General Chat

Annx T did once say not long before he died, ‘can you come and see me?’ I told him I thought I was not allowed but to ask the nurse. He did ask and was told no visiting. It always preys on my mind. I will never forget that he wanted to see me and couldn’t.

In the early 70s we bought a chest freezer on HP. But a couple of months later were uncomfortable about it and paid it off. We have bought a few things on six ,Months interest free credit but always paid it up in full. I did buy a few things on a friends catalogue but usually paid them off early too.

Annx T did once say not long before he died, ‘can you come and see me?’ I told him I thought I was not allowed but to as the nurse. He did ask and was told no visiting. It always preys on my mind. I will never forget that he wanted to see me and couldn’t.

In the early 70s we bought a chest freezer on HP. But a couple of months later were uncomfortable about it and paid it off. We have bought a few things on six ,Months interest free credit but always paid it up in full. I did buy a few things on a friends catalogue but usually paid them off early too.

Evening All,

It ended up quite sunny today, so I did a bit more planting of seeds! Some more saved Snapdragons and some Livingstone daises. If they all come up I will be planting the daisies in the gravel, but they do look pretty so it would be nice.

Before I forget you kindly asked about OH's ear Mandy. He finished the antibiotics after a week, but was told to keep up the eardrops for a fortnight after the infection had cleared up, so he stopped the drops yesterday. It seems fine now and his 'selective' hearing is back to normal! :-D Our switchover is a week on Friday hopefully but they haven't given a time yet..

That was a nasty bout of being ill Island! I'm glad you seem to be ok again now and these bugs could come from something in the garden or soil, even a bird wiping it's beak on something you then touched. Then dogs poke their noses and tongues in all sorts too and then lick us!

Speaking of dogs my friend brought her 8 week old Whippet puppy home yesterday. He is a golden fawn and white and really lovely. One of the big cats was a bit wary but the other was brought up with dogs so wasn't bothered. Her rescue cat on the other hand introduced herself by clouting him!! He won't mess with her will he!

Frank a trip out in the car will do you good. You should go for the ride with Ros when she goes to the chemist and places like that. It's what we do and just a change of scene for half an hour helps. You are making me so glad we don't have a lawn, even though there is nothing to beat a nice lawn in the summer. I hope you can find someone else for the time being and that poor Barry will soon recover. He must be quite worried about losing customers with everyone wanting their gardens doing now.

Vera how sad for that poor man. How do you cope with knowing nothing more can be done when you have been through so much. That was a nice thought to drop a card through the door Vera. We did that when our neighbour's husband passed away. At least they know you are thinking of them.

It did sound as if they didn't think it was end of life care yet with T AnnG. I think it may be that you have to ask about visiting arrangements, at least now, and some may have different rules. I doubt any visiting was allowed in the city here as it was in lockdown most of last year. That's nice making your special place where you would sit even more special with some nice objects. You have got lots done again today. We bought a pruning saw that folds a few years ago and sounds like what you have. It has been a boon for cutting through stems that were difficult for the pruners and you can get inbetween the branches easier than with an ordinary saw.

My parents wouldn't have anything on HP either. Mum always said if you can't afford it, wait till you can and I have been the same. She wouldn't have catalogues either, We have bought a few new cars on interest free credit, so we could earn interest ourselves on the outstanding money, but always had the total money to pay for them if we'd wanted to. We found household accounts that MIL kept like you AnnG. They used to save for things with small insurance policies and the insurance man would call each week for their payment.

I wonder how Gill got on at the Doctor's. I hope she is ok and just busy 'interviewing' workmen to get some quotes. Also Sandra and whether she's in her flat yet?

Yu've got a lovely lot done today Anng. I did go up the border for a while after lunch and dug out a huge tuber from the bearded iris that was heading towards the lawn. unfortunately the mower had already taken the leaves off so I shall have to find a spot in the sun for it and hope it grows.

Dug out some Mollis and some creeping lilly things that grow everywhere. They've go9t right into the iris's. Cut back the other clematis too and managed to knock a nice big shoot off one of the peonies.

Maybe it is just Goucester hospitals that have (or had) no visiting at all.
or maybe they didn't consider that T was having end of life care. I don't think any of them actually knew much about what was wrong with him to be honest.

