated Island to find you are feeding the local caterpillar population. Look at it this way - you might be losing a load of crops but you are doing your bit for wildlife.

Biggles was a naughty boy, wasn't he Frank? I too wondered if he's getting a bit elderly now and not able to wait so long to go out. It will be a shame if you feel you can't take him anymore as you always seem to enjoy having him around.

Are the chickens all clean and comfy now Mel? Have you found time for a "play".

It sounds as though your lunch was good Ann. Did your food drop go OK? I had everything I wanted from Sainsbury's on Friday except I had ordered 3 tins of prunes in juice and they could only send me 1. It sounds as though your post is being held up a bit if you haven't got your debit card yet, lots of posties are having to self-isolate I expect. We've been lucky here. Our cheery postie is round every day. As for our new account I am now convinced that the bank have got in a twizzle and are trying to set up 2 accounts. Of course, they had to send emails to both of us as it was a joint account but we were both getting 2 identical emails every time. Now the account is set up and operational and I have transferred money in to it but today we both got an email telling us that this was our last chance to open the account and we needed to check and submit the attached documents BUT this time we only got 1 email each so I am certain they are trying to set up another account. We will ignore them and see what happens. We can't reply as these emails are all coming from a "no reply" address. No doubt this system has all been set up "for the convenience of customers". Huh!

Yes, Mandy, I do freeze quite a lot of our blueberries and then use them during the year, mostly in blueberry muffins but I've occasionally done cheesecakes and on one occasion I made blueberry ice cream. I didn't bother again though. It was a pretty pale mauve colour but it was completely tasteless. I just stopped to look at the email you sent. What a gorgeous selection of beaded bits. I've been trying to decide which I like best and can't choose; they are all lovely.

I wonder how Gill is getting on and whether she has got someone to quote for her bathroom at last.

It was dry this morning but we've had some heavy rain this afternoon and the air feels "heavy" though it's quite cool. Enjoy what's left of the day and sleep well tonight everyone. "See" you tomorrow.

Cleaned the chickens out this morning and I had one broken egg and one BIG one which I had for breakfast and when I broke it in the pan it was a double yolker which pleased me no end!

We watched the race and now I am going to wsh up and see what to do next. I'd like to have another dead heading session up the border as the rain has spoiled a lot of flowers. I also need to cut back the rambling rose and the climbers onthe wall and over the arch.

Also have to make sausage rolls for tea so not sure how much will get done.

Afternoon all,

Bit dull here now we had a little drizzle first thing and son was going to put the security camera up and sweep the chimney for us ,the chimney got done and he said he will come in the week and get the camera set up .
He also put a new glass and gasket in the woodburner door so thats all ready when we start the fires again .

Lovely photos from everyone of all the garden goodies :-D Vera do you freeze some of your Blueberries you've had a nice lot of them this year.

I'm still doing some beading I've got hooked on it again ,I'll have to send a photo of them all, I'm trying to do some little earrings to match the bracelets and I've done some tiny little rings too which the girls loved .

Colin is watching the race and I have just given my feet a good soak and cut my nails so I'm now walking on air :-D

Oh poor little Biggles bloting his copy book ,perhaps he has his way of asking to go out
Or perhaps he can't hold himself to long over night ,Max can go out and tiddle middle of the evening and not go out again until half six or seven in the morning but he is a big dog ,my sisters dog ( lab ) could go all night and sometimes she wouldn't go out until middle of the afternoon.

Oh what a shame the caterpillars got the plants Island they got our few cabbages last year the little blighters I had a net over them too but it wasn't fine enough and the butterflies got through it ,one minute no caterpillars next time you look they are peppered with them .

Our dwarf beans have been really good ,I put some more seed in the other day as I had some left and they are through already don't know if its to late for another lot to go out but thought we'd give it a go .

Stir fry for us tonight nice and easy.

