General Chat

Morning Anng and all,

Same weather here Anng dull grey dreary and wet.

Oh has his jab this morning so I shan't be around for a while.

May have a nice surprise for you today if I am aloud.

Sorry you did'nt sleep well Anng and I hope Vera's headache is better today. Love to Frank and Island.

Gill you are at last getting somewhere and I hope the rest of the work is done for you today and you can start to see what the place is going to look like. As Anng asked is the hedge rubbish going today?

Gill sounds like a bit of success with you managing to sort Sky out on your laptop and your chimney almost demolished. At least you can feel that you are getting somewhere now. A long way to go yet but more steps forward than back. and it will be lovely to be able to look out and see what size your garden is. Do you overlook the garden from your kitchen? In a way I wish I did but I look out on the road outside across the front garden. The best view I had from a kitchen was in the 70s when we lived in Lydney Glos, we could see the old Seven bridge in the distance.Good luck with the rest of the chimney then and I think the garden rubbish is going today? Or have I got that wrong?


Good morning all, another grey day here with rain forecast, as it is all over the weekend. It is getting difficult to find indoor jobs to do. I didn't sleep very well last night was looking in on here around 0430, did drop off around 0530 and woke at 8 in the end so a few hours but disjointed.

Your getting there Gill. It sounds like you have finally found someone who wants the work. Now you can start putting your plans into action and now you can see the whole garden it must look huge after the hedge has gone.

Well, I'm finally on here, what a job I've had trying to get rid of Sky off my laptop, I put it on to watch a programme on catch up but when it was finished and I wanted to close it down there was no x to click on, I couldn't find anywhere to click to get rid of it and I couldn't find a way to minimise the screen either. After a while I forced my laptop to shut down, on the first attempt Sky showed again but after going through settings and signing out of Sky then forcing the shut down again it worked. I'm sure there's an easier way of doing it but I couldn't find it, so after quite some time I could finally get onto Genes.

Poor OH has fell asleep fully clothed on top of the bed, he only got three hours sleep after his night shift last night with the builder being here knocking and banging on the chimney, so I'm not surprised he's fell asleep. He's been asleep for over an hour I said to get ready for bed but he said he wanted to watch a programme I've recorded for him. I guess he won't be watching it tonight.

Half the chimney is out level with the kitchen ceiling and the roof tiles are on so that's water tight now, thankfully the rain kept away when there was a big hole in the roof. I had to laugh as OH asked the builder if he'd like the loft light on when he was looking in the loft and he replied there's enough light coming through the massive hole in the roof thanks lol ;-) ;-)

The builder will be back in the morning to take the rest of the chimney down and hopefully make a start on the removal of the coal fire in the living room, then once the horrible manky cupboards are taken out of the kitchen he's going to plaster the wall and the whole ceiling. He's been in touch with one of his friends about the staircase we want putting in the living room to the loft so he's coming Saturday afternoon to give us a quote, once that's done and the new living room door put in we're going to have the bathroom wall knocked down and moved to extend the bathroom enough to add a double walk in shower, then all the structural work inside will be done and we can finally have the boiler and central heating installed and the new gas fire.

I can't wait for all those jobs to be done then we can decorate and buy the carpets. If we have enough money over we can then have a new bathroom and kitchen put in and have the outside jobs done. So plenty yet to do but at least the work has started now and tomorrow we'll be able to see the full garden for the first time once all the rubbish has gone.

Love the pics you sent AnnG it sound like it was a lovely surprise finding them.

Well, I'd better go as it's getting late, i was going to watch a couple of programmes I've recorded for myself but I'm getting tired and we've got another early start tomorrow, so I'm off to bed now.

I thought the same about the romper suits. They were really fun were'nt they? the macs too and the reversable one was great. Having not done a reversable anything before he really did well.

Talking about tom plants I hav'nt looked at mine today. Better see if they need a drink.

Oh what a shame you couldn't get on with the felting class Ann sounds as if she hadn't done it before .
My blinds are the vertical ones in cream with a pattern on ,I sent for lots of samples and quite liked them all, I also sent for some samples for a new roller blind for the downstairs bathroom too they have some lovely ones ,its Blinds2go

Its my cherry toms that have the flowers on ,all the seed came up that I planted so I have more plants than I want really but I thought I would put some outside when they begin to take over the greenhouse.

Those little romper suits were lovely weren't they and the ittle rain coats too .

