General Chat

No, we're lucky Vera and don't have to book a time slot so OH can go to the tip as many times as he likes. He used to work at a number of different tips when he was younger and while he was offloading some of the hedge rubbish he made a bit of a mess which he brushed up and cleared away, the men there were very impressed saying they've never seen anyone clear up after themselves and they normally leave it for the workmen to do, OH said he'd made the mess so it was only right he cleared it up. He didn't tell them he used to do their job years ago so knows how annoying it is when people leave mess everywhere, just because they can. I think he made a good impression so I doubt they'll stop him going. I was worried they may think he is trade taking so much rubbish all the time, but no one as has said anything, well, not yet anyway.
How nice to be given chocolate chip cookies, that was kind of your neighbour. I hope you have a good night's sleep tonight and don't have a migraine tomorrow.

Love the photo of Lacey Mandy, she looks very happy with the headband Mel made her. That was nice of you Mel.

I'm pleased you downloaded the Sky app Ann, it's always handy to have and like I said it doesn't cost anything if you already subscribe to Sky, so it's well worth having. Sorry to hear you and your OH haven't been very well, I hope you both feel better soon with no more pain and feel less tired.

My headache has finally gone so I'm going to watch The Circle I've recorded now.

Sorry you and OH have both had a gripey tum Ann. Hope you are both feeling a bit better now.

I’m pleased it wasn’t Phil that met his end Mel but it’s very sad for Not Phil. I wonder if there is a Mrs Not Phil wondering where hubby has got to or maybe he’s got a harem who are missing him.

AnnG, my migraines aren’t much fun but they are a 100 times better than they were when I was younger and I have been on preventative meds for years.

Gill, you have worked hard to get that hedge out. Can your OH go to the tip whenever he wants? For the last year we have had to make an appointment for a 15 minute slot and we are only allowed one slot a week so it would take us forever to get rid of a hedge! I hope Sandra can get into her flat soon.

As I said in my email Mandy, that’s a gorgeous photo of Lacey with Mel’s headband. Hasn’t she got a happy smile.

Our neighbour arrived late afternoon with this week’s cookery offering - chocolate chip cookies, four large ones. I had just made a cuppa so we had one each straight away and very nice they were too.

I’m off to my bed now and hoping for a good night as I think the migraines I've been having lately might be partly due to lack of sleep. I hope you all sleep well too.

Oh dear Ann was it some thing you both had to eat that has given you pains ,hope you both feel better tomorrow .

Vera hope your head feels better tomorrow too .

The snow stopped by lunch time and the sun came out but my goodness its been cold ,i haven't really done much at all today with Colin painting every thing seems to be in a muddle from clearing the room for him to work

Annx sorry you were both poorly wonder what caused that when you have not been anywhere.

No just did the downstairs floors then took some books to the charity lady and posted a birthday card. Then did very little else.

Evening All,

I was a bit off the pace later yesterday with horrid tummy cramps which OH has now got! I'm ok now though but just tired so I'm off to bed shortly.

I'm glad Phil wasn't the pheasant that met his end Mel, although it's sad to see any like that.

I've downloaded the SKY app Gill, so thanks for that! OH knew about it as he has the SKY emails but never thought to mention it to me. That's good it wasn't a vigorous hedge then Gill and not thorny like the Hawthorn one we got rid of. Your OH will be on first terms down at the tip by the time you have finished the work! :-D We were and all the soil we took there made them think we were building an underground shelter!

Fancy you having big snowflakes Mandy! It has been sunny all day here but a bit breezy and chilly. It's good the children found all the eggs and not Max!! I bet they enjoyed sharing them out. Colin had a good job in the warm with his paintbrush.

I have some seeds through .........the dwarf French Marigolds and I think I have a tomato seedling in the pots, so there should be more soon. OH has drilled some holes in a big plastic tub I'm putting the runners in this year. They are on a slope where I usually grow them and it's hard to stop any watering running off, so I am hoping the tub will be better. Our little Robin couldn't find his way out of the greenhouse so I had to leave him there to find his own way out which he did.

I hope droopy Lil is feeling better now and has a good sleep tonight.

