General Chat

Evening all,

It's been a beautiful day here we have been outside most of the day putting the gazebo together ,this year we remembered which bit went where .
I stripped the bed and got all that washed and dry on the line ,i got my little solar lights out ready to get some charge and then i can make sure they work ok before i twist them round the top bars of the gazebo .

Yesterday i put the runner beans in my little cardboard tubes and also some dwarf beans and peas ,i put all my other trays in the green house but the night before last the frost caught my cucumber plants ,i brought them back in and they perked up ok there's just one that has a tiny bit on the end of the leaf that looks dry so i'm leaving them in doors now .

Mel thats great OH got the digger going again he'll be able to get all his jobs done now .
Thats good your hip feels a little better today ,do you think going out and doing some gardening might have started it off .
I had a nasty crack in my thumb and i wondered if it might have been wearing my gardening gloves i do think they can make your hands dry .

You've been busy too Vera i stripped the bed today too .

Gill that's badness them making OH have to go in to get his sick note ,i hope the driving hasn't aggravated the muscle again . how long does the sick note last , it won't be good if he has to do that every week poor chap.

I hardly ever get called Amanda only when i go to the doctors and dentist it's always been Mandy by all the family and Colin some times calls me Mand .

No Ann yesterday or Frank hope they are both ok

I usually get called Mel or Melly by oh even mum called me Mel. When I went bell ringing they sometimes called me Melly or the man called me Mel.I don't often get called Melanie. Mum go tthe name from reading Gone With The Wind as she thought the character was a nice person and she had only chosen a boys name of Stephen but when the nurse asked her what was she going to call her little girl she just said Melanie. There were two Melanie's when I went to secondry school Myself and Melanie Cats.

Yesterday while out in the garden I had a lovely Peacock butterfly with me on the flowers I was sorting. Today on the patio searching the flowers was a Humming Bird Hawk Moth. Thats the earliest we have seen them inthe garden.

Poor oh having to go to the doctors to collect his sick note. You would have thought that they could have done something on line for him with his injury when he was told not to drive. Have you had to change doctors since moving Gill? or is it the same one?

I've always been called by my shortened name, so have got used to it now. I'm only called by my full name if I'm in trouble ;-) ;-)

OH's had to go to the doctors himself as they would't post a sick note to him or sort out his meds, they said he had to fill out a form for his meds and pick his own sick note up, so he was left with no choice but to drive. I couldn't believe how unhelpful they were.

I'm plodding through all the washing at the moment but I have to put it all in the drier as I don't have a washing line. It's very annoying especially with the weather being so sunny today. Even if I did have a pole and the concrete to put it in the ground with all the hedge rubbish still there and the pot plants I brought from our old place, there's no room to put a line up anyway.

My drier's just stopped so I'd better go and put the next load in.

My Mum didn't like our names shortened either and reminded OH several times that Gwyn was a boy's name.
I am therefore known by different names to relatives and friends and it becomes interesting at Christmas remembering how to sign cards.
My 2 nephews still sometimes call me by the name they used as children, when they found my name difficult to say. My sister and I still sometimes refer to them as 'the boys' even though they are well over 40 !

Like ZZzzz I wouldn't call anyone by their shortened name unless invited to do so.

ZZzzz thats interesting. My mum was the oldest of three her name was Biddy and when her friends called for her they would say "Is Bid coming out to p[lay?" It annoyed my nan so much that she called her second child Roy thinking they could'nt shorten that. The third child she called Joy thinking the sdame as before but she could'nt win as when her friends called for her they said "Can Joycey come out to play?" so they lengthened it instead which annoyed nan even more.

My Mum was always very insistent that we don't shorten people's names, I'm in my 60s now and still can't do that unless the person says I can.
Also sentences like going to a car boot when it is a car boot sale.

Morning Vera you have a lot done already. I am just about to go and feed the chickens and get some wasing in.

Oh has just told me to get outside as its a nice day so I better get myself into gear and do something.

Morning Mel and all

Very misty first thing. It’s still overcast and only 5 degrees but the sun is trying to break through.

There’s one load of washing on the line, another load just finishing and one more load ready to go in the machine. Beds are stripped and remade and a few other little jobs done so I think I’m entitled to a sit down now.

I’m desperate to get my conservatory cleaned but at the moment it’s full of plants. They need to be planted out but it’s still cold at night and I don’t want to put them out and then lose them.

Good your OH got the digger working Mel. Your thumb sounds sore and take it easy with that hip. I hope everyone else with aches and pains is feeling a bit better today. I wonder how Ros is.

Better get the next load on the line. Have a good day everyone.

Morning all,

Bright and sunny aghain today with blue sky as far as the eye can see.

Good news oh got the digger going yesterday. He's out on it now digging a tree out over the west wall. It was a self sown hazel and we cut it right back but the digger would'nt go when he went to take it over there to get the stump out.