Tesco eventually got here at 11.45 then I had a message from Charles to say he would be round after 3 so at 1215 I went out into the garden to potter and at 2.15 I realised I had not had any lunch!!! And was still out there. I Must go out to the garage and look for a cup hook, I have a plaque to hang up down the garden. I have arranged things down there,our place to sit for our evening drink and very special to me. I bought a small Buddha in a hand and placed him down there he apparently signifies peace and tranquility. I sat down there for a moment and it feels very peaceful and there are several things from other parts of the garden that T was fond of too and a couple of nice plaques so it is not a place for sadness but memories.

I feel quite proud of myself as I found a tool that I bought TChristmas 2019 it is a small folding hand saw and I was able to saw off the very thick branches of the hardy fuchsias on the wall in front of the conservatory. I have never ever used a saw of any kind before. I also cut off some of the hellebore leaves that were smothering the peony which I noticed was starting to grow, cut off a dead branch of the gooseberry and the rest of it looks OK, We thought it had died at the end of last summer, the rhubarb is just about showing and I cut back some of the clematis which had died off so I assume that is what I am supposed to cut.

I then cleaned out the bird bath down the bottom and the water feature under the apple tree. and pruned the Salvias and also cut back the penstemon. And put some grasses and other stuff in poys ready for daughter to take back with her.

Charles has been and collected his rubbish and has also measured up the conservatory rook for a polycarbonate roof I chose cloudy rather than clear and hope that will stop the glare in summer.

so I have had a busy and productive day.

Still grey and cold here - no 17 degs for us :-(

I'm pleased you are feeling better now Island.

The mind boggles at the thought of getting groceries delivered by a robot like your granddaughter AnnG. I like to see a good solid human being standing on the doorstep; someone I can actually talk to.

About Olive, she is a big softy and very playful but she is a German Shepherd/Belgian Malevois cross. Malevois dogs are often used as police dogs in parts of the Continent and they do need good training and firm handling. I've been very impressed by my granddaughter who has done a sterling job with her and Olive is generally very good and obedient. They are now working on getting her better socialised with other dogs. She only wants to play but is inclined to chase after them barking, which understandably worries the owners of small dogs. Because of Covid they haven't been able to go out with friends with dogs or take Olive to puppy training classes. Hopefully things will improve in that direction soon. In the meantime granddaughter, and to a lesser extent daughter, are working hard at the training and Olive gets plenty of love and attention so she is a happy dog.

We dropped a card through our friends door just before lunch and I could see her post hadn't been picked up so I wondered if her son had taken her to the hospital. Most hospitals allow one designated visitor if the patient is on end-of-life care. My brother's partner was allowed to be with him during his last few days. Any visitor had to take a rapid Covid test and wait 30 minutes for the result of that and wear full PPE but, once in, could stay as long as they liked.

I think it's getting near cup of tea time again so I'm off to put the kettle on.

Afternoon all, I thought I had better show, I don't want you worrying. LOL LOL

We are in a bit of a pickle. Barry the gardener is in hospital, we had a phone call from his wife this morning. He has Gale Stone trouble.He might need an operation. So we will need to get someone to mow the lawns, I will ring Lewis later to see if he would like to earn a few quid, and come up and do them for me.

Poor Ros has a terrible looking (RED TONGUE) I think she must bw chewing it while she is sleeping. I've told her to call at Tesco chemist to try to get something to put on it.

Dull, miserable day here. I don't think we are expecting rain, but wouldn't be surprised if we don't get some.

I'm going "STIR CRAZY" being indoors all the time. U have asked Ros if we could go out for a ride around for an hour. We could stop, for a takeaway, on the way home. That will save me cooking tonight.

Tomorrow we have a very nice looking TURKEY weighing in around 9 lbs,so plenty for Monday and sandwiches. Ros will also chop some up for a Turkey curry,whatever is over then, I will slice and freeze.

Time for a COT, then if Ros is keen, we can go off for a drive round the county side.

I trust you are all keeping well and enjoying your Easter. see you soon. xxxxx

O by the way its 17 degrees out there today.