Hope you got your hw done AnnG. I always seem to be behind with mine!

Mel, sorry but it's the 'thank goodness it wasn't Phil' I was referring to, not the manner in which 'not Phil' met his end.

When I corned the big girls there was one little pheasent feather by the latch on their gate. I looked up and there's a BIG dent in the wire netting so it must have been where Poor 'not Phil' hit the netting which killed him.

The fox could'nt have been around last night as it would have taken it.

Poor 'not Phil' :-(

gill you could do as we did, make a trellis to grow stuff up and that will form a wind break. In fact I have more than one trellis that T built.

Lovely pic of Phil Mel, he looks bright eyed and bushy tailed, if that's the right way to describe a bird lol :-D :-D I'm so pleased it wasn't him you found and hope his leg improves soon. OH said he saw a pheasant when he was here painting before we moved in, I haven't seen it yet. I've never seen one so it'll be nice to see if ever he fly's by.

I Googled Lonicera nitida and it is that type of hedge, the green one though,not the gold one. The middle of it was completely dead with it being left for so long so most of the branches were easy to just snap off, although I did push down on a branch and it sprung back and hit me on the top of my shoulder so that's a bit sore at the moment, I wouldn't mind but it's the same arm I fell on and cut my elbow. What am I like, I'm not safe to be let out lol :-D :-D :-D

Thanks for finding the right hedge, I did try to Google it but just couldn't find the right one. OH is still taking rubbish down the tip and has taken almost a third of it now, so he's getting there slowly. I mentioned the snow to him and he said we did have snow first thing, but not much. It was nice a sunny when I got up, be it very cold and the wind is howling around our back garden again. I see I'm going to have to plan the garden very carefully so it's not like a wind tunnel, or we won't be able to sit out and enjoy it when it's finished.

Thanks again for finding the right hedge Mel <3

Pleased he is still around then Mel

Sent a couple of pics of him.

Look up this

Lonicera nitida

It has very small leaves.

I have seen Phil down the garden laying in the sun in a sheltered spot down by the bantams on the lawn behind the little wall that runs down there. He is laying on his left side and the right leg was the one he was limping on when I saw him yesterday.

Missed your post there Mel, I'm pleased it's not Phil, but it's still sad to see a dead bird. The leave were small on the hedge, I've tried Googling it but there's so many pictures of different hedges I can't seem to find the right one. It was evergreen but that didn't help me find it either.

Well Mel, not that far away from here but certainly a different world today, it is very dull and cloudy here and has dropped down to 3 degrees. I have not ventured outside at all.

sorry you are under the weather Vera from yesterday's migraine. What a shame they can't find something to stop those, they seem to wipe out a lot of your days and must be so frustrating.
Gill hope your headache soon goes too. I would not expect much to have been done by Sandra's solicitors over the past four days with it being a bank holiday. Solicitors are not known for their speed with house selling/buying.

Mel, that is good news hope you see Phil again soon to confirm that.

Forgot to say Ann, I don't think the trench space goes to a point, it's still wrapped up but looks straight at the end. It very narrow so will make digging easier around the other plants in the garden we want to keep. There's no room down the bottom of the garden as the hedge cuttings take up all the room. As we were cutting it down we had to put the cuttings behind us so it still goes the whole length of the garden and then a bit more nearer the bungalow and is piled at least 8 foot high. At least the bit nearer the bungalow is cleared as OH is working from there towards the back of the garden.

Because there's so much rubbish we thought it would cost more to have someone else get rid of it all and we need to keep an eye on our money as we don't have much left over after buying this place, so we don't want to waste any of it. We have so many other jobs that are more important to pay for we need to be careful we spend it in the right places.

I think you might be right Mel and the cats are a bit miffed we've taken their play area away lol. ;-) I'll be glad when all the hedge has gone then we can see our plot of land properly and start to plan what we're going to do with it. I've noticed lots of plants I've never seen before so it's quite interesting watching everything come up. The Tulips in the front garden our neighbour told us about are starting to flower and we have a clump of snowdrops in the middle of the front garden which I'm hoping to move over to the side to make some room for the drive to be extended.