Cystitis seems to have more or less cleared now so hope the wound soon does the same.

I have flowers on my tumbler tomatoes.

Evening All,

Another good sleep but I'm waking very early now with the lighter mornings. Sunshine but a few showers today.

Yes it was tragic that poor Jane didn't make it a few more weeks and have chance to see her baby grandson as you say Vera. Hannah must miss her being around to ask things with having her first baby too. I'm glad your headache has eased today. I bet your Hebes look nice and neat now they are in place. I bought a few dwarf ones when we last went to the garden centre. I'm just keeping my fingers crossed the cats don't take to spraying them and killing them like they did the green globe ones we had before.

Oh I bet you will be glad when your washer is working again Mandy. It's good you got someone to look at it and hopefully will fix it. We rely so much on our washng machines. What colour blinds have you chosen and are they roller, horizontal or vertical ones? Our now old ones are vertical but they can flap about a bit with the door open. Your toms are doing well.....flowers already?

I have been quite busy. I did an online woolfelting class this afternoon. The teacher was quite a bit older than me I think, but she wasn't very au fait with Zoom, didn't speak for ages after my video came up and didn't seem to be able to explain what she was doing very well. On top of that she kept covering what she was doing with her hands or holding what she was doing out of the range of the screen so you couldn't see. She did manage to explain that she was putting the video on youtube too and gave us the link. A few of us soon decided to just watch and look at the youtube video later. The finished example mouse she showed us, she said she wasn't very pleased with and people were having to keep asking her whether she was doing the arms or the legs etc so it was a bit hopeless! We stopped for a break halfway through and I decided as I needed to be at the dentist as soon as the session finished I would use that as an excuse to leave at that point!!

I rang the dentist from the carpark and they said to come straight in. Sanitise and temp taken at the door and I placed my handbag in a plastic box they put the lid on and carried to my seat where it stayed till I left. The nurse collected me and I was shocked how out of breath I was after hauling myself up their steep stairs. (must at least do some upper body exercise every day now to get me a bit out of puff, I'm so unfit! :-0) The dentist took an x-ray where the lump is to see where it arose and it may be due to a residual infection under a tooth he gave a short life a few years ago. My options are to leave it as there is no pain and to use a salt rinse like I was doing at the start of the pandemic (he confirmed again that this is better than mouthwash). Otherwise I could have root canal treatment to remove the nerve which may be tricky with the root sloping or have the tooth out. He said to have a think about it, but I'm leaving it for now. A bit of filling has come out of the other tooth but is small and not affecting the main part so can be left. :-)

That's a shame your wound isn't quite healed AnnG. You mentioned possible cystitis too so maybe with all the stress and worry you are a bit run down and prone to these things at the moment.

Weren't those little romper suits and rain macs cute on The Great Sewing Bee! :-D

Too wet to even think about going out into the garden here. Plates on the computer, read the local paper, watched tipping point and pointless.

Vera yes frustrating that it still has a small infection in it, Especially as on Monday the sister said it was much better

Pleased your headache is better today, you do have a rough time with those headaches don’t you?

I suppose I could be run down but I am eating normally, maybe not eating as much veg as I should But eating quite a lot of salad. Veg is difficult when cooking for one. Not eating as much fruit either, mainly the fruit I eat are berries that is because shopping on line I don’t trust the fruit they send. I like to see fruit before .i buy it. Hopefully the holiday will sort it.
21st Vera.
Hope you get the scripts ok tomorrow Mel.yes daughter says she will change the dressing.

Mandy good that you found somebody to look at the washing machine and hope that finally cures it.

Potted up my million bells and my nemesia into big pots and they are now on the patio. Still raining and watching Tipping Point at the mo.

What a shame you still need the dressing on your back AnnG. I hope it clears up soon. You just go away and have a relaxing time. As Mandy says you have had a lot to deal with recently and you’ve probably got run down. When is it you actually go? You’re wise to drink plenty of water if you feel you might have a touch of cystitis.

Thank you for passing on the news of Jane’s family Ann. I expect Chris is pleased that H & G are staying in the area . I bet his little grandson is the apple of his eye. It’s so tragic that Jane never got to see him.

Sorry to hear that your washing machine is still poorly Mandy but it sounds as though the engineer has got it well in hand now and you’ll have it back working in a few days. You’ve been busy with your hanging baskets; they’ll look pretty. I can’t believe you’ve got flowers on your toms already. Mine are only a few inches high and are not doing very well at all.