He's fiddled withthe digger on and off all winter and during this dry spell of weather has been out there nearly every day. He bought new pipes for it and cleaned out the fuel lines and bought new filters and oil and fuel and still it would'nt start. Yesterday he looked at the filter and it did'nt have holes in it like the one he took out so he made some in it. Put it all back together again and it worked. The fuel filter was get fuel to it but it was'nt getting to the injectors. I was so pleased when I heard it fire up
as there's lots of thing in the garden to be done with the digger.

I think my hips a little better today but not been out yet. The other things thats wrong this morning is my right thumb has cracked open on the join and its sore. That'll teach me to take a little time and put some handcream on brefore gardening and to keep wearing my gloves. There's nothing like picking up weeds and little bits without gloves on.

I came in from the garden at 8 mins pst 8pm. I have removed all the netting off the strawberry barrow and nearly potted up all the runners that were in the soak tray. Tomorrow I am hoping to get the barrow washed down with some jeyes fluid and hoep that deters the little bu**ers. I had put slug pellets under the soak trays last year and they were still there under one of the three trays.

I also had a quick bonfire with all the dead leaves off the barrow and runner stalks and burnt up the hydranga I had cut down a while ago. Can't remember how many pots I have planted but I have put three in some pots. I now have two BIG pots and four of those stacking three pot pots. Some plants are in them and some have died but they are the ones with all the weevils in so they will all have to come out. I was putting the weevils in a dish as I feed them to the bantams. Had a load in a dish and came in and forgotto give them to them. When I had gone back the Robin had scoffed the lot.

Pleased with what I did today.

G & T sounded nice up the garden with your memories Anng. He's always with you in the garden and indoors.

Mandy you have had a nice spend up. Mkaes you feel good sometimes to blow a lot of money all in one go and have some lovely new things for the house and a new tablet so we will be expecting a nice lot of photos from you now. Get your son to show you how to send more than one at a time. :-D

Just finished watching the F1, what a race that was.

The painkillers are working for OH Mandy so he can move about a bit more now and is sleeping better too. The painkillers make him drowsy so he's sleeping a lot which helps as he's relaxed then. Once he can get about a bit better by himself I'm going to have another go at the garden.

Don't worry about forgetting your masks Mandy, I'm sure you're not the only one, that was nice of the lady to give you one of their masks. I know how you feel, I asked the scrap man to take two metal gates I didn't want and when he turned up I realised I didn't have a mask on either. Luckily it was outside and I moved away from him quickly, but it's easily done isn't it? I hope all goes well for Colin's second jab. I bet you can't wait to have your hair cut. I cut OH for him and everyone at work said how nice it looked, I was quite chuffed when he told me. It's a good job I did it as he can't get out at the moment.

How nice to sit with a G&T AnnG, it'll take some getting used to being on your own, but think of all the good times you had with T it'll make you smile <3

OH's asked for a drink so I'd better go and put the kettle on.

Evening all,

It's been a lovely day bit chilly first thing ,we sat out with family with our coats on .
My tablet gave up on me yesterday so son ordered me a new one from argos and they called and got it on their way and son set it up for me ,i'm pleased as now i will be able to send photo's again .
He also ordered the new vertical blinds for the conservatory for us ,we had measured up so had all the measurements he needed and i had sent for some samples so knew which design we wanted too.
He also ordered a new glass for the wood burner and a new case for the new tablet so we had quite a spend up today .

Gill your poor OH he must have been in a heck of a lot of pain tearing his muscle it makes me cringe just thinking about it .
I hope the pain soon eases for him it sounds like it will be quite a time before he will be able to do any work and jobs about the house and garden ,such a shame as you were both beginning to get things sorted a bit in the garden .

AnnG it must have been nice sitting out with your G&T in the sun , the chair might be empty but it's filled with memories to treasure so he's always with you .

I meant to say the other day i went into mole valley to get some more food for Max and i asked the young lady if she could lift it into the trolley for me it wasn't until she got near the bags and turned to ask which one i wanted that i suddenly realised i hadn't got my mask on :-0 :-0 i said Ohhhhhh i haven't got my mask on and i quickly pulled my coat up over my mouth ,she said that's ok i'll get you one of our masks ,i felt awful thats the first time i've ever gone into a shop with out one .

Frank i hope the spray is easing Ros's tongue and your feeling a little better today .

Mel that's a devil all the vine weevils in the strawberries is there a lot to repot .

Ann i hope your both ok after your trips what was the odds on you both tripping on the same rock .

