General Chat

Had a tidy up in the craft room but could'nt get into anything.

I told you he is still with you Anng. He knew you'd find that white one. <3

I have made fishing sandwiches for lunch and they are all ready for when he comes in. We just had a shower of rain and its all overcast now so I think I shall have to be content with working down here today.

Ann its the big zero turn mower he is working on now. Its been in the leanto over the west wall for some years now and he has the mowing deck off and is putting new barings in the blades and repainting all the deck. It in pieces all over the workshop in our small seed trays. Three rotating blades so three of everything to do.

So now they are not coming today but tomorrow morning, so they have to be finished before I go to see the nurse at 1205.

I keep meaning to send round a photo of an aquilegia, T so liked them that he often bought the different varieties and was always disappointed when they reverted to the main colout. He loved the white ones and I have just found a lovely white one growing in the gravel round the conservatory next to the garden bin.

Afternoon All

We were up early again as OH had an early zoom meeting with offer of more work just as he's been cutting down. They really wanted him so are willing to pay much more to get him. Then we went in the garden and planted sweet peas, a few rock plants, geraniums, salvias and snapdragons. I did another big pot of yellow pansies with some of the self set ones in the garden for next to the arbour where we sit like I had last year. Gradually a bit at a time we are getting things planted. I want to plant up 3 extra pots that I have this year to place round where we sit, so maybe that's a job for tomorrow. We are both shattered now as OH also weeded the front garden.

I hope you get your glass soon AnnG. We were told it would take them a few weeks to do our sealed units, but they have plastic arches in them so maybe they aren't 'on the shelf' so to speak. Mel is right, I am getting fed up of looking through fog in our conservatory, so it will be nice to have a clear view.

Gill I used to love planning things at my old house and used squared paper to draw things to scale. Are you building a staircase and planning to have rooms in the loft eventually or did you mean a loft ladder? It will spur you on now you will soon be able to do the interesting bits!!

Mandy's been quiet for a day or two, but perhaps she's been busy in the garden too.

Mel you certainly have plenty of garden to need doing, but as you say there's always indoor jobs as well. Has OH fixed the mower now?

We have glorious sunshine now.

Well my car was collected early and is now at the garage. I have dusted lounge and dining room and done the floors, not that they really needed doing. I have also moved the fuchsia baskets out (last years fuchsias onto their hooks, hopefully they are protected where they are if there is a frost. And I have made the frame with bamboo sticks behind the three tomatoes I am growing outside and they have been potted into place. Have kept three in their pots in the greenhouse in case I lose one of the outdoor ones.

No sign of the window lads yet.

Morning Anng and all,

Nice and sunny here this morning but clouds in the sky too. Had a lie in this morning so up late which I hate asit makes the morning hsort.

Hope your window glass comes today and they get this one in ok without cracking it. It'll be good to get it done and out of the way and you will be able to see your lovely garden through it properly.

I always spinkle the red campion seeds about the rough bit inthe garden as I think they are so pretty. I gather the seed on a nice dry day and keep some and sprinkly lots up the side of the orchard. I even had it inthe border last year near the little arch.

If the rain keeps off today I shall venture up the border if it does,nt I shall work down here.

good morning all, car being collected between 9 and 10am so, as I was awake I thought I may as well get up. Not washed and dressed yet though.

It is 6 months today since T went into hospital, time passes doesn't it? It is getting a bit easier being on my own and I am proud of getting several jobs done on the house that were outstanding for a long time. However i still go up and down, good and bad days and missing him will never get better.

Gill good that you have got the garden more clear now, or will have at the end of the week. And it will be great when the builder has finished and you can put your plans into action. But at least the enforced wait gives you time to make plans for afterwards so you can get things as you want them. If you google kitchen plans you can get lots of ideas free. Things you may not have thought of.

I am hoping they come back with the window today although I have not heard yet if they managed to locate more glass. If they can't it won't matter too much as long as they let me know.
Hopefully we can have some dry spells so I can get a few more bits done in the garden. some of the wild flowers are up and flowering. Pink campions. If T was here he would be pulling up 'weeds' but the bees love them.

What a day you've had AnnG I hope it isn't long before the glass is sorted. With not using the car much it probably is the battery, I'm sure you'll find out soon.