Vera such a hard time for your neighbour and she will be going through what our Anng had to go through with T not being able to visit. Life can be so cruel sometimes and my thoughts are with you ALL. <3 Sending a gentle ((hug)).

Hope you get all your things cleared away Mandy giving you space to fill up again. Ha ha ha....... I satill have to sort all the plants that were in front of my shed. There are a lot of empty pots but I was waiting to see if anything came up as I have thrown stuff out and then thought Where's my Delphium gone or some other plant.

I think I have lost my little low growing pink geranium and I am so sad as it was a favorite.

I am so sorry some of you have grey skies as its been beautiful here this monring with plenty of the yellow stuff which is still out.

Island I am always washing my hands when I am near the house but when I am up the border I can't keep coming down to the house as its a long way to walk from one side of an acre to the other and my feet and body are'nt up to it. I do have gloves on always but I have worn out the index finger on the right one. I shall have to use one of oh's gnomes johnnies ( finger stalls) on the finger before I put my gloves on.

Afternoon all,

Cloudy and chilly here but i have been out moving the logs from the log shed into a lean to on the side of the shed ,we are having a bit of a move around as in front of the shed it needs a good sorting out ,Colin has a couple of ladders that he has laid on a couple of trestles and he wants to hang them on the fence to make a bit of room in front of the shed ,i have some pots there to that need moving and it should make a good space which no doubt we shall soon fill again .

Hope Frank is ok and Ann don't think she posted yesterday ,i'm not sure what date her switch over was .

Oh Vera that's so sad about you friend after all his trips to hospital to have treatment and then to be given this news must be so hard for them all and as AnnG said so cruel that there is no visiting allowed .

i think we have a little money tin with the deviders in in the safe ,i think there is some old coilns in it ,when clearing dads bungalow there was a lot of old Florins and i think they were put in the tin .

Oh it's trying to brighten up a bit better go out and see if my washing is dry .BBL

afternoon all :-D :-D :-D

Thank you, I am ready to rock now :-D

Anng, the only thing I ever bought on hp was a second hand Singer sewing machine with new table for £38! How I wish I'd hung on to it, the modern plastic machines just don't compare to the old cast iron 'workhorses'.

Mel, you made me chuckle. Mucky hands from the garden? Moi? LOL I have to confess that I am a proper princess when it comes to garden hands i.e. potting on and planting. I have to stop and wash my hands often, can't see a job through LOL
I don't like walking on sand with bare feet either :-0 :-D
Apart from that...... :-D

Olive is ginormous! Still looks a playful pup though :-D
Sorry to read the unhappy news about you friend Vera. I do hope he is comfortable.

It is not very warm here either but I have one or two things I want to do out there so I will put on my fleece and keep moving. I don't want to let things get away from me now I am sort of on time as I can see by looking back at photos from last year. Mr Tesco finally came at 11.45. I see from 19th april they are going completely bagless, no more tray liners so that will slow it down a bit. I wonder if then is time to think about stopping the wiping down as it will be a good time after my second jab.

Oh Vera, how sad that your friend has gone through all that hassle with chemo and everything and is now on end of life care. I wonder if it gave him good quality of life in the time he was having it. I am sure they would say it was worth it for the extra time they had together. Grab every moment you can I think. I do feel for his wife, is there still no visiting in hospitals? that is such a cruel thing and one I personally will never come to terms with, never get over that guilt of him being on his own in hospital. She will appreciate a card I know I appreciated all mine both before and after. She won't know me of course but my thoughts are with them both and with you and your OH, so sad to lose friends. And the older we get the more we lose sadly.

Good morning all

Yes, I remember those divided tins and the money for the bills being put into the separate compartments. When we were first married I had £4 a week for general housekeeping, not including rent and utilities. I was very glad of my mum’s example in budgeting. At the end of each week I put any money left from my £4 into a separate savings purse even if it was only tuppence. 18 months after our wedding it was my parents’ silver anniversary and I had over £20 in my savings which bought them a really nice present. Strange to think that we very rarely use cash for anything now but those early lessons are ingrained so we keep a close check on our finances, albeit on spread sheets these days.

Sorry to hear you have had such a horrible upset tum Island. I hope you are feeling better now. Rest up for a while as these bugs do drain you.