It sounds as though it’s all starting to come together at your house Gill. Have fun planning your kitchen. It sounds a decent size so you’ll be able to play with the arrangement a bit and get it how you want it.

My head got worse and worse yesterday so I went to bed at 9 pm. The pain was still there a bit this morning but has almost gone now. I spent about an hour and a half in the garden and got a few more jobs done and OH planted the 20 hebes that we bought to replace the lavender. It’s starting to look a lot better now. How can such a small garden require so much work?

It’s quite warm, about 14 degrees, and we have only had a few spits and spots of rain but it’s a very grey day. We haven’t seen the sun at all.

Mr Sainsbury is delivering in the morning so I must quickly add a couple of bits to my order before I forget. Than I need to move a button over on a pair of trousers for me and OH wants a pair of his shortened so I’d better get on.

gOOD THAT THE MACHINE CAN BE FIXED mANDY AND NEW HANGING BRACKETS TOO AND GOT YOUR BASKETS UP. yOU HAVE BEEN BUSY THIS MRONING.

Sorry I had the cap lock on and forgot. :-\

What a shame you are not healing quickly and yes it is a long while but as Mandy said you are probably a bit run down with all you have been coping with lately. I wish you better soon and enjoy your holiday. You will have someone to get that dressing properly too.

Well I have tried and tried to order our scripts online this morning doing mine first and I could'nt find the password first of all and then I put it in wrong and the user name so after 5 attempts I could'nt doit anymore. I could'nt understand my own writing!!!!!!!! Shall have to do it tomorrow now.

Been faffing around all moring and not got anything done so now I am going down the shed as its raining.

Afternoon all,

Bit cloudy here with breaks of sun now and then, I had a chap look at the washing machine this morning ,its a Hoover washer AnnG, it needs a heater element so he's ordering one which he says can take a couple of days but he's right going later with the price ,not to bad he thought about twenty odd pound ,we paid the call out which was forty seven pound .

Oh its nice that you've heard from Fritz Ann thats for letting us know ,its good H&G are keeping local i expect H has been looking after them all she is such a lovely organised person Jane would be so proud .

Oh dear AnnG not what you wanted but at least you'll have help with the dressings while your away ,perhaps your a little run down with all that you have had to cope with ,a nice break away will do you good .

We've hung the baskets on the gazebo this morning and I have two new brackets to go up this afternoon if it keeps dry, there's a few dark clouds now since I've been typing.

Vera I hope your headache has eased for you.

Yes I did look at the 14 day forecast for Combe Martin, there still seemed to be a lot of wet about.

Not the result I wanted from the nurse. She said there is still some infection there so has bathed it and poked it and made it very sore and put another dressing on and another appointment on Tuesday (18th). Says that there will probably be another dressing which means I will have dressing on for the holiday. what a pain feel really fed up now, never had one of these ops take so long to heal. It will be 4 weeks next Monday since the op.

Morning Anng and all,

Thanks for the email Anng and I do hope you can get the seed off it for me. Thanks for trying in advance. I love it when things pop in in strange places. I have a foxglove in the gravel outside the back door. Self sown and in the wrong place and this year it should flower.

Grey sky and dull and wet looking today. It rained all yesterday afternoon and through the night. Everywhere is soaking this morning. The border will now be too wet to work even if it stopped raining. Thats the trouble with it down here once it starts it dos'nt know when to stop. I hope we get a bit of change in the weather for those coming down for a holiday eg. Ann and Frank.

Good morning all, up and dressed early as the men are supposed to be doing the window this morning and my car is also due back.

Mel I think the pink and whie acquilegia is call either strawberries and cream or raspberries and cream. I don't know what my white one is. Up until about five years ago we had them all over the garden sprouting in unlikely places in some cases and were all shades from the common dark purple to white and I think there may be some pink ones left in the garden somewhere. T bought lots of the specialist ones but they didn't last they just never seeded, or if they did they just came up purple.

Mandy I expect part of your tiredness is frustration over not being able to get your washing machine fixed. I hope after buying all those parts it is actually able to be fixed. What make is it, not sure if you have said.