It sounds like everyone has been busy in the garden. OH finished moving all the garden rubbish to where the hedge rubbish is so that's now ready for shredding on Friday. It only took him an hour to finish so we spent a couple of hours sorting out the living room and putting some more boxes in the loft and spare bedroom. We've just got to move a few bits of furniture tomorrow then everything will be ready for the builder on Thursday.

We had a bit of a storm this afternoon with rumbles of thunder and the odd flash of lightening, luckily OH had just finished the garden before it started. He had to nip out to sort out the car tax and that's when the rain started, he said it was like driving through a car wash. Luckily he parked outside the post office so he didn't get to wet.

I've been having a think about how I'd like my kitchen, it's so big compared to our old one being just over 9 foot wide and 15 foot long. I've come up with about three or four different ways to design the kitchen now lol and keep thinking of other things I'd like. OH said it was nice to see a smile on my face as I've been a bit down with this place needing so much work doing and not being able to get a builder for so long. So now I can allow myself to start planning each of the rooms now, then the garden will be next.

Signing out now. I hope everyone has a good night's sleep.

Wonder what Mandy's been up to today?

Rained most of the afternoon and so I stayed indoors and washed all my BIG pots. I have four nice ones for my tom plants and a nice bigger one for my courgette.

YOu've been busy Vera and got a nice lot of gardening done.

Thats a good idea Anng I expect your car just needs a new battery and then it will be fine again.

Sweet and sour chicken pieces in batter tonight, chow mein and rice which I will have to cook the other things go in the oven and in the microwave. So nice and easy.

Did anyone watch the new three part thing on BBC last night? I quite enjoyed it.

Yes it was a bit frustrating but it or actually the car pushed me to do something I have been thinking. My car has done very few miles this past year with lockdowns and T’s situation, and the battery has flattened twice. I have got my garage owner collecting it tomorrow and he will check it over for me and hopefully iron out any potential problems. And if necessary a new battery.

Good to know you are both OK Gill and Frank.

It’s not your day is it AnnG? First your pane of glass and now your car. What a nuisance for you. It’s a big decision to give up driving. I’ve been thinking about that a lot recently. I drive very little now as OH is happy to do it all. He’s in good physical and mental shape but in a couple of weeks he’ll be 84 and won’t be able to go on driving for ever. The bus service is very poor for a town of this size. Most older people have to rely on friends and family but our friends and neighbours are all older people themselves and some are in poor health anyway and we have no family nearby. I guess it will have to be expensive taxis if we want to go out.

I did have a giggle at your OH and the beans Ann. It’s just the sort of thing mine would do. As I knew I would only want a few tomato plants I sowed ordinary salad toms and cherry toms in the same tray but I made a divider down the middle. He kept wanting to pot them up as they grew but I banned him from touching them. I just knew I would end up with them all muddled if I let him near them.

You’ve been busy today Mel. I should have hoovered as well but the weather was nice this morning so we gardened instead. All the lavender that hasn’t done well here has been dug out and a couple of troughs filled with half a dozen of the best plants, the four cherry tom plants I’m keeping are in their final pots, six scabious that I’ve kept in bloom indoors all winter are planted out, a couple of fuchsias in pots have been thrown out and the pots now each have an argyranthemum plant which I’ve grown from cuttings and 3 more have been planted in the garden and lots of tidying up jobs have been done. I was out there from 10 to 12.30 and OH stayed out I’ll 1 pm and then went back after his lunch just to finish off the job he had been doing.

We’ve had 2 or 3 showers this afternoon but the sun is out again now. I’m doing Chicken Chasseur tonight (cheating with a packet mix, lol) so I had better go and start preparing it.

I've never tried gorse Mel! :-D My word you have got lots done today. It's nice here again now so I might do something outside for a bit.

Hoovered through this morning with the plug in then the shopping arrived. Did the wipe down and then lunch which was a little late washed up and it started raining!!! Would you believe it just when I thought I would get up the border this afternoon. Still plenty to do down here anyway and I can always get indoors or the shed quickly then.