Mel and AnnG, you have both been busy in the garden. You put me to shame. I am getting lazy as I get older. I won’t be doing anything out there today either as, like yesterday, it is grey and cold. According to my weather app it is 7 degrees but feels like 4. Brrr!

I think I mentioned that we had new neighbours at the corner of our Close. Now the bungalow on the opposite corner is up for sale. The lady who was living there has gone into a care home and the family need to sell her bungalow to fund her care. She has kept it nice and it’s clean and bright but it only consists of a living room, kitchen, 2 bedrooms and conservatory. There is a very small garden which is basically a strip of grass up the side of the bungalow. The asking price is offers above £300,000. I think that’s a “big city price” and I’ll be amazed if they get it. If they do I’ll start wondering what our house must be worth.

We had an upset last night. Our friend that OH has been taking to and from hospital for all his chemo and eye appointments has been taken into hospital again and sadly won’t be coming home. He’s now on palliative care only. His wife is devastated. This was a second marriage for both of them and they both lost their first partners to cancer. We are both feeling quite upset too. I’m just waiting for the dishwasher to finish then we will drive up and put a note and card through her door so she knows we’re thinking of her and she can call on us if she needs anything. I know at least one of her sons is with her at the moment so we won’t knock.

Sounds like the dishwasher has just finished so I’ll be off. Have a nice day everyone.

My mum and dad had one of those tins and it was red. Mum and dad lived with his mum and dad and they owned the bungalow so I expect mum and dad paid part of the bills and the house keeping as we all ate together. Nan and grandad put the bungalow in dad's name but when grandad died it was'nt three years since it was made over so dad had to pay duty on it.

Another busy day then Mel.

I was just reading something on a nostalgia thread on Facebook about money in the 50s/60s with photos of old money etc and mention of hire purchase.

My parents would never dream of buying anything on Hire purchase (well except they did have a mortgage). I once bought a pair of gloves off one of the catalogues that were popular in the 50s/60s, probably Grattons or Littlewoods. And my Mother was furious, her words were, 'they will have worn out before you have paid for them'. I suppose there is a lot to be said for that mind set as they were not to my knowledge ever in debt. They were badly off for a while when Dad was out of work after he left the RN but they scraped and saved and survived. I can remember my mum had a box made by Dad divided up into compartments and every week into that box was divided up what was owed for the following week, mortgage, electricity, food etc. And when first married in 1960 I can remember doing exactly the same, only I bought a tin with divisions exactly the same. It was a good lesson and, even in the 70s the bank ran budget accounts and I had one, the same as that box but looked after by the bank. a good lesson in money management. And at 80 I still put aside in my accounts book, the amounts needed to pay out by Direct Debits for the following month.

Morning Anng and all,

Frosty here this morning but the suns trying to shine so I am hoping it will be another lovely day.

Only plans I have for the day is to go up the border and cut some more dead down.

good morning all How strange, I am pretty sure that I didn't get up all night (unless it was in my sleep) and I didn't wake up until five past eight, that is a first in about 4 months..a bit grey here and only 3 degrees at the moment, wonder if there was a frost?
I have Charles coming this morning to take away some bits he left when he did the shelter (the old roof) and a Tesco delivery 11-12. other than that nothing planned

Thats interesting Anng. As you say the state of things to come.

I am now going to watch Gardeners World and then go to bed.

See you all in the morning and hope you sleep well and we hear from Frank romorrow.

I have just watched a video of my granddaughter receiving an order from a shop on the next estate to them delivered by a remote controlled robot. Really weird like the little miniature cars (only this was van shaped) that are remote controlled that kids and big male kids play with. It came rolling round the corner. I guess it was controlled by her phone as that is what she used to send it on its return journey. Really weird. The state of things to come.

Sounds like you have had a good day Anng with what you have done.

I have been up the border again but not digging this time. I have cut back one Clematis and loads of dead stalks from last year. I never cut them in the autumn as I think it gives things a bit of cover for the winter months. Two barrow loads over oh's bonfire which is now like a haystack. He cut the bottom branches off my big Christmas tree so he could get under it to mow.

Came in at 5.15pm for a drink and we had hot cross buns and watched the last bit of Tipping Point and then went back up the garden after that.

Oh is trying to mend the digger.