Cooked myself eggs on toast for late (very late) breakfast after doing about 45 minutes pottering up the top end of the garden as the rest was wet from overnight rain. dead headed Buddleia and cut back a rosemary by a few inches, also trimmed back a Salvia that was all over the lawn. After breakfast spent another hour and a half out there cutting back quite severely the blackberry. I know from previous years that the blackberries that will ripen last on the higher branches will be small and hard so I have cut off a lot of branches with blackberries on them to allow access to a hanging basket on the trellis behind a large fuschia. The blackberry I am hoping to be able to cut right down later on. I would like to get rid of it, never liked it since T planted it, the brambles are vicious. I also started to weed the part of the garden where I want to put in four plants, where the wild flowers are. Unfortunately two dahlias have grown from last year. I really don't want them but don't have the heart to pull them up, they were T's 'babies'. My garden bin is absolutely full and it is over another week before it is emptied. I shall have to put any more stuff in a large tub thing used for weeding and keep it until I get back from son's to put in the bin.

When I finally get around to using the new dies I will photograph any that are good enough but you may have a long wait Island. I shall see.

What a shame Island! I have noticed a few Cabbage Whites in the garden this last week, but none were around previously. We get the small white ones on the Lavender at the moment plus some of the small tortoiseshells on the flowers. Have you tried spraying them with garlic steeped overnight in water? I've never tried it as I haven't grown Brassicas since moving here.

Lunch was lovely and delivered by a smiling woman of African appearance wearing a flowing headress printed with brightly coloured flowers on an emerald green background. Now I feel more like a siesta, but need to clear the kitchen ready for the food drop.

The Pigeons seem to have a fascination with our garden this time of the year and we keep seeing them on the top island bed looking for grubs around the rocks. At least they don't pull the plants up like the Magpies do.

I see the over 50s and vulnerable are to get a Pfizer booster, regardless of what jab they had before, starting from September. Apparently the Pfizer gives more protection against the Delta virus.

Afternoon all

I'm a bit dismayed but it's my own fault. I had 5 surplus to space in the netted brassica cage cauli plants so planted them in the open and also have some Kale Sprouts which I thought would be ok. The white butterflies have turned up - much later than usual - I thought I was keeping ahead with squishing the eggs but yesterday I spotted caterpillars. Not playing anymore so they are coming out before the greedy bustards move on to other plants. I could buy some Nematode to spray them but at over £7 it outweighs the cost of 5 nice caulis from the farm shop.

Are we going to see photos of some arty crafty projects soon? AnnG's dies and Annx's beading? I don't think my cheapo trousers alterations are worthy of a photo so hope to do something 'presentable' soon.
Annx, I've given up on matching threads for machine sewing because I can't see them well enough for unpicking! I've started to tell myself 'don't sew things up too securely as you never know if you'll need or want to restyle it'

Are the chucks all spruced up and nice to be near now Mel?

Afternoon All,

Sun's just peeping through after a dull morning and lunch is on it's way!

You have a few decisions to make about what you do today then AnnG! I often end up doing nothing when I can't decide!?!

Food drop today so I have wiped the fridge out while it's low on stoick and will sort the freezers later. I like to keep a deep drawer empty for the new stuff so I don't need to wipe it unless we need it in the next few days. I've done a bit of hoovering, including some webs and spiders and dusted the bedroom, so that's me done with HW for today.

Paperwork and maybe some beading till the food order comes. Three subs this time, but I'd already reordered some items they'd sold out of. Worst knee seems a little better today so I may go in the garden later or I may sit in the conservatory and look at it with a nice cake instead! :-D

Good morning all. a bit grey and dark here an I dozed off again after waking several times in the night and the last time I woke at gone nine o'clock.

Nothing much planned, if it is dry enough I need to get out into the garden again, if not I also need to do some HW. But I might get to 'play' with craft stuff or I could walk down with a few books for the charity lady.

Grandson and family travelled to daughter's yesterday from Hampshire, I don't know how long it took them but they said traffic was heavy but moving.

Mornin all,

Cloudy sky again but dry and no wind.Nothing planned for the day except the big breakfast then I can do what I want.

May clean the chickens out as they need it and its not windy so should be quick to od.