O I see Ann I did'nt know they were plants he put in. You will soon know when the runners start growing and the short beans don't. Happy picking. :-D YOu need to sow your peas and put dead gorse chopped up on the rows that'll keep the mice away.

Afternoon All,

No sunshine here and we've had one heavy shower an hour ago. The pigeons in the field at the back always sit at the tops of the bare hedge branches when it rains, must prefer showers to baths! :-)

The poor teacher this morning had trouble with the internet again, so we got a nice 10 minute break for a COT while she swapped some things and got back to us. Another cow but in pastel today. We are finishing it next week as she thought it was a bit advanced for beginners to do and needs to show us how to finish it off.

Good to hear from you Gill and that things are moving at your place at last! Hurrah!! :-D It will be good to get all the hedge and shredding done and taken away too and you will feel you are beginning to get somewhere. It's the way of these things to go in fits and starts and you can't arrange the next things till some things are done. Good to get the building work done over the summer so that plaster etc all dries out quickly. I think these days when roof work is done they cover with polythene so providing they get enough dry time to remove the chimney it should be ok.

Mel, they were plants G put in, not seeds, so it would be hard to tell I think now the seeds have rotted down and it would set them back removing soil to try and look.. We daren't plant in the soil in these parts as they disappear! Even peas planted in the greenhouse vanish, unless they are on my shelf that is suspended so nothing can climb up. I hope the big wipe is soon over. All I seem to use salt for these days is sore throats or gums as a mouthwash. I think OH sprinkles a bit on his turkey sandwiches at Christmas as well.

That was a nuisance the pane of glass breaking AnnG, but at least the one they were replacing didn't break getting it out. I shall be getting some of our sealed units replaced after our break. It's on the 'to do' list for the summer. The front and one side of the bungalow have some that need replacing, but we can't do the conservatory till we decide whether to extend across the back, convert the garage or have a garden room.

I hadn't heard anything about my wool felt session this week so had to ring, but now it is with my other courses and I can log on. It is just Thursday afternoon before my dentist appointment and we are making a beach mouse!

Oh the sun's shining now.

Thought I should run the car, I have not driven it since daughter went back because the day after they went home I had the op and didn't want to disturb the stitches so that was three weeks and now my back is starting to feel comfortable i thought I had better start it, don't know when they are coming back with the glass either this pm or tomorrow.... sometime. They will text me before they come. Car wouldn't start, just made a weird noise. opened and shut with key fob though.

Yes, hindsight is great, I should have tried it before but then it would have run down again because I was not sriving it. Not sure what to do now, ring the garage or leave it until the end of the month after my holiday. I hate cars, has to be the very worst part of being left on my own. Not sure I really need it but haven't really had time to test how much I will use it.

thank you for letting us know Frank you know we are worriers when we don't hear from people. :-)

Afternoon all, Just to let you know I am O.K.

Well half a success so far. Conservatory door is done, window was started, got the old glass out, cracked the new glass so have had to put the old back in to see if they can get another piece of the right glass. Bet they will be popular with thei boss. Nice polite couple of lads doing it both fully masked and I saw them wipe their feet as they entered the conservatory. Have to go and clean the cloakroom now they have disappeared to see about the glass as one of them needed the loo.

Must remember to not touch that door for a couple of hours until it has all set. don't want that falling out.

Yes, hope Island is managing to catch up with the gardening.

Morning Anng and all,

Nice bright sunny morning here too Anng blue sky with only a couple of very thin white wispy clouds. Not as much wind as yesterday either.

Oh is out on the mower or he was he's just come past the bungalow.

Big wipe down day today and I think its going to be a long one as I spent quite a lot so its going to take me ages to wipe it all down.
My subs are Savoy cabbage instead of spring greens, farm stores tomatoes instead of cherry toms and a sea salt grinder instead of Maldon salt flakes. So the last one will be going back as they sent fine sea salt last week instead of my Maldon Salt Flakes. There's only so much salt you can use in a week and as we both don't eat that much salt or put it in veg cooking I see no point in having it in the cupboard if I am not going to use it. The chickens won't mind a savoy cabbage instead of their spring greens.

Well I better get ready for lift off so to speak.

Thinking of Island and hope she's feeling better and getting lots done in the garden weather permitting.