Colin had a phone call this morning for his second jab ,he goes next Wednesday and this Tuesday we have hair cuts i do hope she brings her shears with her as our hair is quite long now :-D

Wow where is everyone today. It was such a lovely day here I spent a lot of it in the garden cutting things down and generally tidying up and pottering. Then atb6,30pm I was sitting down the garden with my G&T in brilliant sunshine with a T shirt and light cardigan on. It was so lovely, a taste of summer hopefully to come with the birds singing. Only one thing ( person) missing though, an empty chair, but I enjoyed the memories of summer evenings past.

All of a sudden there are a lot of birds in the garden, starlings, blackbird, sparrow, great tuts but they are all pecking the grass and plants, there must be midges or some sort of bugs.

three loads of washing done and dried in the drier including both beds, now both re-made, and all the extra towels.

Taken one of the fuchsias out of a basket and put it into a pot instead and tidied up the other three baskets and left them in the greenhouse.
Cut back a large holly that was growing towards the greenhouse window and I don't want too much shade there. nearly got a garden bin full again now.

Anng I have got one oil painting in the little loo. That one is a special one as it was the first time mum tried to do some pallet knife painting on some of it and also I was sitting behind mum in her chair when she sketched it out. I don't really like it but I was only 3 or four and can remember her starting it doing a light brown wash for the main parts of the painting. I have a pastel picture in the spare bedroom and there's one she did in watercolour of a cows head which I think is good. Also a chalk and charcole of an old mans head. This is framed so she must have thought it good but it was done while she was much younger. The one in the little loo is signed and dated which is how I know how old I was. Its dated 1952 so I was three.

Lots of her pictures were done when she had lost the sight in one eye.

There are so many vine weevils in my strawberries I think I hsall have to repot the lot. Not good as when I ordered from Mole valley they did'nt have the compost I wanted. Not really got enough to do them all left out of the 100 litres as I have used most of it.

Had lunch and the suns still shining but I am watching the race at the moment.

You will find a home for them when you are ready Mel. Is ther one special one you could have framed and have as a permanent memory on your wall?

Morning Anng and all,

Bright morning here again today with misty blue sky at the moment with light cloud.

You have quite a bit of washing to do now anng as the daughter is going home today. You'll miss their help about but they have done a nice lot for you to get you cleared out. I should really get rid of all mums paintings. I could give those to the charity shop but when I get them out I can picture her sitting by the lounge window painting them.

I want to get the strawberries finished today and clean down their barrow and get them back on there. I am going to use some Jeyes on the wood under the the soak tray and see if that keeps the weevils away. Last year I put slug pellets under the trays but I still got slugs and little stripey snails in the pots.

Good morning, early start today as daughter wants to be away by 0830 as they need to be there for a shopping delivery this afternoon. So a long day ahead f me. I have beds to change and another wash to do so will be well occupied I think.

Gill, in the circumstances I am sure Sandra's social worker could help her acquire the white goods. do you have a Heart foundation furniture shop or any other reconditioned white goods shops in Sandra's area (google it maybe?) We have a furniture recycling and a Heart foundation shop here.

Your OH does need to eat nutritional meals to help him recover. have you looked at these?

https://www.cookfood.net › menu › special › microwav...
Remarkable frozen ready meals, prepared by our own chefs and delivered to your door via our nationwide delivery service. Or discover your local COOK shop

wiltshire farm foods

Oakhouse foods

I haven't checked the prices but it may help with food shopping.

OH's slept most of today and I fell asleep this afternoon to, not surprising as neither of us had much sleep last night.

I'm not sure what I'm going to do about shopping, but luckily we bought a few things yesterday before OH hurt his shoulder again and ended up in hospital. Neither of us eat that much and I don't have a working cooker so we're used to smaller amounts of food now.

I'm just watching the end of an 80's music programme I recorded as OH was asleep, but he's just woken up so I'm going to make him a cuppa and a fresh hot water bottle as he's been using that to get a bit of heat on his shoulder. The floor cushion I've got has been a god send as it's nice and soft and is comfy enough for him to lean on so he's not completely on his back, he said it hurts to lay down and it makes him cough which in turn hurts his shoulder more, so the cushion is helping him sleep. He's been sleeping on and off all day as the strong painkillers he's on makes him tired, at least he's more relaxed when he's sleeping so that will help with his injury.

He won't be doing anything for weeks, so I'm going to make a list of everything I can do and try to get through them as best I can. I'm hoping Sandra's social worker can help her move as OH won't be able to help her now, I've spoken with her social worker and she's very helpful so I'm sure she won't mind taking her to pick her key up. I can sort a van and setting up her bills as that only requires phone calls, so I'm sure between us Sandra will have the help she needs. I just need to work out how to help her buy the furniture she needs now. We're giving her a sofa, bed and wardrobe but she'll need all her white goods and curtains etc.. so a bit of working out to do. It's a pity my mum can't drive at the moment with her having mini strokes and we don't know anyone else with a car who can help.

Going to sort OH out now and help him settle down again. I'll try and catch up with the posts tomorrow.