No the hedge isn't prickly AnnG, although there were a few prickly plants in the hedge row, they've been taken out along with the hedge now. Once all the rubbish has gone OH will dig out all the roots or we'll end up with everything growing back and we'll have to take it all out again. So quite a way to go until it's all completely gone. it's not very warm today but at least the sun is still out and it's not snowing. We did have some frost the other night and with us not having any central heating yet, it still very cold. At least we have a heater and we've put the electric fire in the hall which seems to be keeping most of the cold away.

I'll be glad when the gas metre goes in and the chimney has been taken down in the kitchen then we can have a boiler installed. We can start making our place into a home then, instead of a shell which is what it's like now.

We had a heavy sharp shower of sort of sleety rain and then the sun came out so I went and fed the wild birds and the chickens and looked at the poor dead pheasent and the good news is I don't think its Phil, hooray. When I fed him yesterday I noticed he had lost his white collar feathers and this one has them all so maybe its one he had an argument with. Oh said it may have flown into the chicken wire on the run and broke its neck as I can't see a mark on it.

Your going to have a lot more trips to the tip with all that hedging Gill. Much more than the pampas grass so good luck with it. What were the leaves like on the hedge. It could have been privit, box or the small leaved honeysuckle which forms a dense hedge if clipped regulary. Have you just cut it down and now need to dig the roots out?

It looks like from the pics I sent you that it could have divided the garden from a veg patch. Have you got any kind of shed at the bottom of the garden?

Suns out now and blue sky and 16 degrees!!!! Oh has gone out to see if he can do anything before he gets cold.

No snow here Mandy, we have lovely sunshine, OH is taking some more of the hedge to the tip. We don't have any space as the hedge seems to have taken up more space after it was cut down than it did when it was in the ground. We're having our gas metre put in on Friday and also some workmen are coming here on the same day to do a quote for the chimney to be taken out in the kitchen. I'm going to ring the solicitor on Tuesday to find out when Sandra is moving into her flat as she's not heard anything. I spoke with her yesterday and she wants me to ring the solicitor as she's not sure what to say. I hope I can hurry things along for her.

Congratulations to your great granddaughter in law AnnG, I hope all goes well for her pregnancy. I don't know what type of hedge we had, but it wasn't made up of conifers which made the job easier to do. I surprised myself cutting it all down in just a few days and hopefully it won't be long before it's all been taken down the tip.

Sorry to hear about poor Phil Mel :-(

Happy Monday to you to Island :-D :-D You slept well last night, it must of been all the fresh air you had in your brother's garden.

Hope you feel better soon Vera, I've woken with a headache so I'm limiting my screen time as well today.

Yes, the Sky app on my laptop will come in handy if ever the Sky dish is blown out of line Ann, it's worth having and doesn't cost anything as it's linked to your Sky subscription.

Moring all :-D

So Mandy has the decorating bug too :-D

AnnG, I know what you mean about market stall holders, I'm glad I'm not still working freelance, I wouldn't have a penny due to the industry I was in closing due to covid. It will take a lot to recover.

Poor Phil :-( At least he had a natural life - unlike the ones round here which are bred for the Corporate Johnnies to shoot in the name of 'team building'. It's horrible when the guns start in the autumn :-(

Had a big day yesterday - two hours tea drinking in brothers garden :-D I was ready for bed at 8 but stuck it out until 11 and slept for 10 hours! :-0
I missed the 8am snow flurry but saw the 9.30 one - all a bit feeble thank goodness and now we have sunshine.

I don't think I'll be in the potting shed sowing seeds for a few days yet.

Happy Monday all

Morning all

Yes, Mandy, we’ve had snow as well, just a couple of showers. According to the weather app on my iPad it’s 4 degrees outside but feels like -1 :-(. I’m glad I haven’t cut down some of my plants like penstemon yet as I think there are some cold frosty nights ahead.

I was droopy Lil yesterday with another bad migraine and I am still feeling the effects so will be limiting screen time today.

Stay warm and enjoy your day whatever you are doing.

EDIT sorry to hear about poor Phil