Annx thanks for the news on Fitz, oh, I hope his back is soon better. I am sure that Chris and James are just living day by day. I know how Chris feels of course, it takes a long time to adjust to that empty chair. Bad enough for me with T but Jane was younger and had a lot of life in front of her so it is really hard for them. Pleased to hear that George is doing well. I did have H's email address somewhere and thought of asking after baby George but thought it would only cause sadness as you said Mel. It would be lovely to see a photo of him though.

It is already 9 degrees here but looks very grey out there so I guess we are in for more rain.

I had what I think was the beginning of cystitis yesterday and still here a bit this morning so drinking loads........ of water! I think it may be the aftermath of the antibiotics. Hopefully it will clear on its own.

Thanks Ann for the report on Chris and James and of course Fitz. I keep thinking I may email them but can't quite bring myself to do it as I don't want to bring back sad memories if they are adjusting now. I wonder how Thomas is? I bet he misses Jane more than Chris and James.

Anng that Aquilegia is beautiful and could you please save me some seed? I have a dark blue one that Di gave me and its still in a pot and the year before last I had it on the patio. Its sowed its seed between the paving slabs and they are better than the plant in the pot and just coming into flower. I saved the seed last year but can't find them at the mo. I have a different one up on the border which is pink and yellow and a different shape. The ones oh likes are the douple pink and white ones which grow in the tarmac road with those poppies I was talking about once before. The poppies are in flower now and the aquilegia are coming up. I think its called Mrs Popple.

That's a nuisance with your washer Mandy. I hope you can find someone to look at it tomorrow. It's a bit of luck your DIL isn't far away and can help. I think I would have to be finding a flat stone in the garden! :-D I still haven't got any cues yet. :-(

Oh Mel that sounds quite a big job with the other mower, but at least he knows what he is doing. It will be good to give it a lick of paint at the same time. Don't kick over any of those screws will you!

Sorry you have been struggling with a headache Vera and I hope it soon goes. You got plenty of jobs done though.

I have heard back from Fitz. He has hurt his back so not been on the computer he said. He sees Chris for lunch often and says he isn't easy to read but said he and the family seem to be adjusting to the sad change in their lives. James is still working from home and baby George is providing a focus for them. He also said that H&G will be moving to another house on the edge of Market Harborough, which isn't far away, It seems that their temporary move up here has become a permanent one for now at least.

Evening all,

Been busy the last few days and by the time we've eaten i have felt so tired so haven't felt like posting ,had an early night last night but still feel tired .
The new Blinds came yesterday so they are ready to go up Colin just has t get the old blinds down and just paint in the recess .
I've been trying to find some one to have a look at my washing machine ,son put a new sensor on but its still saying error 22 so we need to find someone to have a look at it ,i did find a number in our local advertiser but no joy there so ill have another go tomorrow ,DIL has been washing our bits and pieces and she did the bedding today for us so she has been helping .

I was going to say the same as Mel AnnG that T is still with you in he garden <3 i like the white ones ,i have the purple ones and they seed all over the place .

I have planted up 6 hanging baskets today ,oh goodness i now looked up and it had come up as 66 :-0 :-D
We hang them on the Gazebo ,just need Colin to screw the brackets on tomorrow and i can hang them up .
I have flowers on my tom plants but the poor cues don't look very healthy at all ,i put some more small cue seed in yesterday ,i don't know if its a bit late for them but i can only try ,if not i might see if i can buy a couple of plants .

Also been tying to sort out building and contents insurance so its been all go here .

Gill i hope all goes well with the builder tomorrow ,your on your way now with getting the bungalow just how you would like it .

Just going to get a drink and then it will be time for the sewing bee .

I’ve been finding it hard to get into anything as well Mel. I slept well but woke up with a bad headache again and Ican’t seem to shake it off. I have made myself do some h/w, hoovered and dusted downstairs and did the ironing, all except a duvet cover that’s a pig to iron and I couldn’t face that. I got a casserole in the oven and sorted my Sainsbury’s order for delivery Friday morning and even went for a short walk so I’ve done quite a lot but it all seemed an effort. I didn’t do any gardening though OH spent quite a while in the garden this morning.

That is a very pretty aquilegia AnnG. I do like them and had several in our front garden at the old house but they do seed like mad and pop up all over the place so OH isn’t keen on them. He likes plants to behave themselves once planted - everything in it’s place. Pity he isn’t so tidy about the house!

Sorry, going to stop typing as my eyes are blurry and it’s making my bad head worse. Will be back tomorrow. Have a good evening and night everyone.